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Domestic Violence fatalities rose nearly 10 percent in Florida last year.

Economic stress is being blamed for the increasing turmoil among Florida families. Attorney General Bill McCollum formed a team of law enforcement officers and victims’ advocates to discuss ways to curb the violence. The Domestic Violence Fatality Review team held its first meeting at the state capitol today. McCollum says domestic violence is more common than people think.

“Domestic violence can take many forms and it takes many lives in our state. Today this review team has been set up that we have called together from all over the state is here to figure out the best way our state can react with all of us professionals to reduce this number, to bring less of this violence in our communities, and to save lives. And so I am real proud of the team. That’s what it’s all about,” said McCollum.

Once the team has concluded its research it will suggest policy changes to agency heads to help state and local law enforcement agencies better respond to domestic violence cases.

Testimony continues in the trial of a man accused of killing Tallahassee police informant Rachel Hoffman.

Today jurors listened to testimony from Lisa Flannagan, a medical examiner who says Hoffman died from gunshot wounds to the head. Flannagan says Hoffman was shot in the chest and back while she was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car, then she was shot three times in the head.

“I think she did have her hand up over her head at the time that she sustained those three gunshot wounds. Once she sustained the three to her head, she would have been unconscious and not moving, which leads me to believe that those were the last gunshot wounds,” said Flannagan.

No finger prints were found on the murder weapon; prosecutors believe either Deneilo Bradshaw or his brother-in-law Andrea Green shot Hoffman, although they say they won’t name the triggerman.

State lawmakers approved legislation to purchase 61 miles of train tracks in central Florida bringing an early end to the special session of the legislature. The SunRail deal has failed two years running, and appeared to be on the wrong track again, but as Whitney Ray tells us, some last minute wheeling and dealing won key votes.

The vote margin was unexpected, 27 – 10. The Florida Senate approved the CSX SunRail deal and dedicated funds to bailout TriRail.

Public outcries over liability and labor concerns almost derailed the legislation, but back room deals fast tracked the bill to the Senate Floor and won key votes.

“I had three concerns. It was funding, it was liability, and it was the labor issues and all three have been addressed. A lot of the funding is coming from the federal government and if we don’t get it, it’s going to go to other states and other rail lines,” said Senator Dave Aronberg.

Legislative leaders were up against a tight deadline: expand the state’s commuter rail system by January, or miss out on a possible 2.6 billion federal dollars for bullet train.

The vote was an early Christmas present for Governor Charlie Crist and legislative leaders who risked political capital on the hastily called session.

“It’s a merry Christmas for Florida. I could not be more pleased with what happened with the rail project today. Very, very happy for the people of Florida, for the job opportunities it presents, really thrust Florida in to the future in a great way,” said Crist.

The passage of the legislation ended a three year rally by outspoken Senator Paula Dockery to kill the legislation. After the vote Dockery quietly left the Senate chamber, without speaking to reporters.

The latest jobless figures show a slight drop in the nation’s unemployment rate. The rate fell from 10.2 in October to 10 percent for November, but as Whitney Ray tells us, the unemployment rate for veterans continues to soar above the national average.

First Lieutenant Adrian Smith returned from Iraq in September, eager to get a job. It became his main mission.

“Job search is like a full time job within itself, I’ve seen where someone sends tons of resumes, like 20, 30, and you get one call back,” said Smith.

Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have an unemployment rate of 11.6 percent, well above the national average. Smith says a lack of job training and experience filling out applications and resumes haunts vets on their hunt.

“Some people don’t know that serving is experience within itself and they don’t know how to word that on a resume.”

There is help out there for those who fought bravely to defend our country. The only problem: many veterans don’t know where to turn or how to get started.

There are 91 One-Stop Career Centers in Florida, each with a staff member trained in matching veterans with state and federal assistance programs. There are also concessions for unemployed veterans seeking taxpayer funded jobs.

“Under Florida’s law public employers are required to give certain preferences to veterans in the job hiring process,” said Robby Cunningham, a spokesman with the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

Private businesses also have an incentive to hire a veteran, a tax credit of 24-hundred dollars. Employers can use the search engine on the Employ Florida Marketplace website to view resumes from unemployed veterans. The website is www.employflorida.com

State House members have given tentative approval (not until about 5pm) of a plan to create a commuter rail system in Florida. The proposal fails to address serious concerns being raised by opponents, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, lawmakers are moving ahead with hopes of attracting federal money to build a high speed rail system.

Commuter rail supporters continue to argue a new 61-mile line across Central Florida and a 15 million dollar a year bailout of Tri Rail in South East Florida are just the first steps toward true high speed rail.

Day two of the special session was dedicated to an explanation of the 49 page bill.

“Because we are showing a commitment to rail, we have the opportunity to get the attention of Washington, which stands ready to allocate 8 billion dollars nationwide to high-speed rail projects,” Rep. Gary Aubuchon (R-Cape Coral) said.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, whose community is likely to benefit the most from the Sun Rail project watched from the House gallery.

“We’ve modeled all our growth patterns around transit-oriented development,” Dyer said. “It is critical for us if we’re going to maintain the quality of life in Central Florida, and start to establish a statewide rails system.

While the House debate churned on, state Senators were home, and they will stay there until Tuesday.

But with the vote count up in the air in the Senate, you can bet the phone lines will be burning up between now and next week, trying to change a few votes.

Part of the uncertainly deals with the future job prospects of more than a hundred railroad workers whose jobs are protected under Federal law. The AFL-CIO says an impasse remains.

“Anything significant in the last 24-hours has not occurred,” AFL-CIO president Mike Williams said.

And without union support, the rail project looks more fragile than ever in the 40-member Senate.

The house is scheduled for a final vote on Monday, the Senate Wednesday.  Any differences between the two chambers will have to be worked out by noon Friday.

Florida lawmakers are back in Tallahassee tonight for a nine-day special session to create a commuter rail system in Florida.  A plan to take over 61 miles of track in Central Florida has failed two years running, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the governor and legislative leadership are hoping the third time is the charm.

Florida faces either a future of highway gridlock….or commuting by high-speed rail. So say backers of the proposed commuter rail system

Lawmakers began a nine-day special session that is full of uncertainty, and with dozens of lawmakers absent. The Senate President has pushed the session and is a champion of the rail projects.

“The people of Florida are demanding action and are desperate for relief,” Senate President Jeff Atwater said. “I will ask you, to look at this anew, with an open mind.”

The 61-mile Sun Rail project linking four central Florida counties has been killed twice. The leading opponent is still on the war path.

“No, the deal has not changed,” Rep. Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland) said. “We’re still paying 10.5 million dollars a mile, when we should be paying under a million a mile.

And there are union issues. Hundreds of jobs protected under federal law could be lost, which causes the powerful AFL-CIO concern.

“This legislature came to determine if the jobs that are created are to be meaningful jobs that helps economic recovery,” AFL-CIO President Mike Williams said.

Cost is another factor. Tri-Rail in southeast Florida would require 15 million a year in subsidy.

“There are so many details to be worked out, we won’t know until next week, whether this train stays on track or whether this whole deal gets sidetracked.

The House is expected to pass the 49-page bill easily, but the Senate remains a question mark.

The first votes could occur early next week.

Falling property values will cost schools 300 million dollars next year unless state lawmakers change the tax code or find an alternative source of revenue. The drop is because taxable property values have fallen almost 10 percent in Florida this year. As Whitney Ray tells us, the decline coupled with other revenue shortfalls will leave schools 800 million fewer dollars.

A plummeting housing market fueled by foreclosures is costing the state millions of dollars for education. The statewide taxable property value is down 9.5 percent. The falling property values will leave lawmakers looking for new funding resources for schools.

The value drop brings the new education shortfall total for next year to 800 million dollars. State Senator Al Lawson says the legislature has its work cut out for it.

“It going to take some innovated strategies and some places that we can look to bring in some dollars to bring education on par,” said Lawson.

Those new strategies aren’t likely to include new taxes.

“The last thing that I believe that this legislature will do however is to increase property taxes, increase the burden on our fragile taxpayers,” said Rep. Anitere Flores.

Lawmakers are in special session poised to spend 700 million dollars on commuter rail, while the education funding gap is 800 million dollars, angering parents and educators.

“We can’t afford to have our kids to be in class sizes that make sense but yet we can have this conversation in this special session on rail. Something we are not opposed to, but what’s your priority,” asked Jeff Wright with the Florida Education Association.

Lawmakers say they’ll have 60 days to deal with the education crisis during regular session in March, but point out the clock is ticking to reach a rail deal.

Money for SunRail comes from the transportation budget funded by gas taxes, while schools are funded through general revenue. Which means lawmakers couldn’t simply pay for education with rail dollars.

A Florida property rights dispute was the subject of a case before the US Supreme Court today. The case could have ramifications to every beachgoer in Florida. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the issue is who owns the beach when it has been re-nourished.

Signs like these, which have popped up in the panhandle, could soon sprout all over Florida, depending on the outcome of a court battle over who owns beachfront after it has been re-nourished.

“There is a group of beachfront property owners who have declared they own the beach; that the public doesn’t have a right to use it,” retiree and activist Jack Abbit said.

In Florida, the law says the public owns the land on the waterside of the mean high water mark. Traditionally dry sand belongs to the property owner.

Last year, Florida’s Supreme Court ruled against five homeowners who claimed ownership of everything between their homes and the water. The court wrote that the constitution says the state has a duty to protect its natural resources and was justified in making the beach wider.

The argument made it all the way to the US Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The Attorney who argued the case says Florida courts got it wrong, the homeowners are entitled to their beach, and the re-nourishment was unnecessary.

“It’s a new 80-foot stretch of dry sand beach that the state created, that it’s entitled too on that dry sand beach,” Ken Safreit, attorney for the homeowners, said. “Commercial vendors can now come set up, that’s what our clients objected to.”

If the property owners win, they will ask to be paid for their land, or for title to the enlarged beach. Such a decision could affect beach ownership and public access around the state.

During this morning’s hearings, a majority of the justices asked questions about Florida law and appeared to be siding with the homeowners.

A special legislative session on commuter rail is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning despite objections from black state lawmakers. Republican legislative leaders scheduled the session to begin on the same day as the National Black Caucus of State Legislators comes to Fort Lauderdale. As Whitney Ray tells us, there are 25 black state lawmakers and only one is a Republican.

When the gavel drops signaling the start of the special session, the minority party will have a bigger disadvantage than usual. Twenty-five state lawmakers will have to decide whether to begin work on commuter rail or attend a The National Black Caucus of State Legislators which Florida is hosting for the first time. Former House Member Curtis Richardson says lawmakers shouldn’t have to choose.

“The speaker should accommodate those members and allow them to be here and I understand a resolution was put forward where he could have done that,” said Richardson.

Only one of the black state legislators is a Republican leaving the possibility of 24 empty Democratic seats the first half of the eight day session. The state Democratic Party says the GOP leadership is being insensitive.

“We have a Republican leadership in a Republican legislature that just wants to play political games, play partisan politics and it’s disappointing,” said Eric Jotkoff, Spokesman for the Florida Democrats.

House Members, Senators and even the CFO unsuccessfully pushed to delay the session. In a bit of a concession, legislative leaders excused black lawmakers from the first few days of the special session, but that means those members will have less time to make decisions on some complex issues.”

House Speaker Larry Cretul isn’t worried about those members having to pay catch up.

“Briefings have been set up for, could be set up for, Sunday evening if we get enough interest,” said Cretul.

While black members struggle with the schedule, Jewish members are being given assurances the special session will end before next Friday evening the beginning of Hanukkah festivities.

Cretul says there are no alternative dates to hold the special session, because if the legislature doesn’t voted to expand commuter rail by the end of the year, the state could miss a shot at 2.5 billion federal dollars for the project.

The Florida Delegation on Climate Change is traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark next week to find ways to create jobs in the state.

This morning delegates unveiled their plans at Danfoss Turbocor, a Tallahassee business that builds energy efficient air-condition parts. Executives from other Florida based green companies were also on hand. Rob Szumowski, The VP of a company helping businesses cut energy costs, says attending the UN’s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen will help bring new ideas to Florida that will create jobs down the road.

“Smart grid, energy audits, carbon audits, strategic direction, or financing for local governments will be able to meet the challenges of an economy driven by a low carbon diet and help our clients plan manage and thrive, cause if we help clients thrive in Florida then that means they are going to high more Floridians,” said Szumowski

Florida is one of several states sending a delegation to Copenhagen. The conference begins December 7th and lasts two weeks.

FSU Head Football Coach Bobby Bowden announced his retirement today, after being given the option to stay at the school in a reduced capacity. Bowden met with his players this afternoon, then told the world he was leaving. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, this is the end of an era.

Most FSU Students, and even some professors, weren’t yet born when Bobby Bowden came to Florida State in 1976.

Wearing a wireless microphone in 1984, these pictures show an engaged Bowden on the sidelines.

“Hell yeah, we need to go for it.”

His go-for-it mentality, which often included trick plays, became a trademark.

“Let’s get some touchdowns, boys. Just sitting there watching them damn field goals.”

In 1984, the stadium barely held 50 thousand people. Today, at 88,500, it is the largest in the ACC. Inside are two national championship trophies, and two Heisman’s from those championship years.

Bowden gave University officials his decision during a meeting at his home Tuesday morning.

Both business leaders in town, and students here at Florida State seem to agree on one thing: the departure was handled about as well as a fumbled punt return.

Gainesville student Trea Brown chose FSU over UF because of Bowden. He is sorry to see him go.

“Shoving him out after all he’s done for the university is just the wrong way to go,” Brown said. “It’s bad PR, and in the long-term it’s going to cause more damage than good.”

Bowden chose to avoid reporters but he did videotape a message.

“Haven’t done as good lately as I wish I could have, but I’ve had wonderful years,” Bowden said. “No regrets.”

Both his offensive and defensive captains say neither would have come to FSU had it not been for Bowden.

“We’re a little sad right now, but there’s a lot of motivation for us going into this bowl game,” FSU quarterback and Offensive team captain Christian Ponder said.

The legendary coach’s last game will likely be the Gator Bowl.

With 388 wins, Bobby Bowden is the second winningest coach in America. He trails Joe Paterno of Penn State by 5 wins. Until FSU started losing games, Bowden was expecting to out last Paterno to hold the record for the most wins.

State lawmakers are attempting to accomplish in an eight day special session what they couldn’t agree on in two previous 60 day session. The legislature will meet in Tallahassee Thursday to discuss expanding commuter rail in Florida. But as Whitney Ray tells us, without the votes going in, the special session could end in a train wreck.

Florida needs to get on the right track in order to convince the federal government to send money to expand commuter rail.

Lawmakers will meet in a special session to discuss a host of train issues; from who to blame in the event of an accident on the proposed SunRail project to funding for the existing TriRail system in South Florida.

“Funding could come from the state gas tax or a tax on home sales which has seen increases over the past 14 months.”

Transportation lobbyists say home sales could provide enough steam to keep the trains moving.

“Over the course of the time period they are talking about this would be sufficient to help provide a stable funding source for TriRail and SunRail I believe,” said Doug Callaway, the President of Floridians for Better Transportation.

Unions threaten to kill the rail system expansion, claiming the jobs it would create would be low paying and offer no benefits.

“This is wrong and it should be stopped,” said Mike Williams, the President of AFL-CIO.

Governor Charlie Crist says if lawmakers don’t act fast the state will miss a shot at 2.5 billion federal dollars to expand the system.

“If we can accomplish something before the end of the year we have a much better opportunity for the high speed rail component,” said Crist.

Forcing the complex issue through the legislature may be hasty, but if Florida loses the federal funding for commuter rail thousands of jobs could be left at the station.

The special session is scheduled to start Thursday, but House Democrats are asking legislative leaders to wait until Monday because many members will be in Fort Lauderdale for the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.