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Attorney General Bill McCollum received extra praise today at his final state cabinet meeting.

The Florida Sheriff’s Association thanks the Governor and Members of the State Cabinet for their efforts to deter crime, but it was McCollum who received the FSA’s Presidential Proclamation for his work to put more gang members behind bars. Association President Harrell Reid says the leadership of the public servants has help Florida’s 67 sheriffs do their jobs better.

“Sheriffs have been given the tools they need to protect our children from sexual predators, fight the war on prescription drugs and methamphetamines and see the crime rate in our state fall to it’s lowest level in 36 years,” said Reid.

McCollum was singled out because in 2007 he created the statewide Gang Reduction Strategy group. The goal of the group is to keep kids from joining gangs. A study by the group also identified for the first time the nearly 49-thousand gang members living in Florida.

Florida’s high schools are performing better and more students are graduating, according to the state Department of Education.

DOE released high school grades today. 30 percent scored A’s, 40 percent B’s. Only 11 schools scored F’s. Education Secretary Eric Smith says some of those schools are in jeopardy of being shut down.

“We have a number of schools in the state that those conversations are being engaged in currently with the districts at this point. Again depending on where they end up at the end of this year, with this year’s round of FCATs will determine whether or not they have to go forward with that or not,” said Smith.

One reason overall scores are higher this year is there’s a new grading system. The new system takes into account preparation for not just college but also how prepared are students who want to enter the workforce after graduation.

http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/pdf/0910/HighSchoolGradesPressPacket.pdf

Capitol News Service Feed
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Morrison Pardon on Track
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The pardon of deceased Doors rock icon Jim Morrison has been officially put on the agenda for a Thursday morning Clemency  meeting in Tallahassee. James Douglas Morrison shows up as item 29 on a lengthy agenda. As Mike Vasilinda tells us one of the more interesting items in the file being reviewed is a 1970 letter from Morrison’s father to parole officials.

In 1962, Jim Morrison was a clean cut college student appearing in this film promoting investment in Florida State and the University system. “We regret to inform you that we are unable to accept your application,” said the voice in the film.

A year later he was arrested in Tallahassee for being drunk and disorderly at a football game and, for stealing an umbrella and a helmet from a patrol car. The most severe charges were dropped and he paid a small fine.  His only other Florida arrest was in Miami in 1969. He was convicted of indecent exposure and open profanity. His case comes before the Clemency board on Thursday.

This is just one of two reports that the governor and cabinet will consider in the clemency process. In the file is a 1970 letter from Morrison’s father, an admiral who commanded the Pacific Fleet, telling the parole commission that he discouraged the Doors front man from joining the band because he just didn’t have talent. The two were never close again.

Governor Charlie Crist will initiate the pardon. He was 13 when Morrison was arrested in Miami. “ And I was going to junior high school, trying to make good grades,” said Christ.

Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson is a yes vote.

CFO Alex Sink is still deciding, but she remembers the summer of 1969 very well. “At Columbia University, which had just been taken over by the students, the administration had,” CFO Sink said.

Attorney General Bill McCollum says he won’t reveal his intentions until Thursday.

Governor-Elect Rick Scott was in Pensacola and Melbourne today on the first of his five day “jobs” trip around the state. But, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, uncertainty reigns in Tallahassee where thousands of jobs are in Scott’s, and other newly elected officials’, hands.

When Bob Martinez was elected governor in 1986, Gene Adams’s job as a young lawyer for then outgoing Governor Bob Graham was on the line.

“I’m trying to think about setting up my own law firm,” Adams said then.

Opening his own law firm paid off for Adams. Today he is a successful lawyer for a large corporate law firm and says transitions have a way of making people push the envelope.

“Sometimes I think it forces you to go out and stretch your limits and do things you might not feel comfortable doing,” Adams said.

Even receptionists are subject to being replaced by new administrations.

There are almost 400 people alone who work for the governor and all of them are without job security.

Kevin Cate spent most of the last four years working for the CFO. He is one of hundreds of communications specialists whose jobs are on the line. Instead of waiting for someone to determine his fate though, Cate is branching out, just as Adams did more than two decades ago.

“A lot of us are looking for jobs right now, that is right,” Cate said. “I’m choosing to go to the private sector to start my own firm but there are a lot of folks looking to stay in government, to be a public servant. And right now that’s a tough position to be in.”

One upside of the upheaval is the real estate market, at least in Tallahassee.

“I think we will gain some,” realtor Penny Herman said. “However there are a lot of people who can’t sell their houses where they are coming from, so that might play into it.”

The Governor-elect campaigned on cutting 5 percent of the state workforce, which is adding even more uncertainty to state government.

In all 50 state capitals and hundreds of locations across America, a wreath was laid today in honor of service men and women who have given their lives. This year in Tallahassee, five women who lost sons or daughters were honored as “Gold Star Mothers.” A bell was rung for each of their children as their names were called and the words of 18-year-old Robert Wise were memorialized.

“Before he left, he told her if he was going to die, he was going to die honorably for his country, for her, for her children, his niece and nephew. And he did,” Blue Star Mother Pam Wilson said.

The Gold Star Mothers organization began in 1928 and is named after the gold star that families hung in their windows in honor of deceased veterans.

The national unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent for November. The labor statics released today show a 2 tenths of a percentage point climb from October. The news is worse in Florida where the rate is nearly 12 percent. As Whitney Ray tells us, while Congress bickers over whether or not to extend unemployment pay, the jobs forecast continues to worsen.

When we first caught up with Nsoyn Johnson in July he had just lost his job as a car mechanic. He was working on neighbors’ cars to make ends meet.

Today he still helps friends with car trouble, but his main gig is as a shipping manager for a charity. It’s not exactly the job he wanted, but he’s happy to have it.

“I’m just thankful that I have something, because I know that you can go from nothing to something in just the way you think,” said Nsoyn.

15 million Americans are out of work. The National Unemployment rate has risen to 9.8 percent.

And if the numbers seem bad on the national level, it’s even worse in Florida. The state unemployment rate is 11.9 percent, which means more than a million people are looking for jobs.

The news comes as unemployment benefits for 106-thousand Floridians are expiring. The Agency for Workforce Innovation continues to point job seekers to the Employflorida.com, where 230-thousand job openings are posted.

“Go out there and look, the listings change everyday and we encourage everyone who is looking for a job to continuously focus on this,” said AWI Spokesman Robby Cunningham.

Studies are finding the longer someone is unemployed the harder it becomes for them to find a job. Nsoyn is lucky he was only out of work for four months. He says people still looking should keep their head up.

“While you’re waiting you’ve got to do something whether it’s raking grass, mowing yards you go to do something, there’s something out there for everyone,” said Nsoyn.

The good news is jobs are being created but as more work becomes available, people who previously stopped looking have reentered the job hunt, which drives the unemployment rate up.

Some of the appointments to Governor Elect Rick Scott’s education transition team are raising eyebrows.

They include a controversial Washington DC school reformer, the chief backer of corporate scholarships, and the President of Jeb Bush’s educational foundation. But there are others, like USF President Judy Genshaft and Ed Moore, President of the Independent Colleges and Universities in Florida. Moore expects the transition team to look for ways to improve student performance as they move from middle to high school and high school to college.

“Being more innovative. Trying all types of education. More online, perhaps. More innovative approaches from all the way from Kindergarten through colleges and universities. Not being stuck in the same old silos that we’ve been in for a hundred years in education in this country. I think he’s going to be extremely innovative in his approach to education,” said Moore.

The transition team is expected to meet for the first time next week and iron out its goals and objectives.

Senate President Mike Haridoplolos pleaded guilty to leaving out details about his consulting company on his financial filings.

His lawyer Pete Dunbar entered the plea this morning in front of the Florida Ethics Commission. Dunbar says his client wasn’t being shady, he just made a mistake.

“I would imagine everyone on occasion does make a mistake. You man up to it. Correct it. What else can you ask, except for someone to step forward and do that. Senator Haridopolos is human like all of us, but he quickly admitted the mistake, corrected it,” said Dunbar.

The commission isn’t allowed to penalize legislators, so the matter has been turned over to the Senate Rules Committee. The head of that committee, John Thrasher, was appointed by Haridopolos who also happens to be the Republican Party Chairman. Thrasher is reaching out to the House for advice on how to move forward with the case.

Governor Charlie Crist will leave office on January 4th, just over a month from now. Today, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the Governor reflected on the last four years and looked ahead.

Governor Charlie Crist is about to become a private citizen. He won three statewide elections and lost two. The first loss was expected, the second unnecessary. Most believe he could have coasted to a second term.

“How about that. what about that. Well, I know people have speculated about that. I am not so sure,“ Crist said.

Crist says he has no regrets that he chose to run for the US Senate. He blames the economy more than anything for the dramatic change in political fortunes.

“It was a tsunami,” Crist said. “No question about it. I think the President put it well. What did he say–
We got shellacked. So did I. It happens.”

The Governor acknowledged his relationship with the man he appointed to the Senate seat he coveted is strained. He is quoted as saying, “You know he is someone that I talk to on occasion.”

The Governor will spend several nights here in the mansion next week, and then the moving begins. Crist says the everglades purchaseand protecting Florida are his proudest moments.

“Highest graduation rate ever in the history of Florida,” he said.

He will take little time off after leaving office and confirmed he is negotiating with the giant Morgan and Morgan law firm as well as others.

“And I love its slogan. For the people. Fortunately, I have received a lot of kind offers and I am grateful for that,“ Crist said.

Asked if he had any regrets, he says it was not marrying wife Carole sooner. Crist and his wife of two years will live in St. Petersburg.

There are concerns tonight over Florida’s 2.7 million septic tanks many of which are more than 30 years old. A law mandating inspections every five years at the owner’s expense has been delayed and as Whitney Ray tells us, it may be overturned over the objections of environmentalists who say there’s a serious threat to our water.

Septic tank cleaners say it’s common sense to pump and test a tank at least once every five years… But an inspection mandate written into law is causing backlash.

The law was slated to take hold January 1st, but in a one day special session last month, lawmakers pushed the start date to July. Now a repeal is in the works.

To pump a septic tank and test it costs between 200 and 500 dollars. Replacing a tank can run as high as 5-thousand dollars. The price tag isn’t being received well.

Environmentalists worry that if Florida doesn’t have a state law requiring inspections, sewage will leak into reservoirs and contaminate our drinking water.

Terry Ryan, Co-Founder of Clean Tap Water Now, has already seen evidence of sewage leaking into well water in rural communities. Terry is advocating a pilot program to asses the statewide risk, to determine if the mandatory inspections are warranted.

“There are a lot of questions out there of how septic tanks are affecting not only individual water wells, but also the aquifer,” said Ryan.

Anthony Guido is a retired septic tank worker turned waste water consultant. He says the mandate is needed.

“When they are spilling out into the environment then they cause a public health problem and a nutrient problem to lakes, rivers, streams and the aquifer,” said Guido.

There are no statewide studies of the effects of worn-out septic tanks on Florida’s waterways, and opponents of the mandate want to see proof before they’re willing to pay more.

What lawmakers do have is time. The committee process starts next week and they’ll have until the end of the legislative session in May to come up with a fix.

While Republicans were busy dominating the mid-term elections, the feds were delivering a subpoena to the RPOF headquarters in Tallahassee. The FBI, and IRS want more information about a half a million dollars in misused credit card charges. The charges date back to 2007 when former Chairman Jim Greer ran the state GOP. Greer has been indicted, so has former House Speaker Ray Sansom. Both former leaders had party issued credit card. Governor Charlie Crist, who left the partier early this year, didn’t have an party card. He says he’s in the clear.

RPOF isn’t commenting on the subpoena, but in the past the party has pointed out that the time period in of allegations is during Greer’s watch. Greer resigned early this year under pressure from party faithful, and state senator John Thrasher is now at the helm.

By Saturday 106-thousand Floridians will run out of unemployment benefits. Congress let the extended and emergency benefit programs expire. If a deal isn’t reached on Capitol Hill an additional 41-thousand Floridians will exhaust their benefits weekly. As Whitney Ray tells us, food banks are already preparing to lend a hand.

A the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Big Bend, Executive Director Cheryl Phoenix is preparing for another wave of hungry Floridians this holiday season.
The food bank has tripled its warehouse space, to keep up with the demands of high unemployment. The news is getting worse.

Congress let extended unemployment programs expire. That means by Saturday 106-thousand Floridians will stop receiving unemployment checks. An extra 41-thousand will lose benefits each following week. The loss means less cash for essentials, so Cheryl is preparing for the increased demand.

“People may have been scrapping buy on unemployment and now they may not have that safety net,” said Cheryl.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation is watching Washington for any changes.

“As of this moment, this is where the process is, but we are monitoring that congressional discussion very closely,” said AWI Spokesman Robby Cunningham.

Alan Stonecipher with the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy says without an extension an extra 230-thousand Floridians will be left with no income by year’s end; which will hurt businesses.

“It’s going to make it very difficult for those families to pay their rent, to buy food, to buy gasoline, and then it hurts the local economy,” Said Stonecipher.

But people will still need to eat. They’ll be turning to the food banks this holiday season, the only question is; will there be enough? You can help to donate food or to volunteer visit the 2nd Harvest of the Big Bend at www.fightinghunger.org.

Florida law Enforcement is on heightened alert, looking for drivers who have been drinking. Florida Highway Patrol is teaming up with local law enforcement agencies to crack down on drunk and drugged driving this holiday season. Last year impaired drivers were involved in more than 21-thousand wrecks that lead to 15-thousand injuries, including more than a thousand deaths. Director of the Office of Drug Control, Bruce Grant says drug use among drivers is more common than many suspect.

“According to the 2007 National Highway Transportation Safety Administration Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by Drivers, they said that one in eight nighttime, weekend drivers tested positive for illicit drugs. That number rises to one out of every six when you include not only illicit drugs but pharmaceuticals,” said Grant.

Today marks the beginning of the National Drunk and Drugged Driving Month. There will be increased patrols and check points starting December 16th.

The Governor has a new Florida grown Christmas Tree. The 10 foot Caroline Sapphire was given to the Governor by the Florida Christmas Tree Association and Franco and Sigrid (C-Grid) Camacho. The Camachos own one of 25 tree farms in the state. They also donated trees to the Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Agriculture. Crist thanked the Camachos for their green thumbs.

“I want to thank you all so much; number one for your great farming ability. And It is a beautiful, beautiful tree and on behalf of all Florida we thank you for your wiliness to place it in the governor’s office for this wonderful holiday season,” said Crist.

After Christmas, the trees will be ground up and turned into mulch.

The Federal Government is banning drilling off Florida’s coast for the next seven years. Today the White House announced no new oil leases would be written in federal waters surround Florida’s coast until 2017. The extended ban is partly the result of the BP oil spill which pumped millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf Coast. Governor Charlie Crist is praising efforts from the White House to prevent another spill.

“I was very pleased to get that report. I think the administration needs to be credited again for trying to protect Florida’s beaches. As I mentioned earlier today, just last night I was in Palm Beach County at a tourist development council reception and that back drop is only appropriate because continuing to protect our beaches, to be clean and green as we go forward as a state and a nation, that’s only good for Florida because we depend on tourism and agriculture and the cleaner we can be the better,” said Crist.

Audubon of Florida says the ban gives the government time to uncover the true impact of BP spill before making permanent decisions about drilling.

“We won’t know what the effect have been from the Deep Water Horizon Spill for years to come so it makes sense to assess that before we even consider messing with a moratorium in the Eastern Gulf,” said Audubon Spokeswoman Julie Wraithmell.

The ban is in federal waters. A ban in state waters which run 10 miles off the coast is still in effect. State lawmakers were once poised to open it up to drilling rigs, now say it’s off limits