Welcome to

Photo Courtesy the Governor

Photo by Colin Hackley/ Florida Governor

Here is the text from pool reporter Lucy Morgan. 

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating 32 unidentified graves near a state reform school. Former students say the graves could hold the remains of some of their classmate who may have been beaten to death in the 1950’s and 60’s. As Whitney Ray tells us, the governor has ordered a full investigation.

Hear it Here: FDLE Investigates Unidentified Graves

The first thing Robert Straley noticed about the Florida School for Boys was its natural beauty. The aesthetics quickly wore off.

“It was a beautiful hell,” said Straley.

On Robert’s first day of school in 1963 he was beaten in the building known as the White House.

“I only got 40 lashes,” Straley said. “That turned me totally black and purple.”

Former students say some of the kids who were brought to the White House for beatings were never seen again.

The ground under the 31 metal crosses and one unmarked grave could hold clues to what happened to the students who disappeared. The Florida Department of Law enforcement is investigating the grave site.

“It’s really too early at this point to tell if we’ll be doing any type of excavation. We have a lot of leg work to do on the front end to determine if that is in fact necessary, A lot of records to look through, a lot of witnesses to locate,” said FDLE spokeswoman Heather Smith.

Patrick Hallinan was a witness to his own beating. Patrick was caught smoking with a black student. They were both taken to the White House. He never saw his friend again.

“I’d like to see them face to face. Tell them how angry I really am. I hope God can forgive them, I can’t,” said Patrick.

Patrick hopes uncovering the past will bring him closure, but for those who have already died, justice may be the only thing left. Governor Charlie Crist says if the investigation uncovers evidence of foul play, he wants charges brought against the perpetrators.

The Florida Association of Realtors is trying to protect homeowners from decoration disasters. The association is asking people to double check their Christmas décor to make sure it isn’t flammable. They also are asking people to keep Mistletoe, holly berries and Christmas cactus away from pets and children. The plants and berries can be deadly if eaten. Association spokesman John Sebree said people should always remember to turn off Christmas lights and another electronic decorations when their away or asleep.

“Frayed cords and lighting that’s several years old and flickers from time to time, you may not think that’s a big deal but if you happen to fall asleep at night and the lights are still on for the holidays, you don’t want to wake up with smoke in the house and ruin that biggest investment that you will ever make,” said Sebree.

The association is also reminding homeowners to check the batteries on their smoke detectors to avoid a disaster.

Florida A&M’s Marching 100 has been selected to play at President-Elect Barack Obama’s inauguration. The Marching 100 has received national and international acclaim, but as Whitney Ray tells us, band members say this will be the biggest performance of their lives.

Hear it Here: Rattlers Raising Money for Inauguration Performance

The FAMU Marching 100 played for President-Elect Barack Obama twice on the campaign trail. Apparently they made an impression. Obama has asked the band to perform at his inauguration. His invitation was immediately accepted.

“It makes you feel really good that you’re being rewarded on such a platform,” said Senior trombone player Tallie Brinson.

Junior sax player Stephanie Head said this is a moment she’ll always remember.

“Ten years from now I’ll be able to tell my children and my children will be able to tell their children that we got to participate in history,” said Stephanie.

This isn’t the first time the Marching 100 has been asked to play for a president. The band was invited to Bill Clinton’s swearing in ceremony in 1992 and 1996. Band Director Julian White said there’s no feeling that compares to witnessing a president taking the oath.

“The feeling of exuberating that goes through you body. If there’s a such thing as an aesthetic experience, that certainly is it,” said White.

The band will perform the Obama Campaign theme song, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” The FAMU band is trying to raise 100,000 dollars to pay for hotels and travel expenses. You can donate online at http://www.famu.edu/GiveToThe100

Economists don’t expect the state’s housing market to rebound until the middle of 2010.

Declining homes sales over the past year and a half have helped spur a two billion dollar hole in the state budget. The good news, sales have picked up over the past two months and the average price of a home in Florida has fallen to 170,000 dollars. Florida Association of Realtors Spokesman John Sebree said the climate is perfect for first time buyers.

“At this point our opportunity is the first home buyers. The person who doesn’t have a house to sell before they can buy a house. They now have the lowest price they’ll probably ever have, lower interest rates than they’ll probably every have,” said Sebree.

While the news is good for buyers, many sellers have had to discount their property to avoid foreclosure.

Reports of abuse at a Florida veteran’s hospital have led to the arrest of a health worker. Ramnarace Singh was arrested in Palm Beach County this morning.

The Florida Attorney General’s Office began investigating Singh after receiving reports he attack a wheelchair-bound patient. Attorney General Spokeswoman Sandi Copes said Singh took advantage of his position.

“It’s disgraceful anytime you receive reports that an elderly or disabled person has been taken advantage or even worse, physically abused. But to consider the fact the allegations, this time, stem from a someone who was in a position of care, who had been trusted with the well-being of that person, it really is a shame,” said Copes.

If Singh is convicted he faces five years in prison and a 5,000 dollar fine.

Bare-bones health coverage will soon be available for uninsured Floridians for about 155 dollars a month. Governor Charlie Crist unveiled the details of the Cover Florida Plan today. As Whitney Ray tells us, lower costs are possible because customers will have coverage options.

Hear it Here: Cover Florida

The state’s new low cost insurance plan works like a health care buffet. Governor Charlie Crist said the idea is to scale back coverage to lower cost.

“People can choose preventative coverage only, or they can choose coverage that includes catastrophic as well as hospital care,” Crist said.

Starting in January six insurance companies will carry 25 different Cover Florida plans. The Governor’s Health Insurance Advisor David Foy said the wide selection will allow people to scale back coverage to save money.

“They have a plan and say maybe I need 10 to 15 days hospital coverage and that way I can reduce my premium by 100, a 115 percent,” said Foy.

The plan is offered to Floridians ages 19 – 64, who were either laid off and lost their coverage or have been uninsured for at least six months.

One in three people who sell houses for a living don’t have health insurance. The Florida Association of Realtors says this plan could change that statistic. The association sent emails to its 130,000 members about the Cover Florida plans.

“Many of them haven’t sold a house in a while, but when you think about the fact that monthly insurance premiums for the average Floridian are about 500 dollars, you know an independent contractor or a small business person just can’t pay that in a tough market,” said association spokesman John Sebree.

About 3.8 million Floridians qualify for the plans, but many may not be able to afford any coverage at all. The Cover Florida plans will be available starting January 5th. For more information you can go to www.coverfloridahealthcare.com.

State investigators recently checked price scanning equipment in 60 stores across the state. Random inspections by Florida’s Department of Consumer Services found that most stores are charging customers the right price.

Inspectors scanned 3,000 items at an error rate of just above one percent. While most of the mistakes were in favor of the customer, Consumer Services Spokesman Terry McElroy said there were exceptions.

“We found flatware, dinnerware, that scanned 20 dollars above the actually price. So I think the message is, people need to know what they are being charged,” said McElroy.

If you’ve been overcharged call the Department of Consumer Services hotline at 1-800-HELPFLA (800-435-7352).

Lawmakers aren’t ruling out new taxes to help balance the state checkbook.

State senators were briefed one the budget today. Declining sales tax collections have helped spur a two billion dollar budget shortfall. A special session to balance the budget will likely be called in January. State Senator Nan Rich said while spending cuts are likely, lawmakers will also consider raising taxes to generate revenue.

“We can’t make more cuts without really hurting the most vulnerable people in our communities and I think we have to have everything on the table. We have to look at new resources and I’m hoping that is what’s going to happen,” said Rich.

The work isn’t over once this year’s budget is balanced. State economists estimate a 30 billion dollar budget shortfall over the next four years.

A trust fund named after the late Governor Lawton Chiles to provide heath care to children and seniors has already seen 300 million dollars siphoned off to plug a hole in the state budget. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, budget troubles in Tallahassee has the family crying foul as lawmakers look to the fund for more cash.

Hear it Here: Chiles Fund

The Chiles Family says the state is spending as much as 4 Billion dollars a year treating problems that could be cured by prevention such as funding pre natal screening.

The once 2 billion dollar fund was set up with money from the states tobacco settlement. The interest was to be used to make life better for children and seniors. Last spring state lawmakers took 300 million to provide health care. Investment losses have cut the fund in half.

Now the family of the late Governor is angry even more might be taken to fund budget deficits.

“We’ve seen a political dynamic where personal tax cuts are trumping children’s funding issues,” Bud Chiles, Lawton Chiles’ son said.

But declining sales tax means massive budget cuts. Governor Charlie Crist says what has been taken so far has been appropriate.

“I can’t read into the mind of our former governor, god rest his soul, but I think it’s been used wisely,” Crist said.

The family is so angry it says if any more money is taken from the fund, they want his name removed from it.

A law suit to stop a raid is also an option, but state lawmakers say they have few places to turn to keep the ship of state afloat.

“Legislature created it and the legislature has to look at all the needs in the state and all the challenges that we’re facing,” Sen. Nan Rich said.

The idea of a dollar a pack increase in the cigarette tax is starting to gain traction, but even that may not be enough to stave off another raid on the Chiles Endowment.

The Chiles Family says the state is spending as much as 4 Billion dollars a year treating problems that could be cured by prevention such as funding pre natal screening.

It was ten years ago this Friday that Governor Lawton Chiles passed away with just 3 weeks left in his term.

The former US Senator and two-term Governor won large cash settlements from big tobacco that became a model for the nation, he fought for kids health care and quality pre school. On the anniversary of his death, his son says life for children in Florida would be better today if his dad had lived to be a voice of reason for state policy makers.

“It would be profoundly different,” Bud Chiles, the former governor’s son said. “We would have continued the priority Pre-K education. We’d have a heck of a lot more kids in the insurance program. We’d be doing outreach to make sure those kids knew about those programs, to get them involved. We’d be spending less on remediation and criminal justice and more on the front end.”

Florida’s infant mortality rate rivals that of a third world nation, and the well being of children rank in the bottom quartile of most statistical ranking.

Just when you though things couldn’t get any worse. Check out this presentation from the Office of Economic and Democgraphic Research that was given to the Senate today. edr-presentation

Governor Charlie Crist unveiled his low cost health insurance plan Monday. The Cover Florida plan offers 25 coverage options for Floridians ages 19 to 64. There are 3.8 million uninsured people in Florida. People who qualify can sign up for the plans starting January 5th for about $150.00 a month.

Hear it Here: Cover Florida Presser

Dr. Todd Patterson, Bud Chiles, David Lawrence, Loranne Ausley

Bud Chiles, the son of Governor Lawton Chiles, help a news conference this morning to protest a pending raid of the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund to cover state revenue reductions. Here’s a partial copy of this mornings press conference. raw-chiles-presser-1209

State inspectors are visiting pet shops across Florida to catch people who are selling sick cats and dogs. The Florida Department of Consumers Services ordered the random checks to find out if pet store owners are complying with the state’s pet lemon law. As Whitney Ray tells us, there are a few things you can look for to make sure you don’t buy a sick puppy.

Hear it Here: Pet Checks

Veshon Boyles is Christmas shopping for his two year old daughter. He wants to make sure her first puppy can run with the pack.

“You want to make sure it’s healthy,” said Veshon.

Concerned parents aren’t the only ones keeping their eyes peeled for sick pets. This month state inspectors are visiting pet stores and asking customers to look for signs of disease.

“Look at the conditions that the animals are in. Make sure it doesn’t have any obviously runny noses or eyes or perhaps Diarrhea,” said Dr. Samuel Lamb with the Department of Agriculture.

Inspectors are also checking to see if the puppies and kittens are at least eight weeks old. When you buy a dog or cat, the seller is required by Florida law to give you a certificate of health. Pet store owner Carol Hoover said random checks help keep store owners honest.

“Sometimes things can slip and you can forget to take them back in and get new check ups. So I think it’s a great idea to keep everybody in check,” Hoover said.

So whether you’re just window shopping or ready to buy, be prepared to check the paperwork to make sure you don’t end up with a sick puppy. State law required pet store owners to refund customers who buy a dog or cat and find out from a veterinarian that the animal is sick. But the pet has to be returned with in 14 days of the purchase.