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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.

You may want to pay closer attention to your mail; especially if you’ve fought a foreclosure battle in the last few years. 167-thousand Floridians are owed money from a settlement the state reached with the country’s largest lenders over shady mortgage practices. The banks mailed letters to people who may be eligible, but few people have responded. Attorney General Pam Bondi fears the 150 million dollars owed to Floridians could go unclaimed.

“It’s money that they very well could deserve and are entitled to. What’s happening, we believe, the banks are sending notification letters and many people are thinking it’s junk mail and probably throwing it out,” said Bondi.

Bondi is sending out her own letters this week. To claim the money people have to respond by January 18th. If all the money isn’t claimed by then, the banks will get to keep what’s left.

Disturbing video tonight from a privatized Juvenile Justice facility in Milton Florida just outside Pensacola. On August 9, Officer Shannon Abbott is seen leading a teen inmate at the Milton Girls Juvenile Residential Facility when she suddenly bangs her head against the wall, and then tosses the inmate to the ground. In a prepared statement, the Department of Juvenile Justice says

“We are deeply concerned that the incident as depicted in the video we released today in response to public record requests by the news media seriously contradicts its description to us by officials representing the facility. We are also troubled that the facility did not officially report the incident to DJJ until two days after it occurred, and only when the victim called the DCF Abuse Hotline. This lapse is inexplicable.

Officer Abbott was charged with battery on a juvenile victim. The Department of Children and Families and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff investigated the incident.  The juveniles name is being withheld. The facility is operated by Gulf Coast Youth Services. The Milton facility is one of seven run by the company.

Watch a portion of the video here

Florida is about to become the first state in history with one million active conceal-carry permit holders. The milestone will be reached next week. As Whitney Ray tells us, the run for guns is being fueled by fear of regulation from Washington.

Gun instructor Frankie Bright has been teaching conceal-carry classes for three decades. He gives this demonstration despite the rain. Frankie says demand for classes is on the rise.

“A lot of people are coming out and saying ‘listen, I would like to get a conceal carry permit so I can be legal,’” said Frankie.

The reelection of President Barack Obama and fear that Washington will pass stricter gun laws is fueling the run on guns, especially in Florida.

At a news conference at the state capitol Wednesday, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam announced a fast approaching milestone.

“Florida will have one million active conceal weapons licenses next week,” said Putnam.

Hitting the million permit mark will mean one out of every 19 people in the state will be armed. 219-thousand of them are seniors and 200-thousand are women, few commit crimes.

“Responsible use of these licenses is overwhelmingly the rule and with only .3 percent of licenses having been revoked for inappropriate use, I think the statistics support that,” said Putnam.

Back at the shooting range news of the millionth conceal carry license was received well.

“I really feel safer. If you don’t have a gun at your house and I have a gun in my house and somebody is going to break-in, who’s house are they going to break in to?” asks Frankie.

The state hit a snag in 2009 as permits flooded in, but now the office issuing the licenses has been beefed up and applicants are being processed in about a month.

Florida’s conceal carry licensing program was stared in 1987. Since then more than two million people have been issued permits. Next week will make the first time more than a million have been active at once. Since 2000, the number of licenses requested has increased more than 580 percent.

The state is changing the way it grades restaurants.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation has adopted a new food code effective January First. Right now violations fall under two categories critical and non-critical. The new scale has three categories, basic, intermediate and high-priority. DBPR Secretary Ken Lawson says the addition of the extra category will make it easier for owners and customers to understand.

“And by having these new streamlined standards it makes it an easier time for you to start your food truck, your restaurant or stay in business and comply with the law,” said Lawson.

The department is currently working with restaurant owners to help them prepare for the changing food code.

Concerns over slow distribution times and a 33 million dollar taxpayer contract have changed plans to replace Florida’s licenses plates. As Whitney Ray tells us, the state wants to update the plates to catch more traffic violators but finding the right replacement has become challenging.

To avoid a public relations wreck. The state is putting the breaks on plans to hire a private company to distribute new Florida’s license plates. Currently the tags are made by inmates at a cost of about a $1.70 per tag.

But there are problems with these tags. The embossed characters make it difficult for traffic cameras to read allowing thousands of traffic violators to escape an estimated 7 million dollars in fines a year.

To remedy the problem the director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles wants new tags with flat characters plus a seventh digit. But initial plans have fallen flat over concerns about giving a private company 33 million dollars to produce and distribute the tags.

“We felt the best and cleanest way to represent the thoughts from our stakeholders was to start over again and to completely separate the tag redesign portion from the distribution portion,” said Director Julie Jones.

State Cabinet members are applauding the change in plans.

“Let’s decouple it. Let’s get the right plate and then we can decide what’s the right process for getting it out to the public,” said CFO Jeff Atwater.

“Everyone hopefully can end up being on the same page, but that’s not happening now so I think moving it was the prudent thing to do,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Four designs are posted online and the public can continue to vote for their favorite. But once a winner is selected the focus will shift to who will make the new tags.

You can vote for your favorite design at vote4floridatag.com. The deadline is Friday. The winning design isn’t guaranteed to become Florida’s next plate.

Who’s buried at the Dozier School for Boys and why did an initial investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement fail to find 19 graves?

These are just a few of the questions state leaders want answered tonight. The panhandle reform school, infamous for alleged abuse, was closed last year. In 2009, after several former students reported their classmates were killed at Dozier in the 1950s and 60s, FDLE investigated. The department found 31 graves, but no evidence of any crimes. A new study by the University of South Florida located an additional 19 graves. Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam wants to know how the researchers found more graves than the FDLE investigators.

“And they both differ in a way that raises questions about why USF found so many more bodies than FDLE,” said Putnam.

FDLE concluded its investigation several years ago. Commissioner Gerald Bailey says he’ll reexamine the department’s report to see why it differs so much from USF’s

The smell of cedar is filling the state capitol tonight.

That’s because a Christmas tree is sitting in the entrance way to the governor’s office. The tree was donate by the Camacho family and presented by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. It’s a red cedar grown in Florida. Putnam says thousands of Florida trees are sold every holiday season.

“About 14-thousand Florida Christmas trees will be sold. Millions more will be bought for homes across the country, but about 14-thousand of those will be Florida grown Christmas trees,” said Putnam.

Besides the tree the capitol is also festooned with a Menorah in celebration of Hanukkah.

The governor and state cabinet are honoring a fallen soldier tonight.

Staff Sergeant Robert Miller was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan in 2008. He fought so bravely he was awarded the Congressional Metal of Honor postmortem. Governor Rick Scott announced today, Sergeant Miller’s name will also be added to the wall of honor in the state capitol. Miller’s sacrifice saved the lives of a dozen US troops.

“Rob was relentless against the terrorists and suppressed the enemy forces with grenades and gunfire. He engaged the enemy so much that he attracted most the gunfire and made the ultimate sacrifice for his team,” said Scott.

Miller’s parents were on hand for the announcement. They were given a folded Florida flag and were able to view their son’s plague before it was hung on the capitol wall.

More than 35-thousand people have signed a petition calling for Florida to secede from the union. And tonight the White House is promising to respond to their concerns. As Whitney Ray tells us, calls for secession are increasing following the re-election of President Barack Obama.

David from Arcadia, Bryant from Panama City and Adam from Apopka all want the same thing. For Florida to become its own country, free of federal rule.

The names are just a few of the more the 35-thousand on this petition on the White House website. It asks the Obama Administration to allow Florida to peacefully withdraw from the union and create its own government.

People from almost every state have started petitions to secede from the union. Most of the petitions were started after the Re-Election of President Barack Obama.

Steve Schale is a Democratic strategist. He says the petitioners are representing a small segment of the population.

“People that want to leave the country make up a distinct minority of the country. That being said they have a right to have their voice heard,” said Schale.

Concerns over the federal debt, drone use, the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act and TSA searches are fueling the calls for succession.

Anticipating backlash to the president’s reelection, Florida’s new House Speaker, a Republican, had this message for his colleagues in the legislature.

“We have a president and for those who wish him to fail, or for that matter wish our congress to fail, only wish for American to fail and that is unacceptable,” said Weatherford at his swearing in ceremony.

The White House promises to respond to any petition with 25-thousand signatures, but historically the only road to secession is civil war.

The White House promises to post a response to the petition on its website. A petition for Texas to secede currently has the most signatures with more than 100-thousand. There is also a petition on the site to strip the citizenship of everyone who signs a secession petition with 22-hundred signatures.

Here’s an update on a story we have been following. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is taking a step backwards in its effort to modernize the states license plates. The Department had advertised for vendors and their responses were due this past week. But five groups protested the bidding process, and today the Department withdrew its bid. Here’s their explanation from a news release:

“We listened to what everyone had to say, considered questions that vendors posed and received information from our tax collector partners. Based on the input, we have decided to withdraw the Invitation to Negotiate,” said DHSMV Executive Director Julie Jones. “We now have additional information to clarify and narrow the requirements of the ITN and in the near future will replace it with a new procurement.”

There’s more good economic news tonight. Besides the national unemployment rate dropping to 7.7 percent, Florida’s job market is showing signs of strength. The state is set to pay off a three billion dollar loan from the federal government to pay unemployment claims and as Whitney Ray tells us, that means business taxes will drop.

Nearing the finish line; for three years Florida’s businesses have been paying back a massive loan borrowed from the federal government to pay unemployment claims.

“By May, 2013, we will have repaid the outstanding balance,” said James Miller, a spokesman with the Department of Economic Opportunity.

Miller says the improving economy is allowing the state to make huge payments on the loan.

“More people receiving paychecks instead of benefits, reduces the cost to the state and therefore we don’t have to pay as much in claims each month. It allows us to pay back the amount much quicker,” said Miller.

So how bad did it get? Since August of 2009, the state has borrowed 3.3 billion dollars to pay claims and in the process accumulated 100 million dollars in interest.

To pay the money back, the minimum unemployment tax rose from eight dollars an employee in 2010 to 121 dollars today, hitting businesses trying to pull out of the Great Recession.

But now with the state slated to pay the loan back by May of next year, the unemployment tax will start inching back down and businesses will get a 40 dollar break per employee.

The news is being received well at the Wharf Express, a seafood restaurant less than a mile from the state capitol.

“Every tax affects us; a lot of people don’t realize that. My biggest thing is we’re in a down economy, a lot of people don’t realize that interest you just spoke of, the business owners are paying a good percentage of that,” said Joey Costanzo, Wharf Express owner.

The owner employs seven employees which means his taxes will drop by 200 bucks next year, a little relief as the economy slowly recovers. The improving economy isn’t the only thing propelling the state in to the black. A new law has also made it more difficult for people to qualify for unemployment payments saving the state money.

A budget transparency website you, the taxpayer, paid five million dollars to develop may never see the light of day. The website, transparency 2.0, was built and made available to some state government insiders, but now it’s caught in a funding battle. The site gathers public information about state spending and contracts, but if the public can’t review it, government watchdogs like Dan Krassner says, it serves no purpose.

“This site may never see the light of day, so the public who wants to follow our money and make sure there’s not waste, wants to hold our government accountable, may never see a website paid for with five million dollars of our money,” said Krassner.

Senate President Don Gaetz, says the website isn’t being made public for financial reasons. The private company running the site charges a million dollar annual maintenance fee, plus extra to make the site available to everyone. Gaetz says he’s reviewing the company’s contract.

Despite a pledge not to raise tuition, two Florida universities are seeking the authority to do just that. UF and FSU want lawmakers to pass a bill allowing them to raise tuition as much as they’d like. But as Whitney Ray tells us, the schools’ presidents say if they get the authority now, they won’t use it for at least a year.

A promise from Florida’s public universities not to raise tuition next year is being received well by students.

“It’s a bold move and I hope that we can achieve it,” said Logan Opsahl, a Junior at FSU.

The promise comes with the caveat that lawmakers increase university funding by 118 million dollars.

“We as a public university system kind of live and die by what the lawmakers do and hopefully they can get sort of a reality check and understand that they are a product of a public education system,” said Opsahl.

The announcement comes as FSU and UF continue to pursue a bill that would allow the two schools to raise tuition above the 15 percent annual cap.

The plan would set FSU and UF apart as Florida’s top research institutions. Besides tuition authority the schools would also be held to higher standards and have loftier goals. Both school presidents say if the bill passes next year they’ll set standards, but won’t raise tuition.

“We need those metrics. We need to help universities be successful. All of us are saying even with that set up lets not increase tuition,” said FSU President Dr. Eric Barron.

State lawmakers call it a tough sell, vowing NOT to raise tuition while asking for unbridled tuition authority.

“I think it would be very difficult to do that because the whole basis of those universities moving forward with the plan is a significant increase in tuition. Now if they can do that it’s wonderful, but I think it’s a tough, tough haul for them,” said State Senator Bill Monford.

Lawmakers passed a bill last year that would have given the schools control over their own tuition rates, but Governor Rick Scott vetoed it. Governor Scott is also opposing all tuition increases this year, but state lawmakers aren’t ready to take the option off the table

No tuition increases. That’s the promise coming from the presidents of Florida’s public universities tonight. As Whitney Ray tells us, to keep the rate flat the schools are asking lawmakers for 118 million dollars.

In a united front, presidents from Florida’s 12 public universities are proposing a plan to fund education without increasing costs to students.

At the state capitol Wednesday, the presidents announced they’ll freeze tuition if lawmakers will pump an extra 118 million dollars into education.

“With an investment provided for our students we promise not to seek one penny as a tuition increase this year,” said Judy Bense, UWF President.

The announcement is a reversal from a 2008 pledge to raise tuition 15 percent a year until Florida reaches the national average. The presidents see an opportunity in a new legislature and renewed focus on education.

“There’s no question that we are the fifth lowest state in terms of tuition in the country, but fundamentally the governor and students are saying we don’t want to see it go up any more,” said UNF President John Delaney.

Governor Rick Scott has taken a hard-line stance against tuition hikes, comparing them to tax increases and vowing to stop them.

“The governor is very opposed to increasing tuition and we understand and we also are concerned about the students,” said USF President Judy Genshaft.

Cortez Whatley is the student body president at the University of Central Florida. He says four straight years of tuition hikes are taking a toll on his classmates.

“The traditional student is much different that it was in the past. Students are working two or three jobs, paying for their own schooling and they’re really suffering for that,” said Whatley.

With a proposal on the table, next comes the negotiation with state lawmakers over where to find the extra cash.

We spoke to the chairwoman of the House Education Committee after the announcement. She said it’s still too early to tell if the legislature can find the 118 million dollars the presidents are requesting.