Peter Schorsch - page 481

U.S. employers extended their hiring surge into July by adding a solid 209,000 jobs. It was the sixth straight month of job growth above 200,000, evidence that businesses are gradually shedding the caution that had marked the 5-year-old recovery. The unemployment rate ticked up to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent as more Americans started looking for work. Most didn’t find jobs, but the increase suggests that they’re more optimistic about their prospects. The jobless aren’t counted as unemployed unless they’re…

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Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano and AAA’s Auto Club Group Traffic Safety Foundation (ACG Traffic Safety Foundation) are joining forces to encourage motorists in Pasco County to take extra precaution and drive safely. Through the Safe Summer Campaign, the tax collector offices in Pasco will be promoting the importance of staying safe on the roadway – especially as many families are preparing to go back to school and enjoying last-minute vacations.The partnership between the Pasco County Tax Collectors Office and…

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An initial review of Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen’s finances shows the Fort Myers Republican failed to disclose assets two years ago. On Friday, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Fitzenhagen failed to disclose financial assets as a candidate for the state House and after the election. “It was an honest mistake,” Edward Metzger, Fitzenhagen’s aide, told Ashley Smith of News-Press.com. “She wouldn’t want to make it again.” During her 2011 candidacy, Fitzenhagen did not disclose as an asset…

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A morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. Today’s Rise and Shine Fact-iversary is brought to you by Sachs Media Group, the state’s dominant public affairs PR firm: August 1st is International Beer Day. Floridians know that after a long week of work – or an interminable regulatory hearing, nothing is better than winding down with a cold one on a hot Friday afternoon. Chug it, Florida! Now on to the ‘burn… AS US JOB MARKET STRENGTHENS, MANY DON’T FEEL IT via Josh…

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A 19-year-old southwest Florida man could land in jail after recovering from a poisonous snake bite. Eddie Chamberlain told the News-Press of Fort Myers he was at his girlfriend’s house July 23 and saw the snake threatening a neighbor’s son and cat. He says he grabbed the snake and put it in a fish tank, but it bit him on the thumb Saturdya. Chamberlain’s parents realized it was a coral snake and rushed him to the hospital. He was treated…

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The Pinellas County school district is asking former Gov. Charlie Crist to pull a television ad filmed at an area high school. A school administrator gave permission to the Democratic candidate to film the ad at St. Petersburg High. But district officials said that was an “error in judgment” that violated school board policy. Republican Party of Florida officials complained to the district on Thursday and asked them to demand the Crist campaign stop airing the ad. The Crist campaign…

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Now, this is not something you see very often. And in Florida politics, that’s saying something. Republican state Sen. Kelli Stargel brought out a poison pen for an op-ed published in Lakeland’s Ledger, attacking not a Democrat or another politician, but political consultant Anthony Pedicini. (Disclosure: Pedicini, as much as I disagree with his political views, is a longtime friend of both my wife and I.) Writing to “The Republican voters of Polk County,” Stargel lays the blame at Pedicini’s feet…

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