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While the debate rages over how much oil remains from the BP oil spill and what the long term impacts will be, lawyers and scientists are looking at the future of offshore drilling. Florida State University is hosting a lecture about the future of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. As Whitney Ray tells us, most agree drilling will continue. The question left to answer: can it be done safely?

A little more than a month ago, oysterman Ricky Banks worried about the BP oil leak destroying his career. Today he’s back on his boat and still supports offshore oil drilling.

“Environmentalists is one of the reasons this has happened, because they can’t drill in shallow enough water to be able to contain this,” said Banks.

About half the voters in Florida stand with Ricky. And while environmentalists hope that we can keep Florida’s coast clear of oil rigs, the truth is we’re still decades, if not generations, away from breaking our dependence on oil.”

So the question may not be if oil production in the Gulf of Mexico will be expanded, but how? FSU Dr. Felicia Coleman says the BP spill shined a light on what needs to be changed.

“It give the federal government an opportunity to really review the regulatory structure, there may have been plenty there, but some of it like the environmental impact statements are simply not sufficient,” said Coleman.

And even supporters of expanded drilling efforts, like the Associated Industries of Florida, agree renewable energy sources need to improve as well.

“Do we need a greener future? Absolutely. And is that the direction we all want to go in? It is. But we have to recognize for the next generation of two, we are going to have to depend on fossil fuels because that’s the only thing that we have right now,” said AIF President Barney Bishop.

FSU Researchers are asking citizens to get informed and involved in the drilling conversation so they’ll be better prepared to hold the decision makers accountable.

The lecture is being held tonight at 7:00 at FSU’s Marine Laboratory in St. Theresa. FSU researchers are also heavily involved in determining the long term impact of the spill in an effort to see how panhandle ecosystems will recover.

A Florida teachers union is trying to block a ballot initiative that aims to loosen class size requirements. The state legislature put the amendment on the ballot saying the last phase of class size is too restrictive, but as Whitney Ray tells us, the Florida Education Association is asking a judge to kick it off the ballot saying the issue is funding and the ballot language doesn’t mention dollars.

There’s only one open seat in Chemistry at Leon High School in Tallahassee. Strict class size requirements written into the state constitution cap high school classes at 25 students… so if Principle Rocky Hanna gets two new students mid-year who need Chemistry, he has to tell one to take a hike.

“They have to take honors level of they have to do it online, those are the options,” said Hanna.

Last year schools could meet class size requirements based on averages. Now they must meet the requirements individually. The strictest phase comes on top of two straight years of budget cuts.

“They cut base student allocation and other categoricals. I’ve lost 10 teaching units over the last five years. I stood a much better chance of making it then than I do now,” said Hanna.

And with no money to hire new teachers… administrators are having to get creative. And this is what it’s come to. More than 200 students at Leon High School are taking courses online because there’s no room in the classes the want.

There is a legislative ballot initiative to ease class size restrictions, but the Florida Education Association says the proposed amendment is really about money… not helping schools.

“The voter if they read the ballot summery, If they read the entire amendment are not going to understand, that what this means is more kids in the classroom and less money going to our classes,” said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for FEA.

While many administrators agree with the teachers union, they’re supporting the legislatures fix… because they expect more budget cuts next year. The judge hearing FEA’s cases will make a ruling by the end of the week.

The US Chamber of Commerce is backing Congressman Allen Boyd in his campaign for reelection.

The Chamber is a nonpartisan business group that backs more Republicans than Democrats, but they went with Boyd saying he’s proven himself business friendly. Boyd says the Chamber has been a good watchdog in Washington for Florida’s small business owners.

“The US Chamber understands that this country’s businesses need an educated and healthy workforce to turn to, and so as I watch the chamber over the 22 years that I have been in legislative service I have seen them continuously work to that end,” said Boyd.

Boyd narrowly won his primary battle against state Senator Al Lawson. He now faces Republican nominee Steve Southerland in the congressional district two election.

Two of the three top candidates for US Senate are releasing ads telling voters why they should pick them. With just two months until the General Election, the ads are upbeat and positive, but as Whitney Ray tells us, it’s only a matter of time before the mudslinging begins.

Independent candidate for Senate Governor Charlie Crist proves he’s can spell in his first campaign ad. Huge block letters spell the words Democrats and Republicans. Crist takes letters from each and spells Americans; but Republicans say he should have choose another word.

“I think what he really should be spelling is opportunist. I think people can see straight through that ad,” said RPOF Spokeswoman Katie Gordon Betta.

Democrat for Senate Kendrick Meek, rides an air boat, a speed boat, and a bus to separate himself from the pack, in his first ad for the general election. Meek is still riding the momentum from his primary win, which motivated a lot of doubting Democrats to jump on his band wagon.

But behind the scenes it’s put out or get out as a lot of high ranking Democrats wait to see if Meek can produce better numbers. The latest polls show a dead heat between Crist and Rubio, with Meek getting between 14 and 17 percent of the vote. Democratic strategists say the next two weeks are crucial for Meek.

“His question is going to be money. Marco is sitting on a big bank. Crist is sitting on a big bank. Kendrick now has to reload after a very difficult primary, but what Kendrick has that the other don’t is, he has momentum,” said Steve Vancore with VancoreJones Communications.

Republican Marco Rubio launched this ad about his family history late last month. The ad praises his dad, who passed away this weekend at 83. His campaign is taking a break to grieve.

Marco Rubio’s Campaign will be back in full swing Thursday, in the mean time the National Republican Senatorial Committee is taking on Crist saying the governor will say or do anything to get elected.

This weekend marks the end of the tourism season in the Florida Panhandle and it has been a rough one. The BP oil spill on April 20th, ruined most of the summer for panhandle hotels and restaurants, even though little to no oil washed up on Florida beaches. As Whitney Ray tells us, the coast is clear but the economic damages remain… and getting BP to pay claims is getting even tougher.

These are pictures of Pensacola Beach at the height of the BP oil leak crisis… but it might as well have been Panama City, Daytona or Amelia Island. A recent survey showed as many as one in five travelers won’t travel to Naples, Clearwater, or even Fort Lauderdale because of the oil.

“The Perception versus reality was the thing we were battling from day one. The day the rig exploded,” said Chris Thompson, CEO of Visit Florida.

The oil also forced fishermen to put down their rods. In May BP began cutting checks to some Floridians who lost work because of the oil leak. BP paid 61 million dollars in claims through mid August.

Then on August 23rd the oil giant handed the checkbook over to Ken Fienberg, a New York Attorney charged with speeding up the claims process. So far Fienberg has paid just 17 million dollars to Floridians. The Oil Spill Recovery Taskforce is livid at the slow pace.

“We have a lot of questions, we are asking him to come back in front of the taskforce,” said George Sheldon, Taskforce member.

Fienberg is requiring people filing claims to fill out 18 pages of paperwork, even if they’ve already submitted their paperwork to BP. State Senator Al Lawson calls the process cumbersome and wants the state legislature to fix the problem in a special session.

“We need to put people first and not the political agenda of the speaker or senate president,” said Lawson.

But when the legislature was forced back into special session in July they choose to gavel and go, promising to return in September to work on oil issues. Now legislative leaders say, there’s no need. The Gulf Oil Spill Taskforce is asking Feinberg attend the next meeting and answer questions about the claims process, but the taskforce doesn’t meet for another month and many of the members want answers now.

An estimated 700-thousand kids in Florida are uninsured.

Florida KidCare provides free and low cost coverage for residents 18 or younger, but community activists say it’s hard to spread the word. PICO Florida, an organization made up of more than 50 churches, is trying to spread the word. PICO leader Sam Jones is also asking the state legislature to simplify the KidCare application process.

“So somebody who heard about it say, ‘you know I have enough headaches, I got enough problems, I don’t want to go and so some children don’t get insured,” said Jones.

Most family on the KidCare program pay nothing, others pay about 20 dollars a month. For more information about he program visit the KidCare website at floridakidcare.org.

It will be all labor this holiday weekend for state Representative Jennifer Carroll.

Yesterday Republican Nominee Rick Scott announced Carroll as his running mate, The two will be crossing the state for the next three days making their case for the governor’s office. Carroll spent Friday doing interviews with television, radio, and newspaper reporters. She plans to keep up that pace until Election Day.

“We are going to reach all voters, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, where ever they live, we are going to go, because we have a message that resonates with citizens of the state of Florida, that we have a plan to turn this slumping economic conditions of this state around for their betterment,” said Carroll.

Carroll has been a state legislator for six years and was the former secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs. Scott has been running a campaign against the Quote “Insiders.” Carroll says despite her experience, she is not an insider.

In an attempt to pull black and women voters away from his political rival, Republican nominee for Governor Rick Scott has selected the only black Republican in the legislature. As Whitney Ray tells us, Democrats say they’re not worried, because candidates, not race or gender will win the election.

In a move that some say smells of political calculation and insider strategy, self-proclaimed outsider Rick Scott picked a running mate to help pull votes from the other side.

Scott won the Republican nomination by labeling his opponent and party officials as the ultimate insiders. But just days after the election Scott made nice with the party and now he’s named a legislator and former department head as his running mate.

Scott picked Jennifer Carroll Thursday. Carroll could pull black voters and women away from Democratic Alex Sink, although Sink’s not buying it.

“I think people, when they go to vote, they are passed all these gender and racial issues. They are really looking at the candidates,” said Sink.

One in five Florida voters is black, but just two percent of them are Republicans.
Republican strategists say Carroll brings more to the ticket than just her gender and race. They say her service in the Navy and years as a small business owner will play well in the campaign.

But one part of her story she won’t be telling on the campaign trail is how she made headlines in 2004. Carroll told GOP insiders that Hillary Clinton should take in a play at Ford’s Theatre, the same sight where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

“That was not my inference nor was it my intent, that was the reporters spin,” said Carroll back in 2004.

Carroll does bring a North Florida presence to the Republican ticket; also her son is a Miami Dolphins football player which could attract some fans to the polls. Carroll is a member of the NAACP and the NRA. In 2009, she was named legislator of the year by the Florida Veterans Service Association. She’s 51 years old and has three sons.

An early morning explosion in the Gulf of Mexico is sending shock waves all the way to Florida’s state capitol.

An oil rig exploded just west of the infamous Deepwater Horizon explosion. There is still no word on whether or not the well is leaking oil, although a 100 foot wide sheen can be seen on the water near the site of the explosion. Governor Charlie Crist, who fought for a constitutional ban on offshore oil drilling in Florida, was still catching up on the news when we caught up with him around noon today.

“We’ll I heard the same news. I think some of the details are yet to be revealed. We don’t know what all the facts are, but obviously it’s very disturbing to hear about anything like that. We hope that nobody was hurt, but I’m sure we’ll no more in a few hours,” said Crist.

This second explosion comes just one day after Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul told members there was no need for a special session to address issues related to the first explosion, which forced thousands of fishermen and tourism workers out of jobs. Supporters of a special session are using the incident to renew calls for returning to Tallahassee.

A Republican State Senator is going against his party and opposing a constitutional amendment weakening class size restrictions.

Many supporters of smaller classes are now supporting lifting some of the restrictions because there’s no money to get it done. Senator Alex Villalobos says the strictest phase of Class size could be easily implemented if the state legislature funded schools better.

“I’ll be traveling the entire state and letting people know what this is about. Number one it’s about money and less money going toward education and number two it’s about, the people have already spoken and they have said that they want smaller classes,” said Villalobos.

Villalobos is leading a campaign called No on 8. There’s also a lawsuit to kick the amendment off the ballot that will be in court next Wednesday.

As of right now, voters will be asked to vote yes or no on six proposed constitutional amendments in November. There were nine, but three placed on the ballot by the state legislature were ruled misleading, and removed. As Whitney Ray tells us, the issues taken off the ballot dealt with healthcare, property taxes, and the drawing of legislative districts.

Medicare recipient Bob Root doesn’t hide his distaste for the new federal health care laws.

“A majority of people didn’t want it to begin with and I think this state ought to have the authority to opt out,” said Bob.

Bob wanted to vote in November on an amendment aimed at blocking part of the regulations in Florida, but the Supreme Court ruled the ballot language drafted by the state legislature was misleading.

Besides health care, the high court also kept two other legislatively backed amendments off the ballot. A tax cut for first-time homebuyers, and an amendment thwarting proposals to limit lawmakers’ power when redrawing districting.

“You go around the state and you see a district that starts in West Palm Beach and goes over to the Naples area; that just doesn’t make any sense,” said Ron Meyer.

Former Democratic lawmaker and candidate for Chief Financial Officer, Loranne Ausley says the legislature is out of control.

“Time and time again they put things up and the Supreme Court says no. We take an oath to uphold the constitution; we probably need to be looking at that a little more closely as legislators are passing bills,” said Ausley.

The decision to keep the three amendments off the ballot comes just days before the printing deadline, but one amendment effecting school children will be on the ballot no matter what’s decided.

Next Wednesday a judge will hear the case to remove an amendment easing class size restrictions, which means it could be ruled misleading, yet stay on the ballot. If a judge removes the amendment after the ballots have already been printed, voters can still fill in a yes or no circle next to the amendment, but the outcome will have no impact on state law.

Parents, teachers, and administrators are signing a petition denouncing a strict merit pay system for Florida teachers.

The petition drive was launched this morning at the state capitol by former lawmaker and Democrat for Chief Financial Officer Loranne Ausley. The petition is meant to thwart future legislation like Senate Bill 6 which was forced through by the legislature against the wishes of most teachers. Governor Charlie Crist vetoed the bill, but state lawmakers have vowed to bring it back. Ausley is calling out the Republican CFO candidate, current Senate President Jeff Atwater for his role in passing Senate Bill 6.

“My opponent Jeff Atwater still supports SB 6 and his fellow Tallahassee politicians are promising to bring it back in 2011, well I’m here to say not on my watch,” said Ausley.

Ausley is asking Atwater to sign the petition. We called and emailed Atwater’s campaign but no one has called us back.

Independent candidate Bud Chiles is expected to drop out of the governor’s race tomorrow, according to a news release from his campaign manager. Early polls showed Chiles getting 20 percent of the vote, but more recent polls show him pulling less than 10 percent. Chiles said last week he didn’t want to be a spoiler, and with the leak of his resignation both sides are beginning to claim his resignation will help their candidate win. Democratic Candidate for Chief Financial Officer and longtime friend of the Chiles family, Loranne Ausley says Bud’s resignation will help Democrat Alex Sink.

“We actually spoke yesterday. I’m close to the Chiles family. I am 100 percent an Alex Sink supporter and I’m pleased to hear that it looks like Bud might be moving this way,” says Ausley.

Shortly after news of Chiles pulling out reached the blogs, an email began circulating claiming a majority of Chiles supporters voted for John McCain in the 2008 Presidential Election, and Chiles bowing out will push voters to Rick Scott. Still Chiles is expected to endorse Sink.

Incoming college freshmen are finding out their Bright Futures Scholarships don’t go as far as the scholarships given to the upperclassmen. High school students are finding it harder to win the waning award. As Whitney Ray tells us, the SAT requirements to receive a Bright Future scholarship are increasing in an effort to save the state money.

High School Senior Tori Bradley scored a 12-80 on her SAT: more than enough points to land her a full Bright Futures scholarship,

“It’s going to pay for a lot of my undergraduate, because, I’m going to have graduate school to pay for,” said Tori.

The scholarship program was started in 1997, with a few thousand being awarded the first year; now 170-thousand students are receiving Bright Futures.

The scholarship program costs the state more than 400-million dollars last year, but lawmakers have a plan to shave a 100 million off the cost by raising the standards. Board of Governors Chancellor Frank Brogan says the program is getting too expensive.

“If I were going to give any student advice today, middle school, high school, or even elementary, I would say start working for that Bright Futures Scholarship now,” said Brogan.

To qualify for the full award students must score a 12-70 or higher on the SAT. For the class of 2013 the standards will be raised 10 points. The qualifying standard will top off in 2014, when students will have to score a 12-90 for the top award. Senior Chris Hill scored a 13-20, but is still disheartened to see the standards go up.

“It’s still just a bad situation for students where they are going to have to continually increase every year because that’s going to be difficult and the test isn’t going to get any easier,” said Chris.

In 2008 the average SAT score in Florida was 993, good enough for a partial scholarship now, but not for the class of 2013. The standards are going up even more for students looking to land a partial Bright Futures scholarship. Right now students can get 75 percent of their classes paid for if they score a 9-70 or better by 2014, they’ll need to score a 10-50.

Just a week after accusing him of fraud and spending millions of dollars on that message, the GOP troops are falling in line behind their nominee Rick Scott.

Scott beat party-backed Bill McCollum in last week’s Republican Primary for governor. McCollum is still holding out his endorsement, but almost every other GOP leader is backing Scott. Jeb Bush is expected to eat dinner with Scott tonight, in an effort to show party unity. Florida Democrats aren’t buying it. Chairwoman Karen Thurman says the Republicans are still divided.

“They are out there for themselves and that has been proven by their lavish spending, through their credit cards, that has been proven through the fact that they can’t come together at the end of an election and feel good about themselves. It’s a sad day for them,” said Thurman.

But Republican leaders say it’s a happy day. After spending 50 million of his own dollars, Scott is enjoying a “rock star” status and has agreed to raise money for the party.