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Governor Rick Scott is back in Florida after a week long trade mission to Canada. Scott announced 110 ten jobs moving to the Boca Raton area. He says the trip also snared 10 jobs for the Tampa Bay area and says an aviation company would be moving to Opalocka in South Florida. Scott says the real impact of the trip is in building trust.

“I think the biggest thing is, every time you do these, you create relationships where people will follow up with you down the road, and you also tell your story and you understand what your weaknesses are,” Scott said.

Scott says more than 120 companies were contracted on the trip.

On the morning after the Miami Heat won the first game of the NBA playoffs, Governor Rick Scott called on Texas Governor Rick Perry to pay off their gentleman’s bet of BBQ sauce. But alas, it was not to be. After the Heat lost the playoffs 4 to two last night, Rick Scott will have to pony up some Key Lime Pie for the Texas Governor.

“I went to the second game and then I left. We were ahead by 12, and then we lost. It’s too bad,” Scott said.

Hundreds of small town pharmacists fear a change in the state’s Medicaid program could force some independently owned drug stores to close. The state wants all Medicaid recipients to order their drugs from a mail-order company. As Whitney Ray tells us, the change will mean layoffs or even worse for community drug stores.

In the quaint panhandle town of Monticello, hundreds of locals owe their loyalty and even more to Jackson Drug Store. A few decades ago, Betty Conner turned to the drug store for help when her kids were sick and she was broke.

“Back then people weren’t making much money, and I could come up here and get prescriptions,” said Conner.

What the anchor the drug store provides to Monticello is in jeopardy. A reworking of the state’s Medicaid program could force those receiving the entitlement to get their drugs from a mail-order drug company.

With three out of every four customers at this drug store on Medicaid, owner Tracey Jackson says the change could force her store will close.

” We won’t be able to stay in business. This town needs small businesses,” said Jackson.

The change has statewide implications. There are 900 independent pharmacists in Florida. Friday several traveled to Tallahassee to speak out against the plan.

Right now the state is gathering input and listening to the public about how they think Medicaid should be reformed. It’s all in an effort to save millions of taxpayer dollars.

2.9 million Floridians are on the Medicaid rolls… It costs an average of 7-thousand taxpayer dollars a year per patient.

A smaller number… Just 10 people work at the Jackson’s drug store. And if the state follows through with its plan they will be looking for new jobs. Changes to the prescription program are still in the works and aren’t expected to go into effect until July of 2012. Pharmacists focused on stopping the changes will probably have to enlist the help of sympathetic lawmakers.

Medicaid Reform Mettings

The way Medicaid is managed in Florida is changing. Today the first of several meetings was held to gather public input and answer questions about the Medicaid reform passed by the state legislature earlier this year. Those changes include forcing many of the state’s 2.9 million Medicaid recipients into managed care organizations, like HMOs. Roberta Bradford the Deputy Secretary of Medicaid for the state Agency for Health Care Administration says public input will improve the program.

“It’s to provide individuals with an opportunity for public input that could include suggestions, comments, recommendations, but our objective is to get feedback and use that feedback to improve it moving forward,” said Bradford.

Opponents of the plan say taking the management responsibility away from the state will demises the quality of care. Supporters say it will save the state money. More public meetings will be held throughout the state next week. For a list go to our website.

List of meetings.

http://ahca.myflorida.com/Medicaid/statewide_mc/index.shtml

A plan to pair students with fresh fruits and vegetables from Florida farms is one step closer to reality. A bill to take the school food program away from the Department of Education and give it to the Commissioner of Agriculture promises to put more Florida produce in school lunchrooms. As Whitney Ray tells us, the bill is on the governor’s desk and he’s expected to sign it.

Three year old Zoe Simms can’t get enough fresh fruits and vegetables. Her mom makes sure she and her 12 year old sister Rachel eat only the best.

“We prefer all organic and fresh-grown everything,” said Marissa Brock.

Which is why the family came to Blueberry Springs Farm Thursday. There are no chemicals or pesticides used on owner Jack Krause’s blueberry bushes.

“They’re fresh and straight from the farm; not processed, no chemicals on them,” said Krause.

Pretty soon Jack will have a better shot at having his produce in public schools. A bill on the governor’s desk gives the commissioner of agriculture authority over school lunches. And he’s pledging to put more Florida produce in school lunchrooms.

This contraption here is called a sorting tray. It’s used to weed out the smallest blueberries. Now if a piece of produce is either too small or too large it’s not allowed to ship, although it may still be good to eat. The commissioner of agriculture hopes to use those small and large pieces of produce in Florida schools.

The size of the fruit doesn’t matter much to Marissa, as long as her kids have options.

“When you do fresh fruits and vegetable and give the children an option they are more likely to choose the healthy option instead of the junky option,” said Marissa.

And better choices may be what’s needed to stop obesity among kids. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention one in three is overweight. The plan also calls for nutritional information to be posted online. So, beginning in 2012 parents can go to the Department of Agriculture’s website to see exactly what their students are eating.

Governor Rick Scott is catching heat from his opponents for standing behind jobs they say he didn’t create. Scott is promising to create 700-thousand jobs in seven years. Yesterday, while on a trade mission in Canada, Scott announced a Canadian company was moving a hundred jobs to Florida.

“I am pleased to announce today that Garda is moving its US headquarters to Boca Raton Florida,” said Scott.

But opponents, including the Florida Democrats, claim those jobs were coming before Scott was elected. A spokesman for Scott told a Florida newspaper every job added since he took office, and there are 50-thousand of them, counts toward Scott’s total, even though Scott had promised his job creation count would be on top of the million jobs economists say will be added naturally as the economy improves.

A ten year-old debate over the safety of many of the cars used by the Florida Highway Patrol is heating up.  30 police officers nationally have died when the fuel tanks of the Crown Victoria ruptured when hit from behind. Five officers were in Florida. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, many who drive the cars are spending more time looking in their rear view mirrors.

The Florida Highway Patrol has just over 1600 Crown Victorias in service. This test video shows what can happen when the Police Interceptor is hit from behind.

Five Florida police officers have died in Crown Vic fiery crashes since 1983.

The problem is that the car’s gas tank is situated behind the rear axel, making it more vulnerable. The most recent death happened last year, prompting the Police Benevolent Association to call for the Crown Vic to be scrapped.

“It is a dangerous enough job and we need to not make it anymore dangerous for them,” PBA spokesperson Al Shopp said.

Since a 2002 settlement with the state, Ford has provided Kevlar inserts for the cars’ trunks, and since 2006 they have added fire suppression systems. But a fourth of the FHP cars still on the road don’t have them.

“If you’re parked on the side of the road, in any vehicle that’s got a fuel tank in the rear of the car, and you have vehicles traveling past you at 70 and 80 miles an hour, that’s a danger no matter what the car you’re driving,” Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Capt. Mark Welch said.

New recruits are stuck with whatever they get, including the Crown Vic. Once this car gets replaced, they’ll get to choose between another Crown Vic or a Dodge Charger.

Lawmakers gave the patrol 5 million this year for replacing cars, but as long as replacement choices are limited, troopers will still be looking in the rear view mirror when they are stopped on the side of the road in a Crown Victoria.

Ford is expected to stop production of the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor in the coming year and begin pushing a Ford Taurus for police work.

Florida and 25 other states made their case against the national health care law to a three judge federal appeals panel in Atlanta today. The hearing comes just six months after a federal judge in Florida ruled part of the new health care law unconstitutional. As Whitney Ray tells us, regardless of how the appeals case turns out, the case won’t end until the US Supreme Court has its say.

On March 23rd, 2010 President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law; and declared.. “We are done.”

But not long after the applause died… the court challenges began. Florida’s then Attorney General Bill McCollum led the way, backed by 25 other states.

“We think just the shear numbers, plus the National Federation Independent business and couple of individuals gives this lawsuit a lot of weight,” said McCollum.

In December of last year a federal judge ruled in favor of Florida, calling at least part of the new health care law, unconstitutional. The decision was appealed, and the reins handed to Florida’s new Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“We’ve already started. We are fighting health care,” said Bondi.

Wednesday Bondi was in Atlanta fighting the appeal. Now matter how the judge rules, the case is expected to head to the US Supreme Court.

And while the court battle rages on, the state is turning down federal cash to implement the new law. So far the state has turned its back on 19 million dollars.

“We are not going to spend a lot of time and money getting ready to implement that until we know exactly what is going to happen,” said Scott.

Brad Ashwell, a consumer advocate with Florida Public Interest Research Group, calls it unwise.

“This is the law until it’s ruled unconstitutional. Many of the insurers are abiding by it. So it’s troubling,” said Ashwell.

A ruling isn’t expected for months and then it will take even more time for the US Supreme Court to take up the case.

Attorney General Pam Bondi responded to the court hearing this afternoon with these statements.

“I am encouraged by the judges’ response to our arguments that the health care law’s Medicaid expansion unconstitutionally coerces the states by forcing them to assume billions in uncompensated Medicaid costs. The health care law vastly exceeds Congress’s legitimate authority.

“I hope for a prompt decision from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and look forward to a final resolution by the U.S. Supreme Court as soon as possible.”

In Florida, 187-thousand acres have burned, left bare by nearly 3-thousand wildfires since January 1st. And the risk of more fires will continue until the state gets rain. A lot of it. As Whitney Ray tells us, the fires are so intense that firefighters from others states are here in Florida helping out.

Monday 100 foot flames rushed toward this dirt road in the Apalachicola National Forest. 24 hours later, controlled burns had trapped the fire, but not before 630 acres sizzled away. Firefighters from North Carolina and Texas are helping contain the flames.

Since the start of the year, 3-thousand fires have burned 187-thousand acres in Florida. There are burn bans in 23 counties.

Division of Forestry Spokesman Todd Schroeder says conditions are so dry… a single spark can burn hundreds of acres.

“Not much moisture in the ground, we got real low humidity and we are starting to see a little bit of an increase in wind,” said Schroeder.

What’s desperately needed now is rain but all too often with the rain comes lightening. The same culprit that started this fire and hundreds more across the state.

The water table is so low in some parts of the state it would take a tropical storm to bring raise the table to a normal level. Firefighters want the rain, but not the destruction.

“Not that we would want to invite tropical storms to the area, but that kind of water that that kind of system brings is really what we need all across Florida,” said Schroeder.

Firefighters are asking homeowners to remove dead limbs and brush from their yards and to clean off their roofs and gutters. Removing the debris lowers the risk of a fire. And if the rain doesn’t come in the next few weeks there could be major implications for Fourth of July celebrations. In some areas Floridians may be celebrating Independence Day without fireworks.

FCAT scores in math and reading were released earlier today and the kids with the best scores live in Okaloosa County. District administrators there praise passionate teachers and a system of pairing talented educators with struggling students. But As Whitney Ray tells us, another factor in the success of Okaloosa County has less to do with teachers and more to do with how students spend their summer breaks.

In Okaloosa County three out of four 10th graders passed the FCAT reading test, making the county the best in the state. 84 percent of the districts 8th graders passed math.

Guyla Hendrick, the chief officer of quality assurance with the district, credits a focus on putting the right teachers in the right classes.

“Some of our AP teachers are actually teaching some of our students in greater need in those subject areas,” said Hendricks.

While Okaloosa is celebrating its successes, scores statewide were flat.

And while it’s too late to improve these FCAT scores, it’s not too late to stop the summer slide which is the period between now and the start of next school year where many students stop learning and some actually forget things they already know.

Okaloosa suggests summer reading to parents and posts math problems online.

First lady Ann Scott released a list of books to encourage Florida students to read this summer.

“It definitely keeps kids from getting the summer slide,” said Scott.

Caleb Mackey is stopping the summer slide with hands on learning. Monday the second grader visited the Tallahassee Museum with his family.

“I learned how it’s like, how the pioneers used to live back then, and how small their houses was,” said Mackey.

But outside of summer school much of what a student learns over the next three months will depend on the parents. If students stay engaged educators says it will be reflected in next year’s FCAT scores.

The way the FCAT results are evaluated is changing and this year’s results come as the Department of Education is transitioning. The department says the changing system is largely to blame for there being no statewide gains this year.

Former Florida Governor and US Senator Bob Graham says most people don’t know the whole story behind 9/11. Today Graham embarked on a book tour to promote his new novel “Keys to the Kingdom.” The book is about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the September 11th attacks. Graham had to get clearance from the CIA to release his book, which he spent five years writing. Graham says the book merges fact and fiction.

“It’s fiction, but I would say that 35 to 40 percent of it is pure fact except I changed the name of living people. Another 20 percent is based on fact that is exaggerated and the rest of it is fiction,” said Graham.

Graham chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee during the 9/11 attacks and opposed the US invasion of Iraq.

When Governor Rick Scott signed the state budget in The Villages last Thursday, several people with signs critical of Scott were escorted from the event by police at the direction of a Governor’s staff person. Protestors were told the event was private, but now, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, that explanation is raising questions.

This video of protestors being ejected from the Scott Budget Celebration in the Villages was posted on YouTube.

Deputies are heard saying the event is private. The Villages’ square had been rented by the Republican Party of Florida.

But the Villages wasn’t rented by the Republican Party, it was made available to the Governor’s office free of charge, who then said, bill any extra expenses to the GOP.

At least one Scott staffer reportedly participated in the decision to remove the Democrats.

At a news conference, Scott says he was told after the fact about the incident.

“I heard about some issues, but that was before I got there,” Scott said.

Palm Beach Democratic State Representative Mark Pafford has written the Governor asking whether the event was public or private and who ordered the attendees removed. Spokesman Mark Hollis says there are still more questions than answers.

“Representative Pafford is simply asking the Governor to offer up some explanations. He thinks it’s a simple thing to do,” Hollis said.

When pressed on the issue Thursday, Scott said he would look into it.

“I wasn’t aware of it,” Scott said. “It happened before I got there. So, yeah, clearly I’ll look into it.”

A call to the Governor’s office asking how Scott would go about the investigation and when he might have more to say was not returned.

This is the first time in recent history a Florida governor has signed the budget outside the state capitol.

Three medical groups are filing a federal lawsuit against Governor Rick Scott to stop a law that prohibits doctors from asking their patients if they own guns. The doctors say the new law violates their 1st amendment right. But as Capitol Correspondent Whitney Ray tells us, the NRA says it’s the 2nd amendment that’s under attack.

Governor Rick Scott’s office points out that the law doesn’t prohibit doctors from asking patients about guns in situations were the doctor has reason to believe the patient may pose a threat to them self or others.

Dr. Louis St. Petery has dedicated his life to healing sick kids and protecting them from heath hazards. For years no question has been too personal and no topic too controversial when it comes to his patient’s health; until now.

Thursday Governor Rick Scott signed legislation that prohibits doctors from asking patients if they own guns. The new laws not being received well by pediatricians, who say it’s their duty to ask.

Dr. St. Petery says it’s all about education and safety.

“The guns need to be locked up, there need to be trigger locks, the ammunition can’t be stored with the handguns,” said St. Petery.

But what happens when a patient refuses to answer the question… In some cases… outside of St. Petery’s examinations room… they’ve been told to find another doctor.

“It’s nonsense. It’s none of their business what you own,” said Hammer.

NRA Lobbyist Marion Hammer says if doctor’s fear guns, they should give safety brochures to all their patients and stop targeting gun owners.

“We pay doctors to be doctors, to give us medical care. They’re trying to be social workers and bring their gun ban politics into the examining room,” said Hammer.

Friday afternoon a suit to block the new law was filed and now a federal judge will have to answer the question about what questions the first amendment allows a doctor to ask.

Tornadoes and floods taking lives and destroying homes throughout the country could raise the price Floridians pay for property insurance. The multibillion dollar price tag is taking a toll on nationwide reinsurance companies. Those companies could pass the pain on to Florida insurers, who, as Whitney Ray tells us, could pass the cost on to you.

This isn’t hurricane damage. This isn’t even Florida. But the tornadoes that ripped through Alabama a month ago could raise the price you pay for insurance.

So might the tornado that hit Massachusetts Wednesday and the record flooding in South Dakota.

Tonya Toole has been watching the destruction from her Florida beach home.

“We had heard we may have more serious major hurricanes here in Florida this season,” said Tonya.

Tonya chose to retire on the beach. She loves the scenery. Thursday she painted a tropical bird to hang in her home. But life’s not always a beach on the coast. Tonya, pays more for insurance because of hurricane threats.

“I take the responsibility of being in a high risk area,” said Tonya.

But just days into hurricane season, the biggest threat to her insurance premium isn’t a tropical storm. It’s disasters in other parts of the country. Those storms will make it more expensive for Florida insurers to buy reinsurance.

Across the table in Tonya’s art class, the idea of paying more is understood, but not welcomed.

“Every year it seems like it goes up,” said Ruth Draper who lives in Tallahassee.

The cost of reinsurance can’t be immediately passed on to customers because the state must first sign off on any major rate hikes. But now insurance companies can get the state’s approval quicker. Legislation passed this session speeds up the rate approval process from 90 days to 45.

Floridians paying more may just be one way of returning the favor. After the multi-billion dollar storms of 2004 and 2005, other states helped foot the bill.

While large rate hikes due to reinsurance costs require state approval, insurance companies can raise your payment 15 percent or less with no approval.

The state will pay college tuition and housing costs for foster kids who age out of the system, but the financial help hasn’t led to many success stories. Only three percent of kids aging out of Florida’s foster care system graduation from college. Danielle Johnson-Small is fighting to become one of the ones who make it. Today Danielle enrolled in the final two classes she needs to finish her associate’s degree at Tallahassee Community College. She wants to work with foster youth after she graduates.

“I can possible be a motivation for other people, for other students that are coming out who say “I can’t do this.” They can. Everything is possible when you have the will, the determination and you have a great support system,” said Danielle.

After Danielle finishes her associate’s degree she plans to enroll at FSU and study sociology. Danielle is 23. The state pays for housing for former foster youth who go to college until they are 23. It pays college tuition until a student reaches 28.

Governor Rick Scott says he’s prepared to take his battle with the ACLU all the way to the US Supreme Court. The ACLU is suing Scott to block random drug tests on state workers. The civil liberties group says the policy violates the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution. Scott says he’s been reassured it doesn’t.

“Drug testing state workers makes common sense. You know, the private sector does it. They do it to make sure they have a productive work force, and so we should be doing it at the state. it makes all the sense in the world, its constitutional, and taxpayers expect us to have a productive workforce that’s not abusing drugs,” said Scott.

Detrimental to Scott’s case is a 2004 ruling against random drug tests. Former Department of Juvenile Justice worker Rod Wenzel sued after he was fired for refusing to take the test. A federal judge sided with Wenzel ruling random testing can only be done by the state when public safety is at risk.