Lincoln offered few details as to why, just that Crist had "left us no alternative and he knows why."
He said the withdrawal has nothing to do with Crist's slumping poll [...]
edited by: Kay Day,
Florida Editor
Lincoln offered few details as to why, just that Crist had "left us no alternative and he knows why."
He said the withdrawal has nothing to do with Crist's slumping poll [...]
Sometimes it's the silent treatment. Other times it comes with a cheery "Merry Christmas." Either way, Florida's chief financial officer knows how to dodge questions.
Marc Caputo
*
Associated Industries of Florida has posted results of a new Zogby International poll showing that Floridians largely oppose Gov. Charlie Crist's decision to buy 73,000 acres of U.S. Sugar land for $536 million and then lease it back to the company.
Only 11 percent support it, with 86 percent are opposed. [...]
ST. PETERSBURG — BayWalk's control could soon extend from the public sidewalk facing its main entrance through the public land fronting the city's nearby parking garage.
Months after the City Council ceded a public sidewalk fronting BayWalk to its owners, city officials are now arranging a deal that would allow BayWalk [...]
ST. PETERSBURG —— Mayor-elect Bill Foster will retain the majority of City Hall’s top administrators and managers when he takes office in two weeks.
Foster, whose campaign platform extolled stability and efficiency, will keep all of the city’s three deputy mayors, albeit under new titles. As a candidate, he said some residents [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- If your family is supportive of your professional ambitions, you might get them an extra nice birthday gift, or maybe take them out for dinner.
Mayor Rick Baker, on the other hand, gifted his nearest and dearest with a day Thursday.
That's right, a day.
After two terms, Baker celebrated his final [...]
ST. PETERSBURG - Deputy Mayor David Metz said he still doesn't know what is going to happen when Mayor-Elect Bill Foster takes office in three weeks.
Metz said there has been some discussion about which staffers will stay under what titles, but there is also a lot of uncertainty.
"Nothing has been [...]
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is conducting an anti-trust investigation of a voting-machine company merger that would create a near-monopoly over the levers of democracy in Florida and much of the United States.
McCollum's office has issued at least six subpoenas covering every major voting-machine company as part of a civil [...]
So here's the content and attachments of the Breakfastgate e-mails. The level of conspiracy and wicked government skullduggery and abuse of public records laws is shocking! (look here, here, here and here for more background). Beware, these attachments contain highly classified info.
From: Thibault, Kevin
Sent: Tuesday, [...]
Pinellas County Commissioner John Morroni closed out the first half of today's commission meeting with healthy news: He's officially in remission from lymphoma diagnosed in September 2008.
"It was good news for Eileen and I to get that news right before Christmas," Morroni said as his announcement drew applause.
David DeCamp, Times Staff [...]
ST. PETERSBURG — The Florida Elections Commission has found probable cause that City Council member Jamie Bennett failed to properly identify a campaign advertisement during his mayoral bid this year.
Bennett, who placed sixth in September’s 10-way mayoral primary, agreed to pay a $250 fine and did not contest the commission’s [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- City Council member Jamie Bennett, who served as the council's homeless outreach coordinator during most of his nine-year stint in office, said he will join the staff of the St. Petersburg Free Clinic's Beacon House after he resigns in January.
His new title?
Jobs and housing coach, said Bennett.
"I've never [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- City Council member Jamie Bennett, who served as the council's homeless outreach coordinator during most of his nine-year stint in office, said he will join the staff of the St. Petersburg Free Clinic's Beacon House after he resigns in January.
His new title?
Jobs and housing coach, he said.
"I've never [...]
SEMINOLE - Jimmy Johnson automatically got his second term as mayor on Monday when no one signed up to run against him.
"That's wonderful," Johnson said. "I certainly do appreciate the people of Seminole, the confidence they have in me. ... It's been a great [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- A bill to let St. Petersburg run its own medical transport service appears to have died, Sen. Charlie Justice said today.
The legislative delegation met today without taking it up. Asked if the bill was dead, Justice, the sponsor, said, "As far as I know." (UPDATE: Justice said [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- Pinellas County legislators want to make it tougher for cities to annex in Lealman and East Lake neighborhoods after St. Petersburg's disputed annexation of part of Tierra Verde.
Lawmakers voted 11-0 today to support a bill by Rep. Peter Nehr, R- Tarpon Springs, that would require cities to [...]
Dear Santa,
All Bay Buzz wants for Christmas is for all of the candidates in St. Petersburg's city elections to make sure their campaign signs have been taken down. Like the big one for mayoral contender Scott Wagman on the west side of 34th Street S, just south of 18th Avenue. The [...]
KENNETH CITY - Qualifying has opened for two open seats on the Town Council in the March 9 election. Closing will be noon this Friday, Dec. 18. Up for grabs are the seats currently held by Al Carrier and Wanda Dudley. It is unclear if they plan to run for re-election.
The [...]
Gov. Charlie Crist just called a special election to replace Democratic Rep. Michael Scionti of Tampa, who accepted a post at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Scionti, who represents parts of Hillsborough County, including West Tampa, Town 'N Country and Seminole Heights, was first elected in 2006.
The primary election for [...]
Sen. Paula Dockery just wanted to see eight-month's worth of emails issues to and from FDOT honchos about "CSX, rail, liability."** The Lakeland Republican barely got a thing. There was not one email from FDOT chief Stephanie Kopelousos over the past eight months on an issue that her boss, Gov. Charlie Crist, and [...]
A former aide to Sen. Mandy Dawson is talking with authorities in the Justice Department's case against Alan Mendelsohn, a Broward fundraiser extraordinaire accused of transferring $87,000 to an unidentified former state lawmaker.
``You already know I'm cooperating. Talk to my lawyer,'' said ex-aide Venica Blakely, 36, who sources say served [...]
Nothing quite like Senate District 38. File a complaint against a candidate, and the next thing you know you’ll be accused of being in league with Fidel Castro and his band of spies. And then someone's mom gets dragged into it. And then each side suggests the other [...]
In the end, billions of hoped-for federal money to build a high-speed rail, and hundreds of millions more for Central and South Florida commuter rail hinged on just one letter from Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos to Senate President Jeff Atwater. The letter gives the AFL-CIO some [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- The Florida Elections Commission has decided that former mayoral candidate Scott Wagman should not be charged with violating the state's election laws.
Wagman's actions were not "willful," according to the commission, which also called for the Legislature to take another look at [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- The Florida Elections Commission has decided that former mayoral candidate Scott Wagman's campaign should not be charged with violating the state's election laws.
Wagman's actions were not "willful," according to the commission, which also called for the Legislature to take another look [...]
Mike Williams, president of the AFL-CIO, just left Sen. Paula Dockery's office after delivering a bombshell: They're about to reach an accord on union workers at SunRail. So Democrats in the Senate might vote for the rail bill.
That means they can roll it over to third reading and pas it [...]
Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander said he'll vote on the SunRail deal despite the fact that his cousin, Rep. Baxter Troutman, abstained from voting on the grounds that it's a conflict of interest because their family owns a business that works on the CSX lines.
Alexander based his decision on a [...]
The Democratic race for attorney general's getting a little more intriguing now that Sen. Dave Aronberg skipped the Regulated Industries Committee meeting yesterday because "I will be detained by events in my district that I need to attend," according to his please-excuse-my-absence note.
One of those "events:" A fundraiser [...]
Boy, is the Senate divided over SunRail. The Judiciary Committee just approved the rail package on a 5-4 vote. Just like the Transportation Committee yesterday.
*
[...]What magic thing did Gov. Charlie Crist say to Sen. Nancy Detert to get her to switch her nay vote on SunRail?
Not much.
"I went in as a yes and I came out as a yes," Detert said.
"We have the votes now to pass SunRail," Detert said. She's [...]
Jamie Miller, who consulted for Bill McCollum's successful 2006 race for attorney general, is now the campaign manager for McCollum's Republican opponent for governor, Paula Dockery.
But Miller probably isn't the biggest boost to Dockery's campaign. That distinction belongs to Senate President Jeff Atwater who called a special session on SunRail [...]
Sen. Mike Bennett, an opponent of SunRail the past two years, is poised to vote for the latest commuter rail being considered this week in special session. Why? In part because he says the deal is better than previous proposals. But also because he's a policy committee chair and doesn't [...]
It’s a gimme that the House will pass a rail package, but a group of Miami-Dade legislators has a few concerns/questions about the deal. And it’s all about Miami-Dade, though highly technical (link below). 10 of the 18 members of the delegation signed the letter, including budget chief [...]
Does Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano go to far when it comes to his hands-on style?
His "governing style ... often wins him praise among his constituents -- but also leaves him vulnerable to criticism that he's overstepped his bounds," writes Times staff writer Jodie Tillman.
Read the story here.
[...]Does Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano go too far when it comes to his hands-on style?
His "governing style ... often wins him praise among his constituents -- but also leaves him vulnerable to criticism that he's overstepped his bounds," writes Times staff writer Jodie Tillman.
Read the story here.
[...]ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor-elect Bill Foster confirmed today he's no fan of adding digital billboards in the city, as proposed by Mayor Rick Baker. The measure, now with the City Council, would essentially allow 10 digital signs in order to have 100 taken down.
Some neighborhood groups oppose it. But Foster [...]
[Photo by CHERIE DIEZ | Times]
ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor Rick Baker, Mayor-elect Bill Foster and five former mayors lunched over Atwater's BBQ today at Baker's office, apparently telling war stories and offering tips to Foster.
The lunches are an annual occurrence, Baker said. They [...]
Well, someone (an anonymous photo-shopper) has a sense of humor about Paula Dockery (on tracks) killing SunRail. Looks like Sen. Jeremy Ring is on left, Senate President Jeff Atwater is center with the Dick Dastardly stash (or is that the ole Tom Lee?) and [...]
As a deal on rail projects hits roadbloacks, Senate Majority leader Alex Diaz de la Portilla is working the phones – and his pen.
The Miami Republican lobbied one House member to submit an editorial to drum up home-town support to help the measure pass in his own chamber. [...]
An old lawyer saying goes something like this: If you don't have the facts, pound on the law. If you don't have the law, pound on the facts. If you don't have either, pound on the table.
Lakeland Sen. Paula Dockery didn't need to pound on the table when she pummeled [...]
For the first time in these bleak financial times, Florida’s economists are
forecasting higher-than-expected tax collections that could mean fewer budget
cuts and less of a chance for tax increases.
But the big question looms: How
much of a windfall?
The answer is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The [...]
Update: This blog has been expanded and bolstered with documents at this link
There’s little love lost between Sen. J.D. Alexander and Rep. Baxter Troutman (more here) And there will be even less now that Troutman filed an official vote-abstention form with the House Clerk, noting that he’s [...]
When the Pinellas County Housing Authority decided last month to give $300,000 to the Pinellas Hope tent city for the homeless, board members thought they were doing a good deed. After a rough year where the executive director Darrell Irions left in a spat, it was supposed to be [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- Toward the end of an otherwise docile City Council meeting Thursday, council members Wengay Newton and Leslie Curran traded barbs about transparency.
Newton had pulled items about the city's annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade and the Festival of States off the consent agenda because he had unanswered questions. During [...]
There won't be any new digital signs for a year in unincorporated Pinellas County, if the County Commission gives final approval Dec. 15 to a one-year moratorium.
The board had a public hearing Tuesday on the ban, which was spawned by new efforts by Clear Channel to erect digital billboards in [...]
Last year, Eustis Republican Sen. Carey Baker was a yes on SunRail. But now he says ...
"Originally I committed to the SunRail ... a Little Red Riding Hood bill. Instead we're voting on this big bad wolf bill."
Ouch. Senate President Jeff Atwater had called the special session on rail [...]
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority board approved its state-mandated 10-year plan today, and for the first time it includes details on what rail would be like in Pinellas County.
That worried some board members who had questions about the assumptions in the plan, which includes a 26-mile route and trains running [...]
