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As more and more people trade four wheels for two due to gas prices, motorcycle safety is becoming a concern for law enforcement. The Department of Motor Vehicles is asking bikers to wear brighter shirts and vest, but as Whitney Ray tells us, it may be what they’re not wearing on their heads that’s causing the most concern.

Hear it Here: Motorcycle Makeover: DMV Asks Bikers to Wear Bright Cloths

They’re flashy, fast and really loud. Motorcycles can be a symbol of freedom and rebellion. While bikes may be cool, it’s not always in style to wear one of these while you ride.

“It’s not cool but it’s better for me. I feel better about my safety,” said biker Jeff Ward

In the summer of 2000, helmets became optional. The last full year helmets were required, 150 bikers died in wrecks on Florida roads. In the first full year after the law was changed there were 250 deadly motorcycle crashes.

While the number of fatal crashes is clearly up, so are Motorcycle sales. Last year 100,000 motorcycles were sold in Florida. In the first six months of this year, 82,000 bikes have already been purchased. With so many new bikers, The Department of Motor Vehicles is asking motorcyclists to wear bright colors.

“Anything we can do to make ourselves more visible as motorcycle riders, as motor vehicle operators, helps that other person to see us,” said Florida Highway Patrol Coronel John Czernis.

But bright shirts may not be the all-saving grace. Jill Soderberg has been riding for years and says no matter how safe a biker is, they’re always at risk.

“No matter what we try to do, we sit in mirrors we move between lanes, get in the high part of the lane, low side of the lane and they’re just not really looking for us,” said Soderberg.

Just one in every 20 Florida drivers is a motorcyclist but they’re involved in one of every seven deadly wrecks. Aside from wearing brighter colors, the Department of Motor Vehicles is also asking bikers to add more lights to their bikes and paint the bikes brighter colors.

A controversial gun law that went into effect on July 1st, has some Florida companies looking for loopholes. The law allows licensed gun owners to keep their guns locked in their cars while they’re at work. Disney employees have complained about the new law. Now a toilet paper company, Georgia Pacific Palatka Mill, is claiming they have federal protection against the law. Three people filed complaints against the paper company with the Attorney General’s office. NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer said Disney and the mill shouldn’t be exempt from the law.

“The corporate giants in the state of Florida are really reaching in their effort to take away rights of law abiding men and women who work hard in this country,” said Hammer.

An injunction filed to temporary suspend the law was filed in late June. A federal judge is expected to make a decision on the injunction this week.

Nearly 40,000 items recovered from safe deposit boxes are being auctioned by the state on August first. Then annual event has raised millions for the states schools, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, it is not too late to find out if you have something of value being held by the state.

Hear it Here: Forgotten Treasure

Again, if you think you or a family member may have unclaimed property, the web site is www.fltreasurehunt.org. The CFO’s office says if you think the property could be located in some other state, they can also help you search databases and make claims.

Behind this vault in a state building is a veritable treasure. Some items have value only to the original owners. But other things can be quite valuable. All of it was recovered from safe deposit boxes left unattended by their owners.

“People pass away and they forget to tell their children that they have a safe deposit box. Of course the bills aren’t paid,” Florida CFO Alex Sink said.

There are pieces of eight, silver certificates, rings, diamond broaches, rare coins and much, much more.

If you think any of the treasure or even an old utility deposit could be yours, there is an easy way to find out.

Log on to www.fltreasurehunt.org. Type in your name or a family member’s name. Nothing comes up for Vasilinda, but there are 17 pages of property belonging to people named Hill.

The state wants to give you or your families property back.

“Some people have thousands of dollars,” Sink said. “I even returned a check for half a million dollars once to a gentleman whose grandfather had given him some stock and he didn’t know about it when he was a kid.”

Even if items that belonged to you and your family are sold, you are still entitled to the cash no matter when you make the claim.

Again, if you think you or a family member may have unclaimed property, the web site is www.fltreasurehunt.org. The CFO’s office says if you think the property could be located in some other state, they can also help you search databases and make claims.

Florida’s driving population is getting older. By the year 2025, one in four drivers will be over the age of 65. As Whitney Ray tells us, AAA says the state’s not prepared to handle more senior drivers.

Hear it Here: AAA: Florida Should Prepare for Baby Boomer Drivers Getting Older

Sharon Moses just turned 65. She’s still driving but knows someday she may have to hang up her keys.

“I can remember my mother when she was still driving at 82 and it scared me to death and we finally had to take the car keys away from her,” says Moses.

Florida’s senior population is growing. About one in seven drivers is over the age of 65 but they’re responsible for about 15 percent of all fatal accidents.

By the year 2025, one in four drivers will be over the age of 65. The state may not be prepared for a major increase in older drivers. AAA says the state needs to test the mobility of everyone seeking a driver’s license.

“Mobility means your reflexes, your eyesight, your hearing, and so forth. Do you have any disabilities that could impair your driving,” said Brenda Smith, AAA Assistant Division Manager.

In Florida people can renew their driver’s license through the mail until they turn 80, after that a vision test is required for renewal. Not all seniors are against more testing.

“If it can be addressed as a safety measure only, I’m for it,” said senior driver Charles Menard.

The Florida Department of Motor Vehicles is looking at the possibility.

“There are cognitive issues that sometimes can become involved with our aging population and we are piloting some test looking at that,” said Selma Sauls with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

If more seniors have to hang up their keys, AAA says they’ll face another problem, inadequate public transportation. Seniors in Florida are involved in fewer wrecks than teenage drivers, but they tend to have deadlier accidents because of their age and health issues.

Rising gas prices are changing people’s driving habits. Floridians are driving less and choosing more fuel efficient vehicles. Scooter sales are skyrocketing. According to a report released by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, in 2007 Floridians bought 40 fewer gallons of gas than they did just a few years ago. Sarah Williams, A Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman says less gas means less gas emissions.

“It means people are using less gasoline which means less emissions from their vehicles going into the air, which is good for our air quality for sure,” says Williams.

The report claims Floridians used 80 fewer gallons of gas in 2007 than during the peak oil years in the 70’s.

The Florida Attorney General’s office is investigating how children with learning disorders are treated in public schools. The investigation began in May after a St. Lucie teacher asked her students to vote on whether or not a 5 year-old autistic boy should stay in the classroom. The kid was voted out of the class. The teacher didn’t know the boy was autistic at the time. Attorney General spokeswoman Sandi Copes said since the investigation started they’ve received more complaints.

“We’ve received several complaints about the situation, not just the situation in St. Lucie County but from other parents who believe that their children may have been treated improperly so our office is conducting a through review of the entire situation,” said Copes.

The Family of the autistic boy has filed a lawsuit against the St. Lucie County School District.

While policy and policing agencies on the state and federal levels fight predatory lending and pass measures to stop the practice, little is being done for people whose homes are in jeopardy, until now. As Whitney Ray tells us, for many Floridians help is just a phone call away.

Hear it Here: Help, Just a Phone Call Away

There are ten numbers every Floridian facing foreclosure should know. The Florida Bar and Florida Legal Services have set up a hotline for people in danger of losing their homes. In just the eight short days since the Florida Foreclosure hotline went live program coordinator Tracy Brim has heard it all.

“A lot of it is loss of jobs or cut back in hours, several are just the economy. Prices have gotten so high they can’t afford it,” said Brim.

Florida has the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation. From late notices to actually losing a home, one out of every 200 properties has received some sort of Foreclosure notice.

Florida Legal Services wants to make sure people who can’t afford their mortgage payments or an attorney, get good legal advice Information from the hotline calls is matched with lawyers.

“It’s our hope that their attorney can negotiate with the lender and establish a meaningful workout where the home owner can save the home and not lose the home into foreclosure,” said Doinne Meyers the Flash Coordinator for Florida Legal Services.

More than a hundred people have already called the hotline and some of their stories are heartbreaking.

“She was a senior citizen, she’s worried about losing the home she’s been in 25 years,” said Brim.

The legal advice is free… but with 77,000 foreclosures and more on the way— the lawyers have their work cut out for them. The hotline number is 1-866-607-2187. Calls are taken during regular business hours and messages are returned within 24 hours.

Soon your state government could pay you for going green. The Governor’s Action team on energy and climate change met in Tallahassee Thursday. The action team is discussing ways to conserve energy and cut down on green house gas emissions. One idea is to offer tax breaks and grants to people who add solar panels and other green technologies to their homes. Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection Michael Sole said people can start doing things now to help save energy and the environment.

“This is a responsibility of every Floridian. The things that we can do at the home the things we can do at the office. How we use our vehicles to reduce the amount of driving, or improve our vehicles’ fuel efficiency. These are things we can do to help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Sole.

The Action team will meet again in August. They will present their energy saving plan to the Governor in October.

Enrollment in Florida’s Public Schools is slowing. State economists are predicting fewer than 1,700 new students next year and flat growth for the 2009 school year. As Whitney Ray tells us, when schools stop growing the state’s economy suffers.

Hear it Here: School Enrollment Flat, State Economy Deflating

Children may be our future but they also tell us something about the present. In 2003, Florida’s public school system was busting at the seams, adding about 65,000 new students every year. In the past Florida Schools added portable classrooms to keep up with growth on campus. That could soon change.

For the past five years statewide growth has slowed. Now it’s flat which is bittersweet for the state’s financially strapped school system. Florida schools will add fewer than 1,700 new students next fall.

“It means we’re having to hire fewer teachers and having to build less classrooms,” said Wayne Blanton with the Florida School Boards Association.

But the news is bad for the state’s economy. Florida TaxWatch CEO Dominic Calabro said a decrease in student enrollment growth is a sign fewer working class families are moving to Florida and spending money.

“They bring with them a sense of purpose and work and sense of community. They’re very active. They have a lot of transactions,” said Calabro.

One reason the number of students hasn’t declined more is that many working families are unable to sell their homes and move. The Education Estimating Conference will meet again Friday to decide how many students might enroll in the Florida Public School system in the 2009 – 2010 school year.

Millions of Medicare dollars were wrongfully shelled out to some Florida doctors, the catch the doctors were dead. A Senate Committee released a report highlighting a nationwide scam in which some people were using Medicare ID’s from deceased doctors to file claims. Medicare shelled out nearly a hundred million dollars to claims made with the ID cards. About 500 fraudulent claims were filed and paid in Florida to the tune of more than two million bucks. Governor Charlie Crist says it’s hard to believe people would steal from Medicare.

“It’s hard to imagine that somebody would want to steal that badly that they would literally steal not only money but health care that would be going to someone legitimately,” said Crist.

Up until the investigation, one in four deceased doctors in Florida still had working Medicare ID.

Governor Charlie Crist is planning a trip overseas to entice foreign companies to invest in Florida. Crist will leave on the 12-day trade mission Friday. He’ll visit London, Paris, Madrid and Russia. Crist will focus on business development and climate change while overseas. The Florida Governor says he hopes his trip will generate economic growth and jobs for the state’s unemployed.

“I’m trying to get them employed, that’s exactly why I’m going. To try to generate more business more investment, more entrepreneurship from these countries that have been very good friends to Florida in the past and express that gratitude and continue to encourage their investment and employment of our fellow Floridians,” said Crist.

He will take his fiancée Carole Rome with him on the trip.

The Department of Corrections is reevaluating its inmate labor policies after a correctional officer was killed by a prisoner in a work program. Last month correctional officer Donna Fitzgerald was stabbed to death by an inmate at Tomoka Correctional Institute. The inmate was serving two life sentences and working in a program aimed at teaching inmates skills they can use when they leave prison. The inmate made a shank out of a piece of sheet metal and hid in a work closet. When the officer Fitzgerald found the inmate he stabbed her to death. Executive Director of the Florida Police Benevolence Association Dave Murrell said inmates serving life sentences shouldn’t be allowed to enroll in labor programs.

“It makes no sense to put a violent person serving a life sentence in a position like that, especially dealing with heavy metals that they could make weapons. Apparently he did that and killed Officer Fitzgerald,” said Murrell. “The whole policy needs to be changed. Lifers don’t need to be involved in that program.”

The Department of Corrections and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating Fitzgerald’s death.

School grades released today suggest Florida’s schools are doing better than they were a year ago. But teachers are being laid off because of budget cuts and as Whitney Ray tells us, the future of Education in the sunshine state may not be so bright.

Hear it Here: Report Card Released, Some Schools Make the Grade, Others Fail

Kristen Roberts’ 6 year-old daughter would be in private school if her public school wasn’t making the grade.

“Since the grade is high up where we live that was definitely part of our decision making process, we factored that in,” said Roberts.

The Florida Department of Education released its annual report grading schools based on FCAT results. More than half of the state’s schools received A’s. Overall grades were better this year than they were a year ago.

Five of the state’s worst schools were able to turn their programs around and raise their grades from an F to an A.

A four billion dollar state budget shortfall put a huge dent in education funding. Teachers are being laid off and programs are being cut. Even the state Commissioner of Education said schools need more money.

“Good student achievement does require a financial commitment that will need to be recovered at some point in the future, but I think this year you’re going to see the continued kind of effort you’ve seen in the past in Florida, that we’re going to move ahead and I’m very optimistic about next years results,” said Eric Smith, the state Commissioner of Education.

Florida’s School Boards Association isn’t as upbeat.

“We’re laying off people who working with our students everyday to improve the grades. I don’t think you can continue to see this as a trend of schools going up if there’s not additional funding coming from the legislature,” said Wayne Blanton with the Florida School Boards Association.

If scores drop, job growth may slow because of new businesses not willing to gamble on a state with failing schools. Last year more than 80 Florida schools received F’s. This year just 45 received a failing grade. If you want to see if your child’s school made the grade go to http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org

A new law continues to create havoc across the state. For eight days now Floridians with gun licenses have been allowed to keep their guns locked in their cars while at work. They also have the right to keep their employers from searching their vehicles to look for firearms. Before the law took affect the Florida Chamber of Commerce filed for an injunction to keep the law from taking effect. Disney says its exempts from the law because of a loophole. Disney has a license to store fireworks. The law allows exemptions for business that deal with explosives. According to reports, Disney fired an employee who didn’t let them search his car for guns. NRA Lobbyist Marion Hammer said Disney isn’t above this law.

“I don’t believe Disney has the exemption they’re claiming. I have talked to many legislatures who say there was never any intention to exempt Disney in anyway so it’s going to play out in the Attorney General’s office,” said Hammer.

The Attorney General has received about 20 complaints against Disney. Attorney General Spokeswoman Sandi Copes said her office is still investigating the situation.

“Consumers are bringing their concerns to our attention and we’re taking a look at them. You have to keep in mind that there is currently a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the statute, so we’re keeping an eye on all the factors involved in this case before we make a decision,” said Copes.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce is challenging the law in court. Chief Strategist for the Florida Chamber Dan Krassner said the law is confusing.

“Clearly this is an irrational law. There is confusion across the state. The Florida Chamber of Commerce advises businesses and our members to consult with their HR and their legal professionals to interpret how this might impact their businesses on a case by case basis,” said Krassner.

A ruling on the injunction filed by the Chamber is expected to come down sometime during the next two weeks.

A massive campaign aimed at making Heath Care the number one issue in this year’s election kicked off nationwide today. Several unions and groups are joining forces in the 40 million dollar effort. Health Care for America Now wants health care costs lowered. Television spots began running in some media markets today. Rich Templin is a spokesman for the group. Templin hopes every candidate will start talking about lowering health care cost.

“The purpose of HCAN is to make this the dominate issue. It’s not to make it the third the fourth, the fifth question to presidential candidate in the debate, but to make it the first second and third question in the debate and all the other races being held around the country for congress,” said Templin.

The group says it’s nonpartisan and doesn’t support either presidential candidate.