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Florida is waiting on Congress to pass an economic stimulus package to fund, schools, heath care and road construction.

Hear it Here: Waiting on Washington

President Barack Obama has been pushing the 825 billion dollar package to create jobs. Florida is asking for seven billion dollars, but, as Whitney Ray tells us, some say the state will be lucky to get half that.

As state sales tax revenue continues to dwindle, Governor Charlie Crist is looking to Washington for help. Crist was in DC Tuesday asking members of congress for seven billion dollars for schools, health care and roads.

“I’m optimistic about it I really am. You know inevitably when you do something that big and bold there are challenges and there are some critics and cynics but that’s not something that won’t be over come,” said Crist.

Crist says the money would make an immediate impact on the state’s highways. The state has 7 billion dollars in road projects ready to go, but it’s still unclear just how much money Florida will get. The president of Floridians for Better Transpiration, Doug Callaway, said the state will likely get far less than Crist asked for.

“If you look at what traditionally Florida gets, we get about four to five percent of the national total for highway funding. You apply that four or five percent to the 30 billion in the house bill, that would mean we would probably get in the order of a billion or a billion and a half,” said Callaway.

Spending a billion dollars on road construction creates 28,000 jobs and generates more than 5 billion dollars in economic growth. The state is also asking for a billion dollars to spend on Medicaid Programs.

Floridians like Governor Charlie Crist even more than they like the incoming president.

According to a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday Crist favorability rating is 67 percent while President Barack Obama’s rating is 66 percent. Despite the state’s economic challenges Crist’s job approval rating is 65 percent. It’s too early to poll Obama’s job performance. Assistant Director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute Peter Brown said it’s rare for a governor to have high approval numbers during an economic downturn.

“The unusual thing about Crist is that he is doing this at a time when the economy is in a very deep recession when the people are pessimistic about their futures and he’s still doing well. Politicians usually get punished by their constituents in that kind of environment, but their not punishing Charlie Crist these days,” Brown said.

Crist said he’s humbled by the news.
“I think that, when you get elected people want to trust that you’ll follow through on things that you talked about during the campaign. I think that if the numbers are accurate people know you’re trying. And they trust our efforts and I put my trust in the people and I hope they can continue to feel that they can trust this administration. We’re working hard for them.”
Although no one has surfaced as a democratic candidate to face Crist in 2010, 56 percent of Floridians thinks he deserves another four years in office.

1549 has already been a lucky number for 155 airplane passengers and now Floridians are looking for lady luck with the four digits.

Since US Air Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River last week, The Florida lottery has seen a jump in ticket sales with the number 1549. The numbers have never won in that order, although the combination of numbers has won 12 times. If someone were to pick the winning combination, they could win up to $5,000. Spokeswomen for the Florida lottery Jackie Barrios said people often use dates and events to pick numbers.

“If there is anything unusual relating with numbers, people tend to play those numbers. For example on July 7, 2007 a lot of people played 7-7-7 or 7-7-0-7. They do different combinations with those particular numbers. Now that there has been this crash, people are playing that 1549,” said Barrios.

Although the lotto has sold a lot 1549 tickets, the number hasn’t reached the mandatory cut off point. The lottery stops selling a particular Play 4 combination when a winning payout would reach five million.

Governor Charlie Crist has until January 29th to make changes to the budget package lawmakers passed earlier this month.

Crist has the power to line item veto spending cuts. The package includes a billion dollars in cuts to education, health care and social service programs. He said some of the cuts lawmakers approved.

“I have certainly have thought about it there’s no question and there’s some items that concern me and I’m pretty close to some definite decisions on some of those as it relates to education public safety and a few others, but probably we’ll wait to next week to do so,” said Crist.

Crist said last week he wants to veto cuts to an 11 million dollar program that rewards teacher for success in the classroom.

Former Department of Children and Families Spokesman Al Zimmerman pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography charge today.

Zimmerman was arrested on February 11th last year for persuading six teenage boys to perform sex acts and take pictures. He then sold the pictures overseas. The Florida Attorney General’s Office helped catch Zimmerman. Spokeswoman Sandy Copes said It’s sad to see someone who worked for an agency charged with taking care of kids take advantage of them instead.

“It’s always difficult when you have cases involving child pornography because it always underscores the important of the message that you really don’t know who could be engaging in this. Here you have someone who was well respected in the state and unfortunately ended up being prosecuted by the federal authorities for a really terrible crime,” said Copes.

Zimmer will face a mandatory minimal sentence of 15 years.

A February 17th deadline requiring a converter box for analog TVs to pick up digital television is causing a dilemma for Florida’s cash strapped Department of Corrections. DOC has to spend 100,000 dollars to keep the TVs on in prisons. As Whitney Ray tells us, the demand comes at a time when the Department is cutting staff to make ends meet.

Hear it Here: Prison TVs Going Digital With Taxpayer Dollars

Just one week after cutting 66 probation officers, The Department of Corrections is making plans to spend 100-thousand dollars on prison TVs. The money will be used to buy digital converter boxes so DOC’s 1,500 TVs can stay on.

“This is not about the inmates; an idle inmate is more dangerous. Saying no to this is like telling our correctional officers we’re giving you less to work with,” said Gretl Plessinger, a DOC spokeswoman.

If the state doesn’t buy digital converter boxes, on February 17th, the screens will go blank. The department said television helps reduce inmate fighting. The Florida Police Benevolent Association agrees with the purchase but said more needs to be done to protect correctional officers.

“Our concern is an officer safety issue. If you have low staffing, if you have inmates that aren’t docile because they’re losing TV, you have officers at risk,” said Matt Pucket, a PBA Spokesman.

It costs about 60 bucks to convert analog TV sets to digital. Regular customers get a federal coupon that cuts the price to 20 dollars but the offer wasn’t extended to states. Florida TaxWatch said that’s not fair.

“This is coming down from Washington. It’s something the state didn’t have as much of a choice of implementing, and yet they have to spend money to do it,” said Robert Wiessert, a Florida TaxWatch Spokesman.

The money for the switch will come from this year’s budget at a time when lawmakers voted to cut DOC spending by seven million dollars.

TVs and other prison equipment used to be bought through an account funded by inmates and their visitors. In 2003 the fund was abolished and the money was put into the general state revenue fund. Last year prisoners and their visitors raised 32 million dollars for the state, paying for phone calls and food.

Florida A&M University students are celebrating the new President tonight. Barack Obama campaigned at the historically black school and the school’s band was one of only two Florida bands to perform in the inaugural parade. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, it is a day many students never thought they would see in their lifetimes.

Hear it Here: FAMU Celebrates 44th President

Students streamed into FAMU’s Lee Hall with excitement in their eyes and on their faces.

“I’ve never actually watched the inauguration before,” FAMU student Brandon Swanigan said. “It’s kind of exciting.”

Professors canceled some classes, and the University set up multiple sites to watch the inauguration.

The crowd cheered and chanted the moment the President-elect appeared on the big screen.

Korri McMane was on the phone and in tears as Barack Obama took office.

“Just hearing he’s president. It’s just not real,” McMane said. “I’m just thinking of my granddad right now, he was born in 1922 and that he can actually sit here and watch this like I’m watching this is unbelievable.”

Usually this campus is bustling all throughout the day, but right now our new president is still speaking and this campus is virtually a ghost town.

15 Blocks away and 50 years ago, FAMU students weren’t allowed to eat at Tallahassee lunch counters. And while these students didn’t feel the height of discrimination, their parents and grandparents did, making the day all the more emotional.

“It’s a really big moment for everybody,” one student said.

“It’s just a testament of what can happen in America if you try hard,” another student Randy Grice said.

And the theme of the campaign, hope and change, never meant so much to so many.

This may be a day to celebrate civil rights, but a group pushing a confederate license plate in Florida says it has been discriminated against by the state. The Sons of Confederate Veterans plans to file a lawsuit against the state tomorrow because, as Whitney Ray tells us, the state ignored the group’s efforts to display their heritage on their vehicles.

Hear it Here: Confederate Group Cries Discrimination

Eight years ago the stars and bars of the confederacy flew at the state capitol. The flag was quietly removed in 2001. In 2005 the Sons of Confederate Veterans collected signatures and paid a 60 thousand dollar fee for the creation of an official confederate license plate.

‘We met all the requirements. We started this effort about three years ago. We raised 60,000 dollars for an application fee that we filed with the state,” said Bob Hurst, a Sons of Confederate Spokesman.

Despite paying the fee and filing the proper paperwork the legislature never took on the group’s issue. The pro plate group is suing, asking lawmakers to vote on the legislation.

“’Why do you think they don’t like the idea,’ asked Capitol News Bureau Chief Mike Vasilinda. ‘Because we’re politically incorrect and most of our legislators are pretty spineless,” said Hurst.

State Senator Al Lawson said the plate promotes hatred.

“Because of what happened to African Americans in this country it’s really significant that they really don’t do that at this time,” said Lawson.

Students marching in a Martin Luther King Rally say the flag is a symbol of racism, but the plate legislation should be heard anyway.

“Everybody has their own beliefs. I may not believe in it. The next person might not believe in it, but if that’s what you believe and that’s what’s you like, then I say go for it even though I don’t like it personally,” said FAMU Student Nathaniel Holston.

If the confederate group can’t get the legislature to approve their plate, they say lawmakers should be removed from the process.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans say their not racist. The group said it’s devoted to preserving the history of their ancestors who fought in the civil war and claim having their own license plate would help them do that.

State Lawmakers, preachers, and students marched to the state capitol to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King.

The group of more than a hundred carried signs and sang songs in remembrance of the fallen civil rights leaders.
Students say without Martin Luther King, Barrack Obama would have never been elected.

“He paved the way for President-Elect Obama to do the things that he has done. He’s paved the way for people like me to do the things I would have done,” said FAMU Student Nathanial Holston.

Many of the participants in the march spent the rest of the day volunteering at churches and homeless shelters.

Just days after laying off 66 probation officer to save money, the state is making plans to spend $100,000 dollars to upgrade TV’s in the state prison system.

The money would be used for digital converter boxes for the February digital switch. State Senator Al Lawson said keeping the TV’s on will help correction officers control the prisoners.

“The 100,000 might be well spent if you can keep people from getting into trouble and causing problems because corrections is short handed, but to put 10 million dollars into a pilot program, you can hire a whole lot of people,” said Lawson.

Lawson is asking the governor to veto a small business loan program passed by the legislature during special session, and use the 10 million dollars to rehire the out-of-work probation officers.

The state now has fewer people to monitor sex offenders, drug dealers and other felons walking the streets on probation. The Department of Corrections is laying off 66 probation officers to save money. As Whitney Ray tells us, the lay offs are raising concerns about public safety.

Hear it Here: State Cuts 66 Probation Officers

Sixty-six state probation officers are joining the ranks of the unemployed. The Department of Corrections let the officers go, just one day after lawmakers passed a budget deficit package. A spokesman for the Florida Police Benevolent Association says having fewer probation officers could affect public safety.

“These are the guys out there doing the work. They’re checking on the offenders and making sure they’re not doing drugs, going to work, not doing other crimes,” said Matt Puckett, a spokesman for the Florida PBA.

Before the cuts each probation officer was responsible for 84 felons. For those probation officers lucky enough to have kept their jobs, they’ll now have a much larger case load.

The remaining 2,200 officers will now have to take on nine extra cases. The Department of Corrections said there simply wasn’t anything else left to cut.

“Unfortunately we are staff intensive, so when it gets down to it we still have to make cuts to people,” said Gretl Plessinger.

Senate Minority leader Al Lawson wants the governor to call lawmakers back to Tallahassee.

“That 66 probation officers are going to be laid off is unacceptable,” said Lawson.

Lawson says tax loopholes like those on bottled water and dry-cleaning should be eliminated to restore the positions. Most of the probation officers who lost their jobs had been with the department for less than a year.

Even after laying off 66 probation officers, the Department of Corrections isn’t done cutting positions.

Wednesday lawmakers voted to cut DOC spending by 7 million dollars. Department heads have already put a freeze on new hirers and suspended training to save money. DOC Spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said the department is trying to decide where to cut next.

“We are looking at other areas, chaplains, education, teachers, law clerks and we are looking at other areas. We anticipate this could impact every section of the department,” said Plessinger.

Lawmakers and law enforcement advocates are asking the governor to veto the DOC cuts.

State Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson is calling for a budget do-over.

Lawson sent a letter to Governor Charlie Crist asking him to veto the entire budget and bring lawmakers back to Tallahassee for a second special session. Lawson said the state needs to close tax loopholes to reduce the spending cuts.

“I’m asking the governor to call us back into session to do it right. We need to raise revenue. Education is being cut. Programs for the elderly are being cut. We did a very poor job up here this past week,” said Lawson.

Crist has 13 days to veto budget items and sign the budget pack.

Newly elected state Senator Dan Gelber says he expects to enter the race for the US Senate seat in the coming weeks. His announcement comes on the heels of CFO Alex Sink’s decision to stay put in the CFO’s job.  More interesting is that the email came from Democratic strategist Steve Schale, who help engineer Obama’s Florida victory. Here’s the Gelber statement:

Statement by Dan Gelber on Alex Sink’s Decision to Seek Re-Election as Florida’s Chief Financial Officer

MIAMI:  “I was prepared to fully support Alex had she chosen the US Senate seat as her next step in public life, and it is now my hope to share the ballot with her in 2010 as we work together as Floridians to bring real change to our state and restore the dream of a time past, when the state that we love was a beacon of a better life for anyone who seeks it.

Given this morning’s news, I expect to officially enter the race in the coming weeks.”

Runaway Pilot Marcus Schrecker will remain in the hospital, probably through the weekend. Sources close to the case say he is not responding to treatment as well as doctors had hoped. Schrenker ingested a large quality of Ultracet, a pain killer and blood thinner, as well as aspirin, before slitting his wrist.  While a release could occur over the weekend, Monday is more likely. Federal officials have said Schreker will be taken to Pensacola for a first appearance, an arraignment and perhaps a  bond hearing. If he is released on bond, he would be held for Indiana authorites who have charged him with two felonies connected to his business as a financial advisor.