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Seeing a lack of real solutions, a coalition of law enforcement officers, health experts and insurance providers have created a plan to cut down on PIP Fraud.

PIP, or personal injury protection insurance, is mandatory for Florida drivers. It pays up to 10-thousand dollars in medical claims no matter who is at fault. Staging accidents and exaggerated medical claims are driving the up the cost. Katherine Webb with the Gear Up Florida Coalition says PIP can be fixed.

“Few bad actor including clinics, unlicensed or unregulated clinics, and unscrupulous attorneys are preying on individuals and its increasing costs for the entire insurance market place,” said Webb.

The coalition wants lawmakers to give insurance companies more time to investigate PIP claims, limit attorney fees in PIP cases and restrict, what some see as excessive alternative health care treatments like massage therapy.

The message coming from AARP tonight is clear: If you want to become president, leave Social Security and Medicare alone.

AARP released a survey of Republican voters in Florida. The results; almost two to one in favor of leaving the programs unchanged. Spokesman Dave Bruns says even the most rightwing voters don’t want the programs cut to balance the budget.

“People who agree with the Tea Party and have attended Tea Party events oppose cuts to social security for future beneficiaries and cuts to Medicare by landslide margins,” said Bruns.

There have been talks of cuts to Social Security and Medicare among presidential and congressional candidates. Some want to raise the retirement age to 69, others have talked about privatizing Social Security. They are all ideas to balance out nation’s budget and pay off the 14.9 trillion dollar deficit.

Two sisters whose third sibling was murdered 30 years ago have been reliving the details of the crime for the last three months. Thats when they learned the man responsible for their sisters murder was being paroled. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, today in Tallahassee, they found out the parole was going forward.

As a olive branch to the family, the Parole Commission did order Frederick paroled to a half way house in Jacksonville, instead of Ocala, where the victims family has relatives.

Sisters Carole Brohaihn and sister Cynthia Ward made their fourth trip to the parole board Wednesday. Their sister Mary was murdered in 1981. Clarence Frederick got a total of seven life sentences. Prosecutors told the board that Frederick is a bad guy.

“He shot the male victim seven times, while the victim lay in his bed,” Miami Dade prosecutor Jose Arrojo said.

Unfortunately for the family, Frederick was sentenced to life when life meant just 25 years.

Clarence Frederick is not alone. There are about 6,000 other people sentenced to life in prison who are still eligible for parole.

The case is complicated. Carol and her sister say they were never notified parole was being considered. They’ve been fighting for the last two months to keep him in prison. They got stiff opposition from Frederick’s legal representative.

“The issue in this case is what new information that brought you to postpone my client’s case,” David Mack, paralegal parole expert, said. “There is none.”

Frederick won. He’ll be out of prison over the weekend.

The family is devastated.

Reporter: What has this been like for you and your sister?

“Pure hell. I hope they’re praying to God that he don’t kill again,” Cynthia Ward said.

Parole was abolished in 1994. Life now really means life with no parole. But for thousands of families who suffered at the hands of those sentenced before that time,the chance of facing a perpetrator’s release is almost a yearly occurrence.

As a olive branch to the family, the Parole Commission did order Frederick paroled to a half way house in Jacksonville, instead of Ocala, where the victims family has relatives.

A group of police officers, firefighters and soldiers are running through Florida on a week long journey that will end on Veterans Day. Operation One Voice raises money to help wounded soldiers and the families of those killed in action. As Whitney Ray tells us, this year they’re running for a fallen Medal of Honor recipient whose family lives in Florida.

Their run may have started outside Atlanta Monday, but the individual journeys of these soldiers are much longer than this 550 mile trek through Georgia and Florida.

Sergeant First Class Joe Kapacziewski’s journey began when he enlisted shortly after 9/11. Six years ago he lost his leg in a fire fight in Iraq. Still he soldiers on.

“I’ve just been very fortunate to have a supportive chain of command to allow me to stay on active duty and keep doing what I love to do, which is be a soldier,” said Kapacziewski.

Kapacziewski lost a leg, Tom Miller lost a brother. Staff Sergeant Robert Miller was a green beret. He died in Afghanistan in 2008, while protecting a security force from enemy fire. He was shot.. but kept firing on the enemy until the end.

Miller was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery. His brother enlisted shortly after. The situation is still too fresh for Tom to talk about, but this year’s run is dedicated to the fallen soldier.

“What better way to honor him in a run than to run with the brother,” said organizer Bill Stevens.

By Wednesday Morning Operation One Voice had made it 280 miles, to the state capitol. Their run will end in Tampa on Veterans Day… about a hundred miles from the Miller family home.

The week long run is about raising awareness not money, but the police officers and firefighters of the program do collect donations in their free time. Since 2005 they’ve raise more than a million dollars for wounded soldiers.

97 cents of every dollar raised pays rehab costs for wounded soldiers, transportation for families traveling to visit their loved ones in military hospitals and to help the families of fallen soldiers.

William Dillon spent twenty-seven years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. At the time of his arrest, he was on the verge of signing a major league baseball contract with the Detroit Tigers. Dillon was released in November 2008 after DNA proved his innocence. Now, Dillon is starting to try and relive the dream of playing baseball.

Each fall, dozens of 40 and 50 something’s gather in Ft. Myers for the Roy Hobbs Amateur World Series. Some are former pro baseball players; others like William Michael Dillon, have always had the dream. “I’m looking to win. Every time I play.” Dillon tells us. “I just want to play some ball and have some fun,” he says.

Dillon was on the verge of signing a major league contract in 1981. His career was cut short when he was convicted of a murder and did 27 years for a crime DNA later proved he did not commit. This year, Dillon This year, Dillon tried to recapture some of that dream.“You know, I sit there and watch baseball and thinkin what I could have done. What I, you know, I used to watch a long time and say you know I should have been there.”

Slow in step, Dillon hoofed it to first base. going hitless in the series. But like his lost years behind bars, Bill Dillon has learned to take it all in stride. New evidence suggests there was some prosecutorial misconduct. “The system works, its just that people that are trying to make it work need to be in it. Not the people who are doing it for themselves, Dillon says with a bittersweet tone to his voice.

Sometimes angry, some times accepting, Bill Dillon found that for the first time in 30 years, he was with a group of people he could trust.

“Everybody is a little boy inside. I don’t care and ball players are always ball players their whole life.”

In addition to baseball, Bill Dillon is now playing in another arena…The State Legislature.

For two years, he has been told no when he sought compensation for his wrongful incarceration. He makes it clear he holds no grudges

A claims bill has been filed for the 2012 legislative session, and there is new evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. Bill Dillon is seeking a total of eight hundred and ten thousand dollars. That works out to thirty thousand dollars for each year he was in prison.

An estimated two thousands animals a day or 800-thousand a year are euthanized in Florida shelters. Legislation has been filed in Tallahassee to save animal lives and cut the taxpayer cost of putting animals down. It’s called the Animal Rescue Act, but As Whitney Ray tells us, many people who dedicated their lives to animals don’t think it’s a good idea.

Sonya White has dedicated her life to saving animals. She runs a nonprofit animal shelter, where cats and dogs are never euthanized.

“Animals are an important part of our society and they hold very special places in our lives,” said Sonya with the Leon County Humane Society.

A bill creating the Animal Rescue Act would require government shelters to try to place animals scheduled to be euthanized in nonprofit, no-kill shelters like Sonya’s. It’s being championed as a way to save lives and money…

But Sonya says it wouldn’t work. She already takes animals from public shelters. The economy has driven down donations and increased the need, so there’s no extra room.

“According to this bill, it would shorten the time that animals stay in shelters and shift that burden to the nonprofit sector and we don’t have the resources available,” said Sonya.

Putting euthanasia on hold could also cause overcrowding public shelters, eat resources and force shelters to keep dangerous animals longer.

“We would have to increase our staff, we would have to increase our budget and we would also have to look at where we were going to house these animals if we had to hold them an extra 24 hours,” said Erika Leckington with the Leon Community Animal Service Center.

Activists say the best way for lawmakers to help solve the overpopulation problem is to fund and promote spay and neuter programs. An aide for the bills sponsor says some public shelters don’t make efforts to place their animals with nonprofits. And adds similar legislation was passed in California 10 years ago and has already saved 400-thousand dollars and thousands of live in San Francisco alone.

A Panama City lawyer is challenging Steve Southerland for his congressional seat.

Democrat Alvin Peters announced his candidacy today. He says Southerland isn’t doing enough to create jobs. Peters wants a high tax rate for people earning more than 106-thousand dollars and says the federal government should bailout construction workers.

“Construction workers and housing has essentially been decimated and brought to a halt in many parts of the state and throughout this district and I think the federal government has a role to play in restarting that industry,” said Peters.

Peters hopes to challenge Southerland, but it’s a redistricting year and the boundaries haven’t been drawn yet, which means Peters and Southerland may not end up in the same district.

State corrections officials say they are still deciding whether to appeal a judge’s decision to stop a bid to privatize 29 Florida prisons. Circuit Court Judge Jackie Fulford has twice ruled against the private prison plans, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the Governor is none too happy.

Four thousand correctional officers face transfer or the loss of their jobs to private prisons under the legislative plan to turn 29 prisons over to a private corporation. Their union sued and stopped the plan. Corrections officer James Baiardi says the uncertainty is stressful.

“Are they going to have a job, are they not going to have a job? Are they going to be moving, are they not going to have to move? They more or less feel like yo-yos,” Baiardi said.

The state appealed, and the union went back into court to keep the privatization bids from being accepted. Early Saturday, a judge told the state for a second time to halt the bidding.

“When they started the bidding process again, I saw this new wave of panic among my membership and I saw how it affected my own family,” Baiardi said.

In the ten months since Rick Scott has been governor, he’s won lawsuit over high speed rail. But the courts have told him that he can’t drug test welfare recipients, and that he can’t go about privatizing prisons the way it was being done.

A plan to require public employee pension contributions is also in court. As a result, Rick Scott has been regularly expressing his displeasure with the courts.

“You know, the legislature passes something, I sign it, and the judiciary decides whether we are going to get to have it as a law or not,” Scott said. “That’s not the way it ought to be.”

Should Scott lose the pension case, and is forced to return what has been collected, the state would find itself a billion dollars short of balancing the current budget.

The state is still deciding whether to appeal the latest judicial order stopping the state from accepting bids for private prisons. Those bids were due to be opened Thursday.

Opposition to bringing three Vegas-style casino resorts to South Florida is growing. Religious groups and theme parks came out swinging last week. Now retailers are voicing their concerns. Opponents of the plan say established businesses will suffer but as Whitney Ray tells us, supporters say the casinos would create thousands of jobs.

A heavyweight bout is underway in Tallahassee pitting international casino corporations against Disney, business groups and a religious coalition.

“The Florida Catholic Conference is opposed to the current efforts to expand casino gambling,” said Mike McCarron with the Florida Catholic Conference.

“The Baptists have had a long and steadfast record of opposing gambling,” said Bill Bunkley with the Florida Baptist Convention.

“The opposition to the casino bills will be our number one legislative priority this year,” said John Stemberger with the Florida Family Policy Council.

The Florida Retail Federation is the latest organization to speak out against legislation to bring three Vegas-style resorts to South Florida. Retailers say, where new casinos go up sales go down, and industry suffers.”

“Our economy leads the nation most years, why would we gamble with that,” asks Rick McAllister with the Florida Retail Federation.

The gaming companies plan to spend billions in marketing and job creation if the legation passes. One has already spent 300 million dollars for land in Miami. But the bill’s sponsors say it’s not about money, it’s not even about expanding gaming. They claim allowing the mega-casino resorts to open in Florida will better equip the state to regulate gaming.

“We hope this will actually reduce gaming in the state,” said senate sponsor Ellyn Bogdanoff.

“The three locations being the largest expansion in gambling in Florida is a trivial argument at best I think,” said house sponsor Eric Fresen.

The bill limits the space the resort casinos can dedicate to gaming to just 10 percent. The rest of the resort would be rooms, restaurants, shops and convention space.

The legislation was filed less than two weeks ago and has yet to be heard in a committee, but it’s already shaping up to be one of the hottest issues of the 2012 legislative session.

A 473-year old painting stolen by Nazis during World War II was found hanging in a children’s museum near the state capitol. Today federal agents seized the painting. As Whitney Ray tells us, it belongs to a Jewish family that fled Europe to avoid the concentration camps, but US courts will have the final say in who gets the painting.

A crime perpetrated by Nazis in 1941 led federal agents to this Tallahassee Museum Friday. They presented a warrant and seized this 16th Century painting of Christ carrying his cross.

The painting belongs to members of a Jewish family who fled Paris to escape German soldiers. They made it out but their entire art collection was seized by the Nazis.

The painting ended up in a museum in Italy after World War II. It was loaned to the Mary Brogan Museum in Tallahassee earlier this year, where federal agents tracked it down.

“This painting has an incredibly interesting history,” Pamela Marsh, US Attorney.

US Attorney Pamela Marsh asked a federal judge for a seizer warrant Friday to start the process of returning the painting to the family.

“Our pleadings make it very plain that we believe the heirs of Federico Gentile are the rightful owners,” said Marsh.

The curator of the museum where the painting was seized calls the case as an educational opportunity.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to make Holocaust education come alive,” Chucha Barber, Curator of the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science.

The painting was insured for 2.3 million dollars, but its value is expected to be much higher. It will be stored in an undisclosed location until the legal proceedings are over. Five grandchildren of the rightful owner are still living. One of them has been talking with the museum’s curator and tells her, he was three years old when the family fled Paris and remembers the day they left all behind.

Governor Rick Scott is challenging an injunction by a federal judge that halted the random drug testing of welfare recipients last month. The state began testing people who receive state cash assistance in July. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit saying the tests violate the fourth amendment which protects citizens from unwarranted searches by the government. Last month a federal judge decided the ACLU had a good chance of winning the case and ordered an injunction putting the test be put on hold. Governor Rick Scott says the judge is wrong.

“I completely disagree, it was the wrong decision, that money is supposed to be for the benefit of children and there’s no way that’s not constitutional,” said Scott.

If Scott wins the appeal the Department of Children and Families can resume its tests. So far just two percent of the welfare recipients have failed. Another two percent never showed up to take the test.

It’s getting cold and with the changing temperature comes skyrocketing heating cost. State Senator Gary Siplin has a plan to help low income seniors pay their power bills. Right now about four billion dollars in utility deposits are sitting in a vault in Tallahassee, because people have forgotten about them. Siplin has filed a bill to allow the money to be used to help seniors struggling to pay bills.

“We want to use that to help our seniors pay their light bills so they can then begin to choose between prescription drug and their budget or their mortgage and their rent,” said Siplin.

Utility companies hang onto unclaimed deposits for two year. Then the state keeps them a few more years. To see if you have a unclaimed deposit visit www.fltreasurehunt.org

We continue to follow the developments of legislation that could pave the way for Florida to become home to the largest casino in the world. If the legislation passes a compact between the state and Seminole Indian Tribe would likely be broken. The tribe is paying the state 250 million dollars this year for exclusive rights to Blackjack and other Vegas-style games. House Sponsor of the Casino bill Representative Eric Fresen says the deal will be dead even if his bill fails because counties are already violating it.

“I think that compact is probably toast in the next six months anyway if the Gadsden thing happens, if the Miami thing happens, because all of those can be interpreted very quickly by the Seminole tribe as a violation of the compact because there is somebody new playing slots or there is somebody new gaming,” said Fresen.

In total the tribe has agreed to pay the state a billion dollars through 2015 for exclusive rights to games in its seven casinos. Fresen says the deal isn’t fair and the state can balance its budget without the Seminole money.

Twenty five years ago today, voters approved the Florida Lottery, voting 2-1 in favor of the games. Here’s video from January of 1988, the day the first lottery tickets were sold in Florida. Florida Lottery Secretary Cynthia O’Connell says the 23 billion dollars the lottery has generated for the state has help improve education.

“It’s provided 500-thouands Bright Futures Scholarships, 800 schools, a lot of school construction and a lot of education opportunities for kids in Florida,” said O’Connell.

An estimated four billion dollars in lottery tickets are sold every year.

This is the first school year Florida teachers will be evaluated based on their students’ test scores. By 2013, teachers can be fired for back to back years of poor scores and in 2014, pay can be cut if students don’t test well. The merit pay system was adopted to pay the best teachers more, but as Whitney Ray tells us, its unclear if there will be any money for merit raises.

After two years of protests from teachers, Florida’s merit pay system is in place. This year half of a teacher’s performance evaluation will be based on student test scores. By 2013 a teacher can be fired for back to back years of poor evaluations and starting in 2014 half a teachers pay will be based on those test scores.”

The new merit pay system was billed as a way to reward teachers with the highest performing students.

High School history teacher Scott Brown believes in merit pay, but doesn’t think test scores are the best tool to measure teacher’s abilities.

“Multiple choice tests are not effective, studies show that,” said Brown.

Like most teachers in Florida, Brown hasn’t received a raise in four years and wonders where the state legislature will find money to pay high performing teachers.

“They’re cutting back government, so I don’t know where they are going to find the money,” said Brown.

The House Education Committee was briefed on how the merit pay system will work.

“None of the currently allocated monies are being used for merit pay,” said Rep. Dwight Bullard.

With four straight years of budget deficits and a lagging economy its unclear where lawmakers will find the money for merit pay raise. One possible source is Race to the Top funds but those dollar are issued by the federal government and aren’t a permanent source of income. The good news is lawmakers have more than two years to find the funds.