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Soon Floridians across the state can begin buying scratch off games from vending machines.

The first of one thousand Instant Ticket Vending Machines were installed this week. Each vending machine can hold up to 24 different scratch-off games, and anyone with exact change can buy a ticket, although the lottery dealer will be on hand to check IDs if necessary.

“We are working closely with our retailers to make certain that these machines are strategically being placed, near customer service counters or check out counters so that they can be monitored by the retailers. Everyone of these machines has an automatic kill-switch whereby if a retailer expects an underage player is trying to purchase tickets from a remote control they can shut the machine down automatically,” said Florida Lotto Spokeswoman Connie Barnes.

The machines are expected to bring in 3.4 million dollars for the state’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.

College dorm rooms around the state are being bombarded with freshman this week. But students aren’t just bringing their clothes and computers to school, they’re also bringing germs. As Whitney Ray tells us, Florida State University has ordered extra Tamiflu, hired more nurses, and set up hand sanitizing stations around campus in hopes of preventing an outbreak.

FSU will launch a website Monday with the latest information about swine flu prevention on campus.

Emilio and Coreen Deboy are helping their daughter Ali move into her new dorm room at Florida State University. Besides the basics the Deboys are leaving their daughter with extra hand sanitizer and lots of advice.

“Wash your hands the proper way with soap and use friction,” said Coreen.

The threat of a swine flu outbreak was on the minds of many parents dropping their kids off at FSU. Milli Corris tried to get her daughter vaccinated.

“We tried to get the immunization before she came in, we tried to get the shot but it wasn’t available,” said Milli.

The vaccine won’t be ready until mid October, but in the mean time FSU is stocking up on Tamiflu, masks, and hand sanitizer.

The schools health center is stepping up its efforts to prevent an outbreak and adding extra staff incase an outbreak occurs.

Division of Student Affairs Director Lesley Sacher expects to see some sick students before the vaccine is released.

“We can’t protect every single person from getting, but we want to be very active in reducing the risk,” said Sacher.

FSU will send email, Facebook, and Twitter alerts to students in case of a swine flu emergency.

Attorney General Bill McCollum is leading Democratic rival, CFO Alex Sink in the gubernatorial race according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The poll shows McCollum up 38 – 34 over Sink. The results are the exact opposite of Quinnipiac June poll that showed Sink with a four point advantage. Quinnipiac Pollster Peter Brown says McCollum’s name recognition has helped him in the poll.

“It’s not just that more people know him, more people know him an most of them like him. Now whether it’s a deeper understanding of what he would do as govern and how he would navigate the state’s problems that’s not clear, but clearly he has made a very good first impression on the voters of Florida,” said Brown.

And Governor Charlie Crist continues to make a good impression with voters. The poll shows Crist with a 55 to 26 lead of Republican rival Marco Rubio.

Governor Charlie Crist has his hands full finding a replacement of US Senator Mel Martinez.

Crist interviewed representative Jennifer Carroll and University of North Florida President John Delaney this morning in Jacksonville. This afternoon Crist interviewed his former Chief of Staff and campaign director George Lemieux. Lemieux is a close friend of the governor’s and more than likely won’t run against Crist to keep the seat in 2010.

“I see myself as a Charlie Crist Republican, as a person who would approach government as a problem solver, I believe in less government, less spending, less taxes, more freedom, and I think the Charlie Crist way of staying with your principals, but still trying to solve problems for the people is the way we need to address things in Washington,” said Lemieux.

Crist is trying to have the seat filled by September 8th, when Congress reconvenes in Washington DC.

When school starts next week, there will be 28,000 fewer kids in the Florida school system. Researchers say Florida’s financial situation contributed to the decline by forcing families to look for jobs outside of the state. As Whitney Ray tells us, the student exodus will cost Florida schools 240-million dollars in education funding.

When elementary school Principal Sheree Cagle sounds the tardy bell next Monday, there will be 20 fewer students scrambling to find a seat.

“The whole district has seen a decline in the student population,” said Cagle.

And every time a student leaves a school, that district loses 8,500 dollars in funding.

Statewide the student population has fallen by 28,000 students, costing schools 240,000 dollars. Cagle said the drop in revenue will force schools to make tough choices.

“It usually equals less teachers and that’s what really hurts,” said Cagle.

The per-student funding reduction is just the latest financial problem facing schools. Falling property values and waning sales tax collections are costing schools billions. The Florida Education Association says lawmakers need to find new ways to fund schools.

“While we are in this area where we are not growing economically it gives us an opportunity to look at the way we structure our budgets; are we collecting the right taxes from the right people? Are we currently properly funding education,” said FEA Spokesman Mark Pudlow.

Stimulus dollars are helping to bridge a funding gap for education this year, but the unexpected decline in enrollment and falling property values could leave schools shortchanged. While enrollment is down, schools still face rising fuel, insurance, and other fixed costs.

The state is praising six public schools for raising their grades from an F to an A.

Governor Charlie Crist met with teachers and principals from five of the schools today. The group told Crist it took a lot of extra hours and help from the community to get their grades up. Crist said school grades around the state are on the rise.

“We had the highest grades in our schools this past year, about 75 parent A and B schools. That’s a tremendous accomplishment. And these schools that came here to visit with us today, they went from an F to an A in one year. It’s just incredible what’s happening to education in Florida,” said Crist.

Sheree Cagle, the principal of George S. Hallmark Elementary School in Escambia County, says keeping qualified teachers on the payroll was key to improving he school’s grade.

“You have to have a faculty that works together and is willing to go beyond the call of duty, that’s willing to have a lot of extra training and then to stay after school that’s important, that when you get teachers trained, not to have that big turnover and have to start over next year,” said Cagle.

Besides improving their school grades, the schools also meet 100 percent of the federal Adequate Yearly Progress requirements created by the No Child Left Behind Act.

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.