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Florida’s unemployment rate is now 10.6 percent well above the national average. Twenty-thousand Floridians lost their jobs last month bringing the rate up three tenths of a percent. But there is hope on the horizon. As Whitney Ray tells us, economists are reporting a slight increase in state revenue collections and home sales.

The signs of unemployment are everywhere. Boarded up windows and overgrown weeds signal shattered dreams and jobs lost. One Tallahassee Starbucks opened up less than a year ago with hopes of long lines, but the crowds never came and before the business could celebrate its one year anniversary it closed up shop.

970-thousand Floridians are out of work, bringing Florida’s unemployment rate to 10.6 percent. But it’s not all bad news. There are still 120-thousand job openings in the state.

“These opening show job churning in the labor market, even though industries are in decline there are needs for replacements,” said Rebecca Rust.

Home sales and state sales tax collections are slightly up over previous estimates.

“It’s a sign of stability. That things are starting to behave like we think they would, the outside things that were causing unexpected movements are staring to stop and not be factors,” said state economist Amy Baker.

Debbie lost her job as a hotel clerk three months ago. Next week she’s starting her new job at a Laundromat. It’s not exactly what she was looking for but…

“I’m grateful to have a job. I’m happy to have a job, so I’m okay,” said Debbie.

And while Debbie will keep her eyes open for new opportunities, most agree, any job in this economy is a good one. To take a look at the job openings visit the state job bank at https://www.employflorida.com

A judge has ordered the state attorney in the Ray Sansom case to produce more details about the charges leveled against the former house speaker.

Sansom was indicted for a plan to spend six million state dollars on an airplane hanger for a political contributor. A judge decided the defense needs more information about the charges to prepare its case. The judge ordered State Attorney Willie Meggs to identify the person who wrote the six million dollars into the state budget.

“I don’t know who typed the document. That’s of no consequence anyway. The one who is responsible for the document being typed is the one to be dealt with,” said Meggs.

Meggs has until next Friday to meet the judge’s request. The Sansom trial is scheduled to begin September 29th.

From AWI: Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June 2009 is 10.6 percent. This represents 970,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,192,000. The unemployment rate is 0.3 percentage point higher than the revised May rate of 10.3 percent and is up 4.6 percentage points from the June 2008 rate. The state’s current unemployment rate is 1.1 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent. The last time the unemployment rate was higher than June 2009 was October 1975 when it was 11.0 percent.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is hand picking specialists to catch Burmese pythons found on state land south of Okeechobee. The python problem became political July 1st, after a pet snake killed a toddler in Sumter County. As Whitney Ray tells us, Governor Charlie Crist has ordered Burmese pythons found in the wild to be killed, but pet pythons are safe for now.

Snake specialists will begin combing state land Friday morning; their mission: find and destroy all Burmese pythons. The snake population soared after Hurricane Andrew ripped through South Florida in 1992, allowing many pet pythons to escape their cages.

“The problem is they are not native to Florida and they do not have a nature predator here,” said Pat Behnke, a spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has formed a 10 member python posse to pulverize the predators.

“Our experts here at the FWC are aware of their skills and their handling and they are very professional so we know there is no safety risk with them,” said Behnke.

Even though the state is killing Burmese pythons, there’s a catch 22. In Florida it’s still legal to own one as a pet.

Carol Hoover sells turtles, tarantulas, and some snakes at her pet store. She stopped selling Burmese pythons because of careless owners.

“Most of them were college students and when they moved in four years they did not expect to take them with them,” said Carol Hoover, the owner of Carol’s Critters.

There’s now a 100 dollar annual licensing fee to own a Burmese python in Florida and new cage requirements are also in place, but a complete ban could be on the horizon. The Humane Society of the United States is condemning the python hunt. The group says efforts should focus on banning the import and sale of Burmese pythons.

A new mobile tracking device will soon allow the state to keep better tabs on foster care caseworkers.

The tracking devices were shown to the governor today, during his tour of the Department of Children and Families. The technology will alert supervisors if a caseworker skips a scheduled meeting with a foster kid. DCF is catching heat this week after 70 caseworkers were caught lying about visits. Governor Charlie Crist said despite the hiccup, DCF has come a long way from its tainted past.

“To be leading the nation in our accuracy rate and the services we do is extraordinary, especially when you consider, as the secretary just briefed me, that three or so years ago we were clearly not in that category,” said Crist.

The devices will be rolled out in September and given to caseworkers in the Miami-Dade area first.

A newborn baby boy abandoned in a hospital bathroom in Tallahassee is the 10th child that parents have given up in Florida this year. All 10 are alive and fine. State law allows parents who are overwhelmed to leave their newborn at a fire station, police department or a hospital. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, children left anywhere else often don’t survive.

The newborn baby boy was found in a 4th floor bathroom in this Tallahassee hospital on Tuesday. Because the child was not left with a person, police are reviewing surveillance tapes and have opened a criminal investigation.

“We want to find out a little bit more to make sure there are no other children involved, to make sure there’s no other crime that may have been involved. We just want to be thorough and make sure,” Tallahassee Police Department spokesman David McCranie said.

Since 2000 Florida law allows parents to leave newborns up to seven days old at fire stations, police department or hospitals, without consequence, if the child is given to a person.  Since 2000, 132 babies have been given up.

Since the law took effect, 45 parents have chosen to abandon their baby in unsafe places. Only 19 survived.

“Lydia” was dropped off at a Palm Beach hospital four years ago. Born with no arms and just one leg, Lydia has been adopted and is thriving today.

The child left in Tallahassee has not been named. The Department of Children and Families says the baby boy will be placed for adoption.

“But I know the state attorney will move very cautiously on this, because you don’t want to have a chilling impact on the safe-haven law,” DCF secretary George Sheldon said.

Under the safe-haven law, parents who give up their child can ask the court for the child back up until an adoption is finalized.

A Safe Haven for Newborns is a resource for parents facing the difficult decision of giving up a child. They can be reached on the web at www.asafehavenfornewborns.com or by calling 1-877-767-2229 (Baby)

Florida is receiving 175 million federal stimulus dollars to make homes more energy efficient. The money will be distributed through nonprofit groups and as Whitney Ray tells us, there are concerns about the state’s ability to keep track of that much cash.

A quick energy audit can help you save hundreds of dollars on utility bills. Preparing your house for a storm can save you thousands….

Florida is receiving 175 million stimulus dollars to make homes more energy efficient. The money will flow from the state to non-profit organizations in every county. The Capital Area Community Action Agency is one of them. The agency will receive 6 million for four counties.

“Our normal weatherization fund is around 350-thousand dollars for all of those counties,” said the Agency’s Directory Dorothy Johnson.

The agency is hiring extra staff to help keep track of how the money is being spent. The money won’t begin circulating in Florida until September, but five states that have already received the weatherization dollars are reporting misused funds. Florida’s Stimulus Czar Don Winstead says extra measures will be in place to keep every one honest.

“I think the Department of Community Affairs has built a strong oversight mechanism there for paying attention to those monies to audit before the homes are repaired and to go check afterwards,” said Winstead.

The Department of Community Affairs is hiring ten extra people to make sure contractors are doing the work the state is paying them to do. In the past, families that qualified could receive 25-hundred dollars to weatherize their homes. Because of the stimulus money the amount has been raised to 65-hundred. To see if you qualify for an energy audit or upgrades to your home, you can log onto our website and find an office near you.

Thousands of teaching jobs are being spared and 700-thousand unemployed Floridians are receiving benefits thanks to federal stimulus dollars.

Governor Charlie Crist met with state agency heads to discuss how the federal money is being spent. So far the state has paid out 534 million stimulus dollars to the state’s unemployed. Crist also credits the stimulus dollars for saving education.

“I think it’s pretty incredible that 26-thousand teachers will continue to be able to work for Florida’s children because of these additional monies and that’s really the point. This is to help people. This is to help education system. To help people with health care needs and it’s the people’s money so they deserve it,” said Crist.

Florida’s stimulus spending is posted online. Since the state began posting the stimulus plans the site has received more than 750-thousand hits. The website is http://flarecovery.com/

Governor Charlie Crist is declaring war on pythons.

Crist has asked the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to rid state land south of Lake Okeechobee of Burmese Pythons. The order comes two weeks after a pet python killed a Florida toddler. Crist said catching the snakes will help make Florida safer.

“I think it’s an important issue. I had a good conversation with Senator Nelson and Rodney Bureto who chairs our wildlife commissioner and they are working good in concert in order to make sure we protect our fellow Floridians. I was distressed to see the death that occurred recently,” said Crist.

The snake hunt will begin this Friday. The snakes will be caught and euthanized. Then scientist will measure and weigh the snakes to find out how much of a threat they pose to humans.

Florida’s two biggest power companies want to dig deeper into your pocket. Florida Power and Light and Progress Energy, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, are both asking for rate hikes that would push their earnings above the national average.

Electric companies are guaranteed a profit. FP&L makes just under 11 percent. Progress Energy, about 10 percent. Both want a raise. The cost to consumers: anywhere between 13 and 15 dollars a month for an average customer.

“I know you’ve heard it before, it’s a matter of ‘are we going to be able to afford drugs that we desperately need,’” Dick Williams with AARP said.

At public hearings across the state, consumers are telling regulators they can’t afford any more.

“I just don’t feel, financially, this is the time. When we’re close to a 10 percent unemployment rate in this country,” Progress Energy customer Jacqui Sulek said. “People are taking pay cuts, people are losing their jobs.”

Brandishing a 41-thousand dollar turbine blade, Progress Energy’s Alex Glenn says the utility needs a higher return to attract investors.

“We’ve also got to continue to invest in the backbone of our system, our poles, our wires,” Glenn said.

Nationally, utilities are allowed average earnings of just over 10 percent on their investment.

If the power giants get everything they’re asking for, their profit will be about 2.5 percent above the national average.

The states Public Counsel has been vigorous in opposing the hikes.

“There’s no risk or very, very, very little risk,” J.R. Kelley with the Office of Public Counsel said.

A decision on both rate hikes is due before Christmas, so any higher charges can start showing up on January’s bill.

All total, 6 million electric customers are facing rate hikes. The formal  FP&L rate hike hearing begins in August, while Progress’s starts in late September.  5 more public hearings are scheduled for this week and next:

July 16
9am-noon
City Hall
St. Petersburg

6-9 PM Pinellas County Board of Commissioners Assembly room
Clearwater

July 17th

9am-noon
Citrus Count Auditorium
Inverness

2-5 PM
Ocala City Council Chambers
Ocala

July 27th
Apalachicola Community Center
Apalachicola

A former Gubernatorial candidate, Scott Maddox, today filed paperwork to run for Agriculture Commissioner.

Maddox is also a former Tallahassee Mayor, Democratic Party Chairman, and President of the League of Cities. Maddox is the fifth Democrat to enter the race. He says the others lack the statewide exposure and the fundraising ability to win.

“We’ve got very good candidates on the Democrats side. They’re all very good people,” Maddox said. “But I think the top candidate has raised 34,000 dollars or thereabouts in a quarter. And the top republican candidate has three-quarters of a million dollars raised. So I think we need to have a competitive candidate on the Democratic side. Unfortunately, it’s expensive to run statewide in the state of Florida. And I think I can raise the money to get the message out. I think that will set me apart from the rest of the field.”

Maddox faces frontrunner Eric Draper, an environmentalist, and three other’s, including a former state representative in the Democrat primary.

Eight city and county governments are suing the state over a new law aimed at speeding up development. The legislation allows builders to develop land without paying for road construction near the property. As Whitney Ray tells us, city and county governments say the legislation unfairly requires them to pick up the road costs that developers don’t want to pay.

Builders in Florida’s urban areas no longer have to pay for road construction. A new law eliminates the road fees in an attempt to speed up development. Opponents say the legislation will lead to traffic problems, because builders will no longer have to plan for traffic. Eight cities and counties are suing the state saying the law creates an unfunded mandate because they’ll eventually have to pay to handle to traffic.

The suit also claims amendments to the legislation aimed at making housing more affordable and keeping counties from requiring business to have security cameras violate the state’s single subject rule. The Florida Chamber of Commerce says the suit is standing in the way of development.

“It’s unfortunate that you find local governments using taxpayer dollars to go and pursue this lawsuit when there are many provision in this bill designed to help Florida Businesses,” said Adam Babington, a spokesman with the Florida Chamber.

One of those provisions allows developers to extend their building permits for two years. The extension will give developers more time to finance their projects. The Florida Association of Realtors says the law will go along way to help fix Florida’s economy.

“These kind of incentives are absolutely necessary because it’s short sided to try and prevent these things from happening now because it’s building and developing that are going to bring this state back,” said John Sebree, a spokesman with the Florida Association of Realtors.

Some developers are waiting to see what happens with the lawsuit, before moving forward with their projects.

The state’s unemployment compensation hotline is being bombarded by people seeking benefits.

The call center is receiving more 14,000 calls a day. Not everyone is getting through. The call volume has increased over the last two weeks because of people trying to find out if they’ll receive extended benefits. Robby Cunningham, a spokesman for the Agency for Workforce Innovation, says people need to be patient.

“The call volume remains at an all time high and Monday and Tuesday remains our busiest days. We are currently administering seven federal unemployment compensation programs above and beyond our state program so anytime we enact one of these extended benefits or these new programs the call volume dramatically increases for at least a short period of time,” said Cunningham.

The state has already pumped out 55 million dollars in extended benefits payments to more than 30,000 Floridians. 84,000 applications have been received so fair. Those who qualify should receive payment by the end of next week.

Seventy caseworkers hired by the Department of Children and Families to keep track of foster kids lied about monthly visits.

Some kids went six months without seeing a caseworker. As Whitney Ray tells us, the caseworkers have been fired and DCF is hoping a new GPS system will help keep better track of who is skipping visits.

Over a two year period, the Department of Children and Families lost track of six foster kids and left 14 in dangerous homes. The kids’ safety was jeopardized because 70 DCF caseworkers were lying about monthly visits. DCF Secretary George Sheldon was outraged when he found out about the lying caseworkers.

“I think it is totally unacceptable. We have an aggressive effort with in the agency to investigate and document falsification. I have zero tolerance for that,” said Sheldon.

The 70 caseworkers have been fired and could face felony charges. Children Advocates say getting rid of the bad apples doesn’t solve the problem.

“We have had children that have gone missing. We have had deaths and there is always this big flurry around doing something and generally what is done is not the long term solution that is needed,” said Karen Woodall, a child advocate.

Budget cuts and large caseloads are at least partly to blame for the mix up. Child Advocacy groups say caseworkers should handle no more than 15 foster kids at a time. Some DCF caseworkers have more than double that amount.

Secretary Sheldon said a new mobile tracking device will help keep better tabs on caseworkers.

“It will go in and say this visit did or did not make it, and then we would also have alerts in that system so that if a visit didn’t occur with in the 30th day it would go to the supervisor,” said Sheldon.

Caseworkers will begin using the new devices this fall. DCF has a team of investigators charged with uncovering false reports from caseworkers. There are more than six thousand caseworkers in the state, with just 70 caught falsifying documents over a two year period.

The state Democratic Party is making a case for health care reform.

The Florida Democrats held a round table discussion in Tallahassee this afternoon to hear from people who have had a hard time getting medical attention. The Florida Democrats are recording the stories. Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said the stories will be given to elected officials to urge them to pass legislation to reform the national health care system.

“These discussions will go back to our Florida legislators with our numbers with the stories. While there are some people that are not here today we have been collecting stories. We pass those on to legislators across the state and our congress members to make sure that they see the face to this issue and not just the numbers because sometimes that is harder to understand than when you hear a story and talk about a real life person out there,” said Sheldon.

45 million Americans don’t have access to health care; four million of those are Floridians.