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Governor Charlie Crist is hoping for some speedy answers about Allstate Insurance. Today he praised the effort to get documents from the reluctant company, now he want to know if the company colluded with others to set rates and if it was denying valid claims based on a formula.

“We’ve been successful in simply getting them to answer a subpoena,” Crist said. “It shouldn’t be that hard but they’ve finally now done so, according to the commissioner and I’m delighted about that fact. Maybe now we’ll get to the truth as to why they were raising their rates when they represented to members of the Florida Senate and the Florida House that they in fact were going to drop them. I’m very curious and anxious to have those documents reviewed.”

Allstate tuned over the last of hundreds of thousands of documents after regulators suspended the company’s ability to sell new policies.

Mark Dean Schwab is getting a new date with the death chamber. Governor Charlie Crist is expected to sign his death warrant today, with a July first execution date. Schwab was convicted of killing 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez, Jr. in April 1991.  His execution has been stopped by the US Supreme Court last year as it reviewed executions across the country. Today, the nation’s high court gave the go ahead for the execution. Governor Charlie Crist says he set the July First date after consulting with staff.

“Why not sooner? It’s a time that makes sense, that the office staff advised when I got here,” Crist. “After talking to our general counsel, it sounds fine to me.”

Schwab gained the families confidence by posing as a news paper reporter, then lured the child to his death.

For the last ten years, the advantage held by Democrats in the number of registered voters has been steadily declining, until this year, when their numbers jumped by almost a hundred thousand voters. Democrats now have 317 thousand more voters than the GOP. One in 5 Florida voters remains a member of neither party. Speaking to a Democratic Club today, Florida State University Political Scientist Lance de Haven Smith says the increase does not necessarily guarantee victory in November.

“The race in November will depend on the turnout,” de Haven Smith said.  “If there’s a very high turnout, Democrats will sweep across the country and it won’t just be at the Presidential level, it’ll be at all levels. If there’s not a big turnout, I think that you will see a very close election. It’s clearly the Democrats race to lose, but it’s loseable if they don’t get out the vote.”

Turnout among Independents is usually low, which means if Democrats turn out their base, their chances of winning increase.

More than 100 wildfires continue to burn across the state today. A total of 29 homes have been destroyed and dozens of others have been damaged. Rain is offering some relieve, but as Whitney Ray tells us, it’s a mixed blessing.

Hear it Here: Rain is a Mixed Blessing For Firefighters

Firefighters in Franklin County have all but won their battle with the wildfire.

“We’re still doing mop ups, still marching around the houses we burned out and just continuing to monitor it and keep it in,” said Victor Rowland, forest area supervisor.

Rowland spent the day checking houses and making sure fires didn’t reignite. After four days of fighting the flames firefighters got some relief early Friday morning when it started to rain.

Fifteen new fires greeted firefighters Friday morning. Fatigue is not a factor yet, but the rain can be a double edge sword.

“What were seeing with this front coming through with some lighting in it, especially some positive lightening strikes, which give us fits. There the ones that cause ground strikes and can cause vegetation to ignite and then we have other fires to take care of,” said Gerry LaCavera, a spokesman with the Florida Division of Forestry.

Residents across the state are being cautioned to be cautious this weekend when cooking outdoors. Burn bans are in place in six counties. Back in Franklin County the rain may pay dividends in the form of smoke signals.

“The rain hadn’t got in there and penetrated and put it out, but at least it’s got in there and cooled it off and then it starts smoke and we can see where more of the smoke is and then we can come in and mop that up,” said Rowland.

Rowland says they’ll keep on eye on the charred forest until there’s a significant rain, a tedious, but preferable task given the job fire crews in 13 other counties face where the battle rages on.

Florida Forestry Crews have been helping fight fires in Texas… The Division of Forestry has called those crews back home and is now asking Texas to return the favor. The six counties under a burn ban are Hendry, Alachua, Flagler, Volusia, Putnam and Sumter.

Allstate Insurance is back in the business of selling new policies, two and a half days after a court ruled the state could penalize the company for failing to turn over its rate setting and claims paying records. As Mike Vasilinda reports, the company may still be on the hook for the way it handled recent requests for information.

Hear it Here: Allstate is Back in Business

Shortly after two on Friday afternoon, the office of Insurance Regulation lifted its suspension of Allstate’s certificate to sell new policies. State regulators say the company promised to do better.

“Commissioner McCarty has agreed to lift the suspension as long as Allstate continues to comply with additional requests that might be necessary in the course of this investigation,” Ed Domansky with the Office of Insurance Regulation said.

Hundreds of thousands of documents have been turned over. At issue is how the company came to ask for a 42 percent rate hike last fall when most other companies were lowering rates. Also an issue is whether the company arbitrarily failed to pay 100 percent of a claim. The answer to both questions may lie in the documents the company finally turned over to regulators.

Allstate may still get another day in court. It has until Tuesday to ask the Florida Supreme Court if the lower courts upholding of the suspension was correct.

For now, the four month fight has put other companies on notice the state has the power to look at how they conduct business. Regulators say the message is a good one.

“Right now people should be thinking that Commissioner McCarty means business,” Domansky said. “He takes Florida law seriously and he is out to do whatever he can to protect the consumers here in Florida from potentially inappropriate business practices.”

Allstate could still face civil penalties from a state hearing officer over not turning the records over in a timely manner.

Some of Florida’s best and brightest professors are leaving for jobs outside of the state. Budget cuts and heavy out-of-state recruiting are to blame. As Whitney Ray tells us, many of the professors will take thousands of research dollars with them when they leave.

Hear it Here: Recruiters Target Florida Professors, State Universities Suffer

Florida State University Professor Charles Figley wanted to retire in Tallahassee, but with funding cuts to higher education becoming an annual event, he’s packing his bags.

“We’ve taken so many cuts, we had to keep pushing back and pulling back,” said Figley

Florida’s Universities are cutting budgets and positions creating concerns about pay raises and job security. Out-of-state schools are taking advantage of the situation and recruiting Florida professors. Figley gave in to advances from Tulane University. He says other FSU professors are looking at their options.

“Numbers of people, when they hear that I’m going, say that they are in the process of moving or they are aggressively investigating job opportunities,” Figley said.

Administrators at FSU were too busy to talk on camera about retaining quality professors. Students said they’re seeing more classes being taught by student teaching assistants.

“Sometimes I have TA’s that don’t even have graduate degree. So it frustrates me to have a TA over a professor,” said Stacie Brodsky, an FSU Junior.

I’m sure everybody’s really concerned about if they’re going to get the same education that they use to,” said Senior Rachel Dent.

Not only are universities losing professors they’re also losing research dollars. When Figley leaves he’ll take along this picture as a reminder of his 19 years in Florida and a grant he’ll now use at Tulane.

More people vacationed in Florida during the first three months of this year than did a year ago. Governor Charlie Crist along with members of Visit Florida held a news conference at the Capitol today to announce the numbers. So far this year more than 23 million people vacationed in the sunshine state. That’s up almost four percent from a year ago. Instate travel is up 10 percent so far this year. Governor Charlie Crist hopes the trend continues.

“There’s so many parts of Florida that are diverse and it’s very different from Miami to Pensacola, from Jackson to Ft. Myers and you know for Floridians to have the opportunity to visit other parts of Florida I think is extremely important and it’s cheaper on their budgets to do so,” said Crist.

Still a triple threat of wildfires, hurricanes and gas prices loom over the state’s tourism industry. Despite Triple A’s prediction that rising fuel cost will drastically cut down on summer travel, Visit Florida President Bud Nocera said people will still take a family vacation.

“Never discount the concept of vacation in the lives of Americans, it’s very important, so we believe Americans are still going to take vacations. They may cut back a little, but they’re still going to be on vacation,” said Nocera.

State leaders hope a strong travel season can help generate enough sales tax revenue to relieve some of the state’s budget woes.

Florida enjoyed an uneventful hurricane season last year, but Governor Charlie Crist wants Floridians to be prepared for the worst this season. Crist was back in Tallahassee Thursday after hosting the annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference in Fort Lauderdale. The theme of this year’s conference was preparedness. Crist said the state is prepared.

“Always be prepared, always be vigilant, get a plan, be ready, and Craig Fugate is ready and Floridians are ready and I think having that attitude is exactly what we need to do,” said Crist.

Hurricane season starts June first.

The Florida Supreme Court has set a briefing schedule, inviting Allstate Insurance to submit a brief on why the company thinks the State’s high court should take jurisdiction in the suspension of its license to write new business. The company had filed a discretionary brief with the court asking it to look at the case. The company’s argument is due at noon, May 20^th.  The state would then have until noon on May 22^nd to respond. The order is not a guarantee that the court will hear the case. Allstate says it has already turned over all of the documents the state was seeking and that it has submitted a “Certification” that it will continue to cooperate. Both were conditions for the state to allow the Company to begin writing new business again. The company and its agents have been forbidden from writing new policies since 9:30 Wednesday morning.

Read the Order Here

Legislators want to make sure your kid gets exercise at school. Some middle schools in Florida were counting walks to lunch and stretches during morning announcements as P.E. time. As Whitney Ray tells us, a bill passed by lawmakers will put a stop to those practices.

Hear it Here: Lawmakers Say 30 Minutes Means 30 Minutes

For 30 minutes everyday, these middle school students get a chance to stretch, run, and just be kids. P.E. is sixth grader Tyler Ison’s favorite class.

“You get to be free and not worry about homework or anything like that,“ said Tyler.

Under pressure to make FCAT score, some schools used questionable methods to teach physical education. Lawmakers say schools were cheating and counting the walk from the classroom to the cafeteria as P.E. time.

A bill passed earlier this month requires middle schools to teach P.E. 30 minutes a day. The exercise would have to be continuous, so walking the halls between classes wouldn’t cut it. Coach Dick Hosford said the earlier kids learn physical health the better.

“If you’re already having weight problems and you’re 12 or 13 it probably won’t do anything but get worse the older you get,” said Hosford.

Seventh Grader Clifton Gwynn said a lot of kids wouldn’t get exercise if her school didn’t require them to.

“They do video games and stuff and I just don’t think that’s very active,” said Gwynn.

Playing together makes friends of strangers.

“I make new friends when I’m playing sports,” said Ison.

While P.E. may not be the most academic subject in school, it teaches healthy habits and teamwork, qualities, hard to learn by just walking to the lunch room. Governor Charlie Crist hasn’t received the bill yet.

A State Attorney said the murder of an FSU Graduate turned Police informant could have been prevented. Last week 23 year-old Rachel Hoffman was murdered while working as an informant for the Tallahassee Police Department. Hoffman was in a drug court program for a 2007 drug charge when she was arrested by Tallahassee police in April. Hoffman made a deal with police and became an informant, but the State Attorney’s office was never notified. State Attorney Willie Meggs says since Hoffman was in a drug court program she wouldn’t have been allowed her to buy drugs and a gun in the police sting.

“Had the State known that she had been arrested we would have notified the court. There’s a new arrest and she was in possession of drugs which is in violation of the terms of the contract she has signed with us to be in drug court. She’s to have no contact with criminals. She’s to have no guns,” said Meggs.

Meggs said Hoffman would have been put in jail for her latest arrest and not used in a drug sting. Hoffman violated her drug court contract once before by refusing to take a drug test. The violation bought her three days in jail.

The battle over whether the Board of Governors has the power to set tuition continued today in a Tallahassee courtroom. The Board filed a law suit to clarify whether voters intended it to set tuition when the Board was created in 2002. Judge Charles Francis listened to more than two hours of arguments. State lawmakers had filed a motion to ask the suit be thrown out, which would effectively say the power to set tuition rests only with the legislature. The judge has taken the case under advisement without ruling on that point, but did deny a motion from the Pre Paid Tuition plan to enter the case on the side of the legislature. The Board had sought to impose an 8 percent tuition hike this year, but agreed with lawmakers to limit the increase to 6 percent. Senate President Ken Pruitt tried this past session to put the tuition setting power to a vote in November, but could not get the House to go along.

Congress is poised to investigate what role speculators are playing in rising gas prices. When Governor Charlie Crist was Attorney General he called oil executives on the carpet twice. As Whitney Ray tells us, drivers want answers.

Hear it Here: Lawmakers, Drivers Want Answers about High Gas Prices

Ashley McKeen can no longer afford to go see her family because of high gas prices.

“I use to go home every other weekend. We’re a pretty close family, but I can’t do that anymore,” said McKeen.

Gas prices are so high this delivery truck driver only drives while working. When Ira Haggs hangs up his work keys, he grabs handle bars.

“I just ride a bike. I don’t even have a car anymore,” said Haggs.

The prices keep climbing. The price at this Tallahassee station was 10 cents cheaper just six days ago. Some US lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the record oil prices. While Governor Charlie Crist was Attorney General he met with oil executives twice. No action was taken following the meetings.

“You hold hearing to see what kind of evidence you might uncover and I applaud the congress’s efforts to do that,” said Crist.

Drivers want answers, now.

“There’s just confusion as to why the gas is so high. I hear so many different opinions from so many different kinds of people that I have no idea as to what the real reason is and quiet frankly I would like a real answer,” said Carolyn Hazelwood.

Finding real answers is a sentiment now being shared by drivers and lawmakers. Experts expect gas to hit the four dollar mark by the end of summer.

Governor Charlie Crist says the Tampa Bay Rays are making a good case for a new stadium. The Rays are off to a good start, currently at second in the American League East. The franchise is negotiating with St. Petersburg for a new stadium. Governor Crist says winning can be persuasive.

“There’s an old expression in baseball and sports generally, the best promotion is a winning team. They’re winning, so I certainly wouldn’t think that would hurt them,” said Crist.

The Ray’s want to build a 450 million dollars stadium on the waterfront.

Monday Governor Charlie Crist declared a State of Emergency in Florida. Tuesday Crist toured the fire damaged areas in Central Florida. Crist spoke to reporters at a news conference at the State Capitol. The wildfires have burned more than 3 thousand acres of land, 50 homes and 4 fire fighters have been injured trying to extinguish the flames. Crist applauds the efforts of first responders.

“I want to thank our first responders for their great courage and hard work, what they’re doing to protect people in property in the affected area,” said Crist.

Investigators think the fires may have been started by an arsonist.