Gary Fineout - page 32

Florida State University is trying to jump-start its tumultuous search for a new president, but top officials have already been warned that the process could be viewed as a “sham” because of the candidacy of powerful state Sen. John Thrasher, who is seen as the front-runner. Late last month, FSU officials agreed to revamp the search and wait until September to find a replacement for Eric Barron, who abruptly left FSU to take the top position at Penn State University.…

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Gov. Rick Scott is skipping a trip to an international air show. In 2012 and 2013, he took trade mission trips to Paris and London for air shows. But Gov. Scott isn’t going this year. Instead this week Gray Swoope, the secretary of commerce for the state, is leading a delegation of 11 Florida companies to the Farnborough International Air Show. Florida, with its mix of airports and military installations, is a leading state in the nation when it comes…

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Florida’s political landscape is being upended by a landmark legal ruling that one legal expert says could influence the way other states draw their congressional districts. A circuit judge ruled late Thursday that the state Legislature illegally drew Florida’s congressional districts to primarily benefit the Republican Party. Judge Terry Lewis ruled that two of the state’s 27 congressional districts were invalid and that the map must be redrawn. Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Law School who tracks redistricting…

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Florida is being forced to stagger payments to schools and health care providers because of limits with its 30-year old computer-based accounting system. State officials took the drastic actions because the current system can’t pay out $1 billion or more in a single 24-hour period. The state was forced to delay payments twice in June because it had gone over the daily limit. Last week the Department of Financial Services, the agency that handles the accounting system, asked all state…

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Gov. Rick Scott is touting his opposition to any changes to the state’s sentencing laws. Scott is planning to do a campaign swing through the state this week where he will highlight law-enforcement and public safety proposals. The tour will start in Monday in Tampa and will also include stops in Miami and Orlando. Scott says that if he is re-elected he will continue to oppose any change to a state law that requires prisoners to serve at least 85…

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Floridians who fire a warning shot or threaten to use a gun could avoid criminal prosecution under a law signed Friday by Gov. Rick Scott. The legislation, which marks one of the most significant changes to the state’s self-defense laws since the 2012 killing of teenager Trayvon Martin, was one of nearly 60 bills signed by Scott on Friday. The Republican incumbent also signed measures expanding the use of private school vouchers, creating a new incentive program for sports stadiums…

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Florida will start allowing cancer and epilepsy patients to use a strain of low-potency marijuana next year under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Rick Scott. Scott, who has been a firm opponent of medical marijuana and has tried to do mandate drug testing of state workers, said he signed the bill because as a “father and grandfather, you never want to see kids suffer.” The legislation signed by Scott passed with strong support in the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature…

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