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The Department of Juvenile Justice fired 12 detention officers after investigators found pornography on state computers. At least one of the officers fired from the St. John’s Detention Center in St. Augustine was a supervisor. Investigators found adult pornography on several computers, but no child pornography. The department doesn’t think any kids in the detention center were exposed to the images. DJJ Secretary Frank Peterman didn’t offer too many details about the investigation, but he said his department is devoted to keeping its employees from accessing sexually explicit websites.

“To have them be involved in something this heinous in my mind and in the mind of DJJ senior staff and others in this department is very bad, it’s a top priority issue,” said Peterman.

The investigation is still ongoing and will be extended to other juvenile detention centers in the state.

Confusion has kept 405,000 Floridians from claiming their economic stimulus checks. The bulk of the unclaimed money belongs to seniors. You have to file a tax return to get paid but as Whitney Ray tells us, many senior stopped filing years ago.

Hear it Here: 405,000 Floridians Un-Stimulated

Pearl Fuller is living on social security. She heard about the economic stimulus checks available to people who file a tax return, but she didn’t think she qualified.

“If I done retired for 30 years, I don’t have any taxes,” said Fuller.

Fuller never filed and she’s not alone. More than 405,000 stimulus checks are sitting unclaimed, waiting on Florida residents. They’re worth about 120 million dollars.

That’s millions of dollars that could be used to boost our state’s failing economy. Pearl knows what she’d do with an extra 6-hundred bucks.

“You know what I would do with it. I would do some shopping, cause I’ve been retired, so I’d do some shopping for myself,” Fuller said.

AARP is trying to let seniors know that it’s not too late to claim their checks.

“We have seniors now that live on social security alone and 600 dollars is a tremendous amount of money for those people,” said Associate State Director Charles Milsted.

Still many seniors are simply confused about how to get their checks and whether or not the money is actually free.

“I was afraid it would mess up my social security, insurance disability check,” said 63 year-old Hope Frazier.

The deadline to claim a stimulus check is October 15th. To find out if the government is holding a check with your name on it you can call (800) 829-1040 or visit the IRS www.irs.gov.

Governor Charlie Crist is calling a John McCain ad grouping Barak Obama with Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton, Brilliant. The McCain camp said the ad is meant to highlight Obama’s lack of experience by pitting him with other celebrities who are famous for doing very little. Some say the ad has racist undertones. Governor Charlie Crist said McCain is simply injecting a little humor into the campaign.

“It’s brilliant, the exposure it’s gotten for the McCain campaign and saved them a lot of dough,” said Crist.

Paris Hilton released her own attack ad today, featuring the Golden Girls and calling McCain, the oldest celebrity in the world.

State Emergency workers are preparing for the worst. A drill simulating an influenza pandemic was held at the State’s Emergency Operation Center today. The scenario involved one in three Floridians becoming ill and a hundred thousand dying from influenza. The Governor and State Cabinet members participated in the drill. In the event of a real health pandemic, the Governor would be needed to shut down schools and enact a mandatory quarantine. EOC Director Craig Fugate said the drill has bettered prepared Emergency workers to deal with the sick and people who wouldn’t survive the pandemic.

“We have disaster mortuary teams and medical examiners helping to contain. Again these are our families and we’ve got to protect them and take care of them until we can final find a final resting place, so part of our plan is well as ramping up to deal with the disease and the sick is ramping up those recourses to help us care for our losses,” said Fugate.

Governor Charlie Crist says the scenario could play out in Florida, but he believes the state is prepared to take quick action to save lives.

State economists say property values in Florida declined 6 percent in the last year. The decline equals a loss of more than 153 billion dollars. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, declining values and fewer homes being built are adding up to higher unemployment.

Quentin Allen was a subcontractor, constructing high end homes until the bottom fell out of the market. He says it happened in the blink of an eye.

“I had anywhere between 6 to 8 absolutely lined up and they went away all at once. Completely,” Allen said.

Right now, there is a two year supply of existing homes for sale. Until that market is gone, new home construction will be lackluster. In the last year, new home construction has fallen by half. The state Homebuilder’s Association says it has left many unemployed.

“Since last June, we’ve lost 81 thousand jobs in Florida in the construction industry and that represents 52 percent of all the jobs lost in Florida this past year,” Dave Hart with the Homebuilder’s Association said.

A new state study says the value of property dropped six percent across Florida in the last year.

State economists say they expect it to be early 2009 before the market turns around.

As a way to help the market, Governor Charlie Crist is pushing Amendment 5. The amendment, which is on the November ballot,  trades a portion of property taxes for higher sales taxes.

“If this Amendment 5 were to pass in November, which I hope it does, people will look at that as a lot more than a tweak,” Crist said.

But even the homebuilders are slow to embrace the tax swap, saying the amendment adds more uncertainty to an already uncertain market.

The Governor’s plan to provide low-cost health coverage to the state’s 3.8 million uninsured is catching some heat. As Whitney Ray tells us, a research group says the proposed premium is too high and the plan doesn’t cover important medical services.

Hear it Here: Low Cost Health Insurance Plan Under Fire

Researchers and some Floridians say a plan to offer low cost health insurance is too expensive.

“A lot of us have other expenses besides just medical problems,” said FSU student Blaine Hartman.

The bare bones plan will cost about 150 dollars a month. Some mandated coverage like prenatal care and some physical therapy won’t be covered to lower cost. State agencies have been working with insurance companies to hash out the plan.

Insurers have until the middle of August to submit a coverage plan. So far no plans have been turned in. A Washington research group claims the premium is too expensive and not many people will sign on. Governor Charlie Crist disagrees.

“Groups and people can have their opinion on it, that’s fine, I respect that, but common sense tells me if its 150 dollars a month instead of 700 dollars a month a lot more of our fellow Floridians can afford it and that’s a good thing,” said Crist.

The bare bones policy would offer preventative coverage, but little to no help with emergency room visits and hospital stays.

“It sounds like its just a little band-aid on a big problem. Something needs to be done about the health care issue, but I’m not sure that’s exactly what we need,” said Andra Hurst, a Tallahassee grandmother.

Whether or not the plan is a success will be left up to the state’s 3.8 million uninsured who will either buy the coverage or go without. The earliest the plan will be available is January of next year.

Charlie Crist met with small business owners from across the state in the Governor’s mansion Tuesday. He called them to Tallahassee to discuss how the economy is hurting their companies. There are about 2 million small businesses in Florida. Crist has held several events recently to discuss the toll the economy is taking on business owners and working class Floridians. Crist said high gas prices, insurance and property taxes are hitting people in the pocket book. Crist says it will take a bipartisanship effort to bring the state out of the hard economic times.

“We’ve worked so hard with our friends in the Florida House and the Florida Senate, Democrat and Republican alike, to try to reduce the cost of property insurance, reduce the price of property taxes, and the high cost that has put as a burden,” said Crist.

The Governor also asked the group if they supported offshore oil drilling. No one answered his question.

An insurance company’s request for a double digit rate hike will likely be denied. The Florida Department of Insurance Regulation released a notice of intent to deny Farm Bureau’s request for a 28 percent rate increase. The company says it needs the rate hike to pay claims if a major hurricane hits Florida. OIR Spokesman Ed Domansky said the insurer didn’t provide enough evidence to support its claim.

“After a through and careful review of the Farm Bureau rate filing by the Office of Insurance Regulation it was determined that Farm Bureau failed to adequately document the rate that it was requesting,” said Domansky.

Farm Bureau has 21 days to request another hearing.

Florida’s home builders are reeling from the effects of the state’s failing economy. From June 2007 through June of this year 80,000 fewer homes were built. That’s about a 50 percent drop in the new homes market. The Florida Home Builders Association says its membership has declined by 25 percent. Five out of every ten Floridians on the state’s unemployment roster is a former homebuilder. Florida Home Builder’s Association President Robert Parish is asking the state for help.

“We’re not looking for an aspirin, we’re looking for an antibiotic, we’re looking for the cure right now. This is about today and this is about later and there’s no blame going around right now, there’s no one we’re blaming, because no one saw this coming. No one predicted this thing would be as bad as it is,” said Parish.

The Association is asking the governor to assemble a taskforce to see what can be done to help homebuilders rebound.

350 thousand Citizens Insurance customers will soon be getting a notice their policy is expiring and they must reapply for coverage. The company says not to worry. It is changing over to a new system for writing wind only policies. The new system requires customers to contact their agents and reapply for their wind only policies. Citizens Vice President Suzanne Murphy told reporters today almost everyone will qualify for a new policy. One notable exception is someone with a roof older than 25 years.

“We tell them that they will likely be eligible for coverage under the new policy, but for instance, if they had a roof that hasn’t been replaced for 25 years and it has no useful life left, they will need to get the roof repaired to be eligible for continued coverage,” Murphy said.

The notices are going out 6 months before a policy expires, giving homeowners plenty of time to get a new roof. Customers may also hire contractors to certify a roof has at least 3 years of life left, and if the deadline for expiration is approaching, customers may show they have a contract to have the roof replaced.

A Grand Jury is now saying Tallahassee police dropped the ball in supervising a 23 year-old confidential informant who wound up dead. A powerful state lawmaker has filed a claims bill in the case, and as Whitney Ray tells us, the Grand Jury report pointed to the lack of a statewide policy.

Hear it Here: Safety Concerns Raised About Undercover Informants in Florida

Rachel Hoffman’s life was cut short. After being busted for pot, the 23 year-old agreed to go undercover to avoid jail. She was killed in May while working as a confidential informant for Tallahassee police. Johnny Devine was Rachel’s attorney. He’s outraged Rachel was used in a sting operation.

“Because she smoked some pot and sold some to her friends, that does not make her at the level they put her in, dealing with cocaine, 1,500 pills of ecstasy, and a handgun,” said Devine.

The case raises concerns about how law enforcement recruits, trains, and protects the people they put in dangerous situations. There are no statewide regulations for handling confidential informants.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement declined to comment on the lack of regulation. In fact every statewide law enforcement agency we spoke with refused to talk about the issue on camera. Devine says Rachel’s death has opened a can of worms.

“There’s no training, there’s no physiological evaluation about how they’ll react in these situations,” Devine said.

Governor Charlie Crist said he wants input from police.

“There’s a lot of things we could learn from this tragedy and I think one of them is some statewide standards that are deemed appropriate with input from law enforcement would be a good idea,” said Crist.

Rachel’s parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Despite the lack of a statewide policy, there are some guidelines for handling confidential informants for law enforcement agency seeking state and national accreditation. The Tallahassee Police Department is accredited nationally.

Two children’s advocacy groups, along with Florida TaxWatch and the AARP formed the Florida People, Florida Promises Coalition. They are challenging lawmakers to stop cutting key programs. The group worries more budget cuts are on the horizon and says cuts made this year are already ruining programs that help sick children, senior citizens and foster kids. Dave Bundy, the President of the Children Homes Society of Florida says the cuts are putting kids at risk.

“Children deserve to be safe to be healthy and have hope and opportunity. Florida’s vulnerable children can’t live with another year of across the board cuts and some of them won’t,” said Bundy.

The coalition offered five suggestions to fill the budget void. The group says adding a video lottery would raise close to 200 million dollars. They also suggest taxing internet sales.

The Wall Street Journal thinks the tight race in Florida might be good news for a Crist VP bid. Read it here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121770463054007541.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Parents sending their kids back to school will spend less because of tough financial times, according to a study. In Florida there will be fewer teachers, extra curricular classes and bus stops. As Whitney Ray tells us, schools and parents are tightening their belts.

Hear it Here: Parents Spending Less, Schools Have Less to Spend

Tessa and her 10 year old daughter Ayana are counting the days until school starts and counting pennies in their back to school budget.

“It is more difficult than it has been over the past four years,” said Tessa.

Tessa began shopping early when she heard the state’s back-to-school tax break wasn’t coming.

“When I found out the sales tax holiday wasn’t going to happen I started getting stuff a little bit at a time,” Tessa said.

A national study claims four out of every five families plan to spend less on back to school shopping. Florida State professor Wayne Hochwarter said parents will be more concerned with pencils and paper than shirts and shoes.

“That seems to be the place where people are looking to cut is more in the fashion area, more and more people shopping in outlets,” said Hochwarter.

Family budgets aren’t the only ones suffering. Schools took a huge blow to their bank accounts. Administrations are looking to cut cost and save fuel. When school buses get rolling again, in some districts they’ll make fewer stops.

Teacher and staff layoffs across the state have parents worried about the quality of education their children will receive. Colette Wood will send her daughter off to first grade in a few weeks. She fears the best teachers at her daughter’s school could leave.

“It might take away from some of the better teachers we might have because they’re not getting paid what they’re worth,” said Wood.

And while a quality education may be priceless, school funding has its limits. Last year, Florida families saved more than 40 million dollars during the state’s 10 day back-to-school tax holiday. This is the first time in almost a decade Florida hasn’t had the tax holiday.

Florida’s roads are among the worst in the nation, according to a survey released this week. The Reason Foundation ranked Florida 41st in the nation in its Annual Highway Performance report. The foundation ranked states on traffic congestion, road construction, and fatal wrecks. The Florida Department of Transportation declined to comment on the report, saying only they’re still reviewing it. Captain Mark Welsh with Florida Highway Patrol says despite the foundation’s findings, Florida roads are getting safer.

“This year we actually experienced an increase in safety, and that’s been shown to us by a decrease in traffic fatalities out on our highways. We’re very proud. We feel that it’s largely to do with the enforcement and education,” said Welsh.

Fatal wrecks in Florida are down 11 percent this year. Some credit the drop in road fatalities to gas prices changing people’s driving habits.