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The Florida Supreme Court Foreclosure Panel is calling for mandatory mediation between borrowers and lenders in an effort to curb the number of foreclosures.

Florida has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. The panel says mediation is successful in three out of every four cases. The Florida Bankers Association says their clients already work with customers to help them make payments. The Association’s president Alex Sanchez said mandatory mediation could simple delay the inevitable.

“Before we ever get to the unfortunate situation where we have to foreclose, we work with our borrows months and months and months to try to keep them in their home and when that’s not possible will mediation do that, another two to three months, I don’t know,” said Sanchez.

The foreclosure process typically takes between 12 and 18 months. The homes generally sit vacant during that time and can’t be sold. Sanchez says mandatory mediation could lengthen the process to two years.

Two power companies seeking rate hikes don’t want to release the payroll information for many of their highest paid employees.

The Public Service Commission is asking Florida Power and Light and Progress Energy to disclose the salaries, benefits, and stock options of all employees making over 165,000 dollars. The companies say if they give up the payroll information, other businesses may cherry pick their employees. FPL Spokesman Mark Bubriski said if the company loses employees, rates could increase.

“We want to keep them but if this information were to become public we’d have to go find other employees to keep those nuclear plants running, probably at a higher rate and that would translate to higher rates for customers unfortunately,” said Bubriski.

Public Service Commissioner Nate Skop is upset the companies aren’t playing ball.

“The fact is when this commissioner requests data, we are the regulators. We should be provided the data as regulators. We should not allow the utilities to regulate the commission nor the commission staff,” said Skop.

At four o’clock Eastern time the PSC voted to uphold its request for the companies to disclose the information. FPL and Progress Energy will review the decision and could decide to appeal.

Double digit unemployment and the elimination of a sales tax holiday for hurricane supplies is leaving thousands of Floridians with fewer dollars to prepare for a storm. As Whitney Ray tells us, as Florida approaches the peak of hurricane season many people are scrambling to stock up.

Treva Denhardt and her great-grandson are stocking up on extra batteries.

“Just in case our batteries go out”

Sunday people flooded the Wakulla County Ace Hardware store to pickup supplies before Tropical Storm Claudette struck the Florida Panhandle.

“There is activity now. We’ve got a few guys out there with names and the one that shot up yesterday was interesting because recently, July and August was slow, but yesterday morning we were extremely busy,” said Ace Hardware employee Joe Childs.

A recent report found half of Floridians don’t have a survival kit and many will wait until a hurricane is headed their way before stocking up. The state nixed the hurricane supply tax break meant to encourage Floridians to start early.

With double digit unemployment and the state eliminating the sales tax holiday many people don’t have the money to buy hurricane supplies. Tahembi Simmons only has half the recommended supplies to ride out a storm.

“Right now I’m looking for a job so there hasn’t been as much money in the household to put out for extra things,” said Simmons.

But with the peak of hurricane season just around the corner and storms developing in the Atlantic emergency mangers say Floridians should make being prepared a top priority. For a list of supplies and emergency contact numbers go to http://www.floridadisaster.org/

Catholic Bishops in Florida are asking Governor Charlie Crist to spare the life of John Richard Marek.

Marek is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the 1983 rape and murder of a St. Lucie County woman. Marek is being held on death row at Florida State Prison near Starke. Shelia Hopkins, a spokeswoman for the Florida Catholic Conference, said the anti-death penalty movement is gaining moment because the state is short on cash.

“Recently there has been commentary by the public defenders who are opposing the death penalty based on the financial implications. The state of Florida is certainly in a very difficult financial situation right now and executions are very expensive so I think there is going to be more voices speaking out saying why are we spending all this money on killing people when we can actually put them in prison for life, which is actually cheaper alternative,” said Hopkins.

Florida averages just over two executions a year at a cost estimated to be 50 million dollars. A group of public defenders have launched a website listing capital punishment statistics including the expense to the state. The site is www.sensiblesolutionsforflorida.com/

The economic downturn has been taking its toll on animal shelters across the country and across Florida. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, donations are down, adoptions are down, and owner surrenders are up.

Animal shelters are seeing a correlation between signs like this one, and the numbers and kinds of animals being voluntarily surrendered by their owners.

“Moving is often the reason given when people are having to surrender a pet due to foreclosure,” Jen Hobgood with the Humane Society of the U.S. said. “Or a need to find lower income housing quickly.”

No one is keeping Florida specific numbers, but donations and adoptions are down nationwide. This 11-year-old feline named Martin is also part of the surrender trend being seen by shelters. Life-long family pets being cut adrift.

“That’s tragic,” Hobgood said. “For those cats and for the families who may have felt that they had to part with them.”

This shelter is on slate to take in 15,000 dogs this year. It will be an all-time high.

There are bright spots. Some shelters are offering foster care while people settle into new surroundings. There is also help available to pay deposits and some food banks have dog or cat food.

And while adoptions are down, there are still people looking for a pet.

You got a name picked out?

“No, not yet,” dog owner Kelli Lendzian said. “He’s buster now, but I don’t know.”

But keeping your pet with you, if at all possible, says the humane society, will be best for both you and the animal.

The Humane Society has set up a website to help families facing foreclosure get aid and temporary care for their pets. Website http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/financial_aid/

As the health care debate rages nationally, state officials say low cost health care for your children is available right now. A family of four making less than 44 thousand dollars a year can get coverage from the Kid Care program for just 20 dollars a month, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, administrative barriers to applying have been removed.

Single mother Leah McCarthy came to the capitol with a story to tell about the Kid Care health insurance program.

“Just regular kid’s stuff that they covered for us,” McCarthy said. “And then as the regular kid stuff developed, she developed physical problems and we started to see specialists.”

With kids in the foreground, state officials and Leah are plugging the Kid Care program as a way to beat the high cost of health care.

“If your family does not have healthcare insurance then Kid Care should be on the back to school shopping list,” Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp said.

Under former governor Jeb Bush, state officials were embarrassed when they couldn’t keep up with the demand for the highly popular program, so they made it harder to enroll. Joining was limited to twice a year. Unrealistic proof of income was instituted and a waiting list was abolished. But now enrolling is getting easier again.

“Just in the last two months, we have 50,000 new previously uninsured kids in the program,” Kid Care Board Chair Loranne Ausley said.

Kid Care actually focus grouped their application to make it easier to fill out. And the law has also changed so that you don’t have to wait six months if you lose your health insurance.

The program is available to all kids regardless of income. The premium can be as low as 15 dollars and never more than 159.  One point six million kids are currently enrolled.

Applications are available on line at: http://www.floridakidcare.org. Under the current load, applications are taking just less than a month to process.

The state spends 300 million dollars a year updating text books. New editions are printed long before most of the older books even begin to take on signs of aging. As Whitney Ray tells us, a move to electronic books could save the state millions, but the upfront cost maybe a turn off to budget writers.

They’re bulky, expensive, and full of facts. The textbook industry is a thriving multibillion dollars business. New editions are printed biannually to update advances in history, literature, and math; but before the new books even hit the shelves, the information is already available online.

Eric Tilton downloads new books on his Kindle. Eric likes the special features on the device, like the instant dictionary.

“A lot of problems people have learning, children do, is with vocabulary, since this has an automatic dictionary most of those problems dissipate,” said Eric.

But you don’t have to have an electronic reader to download eBooks. Laptops and PCs can capture your favorite titles. Florida TaxWatch will study the cost effectiveness of switching to eBooks in public schools.

“It’s probably something Florida needs to explore a little more, not only do we not know the exact cost savings, we don’t know what would be necessarily available, we don’t know if it would meet state standards,” said Rob Weissert, a spokesman with Florida TaxWatch.

The transition is already underway in many locations

Tired of driving to the library to pick up a hardback? This library has more than 22 shelves worth of books online in its eBook program.

Librarian Diane Fendler says the program has been a huge success.

“Multiple patrons can checkout the same title at the same time. They don’t have to wait in line for a title,” said Fendler.

And eBooks solve another problem facing students by eliminating heavy book bags that cause back pain for many teens. The two most popular eReaders are the Kindle which sells for 300 dollars and the Sony Reader which sells from around 200 dollars. Both devices can carry more than a thousand titles. A single text book, like one your child buys, can cost more than 200 dollars and is generally replaced after a few years.

Getting or renewing a Florida drivers license will soon require four forms of identification and address verification.

Starting January 1st, drivers will need a photo ID, their social security card, and two pieces of mail or address verifying documents. The state is changing the requirements to meet the Federal Real ID standards. The new standards are being put in place to keep terrorists from getting a license or ID card. Sandra Lambert, the director of the Division of Licenses, says people who don’t comply with the new standards will be penalized.

“Everything has to be implemented by a certain time, right now that’s 2017 that everybody has to have this and actually if you are 50 or younger it’s 2014, if you are over 50 it’s 2017, but after those drop-dead dates of 2014, 2017, you can no longer board an aircraft, you can no longer enter a federal building without this,” said Lambert.

The state is running an 800-thousand dollar informational campaign to inform Florida’s 15 million drivers of the changes. More information can be found at gathergoget.com.

Hurricane Charley hit Southwest Florida five years ago Thursday. Charley was the first of eight major hurricanes to hit Florida over a two year period. As Whitney Ray tells us, a state incentive program started after the string of storms to encourage people to strengthen their homes is in jeopardy.

After Hurricane Charley tore through Southwest Florida in 2004 seven powerful storms followed. The string of storms marked the most active back to back hurricane seasons in state history, and according to the Office of Insurance Regulation, changed the way people prepare for storms.

“A lesson that we have learned since the 04, 05 storms and even before that, that the people who have taken the time and effort and expense to fortify their homes can move back home shortly after the storm,” said Belinda Miller, the Deputy Commissioner of OIR.

State lawmakers even passed legislation to force insurance companies to offer discounts to customers who strengthen their homes. But now insurance discounts for installing storm-proof windows and strengthening doors are in jeopardy and could be eliminated all together next year.

State Farm cited high discounts as one of its reasons for leaving Florida. Insurance representative Sam Miller said the mitigation incentives may be too high.

“Is the amount of money you are getting in a discount the same as the actual saving and the actual reduction in losses from a hurricane,” said Miller.

Governor Charlie Crist said whether or not the state continues to mandate the incentives shouldn’t stop people from strengthening their homes.

“It’s not about money and I think we have to remember that as Floridians and I think Floridians understand that better than anybody, that it is about getting a plan and being prepared,” said Crist.

A recent study found one out of every two Floridians doesn’t have a disaster plan. Funding for another incentive program helping Floridians harden their homes was killed this year. 30,000 people used grants from the My Safe Florida Home program to strengthen their houses from 2006 till July this year.

The head of the state Republican Party says the governor will find a suitable replacement for former US Senator Mel Martinez, but wouldn’t weigh in with his choice.

Party Chairman Jim Greer recognizes that the Republican brand is tarnished which only adds to the urgency of the appointment. Democrats are out pacing Republicans in fundraising and voter registration. Greer said that’s why his party is getting a jump on the 2010 election.

“We are getting geared up, we are starting earlier. I would say much earlier than normally the party would start in a normal election cycle. I believe we are going to need to do that to make sure we get registrations up, get our message out, that we are defining the Democrats before the Democrats attempt to define us,” said Greer.

Crist says he’s considering seven people for the US Senate seat. He hopes to make an appointment before the Senate goes back in session next month.

Health Care

The head of the state Republican Party says congress is rushing health care reform. In the mist of heated town hall debates on the issue, Party Chairman Jim Greer said congress needs to slow down so the public can catch up on the issues. Greer said he would rather congress take two years and get it right rather than doing something quickly and making mistakes.

“If we don’t know all the information and all the potential benefits and all the potential consequences on a major policy issue like this then stop and make sure everyone who has a stake in the issue has a seat at the table,” said Greer.

Waiting could benefit the GOP. In 2010 Republicans could have an opportunity to take back the congress.

Taxpayer Funded Abortions

Scare tactics over death panels and whether a national health care plan should pay for abortions have been questions clouding the health care debate. State GOP Chairman Jim Greer says most people would oppose taxpayer funded abortions, an idea that opponents of the heath care bill say has made its way into the legislation. Greer says neither pro-life nor pro-choice supporters want the government handing out money for abortions.

“I think most people, whether you support it, don’t support it say lets not get taxpayer funding involved in this issue,” said Greer.

The section of the bill some believe lays-out the ground work for taxpayer funded and possible forced abortions deals with home doctor visits for pregnant women. The legation says nothing about abortions.

A government watchdog group says the state needs to be more frugal.

Florida TaxWatch is hosting a series of meeting with business leaders to gather money saving ideas for the state. TaxWatch says reforming the prison system, collecting taxes already owed from online purchases, switching to online textbooks, and reducing fraud and abuse in Medicaid could help the state save billions of dollars and avoid cuts to vital services. TaxWatch Spokesman Rob Weissert says almost every area of government can do something to save more.

“We talked about different ways to do things that we are already doing. When we talked about maximizing revenue collections, that’s internet sales. When we talk about ways to provide education, health care, and all the things the state has to provide in more efficient ways, not only to make it more effective, because that is inherently more cost efficient, but also more efficient. To save money by doing things better,” said Weissert.

TaxWatch says ideas generated in the Government Cost Savings Task Force meetings will end up in legislation in the 2010 session. The Florida Speaker of the House, the Senate President, The Attorney General and the Chief Financial Officer are participating in the meetings.

After several failed attempts to stop black jack and other Vegas-style games at Seminole casinos, Attorney General Bill McCollum is continuing to call on the Federal government for help. Right now the governor is working behind closed doors with the tribe to reach an agreement that would allow the games in Seminole casinos. McCollum says without the agreement the tribe is breaking the law.

“I certainly have an opinion about legality of the situation. I very strongly feel that the gaming that is going on is illegal. There is no compact so it is illegal, but I can’t enforce that law,” said McCollum.

McCollum wants lawmakers and cabinet members join him in asking the US Attorney’s offices to stop the games. Since the Seminole tribe is a sovereign nation it’s up to the federal government to handle the situation. So far the feds have shown little interest in stopping the games.

A new weekly report shows 7 more Floridians died in the last week from Swine Flu, bringing the total deaths to 48. With school starting in less than 2 weeks, Mike Vasilinda tells us state health officials are planning a two-day blitz of the state to caution parents.

About one in every 10 of the 436 swine flu deaths in the United States have occurred in Florida.  The state’s Surgeon General says the number is not overly-alarming.

“The majority of the individuals have had other health conditions, absolutely,” Surgeon General Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros said.

The state’s top doctor met behind closed doors with the Governor, then the two announced a statewide blitz beginning Thursday, urging parents to be cautious.

“We just want to remind our fellow Floridians and parents to be mindful, to utilize common sense,” Governor Crist said.

“Making sure that individuals, especially if they’re sick, stay home,” Viamonte Ros said. “If their children are sick, stay home until they’re better before going back to school.”

Local health officials have been working with schools like this one across the state to establish a site for mass vaccinations if such a vaccination should become necessary.

The first batches of vaccine are expected to begin arriving in state in October. Heath officials have been busy identifying high risk populations.

“It’s mostly children between the ages of 6 months and 19 years of age, individuals above that age with chronic illnesses,” Viamonte Ros said.

In addition to H1N1 or swine flu vaccinations, at risk Floridians are also being urged to get seasonal flu shots.

State Colleges are also gearing up for the return of students and will begin education campaigns when classes begin.

For the first time in 33 years, the state cabinet approved plans to build a nuclear power plant. The plant would be built in Levy County, but as Whitney Ray tells us, opponents of the project say the whole state will pay a price in the nuclear plant comes to fruition.

They came concerned about their health.

“Don’t poison us. Don’t poison Florida. Don’t nuke this state,” said Russell McSpadden, a concerned citizen.

the environment,

“I am very concerned about the wetland impact,” said Lake Worth City Commissioner Cara Jennings

And their pocketbooks,

“You’re primary responsibility is not to protect the profits of private utility enterprises,” said green party member Michael King.

But their concerns didn’t sway a single vote. The Governor and state cabinet approved plans to build the first nuclear power plant in Florida since 1976. Progress Energy will own the plant. Its president says the new plant will help Florida skirt a future energy shortage and reduce coal use.

“This will help decrease our dependence on fossil fuel and it will reduce our carbon intensity, our greenhouse gas intensity over time,” said Progress Energy President Jeff Lyash.

The new nuclear plant is expected to generate more electricity that two coal plants in that area and once it’s up and running Progress Energy plans to shut the coal plants down. Governor Charlie Crist said nuclear is just part of the answer to solving the state’s energy problems.

“I think we need a broad array of diversity in our energy production in Florida that should include solar, wind, nuclear, wave energy generation, all of the above,” said Crist.

About a dozen protestors fed-up with the cabinet’s decision stood in front of capitol carrying signs, promising to stop the plant at all costs. The plant still needs approval from the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The commission is expected to have a decision by 2011. If approved, Progress Energy says the nuclear plant will begin operations in 2019.

More than 40 Floridians have died from swine flu since the first case was confirmed May 1st.

Florida has 3,320 confirmed cases. Health experts worry the virus will spread more rapidly once school starts. Governor Charlie Crist is asking parents to get their kids prepared because the first day of school is just around the corner.

“I think it is important to remind our fellow Floridians that there is an awful lot of cases now of swine flu in the sunshine state. It’s important that if you think your child is sick, they are showing symptoms, keep them at home. Be attentive and as we are entering the school year we are doing everything we can in terms of precaution to keep swine flu down,” said Crist.

The state is still working out the details of its swine flu vaccination plan. The vaccine is expected to be ready in large quantity by October.