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Florida leads the nation in online education. Four out of every 10 Florida college students have taken at least one online course. There are 700 degrees programs available entirely online and now, as Whitney Ray tells us, there’s a push in Tallahassee to create a state university existing completely in cyberspace.

This laptop is the only tool FSU Freshman Seth Russell needs to complete one of his main courses this semester.

“Having an online class frees up a lot of time for other classes,” said Russell.

For the second consecutive semester Seth is taking an online class. It allows him to learn from home at his own leisure.

“It’s really convenient, just pull up my laptop. I don’t have to walk to class,” said Russell.

Florida leads the way offering more than 700 degrees online and thousands of classes.

The University System Board of Governors is exploring the creation of a state university existing completely in cyberspace.

“It’s not about keeping everybody online it’s about getting the state in a position to have the best online modality experience,” said Robert Lytle with Parthenon Group.

The board hired a research group, which priced the creation of an online state university at 70 million dollars.

And even though there’s a hefty upfront cost, in the long run the move could save the state and students money.

Ed Moore, the president of Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, says how much savings depends on the quality of the product offered.

“It depends on the institution. It depends on the degree program. It depends on the market. A lot of it is market driven,” said Moore.

Moore is against the state creating a new online university. He says creating an oversight board would be quicker and cheaper.

“My mantra is to use the assets that Florida already has first and then figure out what else we need,” said Moore.

The state legislature will also review the options when it convenes in March. Creating a stand alone state university is just one of four options being considered. The state could appoint one university to take the lead on online, encourage collaboration among the schools or just focus on improving online course at all Florida colleges.

The state’s most famous flamingo is getting a makeover.

Today the Florida Lottery unveiled its new logo at their Tallahassee headquarters. The Lottery Flamingo has been given a more animated appearance. The changes are all part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the state legalizing lottery games. Lottery Secretary Cynthia O’Connell was on hand for the unveiling. She put a lot of thought into the changes.

“It’s basically a transition from an older more static logo, to one that’s more engaging and enthusiastic with a lot of energy and that reflects the Florida Lottery today and the Florida Lottery of tomorrow,” said O’Connell.

Since it’s inception in 1988 the Florida Lottery has raised 24 billion dollars for education, that’s almost one billion dollars for every year of its existence.

A man, some say saved the Florida Supreme Court, was memorialized in Tallahassee. Former Chief Justice Ben Overton was lying in repose in the rotunda of the Supreme Court at noon today. Justice Overton died December 29th. He was 86. Former President of the American Bar Association and longtime friend Sandy D’Alemberte says Overton was appointed to the court during a very tumultuous time.

“He stepped on the court at a time when it was in great distress and in my judgment he’s the justice who saved the court,” said D’Alemberte.

The court had been caught up in scandals and politics in the early 70s. Overton was the first justice appointed under the current Merit Retention system. The system was set up to keep politics out of the judicial process. There were attempts to overthrow the system in November, but they failed. Overton served on the court from 1974 to 1999.

If your New Years Resolution is to quit smoking, then this next report is for you and if you’re a nonsmoker… you should be concerned with how much money smokers are costing the state. As Whitney Ray tells us, there is free help for people trying to kick the habit, all paid for by the forced hand of the tobacco industry.

Tobacco Free Florida offers classes on kicking the habit, a 24 hour hotline for quitters who feel their willpower fading. There are even nicotine patches, all free of charge.

Shannon Hughes is the Bureau Chief of Tobacco Free Florida. The program is operated through the Department of Health and funded by the 1997 tobacco settlement.

“We receive 15 percent of tobacco settlement funds,” said Hughes.

This year the budget is 64 million dollars, which is small compared to the toll smoking takes on Florida’s economy.

According to the Department of Health, smoking costs 20 billion dollars a year in lost productivity and early deaths. There’s 1.2 billion dollars in Medicaid expenses alone.

“Tobacco illness and death takes a tremendous toll on our state’s economy and the health of people and so it works in favor of all of us to decrease, to reduce smoking as much as possible,” said Hughes.

Smokers flood the Tobacco Free Florida website and hotline every January looking for help with their New Years resolution. But statistics show for first time quitters, they’ll fail between eight and 11 times before they finally kick the habit.

and to get started with stopping visit tobaccofreeflorida.com or you can call the hotline at 1-877-U-CAN-NOW. Since the programs inception smoking is on the decline. Right now about 20 percent, or one in five Floridians, is a smoker.

In the market for a new license plate? Well there’s no shortage of options. Right now Florida offers 120 specialty plates, but as Whitney Ray tells us, two of them are endangered of being nixed and new measures are in place to make it harder for new tags to be made.

Whether you’re cheering for the Florida Gators, or you actually support Florida gators, there’s a plate for that.

Florida offers drivers 120 specialty license plates ranging from the environment to the arts. There’s a plate for Boy Scouts but no Girl Scout plate. The ladies are good at selling cookies, but couldn’t sell enough tags to stay on the list.

“If you don’t keep up and don’t have a thousand out on the road in a year then you get put on probation,” said Kirsten Olsen-Doolan, a spokesperson with the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles.

One year below a thousand and the plate is nixed. The Hispanic Achievers and the St. Johns River plates both started 2013 on probation.

“It’s hard to get a start up plate going,” said Mark Middlebrook with the St Johns River Alliance. Four hundred plates have been sold. Middlebrook’s confident he’ll reach a thousand.

“The St. Johns River has been kind of over looked as an environmental resource in Florida for many, many years,” said Middlebrook.

Specialty tags cost extra. The additional money goes to support the cause. So far the St Johns plate has raised 10-thousand dollars to protect the river and its tributaries.

We checked in parking lots all over Tallahassee, but the two plates on probation were nowhere to be found but we did find plenty Choose Life plates. Shelia Hopkins with the Florida Catholic Conference says it’s always a top seller.

“It’s been a strong plate in Florida and they have over the years been in the top 10 for plates sold,” said Hopkins.

Frustrated with the growing number of tags, state legislators passed a new law requiring groups to pre-sell a thousand plates before manufacturing begins.

Florida’s specialty plate program began 1987. The first tag commemorated the Challenger explosion. Only three plates have ever been discontinued; the Girl Scouts plate and the Tampa Storm and Orlando Predators Arena football plates. Already this year a bill has been filed to create yet another plate. The Sun, Sea and Smiles tag would benefit the Caribbean Charitable Foundation.

The Department of Children and Families has brokered a deal that will save taxpayers 21 million dollars over the next three years.

DCF is hiring a new company to manage its EBT cards. The cards are loaded with food stamps and cash assistance for needy families. Right now the program costs more than 20 million dollars a year. DCF spokeswoman Erin Gillespie says, after some tough negotiating, the department found a company to do the work for nine million.

“Anywhere we can take an administrative service and reduce that cost means that we can serve more people on the front end who are in need right now,” said Gillespie.

JP Morgan holds the current contract. The new contract is with eFunds. It goes in to effect in July. The transition isn’t expected to impact cardholders.

It looks like holiday sales will fall desperately short of the robust 5.2 percent increase predicted by Florida retailers. According to a MasterCard Advisors Spending Pulse report, sales rose a meager .7 percent nationwide in the two months leading up to Christmas. As Whitney Ray tells us, the sluggish sales will have an impact on the state budget which relies heavily on sales tax dollars to fund the public sector.

After four straight years of slow holiday sales, the Florida Retail Federation foreshadowed a turnaround in 2012.

The federation expected a 5.2 percent increase, but a new report shows a sluggish .7 percent increase in holiday sales nationwide. Florida should do slightly better, but we won’t know for months.

“Holiday sales are an important part of retail, and retail is an important part of the state fiscal picture,” said Rob Weissert, VP of Research at Florida TaxWatch.

Weissert says a slow holiday shopping season will impact the state budget.

“Florida relies heavily on sales tax for funding general revenue and the operations of the government,” said Weissert.

That means everything, from teachers to the people fighting wildfires, depends on you shopping.

About three quarters of every dollar in the state’s general revenue fund comes from sales taxes.

Although the impact of the disappointing holiday shopping season won’t be known here at the state capitol for months, it comes amid a predicted 400 million dollar budget surplus.

“There is a predicted budget surplus, but again those predictions tend to change,” said Weissert.

State economists will meet again before the 2013 legislative session in March and their estimates, including the holiday shopping figures, will have an impact on what lawmakers decide to fund.

Besides the impact the lackluster holiday shopping season will have on the state budget, it could also affect the job market. Many stores use the holiday season to recruit new talent from the seasonal workforce. Sluggish sales will likely mean fewer of those workers will land fulltime jobs.

Online Shopper Tax Evader

Besides the sluggish holiday shopping sales, there’s another humbug feeding on state revenues. Online sales rose 16 percent this holiday shopping season, and most of those shoppers will pay NO state sales taxes. Online shops without locations in Florida aren’t required to collect sales taxes, although the buyers still owe it. Weissert says few shoppers will voluntarily do the math and pay the state.

“They have to go and individually calculate and pay their Florida state sales and use tax, but when they don’t, those collections drop because of tax evasion essentially,” said Weissert.

Last year just 7-thousand people statewide paid the tax. The form is called the DR-15MO. It’s on the Florida Department of Revenue’s Website. We’ve also linked it here on our webpage. http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/2010/dr15mo.pdf

One million citizens in Florida are licensed to pack heat and countless more people without a conceal carry permit own guns. But who are they, and does the public have a right to know? Earlier this week a New York newspaper posted the names and addresses of gun owners online, sparking outrage from the NRA. Whitney Ray checked to see if the same thing could happen in Florida.

The posting is catching the ire of the NRA.

“That’s malicious conduct,” said Former NRA President Marion Hammer. Hammer says not too long ago Florida journalists were doing the same thing.

“They published the names of prominent business people, politicians, judges and that’s where they made their mistake. They made the wrong people angry,” said Hammer.

But all that changed with a 2006 state law. It exempts conceal carry license information from public records requests.

Conceal carry permits are awarded by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, after a background check. The information is stored on a database which, according to department’s spokesperson, can only be accessed by a few people.

“The data is stored on a secure network requiring an individual username and password, so that only individuals that should access the information can,” said Spokesperson Amanda Bevis.

While there is a list for permit-holders, state law bans the government from collecting data on non-permitted gun owners. Gun sales are recorded by individual dealers. Each purchase is given a number and the buyer can only be tracked down during a criminal investigation.

Even police can’t access the state conceal database without probably cause. For instants if you’re pulled over for speeding or a seatbelt violation alone and their no reason to believe you’re a physical threat, the officer can’t check to see if you have a gun permit. But if you’re pulled over for DUI, or an officer sees ammo or gun accessories in the car, the officer can then check the database.

Floridians are fed up with telemarketers and in 2012 they picked up their phones to let the state know. Today the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services released a list of the top 10 complaints its consumer hotline and website received this year. The department received 190-thousand calls and 33-thousand emails about telemarketers. Amanda Bevis, a spokeswoman for the Department, says many of the complaints were from people who’ve already registered their number with the state’s Do Not Call List.

“We do have a Florida Do Not Call List. People can submit their phone numbers so they don’t receive calls from telemarketers and so we hear a lot of complaints from those subscribers against businesses who may be violating the Do Not Call List,” said Bevis.

Floridians can now join the list for free. The web address is www.fldnc.com. This is the fourth straight year complaints about telemarketers have topped the department’s list.

A year end review of the nation’s best value universities is out and five Florida schools are on the list. As Whitney Ray tells us, low tuition and the governor’s pledge to keep it that way could help more Florida schools make the list in 2013.

A meeting of the minds, after winning over lawmakers, UF and FSU were just a signature away from being able to raise tuition above the yearly 15 percent cap.

“If I’m losing faculty it’s harder for our students to have classes and it slows down their ability to finish. That’s a waste of state dollars and that’s a waste of student dollars,” said FSU President Dr. Eric Barron during an April meeting with the governor over the preeminence bill.

They tried to convince Governor Rick Scott to sign the bill, but in the end Scott stuck to his guns.

“You want to make sure that families in the state can afford a great education,” Scott said following the meeting.

Scott crushed the schools hopes with a veto in April. Then in June, for the first time in nearly four years, tuition increases statewide stayed below the 15 percent max.

The governor’s tough stance on tuition may now be paying off, at least in one ranking. A year end review of the best value universities in the nation ranked five Florida universities in the top 100.

Kiplinger, a DC based financial forecaster, ranked schools based on graduation rates, academic support, access to financial aid and tuition.

UF Ranked highest in Florida at number three, New College made the top 10 at number seven and FSU is the 26th best value school in the country. UCF and UNF also made the list. Absent from the list were FAMU, FAU, FGCU, FIU, USF and UWF.

More Florida schools could make the list next year. Florida’s public universities have vowed no tuition increases in 2013, as long as state lawmakers fund their budgets.

Governor Responds to Rankings

“We need to keep costs low for students and parents, while ensuring schools give students the best possible preparation to continue their studies or start a career. There are two key factors that make up the value of a higher education degree – affordability and results. To have a great value you need both,” Scott said in a written statement.

FSU Responds to Ranking

“We are pleased with this latest recognition. Florida State University continues to be an excellent value. By all accounts, we are one of the most efficient and effective universities in the United States,” said FSU Barron in a email released after the ranking were published.

At a time with executions nationwide are declining, Florida is leading the way in death sentences. A new report shows Florida’s 21 capital punishment sentences in 2012 are far more than any other state in the union. As Whitney Ray tells us, while Florida sentences more people to death, most of the state’s 400 death row inmates will die of natural causes, not lethal injection.

After spending 27 years locked up for a murder he didn’t commit, William Dillon was released from prison on DNA evidence and slated to meet Governor Rick Scott.

“The night before I knew I was going to meet Governor Scott, I thought about ‘what am I going to say to him?’” said Dillon.

This is what Dillon came up with.

“Nice to meet you there Governor good thing they didn’t give me the death penalty because you wouldn’t be talking to me right now,” said Dillon.

A sobering thought, especially when you consider that since the 70’s, 24 death row inmates in Florida has been exonerated. The latest, just before Christmas, when Seth Penalver was freed after spending half his life behind bars.

But all the wrongful convictions haven’t deterred death row sentences in Florida, in fact we lead the nation in sentencing people to die. This year alone 21 people have been sentenced to death, compared to just 15 in Texas.

But most of those waiting to be executed in Florida will die of old age, not lethal injection. Florida may lead the nation in death sentences, but it lags behind many states in carrying out the punishment.

This is a video from a vigil for the first of three inmate executed in Florida this year.

According to a new report, just nine states executed people in 2012, with many killing two or three times as many inmates as Florida.

“It just continues the cycle of violence and it’s just not necessary in this day and age,” said Mike McCarron with the Florida Catholic Conference.

The Florida Catholic Conference continues to fight to end capital punishment. They’re efforts will be supported in Florida by a bill to be filed for the 2013 session.

Some quick facts about capital punishment. Thirty-three states still carry the death penalty, but just nine used it last year. Most death row inmates die of natural causes, not execution. Florida has more than 400 inmates on death row, costing the state 50 million dollars a year to keep in maximum security and offer the proper legal opportunities.

Three of the five days since since last Fridays shootings in Connecticut have set a state record in the number of gun background checks being conducted. Wednesday, the latest data available, shows 8,250 people underwent background checks. Tomorrow, the Saturday before Christmas is often the day that sees the most sales of the year.

It is clear that Floridians are snapping up guns at a record pace says Gretl Plessinger for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. “Typically are two highest volume days are Black Friday and the Saturday before Christmas” says the spokesperson.

Three of the six days since the tragic Sandy Hook school shootings have set a record for the number of background checks being made in Florida.

Floridians are on track to buy 750,000 guns this year. That’s a hundred fifty thousand more than last year.

Gun dealer Mark Folmar says  the people buying guns from him are not reacting to the shootings. “Most of the guns we’ve sold this Christmas season have been guns that people had planned to buy anyway.”

Florida State University Criminologist Gary Kleck agrees. “They were gonna get them eventually” says Kleck.  Kleck also says rather than focus on the Connecticut tragedy, policy makers should look at violent deaths overall.  “Because ninety nine percent of the homicides in America are not mass shootings” says the renowned criminologist.

One way to do that says the researcher, is to do a better job of screening someone’s mental health. “We have wildly incomplete mental health records; records that would establish that a person has been declared by a court of law to be dangerous to themselves and others. And yet, the guy doing the background check is not likely to have access to the vast majority of those records” says Kleck.

It is illegal for someone with mental health problems to purchase a gun in Florida, but without adequate background checks or mental health services, the law is meaningless.

Since 2004, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has conducted just over four point three million background checks on gun purchasers. The vast majority have been approved.

A 15 year old high school student in Tallahassee has been arrested by a school resource officer and charged with brining an unloaded gun to campus today. The weapon was allegedly to be sold after school. It was seen by another student who reported it to a teacher  resource officer. While some are calling for arming teachers, the Governor is being asked to fund school resource officers at every school.

School resource officers have been on high school campuses in Tallahassee since 1981. It was a school resource officer who arrested a 15 year old for bringing a gun to Leon High School on Thursday. Principle Bobby eping says his presence made a difference. “Having a sworn law enforcement officer on campus today made it go even better. Obviously he was here and has the expertise to handle the situation” says the principle.

Now the Leon County Sheriff and School Superintendent want the Governor to fund resource officers at every school in the state. The call comes as some suggest arming teachers. Sheriff Larry Campbell says guns don’t belong in the hands of the inexperienced. “The number of hours that we put in the course of a career makes the law enforcement officer far superior than some civilian that says I know how to use a weapon” says the 50 year law enforcement veteran.

Experts say there is a parallel about the security that was once needed in courthouses and is now needed in schools. Security was hap-hazard at Florida courthouses until a judge was shot and killed in 1987 during a messy divorce. Now many state lawmakers, including State Senator Bill Montford say a comprehensive review of school security is needed. “Where we are, how we got to where we are, and what changes we need to make. This is a serious issue. this is an American tragedy. Our children shouldn’t have to go to school being afraid” says Montford.

Lawmakers will take the first steps at improving school safety at committee hearings in January.

Tis the season at the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee, and today Florida’s First Lady showed us the holiday decor. Whitney Ray was one of a select group of journalists invited to tour the mansion, and as he tells us, the exclusive tour may signal the first lady has a role to play in her husband’s reelection campaign.

Deck the halls at the governor’s mansion. Christmas trees, wreaths and lights have taken over the new home of Governor Rick Scott and First Lady Ann. Friday Ann invited a group of elementary school students and a few journalists on a tour of the mansion.

Besides turning the mansion into a Jingle Bell Jungle, the Scott’s have also added a personal touch. Pictures of their two daughters and grandson Auguste are placed throughout the mansion.

This is a rare visit from Ann. She normally works behind the scenes giving tours and promoting literacy, but in a one-on-one interview Ann told me she’s ready to help her husband lead the state anyway she can.

“I see my job as supporting the governor, being a goodwill ambassador,” said Ann.

And that help may be needed sooner than later. Even while on the tour, signs of Former Governor Charlie Crist and his wife loomed large. And just a block from the mansion is a billboard with a picture of Crist in his new job peering over at his old house.

If Crist does run for governor, Ann could be used to help improve Scott’s low likability numbers, but political scientist Carol Weissert says traditionally first ladies don’t play a major role in reelection campaigns.

Carol: The wife reminds us that he also is a family person and we can sort of envision him in that kind of setting.
Reporter: But what happens once we get in the voting booth, does that matter?
Carol: It matters not a wit in the voting booth.

Ann is ready to help. She plans to spend many more holiday seasons in the Governor’s Mansion.

Reporter: How many more do you want to spend in the Governor’s Mansion?
Ann: Six… hahaha.

The governor and first lady are hosing a holiday party tonight for the capital press corp. It’s one of half a dozen parties at the mansion this holiday season. As for Rick and Ann, they will be celebrating Christmas at their home in Naples.

A Florida man who spent 27 years behind bars for a murder he didn’t commit is receiving a full pardon from the state tonight. William Dillon was exonerated for murder in 2008, but because of a prior drug conviction he had to wait four years before he was compensated. As Whitney Ray tells us, Dillon was pardoned for the drug conviction this morning and now he’s on a campaign to change the law.

William Dillon could be spending another Christmas behind bars instead of recording songs, but DNA evidence freed him after 27 years locked up for murder.

Dillon was exonerated in 2008, but it took four years for the state to cough up the million dollars he was owed for the wrongful conviction.

“I’ve taken off like a flower blooms big in the spring,” said Dillon.

Thursday, dressed in black and wearing a silver eagle around his neck, Dillon had one final request. Before being wrongfully convicted of murder, Dillon was arrested for a felony drug possession. He asked the state clemency board to wipe the slate clean.

Because of his prior conviction and a clean hands provision in Florida law, Dillon had to lobby lawmakers to get his claims bill passed instead of getting the money automatically. Now he wants the law changed.

Human Rights Advocate Mark Schlakman says having Dillon on board helps the cause.

“Bill is going to bring some energy and visibility to that agenda as well,” said Schlakman.

But for now, Dillon is focused on his freedom and his music career.

“I have hundreds of songs I’ve written and I’d like to let the world hear those,” said Dillon.

His album, most of which was written in prison, is called Black Robes and Lawyers.

After Dillon was released from prison he moved to North Carolina. He said at the time there were still people who thought he was guilty. Since then the real killers have been caught and Dillon is planning to move back to Florida.