James Call - page 30

Rep. Amanda Murphy wants to maintain Florida’s unofficial designation as the nation’s most-veteran friendly state. The New Port Richey Democrat this week filed a bill to make it easier for disabled military veterans to keep their disabled parking permits. “This bill is just another common-sense way we can give back to those who have given so much to us,” said Murphy. HB 51 is a companion measure to SB 132 filed by Senate Democratic Leader Arthenia Joyner. It would require…

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Nine Florida physicians are authorized to order a cannabis product to treat patients. Doctors may order oil processed from a low-THC strain of marijuana for patients starting Jan. 1. The Florida law which allows them to do also mandates they complete an eight-hour continuing education course and pass an examination.  The course has been available for two weeks. “This is probably one of the better kept secrets – that this course is ready,” said Louis Rotundo, who lobbies for the…

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The Festivus Pole will return to the Florida Capitol Rotunda once its creator selects a seven-day period for it to be displayed. Chaz Stevens erected the 6-foot pole made of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans and PVC pipe last Christmas season after a Christian group placed a Nativity scene near the Capitol’s front door. “This is about separation of church and state,” Stevens said at the time. “The government shouldn’t be in this business of allowing the mixture of church…

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Gov. Rick Scott Wednesday criticized President Barack Obama’s net neutrality proposal will hurt the economy and could cost consumers more than $18 billion a year. A congressional subcommittee Tuesday delayed a hearing on the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to regulate Internet traffic rules to assure “net neutrality. The House Energy and Commerce Committee made the announcement on its Twitter account, adding that the issue “will be top priority in the new Congress.” Scott said a diet of tax cuts and…

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More than 100 supporters of the “Move to Amend” effort were on hand at the Florida Capitol when 81-year old Rhana Bazzini completed a 431-mile protest march from Sarasota to Tallahassee. The six-week walk was a way for the former first-grade school teacher to call attention to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision. “People are not corporations,” said Bazzini about the 2010 ruling that allows unlimited amount of money to be funneled into elections. “People from the Tea Party to the…

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Florida Secretary of Transportation Ananth Prasad resigned Tuesday effective Jan. 2 2015. Prasad is the third secretary of a major state agency to leave Gov. Rick Scott’s administration in the past week. “I don’t use this term loosely but he is the best Secretary of Transportation we have had and I’ve been part of the process for over 25 years,” said Bob Burleson president of the Florida Transportation Builders Association. Prasad was appointed in April 2011 while lingering effects of…

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The star quarterback and the woman who said he raped her participated Tuesday in a student conduct hearing on the campus of Florida State University.  Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston is accused of raping a fellow student at an off-campus apartment December 2012. The closed-door hearing adjourned after five hours and will resume Wednesday. Winston faces up to four violations of the FSU Student Conduct Code; two related to sexual misconduct and two others related to endangerment, according to university…

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