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Mosquito Borne Illnesses like the West Nile Virus have killed 26 people and sickened seven hundred nationwide this year. As Whitney Ray tells us, 14 people have contracted West Nile in Florida and two counties have been placed under a mosquito borne illness alert.

At this popular park near Florida’s State Capitol, fountains spray in to the air, egrets pluck fish out of the water, and mosquitoes interrupt an otherwise lovely experience.

“It’s horrible. You can’t even sit outside comfortable for 10 minutes without them biting you,” said Porscha McMillan.

Porscha does her best to defend herself.

Reporter: I’m always slapping at them. Do you slap at them?
Porscha: All in my face. Hahahaha.

She covers up when she leaves the house.

“I try to wear quarter length shirts, just to keep them off,” said Porscha.

But in the end, the mosquitoes have their way.

Reporter: When was the last time you were bitten?
Porscha: Last week.
Reporter: So you’re not doing a great job of keeping them away?
Porscha: Not a great job.

It’s a serious matter. Nationwide nearly 30 people have died from mosquito borne illnesses this year. Most of the victims are seniors, infected with the West Nile Virus. In Florida 14 cases of West Nile have been reported.

A mild winter and an increase in rainfall are causing a boom in the mosquito population and that is the basis of the outbreak.

Even though their numbers are growing, the infection rate is on par with last year. The Florida Department of Health is asking people to remove standing water from places like bird baths and old tires… to keep the insects from breeding.

“It’s very important that people go through their yards and empty containers and tires and other items that they might have that have standing water so they contribute to breeding mosquitoes,” said Dr. Carina Blackmore, with the Florida Department of Health.

Two counties, Duval and Escambia are under Mosquito Borne-Illness Alerts, which means multiple cases of West Nile have been reported.

Here are some tips from the Department of Health. Remove standing water from flower pots, buckets and anything else in the yard that holds water. Empty and clean birdbaths and pet bowls twice a week. Wear pants and long sleeve shirts. Use bug spray on everything not covered.

Not since 1972, 40 years ago, has Florida hosted a national political convention, and in 1972 Miami Beach hosted both Democrats and Republicans, something which has not occurred since. Florida was a much different place back then and the convention was much different that what will take place this year.

The Miami Beach Convention Center was host to Republicans the last time they held their convention in Florida. A film from the era showed an excited crowd.

” Convinced of their strength, Republicans nominated Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew for second terms” says the narrator. Florida’s electoral votes were not as important then as now. Ike Seamans was a young television reporter at the time.

“Celebrities filled the town. I mean there were movie stars and hippies and yippies” says Seamans.

“Protestors took their own kind of political acton to make make their views known” boomed the announcer on film.

Viet Nam also made the 72 Convention a hot spot for protest, but the film makes the point that dissidents were tolerated, to a point “Miami Beach allowed the ventilation of different viewpoints which is essential in a democracy”.

Thousands converged on the city. Scott Camil, one of the founders of Viet Nam Veterans against the war was one of 8 people charged with conspiracy to disrupt the convention.

“When we went to the convention, the whole count
ry was protected by the constitution, and you had freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. But now there is a thing called Free Speech Zones,  and I’m a little bewildered why you have to have a free speech zone in a free country” says the Gainesville Eight Anti War Activist.

1972 was the last time both Democrats and Republicans held their conventions in the same city.

Black leaders are calling on Governor Rick Scott tonight to use his executive powers and extend early voting. A controversial 2011 law cuts early voting from 12 days to eight. As Whitney Ray tells us, a federal court issued an opinion last week saying cuts to early voting will keep many African Americans from casting a ballot.

The message was clear at this impromptu gathering in Governor Rick Scott’s office Monday.

“We want him to commit to expanding and increase early voting,” said State Senator Arthenia Joyner.

Joyner, the NAACP and other black leaders demanded a meeting with Scott, to ask him to restore early voting to 12 days. A Scott aide told the crowd, the governor was too busy at the moment, but a future meeting was possible.

“I can’t get you in with the governor right now, but I just wanted to come out and say I’m happy to set something up as soon as I can,” said Jon Costello, Legislative Affairs Director.

The calls to extend early voting come after a three judge panel said cutting early voting from 12 days to eight would hurt black turnout. The judges decided, the state isn’t allowed to scale back early voting in five federally protected counties.

Those counties are Hillsborough, Monroe, Collier, Hardee and Hendry, but the rest of the state will continue to see its early voting days capped at eight, because of a 2011 state law. The NAACP says if Scott doesn’t act people will be waiting in long lines to cast a ballot.

“You look at the lines on Election Day. We at the NAACP are up there all the time watching, because we get to see the long lines. We see the people get disgruntled,” said Dale Landry with the NAACP.

Joyner says there are strong political undertones to the scale back.

“It’s quite obvious that none of this occurred until Barack Obama was elected president,” said Joyner.

Defenders of the new law say it’s needed to prevent voter fraud. They also point out that even though the number of days are cut the number of hours remain the same.

The judges gave the five protected counties the option to host eight days of early voting… as long as the polls were open 12 hours each day… for a total of 96 hours, which is the maximum allowed by the new state law. Reportedly four of the five preclearance counties will opt for the eight day option.

Citizens Property Insurance customers who’ve had their homes re-inspected have seen their premiums increase a total of 137 million dollars statewide. Thousands of Citizens customers cried foul and now, as Whitney Ray us, the state run insurer is changing its re-inspection policy.

Hundreds of dollars in insurance discounts homeowners received for storm-proofing their windows, doors and roofs are going away.

Citizens Property Insurance ordered thousands of re-inspections, resulting in a massive increase in premiums. Customers say the re-inspections were rigged in favor of Citizens and called Insurance Consumer Advocate Robin Westcott.

“We had situations were we actually found there was a change on the inspection form that the inspector did not make,” said Westcott.

Westcott reported her findings to Citizens and demanded changes. Friday the state-run insurer announced customers can request a re-inspection on their dime.

“If you do not agree with those findings, we will pay. You can dispute this,” said Barry Gilway, Citizens President.

Citizens claims changes in standards, not fraud, are to blame for the disappearing discounts.

And this is the reason a majority of people who’ve lost their credits this year are now paying more. In recent years standards for roof-ties have changed from two nails to three.

If a discount is taken away because of the new standards, now customers can fix the problem and request a second inspection. But that doesn’t apply to customers who’ve already lost discounts.

“We will continue to work on this process to try to get some insight on how people who are already affected by this program can get redress,” said Westcott.

Westcott will meet with Citizens next week to look for ways to help customers wronged in the first round of re-inspections.

Discounts were also being taken away when inspectors weren’t able to craw into the attic to check things out. Now if an inspector isn’t able to see inside the attic, customers will have a year to get an inspector up there before they lose their roof related discounts.

Florida’s unemployment rate has risen to 8.8 percent, up from 8.6 a month ago. The state lost 33-hundred jobs in July, but Department of Economic Opportunity Economist Rebecca Rust says there’s no need to panic. Rust says a one month increase is a far cry from a trend and since January the state is up 130-thousand jobs.

“There will always be month to month fluctuations so when you look at unemployment rates over time, graphically, you can see trends. It’s still very good but there are still little bumps along the way,” said Rust.

If the unemployment rate continues to rise for three more months then economist will consider it a trend. As it stands now, in Florida, the rate is still considered to be trending downward.

Voters in five Florida Counties (Hillsborough, Monroe, Collier, Hendry, Hardee) will have an extra four days of early voting than everywhere else in Florida. That’s because a Federal three judge panel says Florida can not reduce the number of days of early voting because the five counties have a history of discrimination.

In 2008, lines wrapped around early voting sites as half of all African Americans cast their ballots before election day. Then, In 2011, state lawmakers shortened early voting from 12 days to 8. But now, a panel of Federal judges has told the state five Florida counties under the voting rights act must have all 12 days of early voting. Dale Landry of the NAACP says the change sought to dampen African American turnout.

“You’ve got to understand that many of our folk, African Americans, they are working class people. So if you got more time, that gives us more time to get to the polls and vote” says Landry.

Statistics from this past Tuesday show that in the five counties with all 12 days of early voting, four of every one hundred who are registered voted early. That compares to just three of every hundred in the rest of the state.

Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho has been an outspoken critic of the fewer hours to early vote. He’s pushing his association to use the ruling to expand early voting in all 67 counties. “Equal protection demands that all voters in the state of Florida be treated the same” says Sancho.

The Secretary of States office spent most of the day reviewing the 119 page opinion from the Federal Judges. Spokesman Chris Cate says the state expectes to eventually win the early voting case, but for now “Five counties in Florida will still be operating under what is previous election laws”.

By Monday, Florida’s Elections Supervisors, as a group, will decide whether to seek longer early voting across the state.

Trustees at Florida A&M University today ordered their lawyers to negotiate with the family of a drum major who died after being hazed last November. The move comes one day after the lawyer for Robert Champion’s family told reporter Mike Vasilinda the University was delaying the case. Now, as Mike tells us, Trustees say they want to know  what the family wants.

Florida A&M Marching 100 Drum Major Robert Champion died last November 19th after being punched, hit, and kicked on a band bus. 11 People have been charged with Felony Hazing. The Champion family filed a wrongful death lawsuit last month. As of Wednesday, their attorney had heard nothing from the University.

“We will continue to litigate the case and fight not only to preserve Robert Champion’s legacy, but also to insure that this doesn’t happen again,” Champion Family attorney Chris Chestnut said.

But meeting behind closed doors from an hour on Thursday, FAMU trustees voted to enter mediation with the Champion family. Trustee Charles Langston made the motion.

“No parameters, no discussion of money. It is just authorizing them to go to the mediation,” Trustee Langston said.

The outside attorney handling the lawsuit had nothing to say.

Trustee Chairman Solomon Badger was equally mum.

“I’m not going to make any kind of comments in either direction,” Trustee Chairman Badger said.

Trustees are eager to point out that the decision to mediate isn’t an admission of liability. They say they just want to know what cards everyone is holding.

President Larry Robinson was unsure of how soon talks would begin.

Reporter: When do you think you’ll have your first meeting?

“I’m not really sure, not really sure,” Dr. Robinson said. “They could be meeting now. They could be meeting now.”

The move to mediate is a step forward. But the case could be a long way from being resolved.

Fewer than half of college freshman in Florida will graduate in four years. At some Florida universities the four year graduation rate is closer to one in 10. As Whitney Ray tells us, schools that don’t improve their graduation rate face shrinking budgets in the coming years.

In less than two weeks Kailee Baker will begin her college career, and hopefully select a major.

“I want to try to figure out what I’m doing and like figure it out so I can get done in four years,” said Kailee.

Her sister Jaimee, an FSU Junior, is on track to get her degree on-time.

“The longer you take in school the longer you take to get a good job,” said Jaimee.

Their mother, Kim says graduating on time is essential, not just because the longer her daughters are in school, the higher the cost, but also to teach responsibility.

Kim: Not just financially, I think that if you give them a goal of four years, they need to be completed in four years and not slack off and think they are going to college longer than they should.
Reporter: Make a career out of it.
Kim: Exactly

Half of freshman at Florida State University graduate in four years. At UF, 60 percent graduate on time. They’re the exceptions. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, statewide, the average is around 35 percent.

At FAMU a sign will welcome new students but so will a troubling statistic, Just one out of every 10 incoming freshmen will graduate in four years.

FAMU has the lowest graduation rate of any public university in the state. Interim President Larry Robinson says his number one goal is to rid FAMU of that title.

“That’s my priority to work on the retention, progression and graduation rates of our students. That’s my number one priority,” said Robinson.

And if Robinson succeeds FAMU may be rewarded. Next year the University System’s Board of Governors will grant higher tuition increases to school’s that improve graduation rates.

Board of Governors Chancellor Frank Brogan released this statement about plans to tie tuition increases to graduation rates.

“When students are able to graduate on-time, they enter the work force sooner to start down the path toward a successful career. That is good for Florida’s students and good for Florida’s economy. The Board of Governors wants universities to focus on providing the classes, advisors, and other support services that will enable students to earn a high-quality degree as soon as possible.”

For nearly a year the state has haggled with the Department of Homeland Security over access to its immigration database.

Today, the haggling paid off. This afternoon DHS officially granted the state access. The database will help the state identify non-US citizens who are illegally registered to vote in Florida. Chris Cate, a spokesman with the Florida Division of Elections says the state wants to begin its new voter purge as soon as possible.

“We know there is a General Election coming up very soon, so we know we have to work promptly. But we absolutely are going to be very thorough in this process. Tonight we are actually going to begin training employees to use this new system,” said Cate.

The state hopes to have identified some illegally registered voters by early next week. The names of those offenders will be sent to county supervisors of elections. It will be up to the supervisors to remove the non-citizens from the voting roles.

Florida’s Secretary of State can’t say for sure, but odds are non-US Citizens voted in yesterday’s primary. As Whitney Ray tells us, the rush is on to keep them from voting in November.

Asked point blank after the polls closed on the 2012 Primary, Secretary of State Ken Detzner told reporters non-US Citizens probably cast ballots.

“Yeah it’s probably possible,” said Detzner.

No one knows an exact number, but it’s expected that thousands of illegally registered voters are on Florida’s voting roles. But that could soon change as the state partners with the Department of Homeland Security to use its immigration database.

“I’m pleased to say the working relationship with Homeland Security has been a very positive one the last few weeks,” said Detzner.

Detzner expects to be granted access this week.

This is an earlier list of possible violators. There are 180-thousand names on it, but the state is throwing it out. They’ll build a new, more accurate list once they have the database.

The old list was so flawed; US citizens, some of them war heroes, were caught in the mix. Chris Cate, a spokesman with the Florida Division of Elections, says that will change once the new voter purge is launched.

“You are not going to be caught on this list if you are a citizen. You don’t have anything to worry about,” said Cate.

The League of Women Voters will be watching the state’s every move.

“Were there to be a situation where prior to the General Election or ongoing that voters were being removed from the roles who were eligible to vote we feel we could go back to the court,” said LWV Spokeswoman Jessica Lowe-Minor.

The state claims more than a hundred non-citizens have voted in past elections. If any cast ballots in this primary, they could face felony charges.

But even if illegal voters are caught, it wouldn’t change the outcome of the election, because by the time an investigation is conducted and the offender is charged, the election results will already be certified.

More than a million voters had already cast an early or mail vote before the polls opened this morning, but because of a loophole that protects partisan primaries, more than a million other voters won’t get a say in who represents them come November.

Voters in 19 primary elections across Florida were not allowed to vote for the candidate who will likely take office. Republicans are allowed to vote in Democratic primaries and vice versa if no one from the other party is on the November ballot. But if there is a write in candidate…someone who only says they want to run, then the primary is closed to only that party’s voters.

Ask yourself, have you ever voted for a write in? “No” responded the voters we spoke with. Political scientist Carol weissert says Florida law is outside the norm. “It’s a very strange law in Florida. I’m not sure of another state that has that kind of law. But basically it disenfranchise a lot of people,” says Weissert.

If all the races that were closed by a write in candidate were open, a million more people would have had a chance to cast a ballot this primary. Write in candidates pay no fee, seldom campaign, and are often stand-ins to keep the other party from having a say.

Ben Wilcox, from government watchdog Integrity Florida says the practice leads to grid lock. “It keeps moderates from voting in either Republican primaries or Democrats in Republican primaries, so it makes those primaries more to the right or the left” says Wilcox.

The state says its hands are tied.

But no so fast. It took an advisory opinion from a previous Secretary of State to put a rule in place to keep the other party silent. Both Republicans and Democrats are equal offenders…blocking voters from casting a meaningful vote.

Voters in 16 House Districts, 2 Senate Districts and 1 Florida Congressional race could not vote today. Democrats only were running in five of the elections, Republicans in the other 14.

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner says one third more voters cast an early or mail in ballot this primary election than in 2008, but Detzner refuses to predict how many voters will cast a ballot before polls close at seven tonight. “Leading up to today, we had more than one million votes cast in the primary, including 708 thousand absentee ballots, and more than 367 thousand early votes. that’s 357 thousand more than were cast in 2008”, says Detzner.

Only 18% of the states registered voters case primary ballots in 2008. In 2010 the number jumped to 22 percent. Polls are open till seven tonight, and voters who have questions or experience problems can contact the state voter hotline at 866.308.6739 or find information on voting at www.elections.myflorida.com

The fate of the disabled Crystal River Three Nuclear Plant is dependent on a complex set of facts not yet known according to the CEO of the plants new owner. Jim rogers, CEO of Duke energy, spent two hours in from of state regulators today, but he was unable to tell them whether the plant would be repaired, scrapped or who would foot the billion dollar bill.

The Crystal River three nuclear plant has been shut down since 2009, when its previous owners botched a multimillion dollar repair. Whether it ever runs again was the key subject on regulators minds as they grilled Jim Rogers, the CEO of the plants new owner, Duke energy, who told them the answer depends on a complicated equation.

“And the right answer is the one that leads to the lowest cost impact on consumers, on a risk adjusted basis” says Rogers.

There will be no decision on what to do with Crystal river three until an independent study is ready, and thats s couple months away.

The company is seeking the largest claim ever from it’s insurance company, up to one point three billion dollars. Anything the insurer doesn’t pay, CEO Rogers says rate payers will be asked to pick up “There’s no single factor such as the insurance that will make a difference. Its a combination of factors.”

The company has already collected over 665 million from ratepayers to build two new nuclear plants, but no decision on whether they will actually be built will be made until 2014 at the earliest. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is suing to get the money returned. teh Alliance’s Susan Glickman argues the state doesn’t need more nuclear.

“Energy efficiency can be returned for two or three or four cents a kilowatt hour. And nuclear power plants are fifteen to 20 cents per kilowatt hour” says Glickman.

A decision by the company on Crystal River’s future is expected before the end of the year. But what ever it is, its expected to have repercussions on every other nuclear plant in Florida.

We are learning tonight alcohol might have been a factor in a deadly pileup that killed 11 people in January. Today the Florida Highway Patrol released its response to an FDLE investigation into the I-75 accident. As Whitney Ray tells us, The FHP report blames poor judgment on the part of drivers, not trooper error, for the deadly accident.

In the early morning hours of January 29th, smoke from a nearby wildfire filled the air on I-75 near Gainesville.

The Florida Highway Patrol closed the road as the smoke mixed with fog making it hard to see. Troopers reported improving conditions and at 3:30AM, I-75 was reopened. Thirty minutes later cars began slamming into each other and 11 people died.

According to an FDLE investigation, poor communication and poor training are to blame. But FHP released this response Friday saying the FDLE report doesn’t take into account driver behavior.

The report reads, “driver behavior, which was not addressed, contributed to the crashes. Also drug/alcohol use was confirmed on the part of several of the drivers.”

“It’s comprehensive, it’s transparent and we are going to let it speak for itself,” said Lt. Col. Ernesto Duarte, an FHP Spokesman.

A spokesman for FHP couldn’t comment about the specifics of the report, but we learned two of the drivers involved in the crash have been charged with DUI, but not manslaughter, which means their intoxication may not have played a role in the crash.

“There was one person who was reported as having used a marijuana substance, but that person is deceased so there is no charge. There was someone else who was driving with a revoked license,” said Duarte.

The FDLE investigation suggests troopers made several changes. FHP is updating some of its policies, but according to the report, none of those changes could have prevented the pileup.

One reason, FHP isn’t talking too much about their written response is pending litigation. As many as a dozen victims of the wrecks are planning to sue the Highway Patrol. The state reportedly turned down several requests for out-of-court settlements.

Florida has a new law to combat insurance fraud, but so far it isn’t lowering rates.

Personal Injury Protection fraud was reportedly rampant before the state legislature passed PIP reform. The law took hold in July, but so far drivers are paying the same for coverage. Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater says rates should come down next year, but if they don’t… insurers beware.

Atwater: My hope would be early next year you’ll be able to see the evidence and by mid to late next year rates should be coming down.

Reporter: and if they don’t?

Atwater: If they don’t, you know there are going to have to be some people who give us some real answers.

Preliminary reports suggest PIP coverage could be reduced by as much as 20 percent, because people who used to stage auto-accidents and make fraudulent medical claims will no longer be able to get away with it.