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The ACLU sent the State Board of Education a letter today outlining the “legal risks of adopting a science curriculum that includes particular religious groups’ beliefs about the origins of the universe.” Sounds like a lawsuit in the works if the BOE adopts new standards in January.

Read the Letter Here

It will be next quarter before some of the cash local governments have in the frozen state fund will be turned loose. On Monday 43 million went into the pool…only 9 million came out. Those who are investing have total access to their cash. Those with frozen money are out of luck for awhile longer. Here is an interview with interim SBA chief Bob Milligan. Hear it here: Milligan Interview

Start with 93 million in state cash over a yet to be negotiated period and throw in about the same in local funding, and you can lure a German high tech bio imaging firm to Florida. Here’s the headline from the Governor’s news release. Hear the Announcement Here

GOVERNOR CRIST ANNOUCES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE OF BIO-IMAGING TO THE STATE OF FLORIDA

U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Bob Riley, the governor of Alabama, and Florida Governor Charlie Crist spend the day behind closed doors, looking for a compromise in water use.

Hear it here: Water Meeting at Mansion

Georgia, Alabama and Florida have been arguing over water flows in the Apalachicola River system for more than two decades. At stake for hundreds of oyster men and shrimpers is their livelihood.

Apalachicola bay depends on a mix of fresh and salt water to produce 10 percent of the nations oysters. Reduced fresh water flows are already impacting the crop showing up in restaurants.

“Too much salinity will kill some of them,” restaurant owner Jeff Stillwell said. “So you know we’re buying a 60 pound bags, our yield may be 52 pounds.”

Shrimpers and anglers are also seeing reduced stock from a breeding ground too salty to allow eggs to hatch. The river’s flow was reduced in November to give Atlanta more drinking water.

Governor Charlie Crist met for almost five hours behind closed doors with the governors of Georgia and Alabama.

Their last meeting saw water flow cut by 5%. Fishing interests say enough is enough.

“This is protecting Florida and the future of Florida and Florida’s seafood and Florida’s people,” Chris Doolin with the Southeast Fisheries Association said.

The Ultimate solution to the drought is out of the Governor’s hands. What they need is rain.

After a day of discussion all three governors called the meeting “frank, candid, and productive.”

The only real agreement so far is that water flow will not be reduced in the Apalachicola in June.

“I’m concerned about the spawning season along the Apalachicola River and bay and appreciate the consensus on that point,” Governor Charlie Crist said.

More meetings are scheduled for January and February.

A new survey found that 20 percent of Floridians are seriously considering leaving the state.  The Second Annual Sunshine State Survey also found that 43 percent feel that their quality of their life is declining.  That number represents a 7 percent increase over last year.  A total of 1,200 Floridians were interviewed in the poll.  Leadership Florida says there’s no reason to panic yet.

“People are just in real quandary about what’s happening with their property values, what’s happening with property taxes,” said Leadership Florida’s Wendy Abberger.  “And it’s reasonable to expect them to be somewhat pessimistic about their quality of life.  You notice that the majority of them would still encourage other people to come down, move to Florida, from around the country.”

Leadership Florida, the Florida Philanthropic Network and the Jesse Ball duPont Fund commissioned the Sunshine State Survey.

State and local enforcement gathered outside the Capitol to urge people not to drink and drive this holiday season.  December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention month. Last year, 1,300 people died in alcohol or drug related crashes in Florida.  More than 17,000 people were injured.  Dozens of shoes were placed on the steps of the Old Capitol in memory of those killed by impaired drivers.  Anna Redgate’s 9-month-old daughter died after being hit by a repeat offender drunk driver in 2000.  She was pushing the baby’s stroller with her son holding her other hand when the driver plowed into them.

“It will be 8 years New Year’s Day,” Redgate said.  “And it changes for us, but I’m still Grace’s mother every day.  So I’m out here because that’s the way I have to parent now.  I don’t have a choice to raise her.  I have a responsibility to my surviving child.  And I feel that with a power of a story, it can help make the roads safer for others.”

State and local law enforcement leaders say they will significantly increase patrols and sobriety checkpoints throughout December until after the New Year’s holiday. 
 

Baseball’s biggest names are now linked to steroids, but Florida has a program to discourage substance abuse among high school athletes.  Florida is one of only three states to make testing mandatory.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, coaches believe the program is working.

Hear it here: Testing High School Athletes For Steroids

High school steroid use nationwide is estimated at 3 to 6 percent.  In the fall, Florida started a pilot program to test one percent of athletes who play football, baseball, flag football, softball and weight lifting.  Reginald Davis is a high school athletic director who believes steroids are a non-issue.

“We are not going to tolerate steroid use,” said Davis.  “But I don’t know that the testing had a real impact on that number because I don’t know that we had a real problem here.”

The state athletic association can’t comment on any test results, positive or negative.  But the lawmaker who pushed for the program says it’s going very well.

The head baseball coach at Tallahassee Community College believes high schoolers need to stay clear of steroids.

“When Johnny puts on 35 pounds in two months and it’s all muscle, Dad and Mom are going to know he’s doing something wrong,” said TCC baseball coach Mike McLeod.

He’s lukewarm about the effectiveness of testing high school athletes.

“I don’t know that all the testing, the one percent testing, is going to help,” McLeod said.  “But it’s just going to heighten awareness.”

Because Florida’s program is so new, hard numbers aren’t available.  Students who test positive are suspended from all sports for 90 days.  They can appeal two months into their suspension.

The state athletic association will submit a report about the steroid-testing program to Florida lawmakers in the spring.

2007 is the first year in more than two decades that Florida has not executed someone. Executions were halted afer a botched lethal injection last December and this month by the U.S. Supreme Court.  As Mike Vasilinda tells us, some think the political will for the ultimate penalty is diminishing.

Hear it here: No Execution in 2007

Florida used to hang people in the county seat. Then the state took over the job in 1924 with a brand new electric chair. 196 men died in “Old Sparky” until executions were halted in the 1960’s. They resumed in 1979. But after flames erupted twice, Florida switched to lethal injections. Each step forward was supposed to be more humane. But the ACLU says humane and execution may not go together.

“We have now, before the United States Supreme Court, a lethal injection protocol which even veterinarians say is cruel and shouldn’t be used to euthanize our pets,” Larry Spalding with the ACLU said.

The Attorney General’s office declined comment for this story.

Florida used to be one of three states that would allow execution without a unanimous jury recommendation.  Now it’s the only one in the country.

Florida leads the nation in exonerations at 25. One estimate is that executions cost the state 50 million dollars a year.

“And the political value of being gung-ho about the death penalty just isn’t there anymore,” Spalding said.

New Jersey will soon become the first state in four decades to abandon the death penalty.

1929, 1980, 81, 82, and now 2007 are the only years Florida could have legally executed someone and did not. Most polls show Floridians support of the death penalty, until given the option of life in prison without parole.

A Mason-Dixon poll out today shows property taxes are the number one concern facing Floridians. Another poll by teachers shows that fewer than 60 percent of those who will be voting are not yet convinced a plan to cut taxes being voted on in January is the right thing to do. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, opposition to the tax cut plan is growing.

 Hear it here: Opposition to Tax Cut Grows

A new coalition of groups including firefighters, teachers, social workers, and the League of Women Voters filed paperwork to campaign against the January 29th vote on cutting property taxes.

Florida teachers have already been out polling. One finding: a vast majority of voters are opposed to capping property taxes on businesses and second homeowners. That information is already helping them hone the message.

“We live here. This is about community. This is about quality of life,” Karen Woodall with the Florida is Our Home Coalition said. “And that’s the emphasis of this campaign.”

The teachers have also sent out mailers to all of their union members.

Florida’s Teacher’s Union is going all out, mailing slick brochures to all of its members urging a “no” vote and then all of those members are getting a call.

“The tax savings aren’t as big as people had anticipated and the cuts in services are bigger than people anticipated and both of those are going to, in fact, combine to add a lot of questions for voters,” Mark Pudlow with the Florida Education Association said.

Governor Charlie Crist is out traveling the state, pushing a “yes” vote on Amendment One. It will be his top priority for the next six weeks. A new “Yes on One” web site has had only a few visitors so far, but the Governor is expected to raise millions to try and sway public opinion.

It will take 6 out of 10 voters to make the property tax cut part of the constitution, and no poll yet has show the amendment enough support to pass the amendment. Some polls have about 20 percent still undecided.

It appears certain that an anti gay marriage amendment will be on next November’s ballot. The group Florida4Marriage said today it has gathered more than the required 611 thousand signatures to get a place on the ballot. The group claims not to have paid to gather any of the signatures. Bill Bunkley of the Florida Baptist Convention says that is because of the strength of his organization.

“I want to remind everyone here that there are over one million Florida Baptists throughout the state of Florida and because this is unprecedented to have gathered 611,000 plus signatures, without people standing in post offices and shopping centers getting paid to do this, part of that in large part was through the efforts of Florida Baptists,” Bunkley said. “And so now we have a 60 percent threshold to look at in November of 2008. We’re excited about that challenge.”

Opponents of the amendment argue it will hurt seniors who live together. That argument help defeat a similar amendment in Arizona, the only state in which an anti gay marriage amendment has failed.

Florida firefighters are a key part of a group formed today to fight the January 29th amendment on property taxes. The group, Florida is our Home, includes teaches, nursing home attendants, labor unions and the League of Women Voters. Firefighters across the state are expected to be out campaigning against the amendment, raising money and waving signs on January 29th. Miami Dade firefighter Gary Rainey says previous property tax cuts have already resulted in firefighters losing their jobs and more cuts, he says, would jeopardize safety.

‘We’ve lost hundreds of fire-fighter positions already across the state, many in Dade County,” Rainey said. “And local budgets, both city and county, about 40 to 50 percent of those are public safety police and fire. This type of approach to reducing taxes across the board impacts public safety.”

Combined the groups number more than a million voters.

A multi-million dollar project to help people with special needs during disasters is out of money.  The funds were supposed to buy large generators for special needs shelters.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, lawmakers are demanding answers.

Hear it here: No More Money For Hurricane Shelter Generators

After two bad hurricane seasons, Florida lawmakers set aside more than $50 million to buy large generators for specials needs shelters.  But nearly two years later, the project is far from finished.

Republican Senator Mike Fasano could not believe his ears, especially after emergency management leaders told lawmakers that they needed another $51 million dollars.

“There has to be a transparency here,” Sen. Fasano said.  “We can’t be doing things with taxpayer money behind closed doors.”

After the 2005 hurricane season, the state bought 52 generators to power special needs shelters.  Right now, only 8 are in place and there’s no more money to put in anymore.

Emergency management director Craig Fugate blames the higher costs of copper and concrete for some of the overruns, plus a rush to get the generators as soon as possible.

“The run on generators with two quiet hurricane seasons has decreased,” Fugate said.  “At the time, there was a lot of activity in purchasing these sized generators.  Everything compelled us to buy the generators upfront.”

But lawmakers want more answers before they dole out any more of your money. And hopefully, we’ll have those answers before the next hurricane season starts.

For only the second time in history, Florida4 Marriage proponnents say they have gathered enough signatures to be on the ballot without paying for any of them. John Stemberger held a lengthy news conference this morning.

Hear it Here: Florida4Marriage News Conference

Saggy pants that show underwear.  For many school-aged kids, it’s a fashion statement.  But a Florida lawmaker doesn’t think showing underwear is conducive to learning. He wants to suspend children who wear pants or shorts hanging low.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, students think the idea is an infringement on their personalities.

Here it here: Droopy Drawers Illegal in Florida Public Schools?

You see the look on high schoolers everywhere.  Pants pulled way down and shorts that drop to their ankles.  Under a proposed law, students with droopy drawers would get a warning, then a 3 day in school suspension the second time they broke the rules. A third offense would get them suspended for 10 days in school.

Ninth grader Nicholas Carr thinks making low pants or shorts illegal goes too far.  He does not believe the style
distracts students.

“We just do our work in the classroom,” Carr said.  “We don’t worry about having our pants down.  Teachers don’t say nothing or nothing like that.”

The bill’s sponsor believes that if more kids knew the origins of wearing their pants down low, they’d keep them pulled up.
Senator Gary Siplin is an Orlando Democrat.

“That’s the real explanation behind the saggy pants,” Sen. Siplin said.  “In prison, when a person is available for that night, he wears his pants saggy.”

The fad has been around for several years.  But even those who wore their trousers down in the past support the proposed law.

“It’s totally inappropriate,” said 22-year-old Alfonso Keaton.  “Why walk into school, you know, barely dressed?”

A similar law was proposed earlier this year, but the full Senate never took it up.

A Florida Senate committee heard horror stories about understaffed nursing homes at the Capitol.  Maria Sanchez testified before the Health Regulation Committee.  She put 87-year-old mother in a nursing home last year.  Her mother fell down and broke her hip.  When Sanchez demanded answers, she couldn’t find out any information about who owned the nursing home.

“We are not respecting their rights as citizens and as human beings,” she said.  “We’re denying them a voice.  When they’re checking into the nursing home, we’re making them invisible.”

Several trade groups, including trial lawyers, are calling for new laws to fully disclose which companies actually own nursing homes.