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The Gulf oil leak has been permanently capped, but it continues to wreak havoc on Florida’s seafood industry. Concerns about safety abound, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, scientists have found no reason for the concerns.

Scott Avery was sitting down for a lunch of shrimp and scallops with no concerns about contamination.

“I’ve never, ever gotten sick off of seafood,” Avery said.

Sheldon McElvy was across the room, eating one raw oyster after another.

“The said that the oysters come from Apalachicola, and I hadn’t heard anything bad about them,” McElvy said.

Scientists back up their confidence.

Samples of Fin fish, oysters, shrimp, and muscles are put through rigorous testing for hydrocarbons at this state lab.

“We’re collecting in this area, from the Apalachicola Bay over to Pensacola,” Lab supervisor Jo Marie Cook said.

“That’s what we’re analyzing, for the oil,” state scientist Walter Hammack said.

Reporter: My understanding is that you’ve found none of that so far?”

“We have not found any significant levels,” Hammack said.

Right now this lab is running about 20 samples a week and has plans to keep running those samples until all danger has passed.

Still, fear lingers, cutting wholesale orders by as much as 30 percent. Which is why the state is running this TV spot across North Florida.

Southeast Fisheries Director Bob Jones says it is a matter of regaining brand confidence.

“The perception, on the part of the consuming public, is that a lot of the gulf seafood has oil on it and they’re staying away from it,” Jones said.

One bright spot for consumers is that prices have fallen as demand has dropped.

Florida’s unemployment rate jumped two tenths of a percent in August, but at the same time added jobs for the second month in a row. More than a million Floridians remain unemployed, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, there are some bright spots.

Ken Barber opened this clothing store, Xclusive, several months ago on the fringes of the Florida A and M University Campus. It means two more people are working right now, with the promise of more to come.

“The school year has  just started back, so hopefully we’re hoping before Christmas, we can add one more person,” Barber said.

Clothing is one of five industries in Florida that state economists say are adding jobs.

“We’ve only had two months where we’ve seen gains in clothing stores, so that’s a positive sign,” state labor economist Rebecca Rust said.

The reality is, as more jobs are created, more people are showing up at workforce centers like this one, trying to get back into the job market.

The latest numbers show one in four job seekers was actually discouraged and left the labor market. Mary Ash quit looking a year ago, but decided to try again.

“I stopped looking for one and got back in school,” Ash said. “Now that I’m back in school, I started looking for a job again.”

The state website shows just one job opening for every four people who are unemployed. Randy Nicklaus got 60 applicants for a single job he posted.

“We’re seeing people that are out of work, people who have been in high-level jobs, to people who have had all kinds of experiences,” Nicklaus said.

The statistics also show that when you count the people who took part time jobs just to keep the lights on,  one in five Floridians is either under employed or unemployed.

Counties with seasonal tourism or large government institutions such as prisons have the lowest unemployment rates, while those counties that rely on agriculture have the highest.

An internal audit of republican party expenses has found more than 380 thousand dollars in questionable charges run up by the party’s former Chairman, Jim Greer, and others. Thousands were spent on a trip to Disney World, flying spouses to Washington and New York, and on what appears to be a kickback scheme for charter air planes. The party says it has turned the matter over to it’s attorneys, who will recommend whether to file legal challenges to try and recoup some of the money.

“The overarching principle is just that this is a moment of closure for the party,” Republican Party of Florida Spokesperson Katie Betta said. “This is an independent investigation. This is a company that investigated Enron. We’re very happy with the result that we have and we’re looking forward to the legal review to determine what we can do to hopefully recoup the costs for these extravagant expenses that should have never been borne on the backs of Republican donors.”

A decision on filing a law suit won’t be made until December. The audit cost in excess of one hundred fifty thousand dollars and was conducted by the same company that audited the books of Enron after it failed.

The Florida Highway patrol has taken the rare step of suspending one of its troopers. Timothy Nichols was suspended after firing 9 rounds at a fleeing car.  The suspect was accused of shoplifting, but charges were later dropped after prosecutors looked at dash board camera video.

FHP spokesman Mark Welch says Nichols has been suspended for forty hours.

“The particulars are he was in an instance where he fired some shots at a suspect,” Welch said. “We conducted an investigation and we determined that he used excessive force. As a result of that, we administered appropriate disciplinary action.”

Reporter: What is that disciplinary action?

“Trooper Nichols was suspended for 40 hours,” Welch said.

The shooting happened last October, but internal affairs closed their investigation last week recommending the suspension.

The future of 32 million federal dollars given to Florida to refund people who made their homes more energy efficient is hanging in the balance. The governor wants to pass the money on to the more than 17-thousand people awaiting rebates, but as Whitney Ray tells us, the state legislature is in no hurry.

Brian Lockwood installed solar panels on his roof in June, just in time to qualify for a state rebate program. But the check still hasn’t arrived, even though Florida was given 32 million federal dollars in August for its energy rebate programs.

“If Best Buy or Sears or someone like that said we are going to give you 200 dollars on this refrigerator as a rebate and then didn’t come through on it there would be the Attorney General investigating, there would be hearings on Capitol Hill and the FTC and everyone else,” said Lockwood.

Governor Charlie Crist is asking the Republican-led legislature to pass the money through. Legislative leaders, at war with the governor after he split from the party, are holding out.

Al Simpler, owner of a solar panel company, says the feud is slowing down the creation of green jobs.

“We need to get involved with the jobs that come with clean energy and with the fact that we can start to be in charge of our own expenses,” said Simpler.

An estimated 17-thousand Floridians are waiting on solar rebates. Thousands more are holding onto the state’s promise to pay them back for buying energy efficient appliances. The state legislature could fix the problem when they come back for an organizational session in November.

But a similar situation unfolded in July when lawmakers convened for a special session on oil drilling. At the time millions of federal dollars were approved for Florida’s unemployed, but the legislature chose to ignore the issue, leaving Tallahassee is less than two hours.

Democratic nominee for US Senate Kendrick Meek says he’s ready for the first three-way debate of the General Election.

Most polls show Meek in third place, but he’s closing the gap between himself and independent candidate Charlie Crist. Right now Former House Speaker Marco Rubio leads with some polls showing him with 40 percent of the vote. Still Meek is confident that he’ll win and says Crist, who has no party backing, will end up in last place.

“The governor is like, he’s wearing a kerosene suit running through a three alarm fire, he’s not statistically come in second. He’s not going to come into first. He’s going to attract Republican conservative dollars into the state because that’s the last thing they would like to see on the national level,” said Meek.

The first debate to feature all three candidates will be hosted by Spanish language TV station Univision, tomorrow at 1 o’clock Eastern time, and will air at 11.

With the panhandle tourism season over and money promised from BP slow to come, the governor is stepping in to boost tourism.

Governor Charlie Crist is giving the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association 700-thousand dollars. The money comes from a pool paid into by members earlier this year and was originally earmarked for educational and promotional programs. The Association’s President Carol Dover says it’s better spent now to help businesses still struggling from the oil spill.

“I want to thank the governor and his staff for seeing how serious it is still in the panhandle. They virtually lost their peak season and as you know the fall is not the season in the panhandle, but it’s one of the most beautiful times to be in the panhandle,” said Dover.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association will work with panhandle businesses leaders to pump the money into fishing tournaments, concerts, and seafood festivals.

Thousands of Floridians are still scraping by, waiting on money from BP to make up for the business they lost to the oil spill. State officials say the man in charge of a 20 billion dollar fund set up to pay claims is dragging his feet. Attorney General Bill McCollum met with Claims Czar Ken Finberg this morning. As Whitney Ray tells us, if the money doesn’t start flowing the lawsuits will.

On July 20th, Jeff Elbert came to the state capitol seeking help for his failing business. At the time, the BP oil spill had driven sales at Jeff’s four Pensacola souvenir shops down 40 percent.

“To be at the will and the wind of BP is a very frustrating process,” said Jeff.

At the end of this month Jeff will close one of his shops. Business is still down. The claim he filed back in May still not paid. CFO Alex Sink shared Jeff’s story at Cabinet Tuesday.

“If it is going to take an additional month to review and process these claims many businesses will be unable to keep their doors open,” said Sink.

18-thousand claims have been filed in Florida… just 55-hundred have been paid. The pace slowed drastically when Ken Finberg, the federally appointed claims Czar, took over for BP.

Earlier this week Mr. Finberg told members of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association proximity would play a big role in who gets paid. Attorney General Bill McCollum met with Finberg for two hours Wednesday morning. Finberg escaped out the back, but McCollum told reporters Florida won’t be overlooked.

“If he doesn’t resolve this and allow claims in the state of Florida, all over the state of Florida and the tourism industry, we are going to have a lot of litigation,” said McCollum.

McCollum says part of the reason for the delays in Florida is because Louisiana and Alabama say their claims are more urgent, and are questioning the validity of Florida claims.

McCollum is also asking Finberg to set up a call center that will allow a claimant to talk to the same operator each time he or she calls. He also wants a claims representative to relocate to Florida in order to work more closely with state officials.

A gay man who has been fighting the state over his right to adopt two foster children in his care may soon be a legal father. Governor Charlie Crist said today he no longer opposes gays adopting, and the governor could end the existing lawsuit if he chooses.

Florida is the only state in the country that prohibits gays from adopting. In 2008 Martin Gill won a lawsuit saying his equal protect rights were being denied because he could not adopt. An appeals court has been sitting on the case for more than a  year. Governor Charlie Crist once opposed gay adoption, but no longer does. He was asked if he has changed his position. He responded:  “Not really. It’s more of an appropriate evolution. As most of us learn in life, the older you become the more tolerate you become, the less judgmental you are”.

The Department of Children and Families, which reports to Crist, could..if it wanted to…drop its legal opposition to the ban on gay adoptions. “I want to review it before I make that call,” says Crist.

So far the state has spent almost 4 hundred thousand dollars defending the ban. One estimate suggests that by allowing gays to adopt, Florida could save more than three million dollars a year in Foster care costs.

The question is whether the Governor lets the case wind it’s way through the courts, or drops the appeal of the finding the law is unconstitutional. Either way, Alex Sink says if she is elected, Gays will be able to adopt.  “Every case should be evaluated individually, and it should be left to the experts who know most intimately about that child’s well being, and the judge. There should be no discrimination,” says Sink.

For Martin Gill, who still is caring for the foster children he wants to adopt, the answer could not come soon enough. DCF Secretary George Sheldon said late Tuesday that a final determination by a court of last resort, such as the Florida Supreme Court, would be in the best interests of Florida’s children. Some 850 children are eligible to be adopted in Florida.

It has been 20 years since Florida’s Police Benevolent Association and the Fraternal Order of Police have endorsed a Democrat for Governor, but Alex Sink and running mate Rod Smith got the nod today from the two organizations. PBA Executive Director David Murrell says Rick Scott, the republican in the race, has wild ideas to cut prison expenses in half. “She believes in putting money into basic services. and she doesn’t believe in all this wild cutting and radical ideas Rick Scott has. For example, cutting the prison system by about 50%. there’s no way you can avoid early release of dangerous inmates. He’s just got some really far out ideas and she’s a common sense business woman, successful businesswoman, who will make sure services are there that people want,” says Murrell.

FOP President James Preston echoed the same sentiment. “ We first met her four years ago when she was running for CFO, and it was clear to me she is not a typical politician. She’s a business person, She has common sense, and just a sense of duty and integrity I thing she is going to fulfill in the office of Governor.

In addition to money, the endorsements usually bring significant labor resources to help the campaign.

The Governor and State Cabinet will be sending a letter to the BP claims administrator, asking him to start getting money into people’s hands. Frustrated with months of delay, CFO Alex Sink and Governor Charlie Crist today said they would send a strongly worded letter telling the administrator to start paying claims before people go out of business.

Sink brought up the matter as teh Governor and Cabinet were being briefed about the oil spill. “We have businesses who are about to fail and shut their doors through no fault of their own. Maybe Mr. Feinberg can come and talk to us at the next Cabinet Meeting, or we ought to send a strongly worded letter just imploring him to get on with it because our people are hurting out there, and he’s been at it for two months now, ” Sink said. then the Governor chimed in “CFO, I want to echo your comments.  I think it would be more than appropriate for us to co-sign a letter to Mr. Feinberg, encouraging increased urgency as it relates to legitimate claims, that business owners have along the coast as it relates to the oil spill because it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to hang on.

The Governor and Cabinet could ask the claims administrator to appear before them in two weeks.

Voters will see two amendments on November’s ballot that will change the way lawmakers draw legislative and congressional districts. Amendments 5 and 6 would set standards regarding compactness and other criteria that would make it hard to draw districts to reward or punish incumbents. the concept is more than 20 years old, but has failed because of politics as usual. Charlie Crist supports the change.

“Fairness should always be the order of the day, and what is being attempted by those amendments , I think is right for people, It’s right for appropriate representation, doesn’t have these crazy districts, hopefully, I just think it is prudent, fair and its rights,” Crist told reporters this morning.

A legislative amendment to over ride the intent of amendments 5 and 6 was taken off the ballot by the courts. Sixty percent of those voting must approve the amendments for them to take effect.

The families of 25 missing children are asking the public to take another look. Their children were honored today at the state capitol at the 12th annual Missing Children’s Day ceremony. Some of the kids have been missing for more than a decade, but as Whitney Ray tells us, family members haven’t given up on their safe return.

It’s been 10 years since Zack Bernhardt was taken from his Clearwater home. His aunt and grandmother were at the state capitol Monday pleading for his safe return.

“Today I get weak. And on his birthday,” said Carole Bernhardt.

Teresa Neves, the grandmother of missing 6 year old Haleigh Cummings who disappeared in February 2009, couldn’t fight back the tears.

“We are going to continue to look for Haleigh. And we are going to continue to pray and we hope that other people will continue to look for Haleigh,” said Teresa.

25 missing Florida children were honored at the State Capitol Monday. Their families placed roses next to their pictures. One mother fainted under the emotional stress of not knowing. They pushed through the pain in hopes that someone will see their loved one’s picture. Someone will call with a tip that leads to their rescue.

This past weekend pictures of the missing children were posted on billboards through out the state. The billboards are effective in spreading the word about missing kids. Also, advances in technology like text alerts and email notifications are getting the public involved faster.

“If in fact someone has actually taken the child it makes it more difficult to keep the child somewhere. It makes these billboards and other technology more viable,” said Gerald Bailey, FDLE Commissioner.

While most missing children are found quickly, three percent are never found. The families of the 25 still have hope that their kid’s not one of them. If you recognize any of the children in today’s story call 1888-FL-MISSING. For more information about missing children in Florida visit www.fdle.state.fl.us.

Tomorrow all eyes will be on Florida as the state will make its case against the new Federal Health Care laws.

Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum is leading the charge to block part of the new regulations from taking effect in Florida. One issue McCollum is taking issue with is a provision requiring people to buy health insurance. McCollum says it’s unconstitutional.

“In the US Constitution there’s no place in it where the federal government is given the power to say, if you are sitting at home watching television that you’ve got to buy a product of any type, especially in this case a health care policy,” said McCollum.

Governor Charlie Crist, who is running for US Senate as an independent, says he would have voted against the bill had he been in Congress at the time. But he recently told an Orlando reporter otherwise.

“Obviously there are things in that bill that are disturbing and would have caused me to vote against that bill had I had the opportunity. There are things in there that are not bad either. One of them tries to get rid of the health insurance discriminatory practice of that if you have a preexisting condition you can’t get coverage,” said Crist.

The hearing begins at 9:00 central time tomorrow in Pensacola.

The Republican Party of Florida is taking another look at a spending scandal involving some of its former leaders. This time they’re going after Governor Charlie Crist.

Crist left the party in May to run for US Senate as an independent. Since he left the party, the man he picked to run the state GOP was indicted for funneling party donations to a consulting company he owned. Crist says he had no prior knowledge of the insider deal, but now the party is bring new accusations, saying Crist owes them for thousand of dollars in travel expenses. Crist says the party is just playing politics.

“They have their own nominee for the US Senate that is under federal investigation as reported by the media. I think they ought to get their own shop in order first before they go after an independent candidate,” said Crist.

Earlier this year the FBI began investigation Republican US Senate nominee Marco Rubio for using an RPOF credit card to pay for repairs to his mini-van, car rental charges and even a hair cut. Rubio says he paid the party back. No charges have been brought, but the FBI will neither confirm nor deny that the investigation is over.