Brendan Farrington - page 17

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist criticized his opponent for traveling to Cuba on a fact-finding trip. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Crist now wants to visit the communist-run island to find facts of his own. Crist said during his 2006 campaign that Democratic opponent Jim Davis shouldn’t have visited Cuba on a congressional trip, saying “I know when it’s time to visit Havana, and it’s when it’s free.” But times, along with Crist’s party, have changed. In his second run for governor,…

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The Florida Legislature began its 2014 session by getting tougher on sexual predators and ended by getting softer on immigration issues. In between, lawmakers largely had a feel-good session that will provide tax cuts, legalize low-THC medical marijuana, help members of the military get degrees and jobs and possibly raise the speed limit on highways to 75 mph. “It was a whirlwind but it ended right. It was the best ending I’ve seen,” Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, of Miami,…

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The Florida House overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that would legalize the use of low-THC marijuana to treat epilepsy and cancer patients, a proposal carefully crafted to prevent the abuse of the drug. Lawmakers burst into applause after the 111-7 vote that followed nearly two hours of questions and debate. In the end, some lawmakers who were torn on the issues said their hearts were swayed by the stories of parents seeking to help children with severe epilepsy. “The compassion…

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Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist set himself up Tuesday for another round of attacks over the president’s health overhaul from Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign team — repeatedly calling the nation’s new insurance system “great” during a lunch speech. Crist appeared at the Capital Tiger Bay Club and almost immediately brought up the attack ads being run by the political committee backing Scott’s re-election, which show video of Crist talking about the health care overhaul and saying, “I think it’s been great.”…

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Florida’s rapidly growing craft beer industry could suffer a setback under a bill approved by a Senate committee Monday. The bill would force all but the smallest breweries to buy their own cans and bottles of beer from distributors before selling them to visitors. Those that would be allowed to sell cans and bottles to go wouldn’t be large enough to afford the bottling equipment needed to package it, brewers said. A large and vocal contingent of craft brewers from…

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The fight between craft brewers and the distributors of Budweiser over the legalization of half-gallon beer containers has gotten so bitter that it is even being likened to extortion. The issue seems simple enough: Florida allows breweries to fill quart and gallon containers – called growlers – at their tap rooms, but the half-gallon size that’s the industry standard in 47 other states remains illegal. Brewers, their customers and some lawmakers think the state should just get rid of the…

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Former Florida Gov. Reubin Askew was remembered Wednesday as a man who led as he lived – loving people and treating all as equals. Friends and family remembered him as a governor of courage and conviction at a time of great social upheaval, a father and husband who cared deeply for his wife Donna Lou and their children, and as a kind, caring man who lived up to the idea that he should love others as he would want to…

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