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The Florida Department of Transportation wants to clean up Interstate 75 from the Georgia Stateline to Wildwood.

There are more than 900 billboards on I-75 out of compliance with the state’s sign laws. The state wants to purchase some of the signs and take them down. There are also plans to work with billboard owners to allow them to keep some of their signs by scaling them down to bring them into compliance. DOT Office of Right of Way Director John Garner said the plan is to make the road more attractive to visitors.

“We’re focusing our efforts to those areas that are very sensitive to manmade structures such as horse farms, open fields, open pastures; which are very sensitive to having structures block the motorists’ view of those areas. So we’re trying to work on those areas, remove the obstructions from those areas first,” said Garner.

The project is still going through the development process and still needs approval from the Federal Highway Administration. The administration could rule as early as November. If approved the project would take an estimated three years to complete.

Police departments and Sheriff’s offices throughout the state are slimming their ranks to make due with less money. The remaining officers are sharpening their skills to fight crime with a smaller force. As Whitney Ray tells us, officers say training maybe more important now than ever.

From behind the wheel, or on foot, Florida’s law enforcement officers have to be ready for the unexpected. But fighting crime is getting harder for dozens of law enforcement agencies being forced to cut staff to save money. Florida’s Highway Patrol alone has lost 157 positions. Gulf Stream Policeman Chris Hamori says officers are doing more with less.

“If you have an officer who can do two or three or maybe four different tasks, it can solve a lot of those problems, but you have to train those people to know how to do those tasks,” said Hamori.

Nearly 400 officers are receiving advanced training at the Florida Public Safety Institute. The officers will use what they learn to teach training courses back home. Training Center Director Jim Murdaugh said it’s time for officers to sharpen their skills.

“When you have fewer officers, then you need to ensure that the skills those officers have are absolutely at the highest level you can possible have them,” said Murdaugh.

Which means, when budgets are cut, the least experienced officers are normally the first to go. It cost about 50,000 dollars and takes a full year to train a new recruit. That’s time and money lost when budget cuts force layoffs.

Next year’s budgets are expected to be just as lean, likely forcing more cuts and making training all that more important. Training needs have also changed over the past 10 years. Many agencies now have squads specializing in cyber crime, child abductions, and intelligence gathering. Many police departments and sheriff’s offices have had to cut down on the specialized work to put more patrolmen on the streets.

Gamblers can now buy a scratch-off ticket the same way many people buy a coke.

The Florida Lottery is rolling out its ticket vending machines at convince stores throughout the state. They plan to have a thousand in place by November. Florida Lottery spokeswoman Connie Barnes said the machines will help boost sales.

“The Florida Revenue Estimating Conference conservatively projects a 3.4 million dollar profit after all expenses have been paid to education. So, we are very hopeful that these machines will generate additional dollars for that purpose,” said Barnes.
The machines take cash only and will be watched by store owners to make sure kids don’t buy the scratch-off games.

The speaker of the Florida House is asking the Federal government to shut down all seven of the Seminole Indian Casinos in Florida because the state is at an impasse with the Indians. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the Seminole Tribe believes the state is looking to get more than the tribe is willing to give.

In a strongly worded letter to federal officials, Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul is asking that card games at all seven Seminole Indian Casinos be shut down. The request is on tricky legal ground.

After the Governor signed a deal with the Seminoles, the agreement was later approved by the Federal government. Only later did a state court invalidate it. The tribe says what was signed remains in effect.

“It remains valid until an appropriate federal court or federal agency declares otherwise,” Seminole Tribe attorney Barry Richard said. “And that has not happened and should not happen, until the legislature decides whether or not it’s going to approve it.”

A second deal was negotiated in August, with the tribe giving the state 50 million a year more than in the original deal. The House leadership doesn’t like that second deal, because the tribe refused to give up exclusive rights to its card games.

House leaders say the negotiations over gambling are at an impasse and the tribe is quick to point out there have been no hearings held since the compact was signed, nor has any lawmaker called the tribe.

For more than a year, the Attorney General has been asking the Feds to shut the games down.

“We have had those communications with the National Indian Gaming Commission, saying you’ve got to step in; you need to shut these games down,” Sandi Copes, spokesperson for the Attorney General said. “No, [they haven’t shut them down]. The games do continue.”

And lawmakers should be careful what they wish for. Shutting the games down could put as many as 10 thousand people out of work…and they would share the blame.

A special session to take up gaming was supposed to be help in October.  It never happened and legislative leaders are being tight lipped about when or if they’ll take up the issue.

State tax collections are up for the second month in a row. Collections for September topped estimates by almost a hundred million dollars with bright spots in sales taxes and corporate income taxes. But, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, it is still too soon to say the economy is recovering.

State tax collections from auto sales were up in September, due in part to Cash for Clunkers. Collections from contruction were also above estimates. Corporate income taxes jumped by more than 41 million dollars. And even the documentary stamp tax over-acheived. Economists are happy, but…

“It’s good news for the state; it’s money we can spend,” state economist Amy Baker said. “But it doesn’t necessarily mean you can translate that into raising the estimates yet.”

The September collections were a mirror of August, putting state revenues about 200 million above estimates that are used to calculate budgets.

The state’s cheif economist is cautiously optimistic, but cautions that two months is not yet a trend.

The down side is that sales taxes in September were still 200 million dollars below a year ago. That’s causing some key lawmakers to be cautious.

“Certainly we still have high unemployment,” Rep. Will Weatherford (R-Pasco County). “There are still a lot of challenges we face in Florida. But our hopes are that we are starting to see the encouraging signs of revenues coming back.”

While the signs are  good, economists are reluctant to say the state has hit bottom and is recovering…yet.

“I want to see in October, when we didn’t have Cash for Clunkers, that it’s still up,” Baker said. “That would be very encouraging.”

And for Florida retailers, and the state as well, what happens over the Christmas holidays will be a key indicator the worst is over.

Plans to build a commuter rail system in Central Florida and enhance the Tri Rail system in Southeast Florida have been knocked off track two years running in Tallahassee. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, key state lawmakers are doing a turn-a-bout because of big dollars that could be available for a high speed rail system.

A Florida high speed rail system has been a dream for more than 2 decades. Voters approved it, then decided it was too expensive. Now, two and a half billion dollars in federal stimulus money is on the table. There’s just one catch. Florida has killed a commuter rail plan two years running.

What legislative leaders are being told is that if they don’t do something for commuter rail, they might as well forget about getting any money for high speed rail.

Sun Rail, which would convert a freight line to commuter rail across four Central Florida counties, is suddenly alive. The Senate President has suggested a special session in December to approve the

“The opportunity to get Sun Rail moving, helps us with the potential for the bullet train being able to come to Florida, high speed rail,” Crist said. “So I think he got that message and God bless him.”

The December session would come a month or two before the Feds decide which states will get the high speed rail money. CFO Alex Sink spoke with Federal administrators, and she says they made it clear to her that commuter rail money and high speed money were tied together.

“They did give me a little push back about Florida not having shown any previous real commitment to a commuter rail,” Sink said.

The High speed plan would link Orlando and Tampa and create about 25 thousand jobs within two years.

The yet-to-be-called special session would likely be held in early December, when lawmakers are at the capitol for committee meetings. Not on the agenda yet is the proposed gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe. Governor Charlie Crist says he is working to get the compact on the agenda

The price of a Florida Prepaid College Plan is skyrocketing to keep up with tuition increases. The base tuition plan is going up 10 percent or about 15-hundred dollars, but that doesn’t cover differential tuition put in place by the legislature two years ago. As Whitney Ray tell us, the differential tuition plan is going up 300 percent to nearly 20-thousand dollars.

Jennifer Meale bought a Florida prepaid College Plan for her daughter Ivey three years ago, and it’s already proven to be a smart investment. The price of some of the plans has increased 300 percent.

“When I saw that increase I was shocked and I think I was totally grateful we were locked into the tuition rate,” said Meale.

The price of a plan covering the base tuition rose 10 percent, but now state schools can raise a differential tuition up to 15 percent every year. A separate plan to cover those increases is up from 46 hundred dollars to nearly 20 thousand. And if you don’t like those prices, then there’s more bad news, they’re only going to get higher.

Susan James, a spokeswoman for the Florida Prepaid Board, says the plans will still pay off in the long run.

“Price of higher education is rising faster than inflation. So if you look at that every year this is a great savings vehicle for Florida families to put some money away for their child’s education,” said James.

Parents who buy a plan for their newborns today, are expected to save 12-thousand dollars by their time their kids graduates from college. Open enrollment for Florida Prepaid College Plans began Monday and lasts until January 31st, 2010. For more information on about the plans go to http://www.myfloridaprepaid.com/

Authorities are asking for your help to find a Clay County second grader.

An Amber Alert has been issued for Somer Renee Thompson. Somer was last seen in the Orange Park area. Governor Charlie Crist took a minute this morning while touring a Tallahassee business to spread the word.

“We have an Amber Alert and I wanted to share with you, hopefully to help find this young girl, Somer Thompson is her name. She was last seen in the area of West Orange Park, yesterday. She is seven years old, apparently was wearing a black shirt under a cranberry sweat-suit. Brown eyes, brown hair, almost four feet tall. We’re working with the Clay county sheriff’s office to try to do everything we can to locate this young girl and anything you all can do to get the word out, we’d be grateful for,” said Crist.

Attorney General Bill McCollum also sent out emails to help find Somer. McCollum says Amber Alerts are a critical tool in the search for missing kids. He’s encouraging Floridians to sign up to receive Amber Alerts. To register your email address or phone number go to www.missingchildrenalert.com/missing_children/Default.asp

A comprehensive plan to deal with a level five swine flu pandemic is creating controversy.

The plan, drafted by the Department of Health in 2006, suggests in a worst case scenario hospital bound terminally ill patients would be denied life prolonging care in an effort to safe otherwise healthy swine flu victims. Governor Charlie Crist responded to concerns, saying it’s only a plan for the worst situation.

“I don’t know if there’s confusion. I think what they’re trying to do is in a worse case scenario, have Florida be prepared. It’s always good to be prepared for difficulties, whether it’s a hurricane or H1N1. One of the things that I’m very proud about, is that I think Florida leads the way in preparedness. Well, knock on wood, we’re very fortunate we haven’t had any hurricanes lately. But this H1N1 is something we have to take seriously and be prepared for it. I’m glad that our health officials are,” said Crist.

A more recent study suggests that in a worst case scenario no more than 80 percent of Florida’s hospital beds would be occupied.

New technology to protect teen drivers is hitting Florida’s roadways. Ford is unveiling its MyKey Technology in an effort to curb teen road fatalities. As Whitney Ray tells us, the MyKey technology will limit the car’s maximum speed and stereo volume when a teen is behind the wheel.

Kelly Jones is only 17, but she’s already learned some hard lessons about safe driving. Last year a car wreck claimed her friend’s life.

“That was really sobering for the whole school. And I think it was a lesson, a sad one, of just how important safety is,” said Kelly

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among teens. 200 drivers ages 15 to 19 died last year in Florida alone.

Ford is using technology to cut down on the number of crashes.

The company’s new MyKey technology allows parents to give their teens a special car key that caps the cars’ maximum speed at 80.

There’s even a feature for teens who like to blare their music. The MyKey technology limits the stereo’s volume to 65 percent.

Ford Motor Company Spokeswoman Audrey Stone says the technology provides an incentive to drive safe.

“We don’t want to have our teenagers distracted these days and we feel like the 65 percent volume capacity is plenty enough for the teenager to enjoy their driving experience but also stay safe,” said Stone.

The radio won’t even play if the driver isn’t wearing a seatbelt. Kelly Jones says no one want the music to stop.

“Most teenagers listen to the radio, so that’s a big thing,” said Kelly.

The MyKey cars also display messages on a dashboard screen, signaling to drive safely or buckle up, but the most important instruction needs to come from parents long before the child ever gets behind the wheel.

Cars with the MyKey technology are available at Ford dealers throughout the state. It is considered a standard feature in most 2010 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles.

The state’s largest police union is backing Governor Charlie Crist in the US Senate race.

The Florida Police Benevolent Association announced it is endorsing Crist today during a news conference on the steps of the old capitol. During the 2009 special session to balance the budget, Crist vetoed a spending cut that would have cost more than a hundred correctional officers their jobs. Crist says he’s always had tremendous respect for police officers for their efforts to keep the state safe.

“I always told people when I was in the state senate, ‘we had the easy part to do.’ All we had to do was vote right. These people were the ones who really had to stick their neck out and that’s why this endorsement today is something I will never forget. I’ll always cherish,” said Crist.

The Florida PBA has endorsed Crist in all of his major races.

The state’s unemployment hit 11 percent in September, and for the first time in the state’s history, more than one million people are unemployed and looking for work.
The rate of job loss is slowing, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, there are still far more people looking than there are jobs.

18 thousand more Floridians lost their jobs in September. One of them was Isaac Cuyler.

“I’m hurting…financially,” Cuyler, an unemployed maintenance worker said.

Since January, 360 thousand Florida jobs have disappeared. Labor economists say job creation remains stagnant.

“And when you look at the number of unemployed in Florida, compared to the number of ads, it’s about 5 to,” chief labor economist Rebecca Rust said. “There’s five unemployed for every job opening reported on the internet.”

New numbers also show that nearly one in five with jobs are underutilized. That  means they’re over qualified for the job they took.

One good sign this month is that state revenues are above expectations, suggesting that people are starting to spend again.

Revenue collections  and consumer confidence are up two months running and the foreclosure rate is falling. Still, Florida Taxwatch says it’s too soon to say a recovery is underway.

“You know Mike, this is very encouraging news, but we’ve got a very,very steep incline to get out of…so, we need every bit of good news we can get,” Dominic Calabro with Florida Taxwatch said.

Florida’s unemployment rate was 7 tenths of a percent higher in 1975, but never before have more than one million Floridians been out of work.

Florida ran out of money to pay claims in August, and has already borrowed more than 464 million to pay claims. Since the first of the year, more than four billion dollars has been paid to the unemployed.

Florida’s children and down trodden have lost an advocate. Budd Bell, know throughout the child advocacy community as a pioneer has died at age 94. Ms. Bell lobbied the state capitol without pay for more than 30 years. She is credited with forcing state lawmakers to better fund children’s programs and once held a bake sale in front of the House Chamber to make her point. Karen Woodall interned with Bell in 1979 and says she chose to be an advocate after learning from Budd Bell.

“She was brilliant and she cared deeply for all kinds of people,” Woodall said.  “Everybody who was kind of left out of the mix. In addition to that, Budd was a teacher, she was a trainer. She didn’t just do her work.”

Bell moved to Florida in 1969 and founded Kids Incorporated as well as the Clearing House on Human services.

A new report today shows Florida has spend 4 billion stimulus dollars and that has led to the creation of 64 thousand, three hundred jobs. About a third of the jobs are in education, and helped keep teachers and aids in the classroom. Stimulus Czar Don Winstead says new unemployment numbers make spending the money wisely ever more important.

“It really underscores the importance, with the announcement of the unemployment numbers today, to remain diligent, to continue to get the money out there, and continue with the job creation, because that’s important for our state,” Winstead said.
If the 64 thousand jobs had been lost, the state’s unemployment rate would have been 7 tenths of a percent higher and tied the 1975 record for unemployment.

The majority of Florida’s utility customers will be paying more in coming months. The Public Service Commission in Tallahassee voted 3 to 1 today to allow Florida Power and Light and Progress Energy to collect part of the cost of constructing new nuclear plants from customers. FPL Spokesman Mayco Villafana says collecting now will reduce costs later.

“We have got to look at this long-term,” Villafana said. “We can’t look just at what is occurring right now in the marketplace and say that just because the situation right now is recessionary, that we shouldn’t plan for the future.  The state plans for schools, roads, and other things.  We have to plan ahead in the same fashion.”

PSC Commissioner  Nancy Argenziano was the lone vote against the early cost recovery.

“It’s a horrible, horrible economic time,” Argenziano said. “Everybody knows that.  The company knows that; their employees know it.  We know it.  It made this decision even harder because I’m not anti-nuclear.”

The final approved amount for customer bills will be determined after the PSC’s decision in the annual fuel cost recovery clause hearing beginning November 2.
Both companies are also seeking rate hikes for the basic cost of electricity.