Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorAugust 26, 2015

Honestly, the main thing I can remember was the color of the news car. It was burgundy, inside and out. Merlot. When we heard the shots, we jumped inside and sped off. I threw my purse onto the floor and it stood out against the winy carpet. Then it pressed onto the simple two-way radios […]

Guest AuthorAugust 12, 2015

There’s been a lot of talk about patron use of technology in theaters, the most recent story of course being Patti LuPone snatching a phone out of a texting audience member’s hands in the middle of a scene during Shows for Days at the Lincoln Center Theater. LuPone, a Tony and Grammy award-winning actress who […]

Mitch PerryJuly 12, 2015

A Florida Southern Pride Ride in support of the Confederate flag was scheduled to take place at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala on Sunday afternoon – a day after Marion County Government officials restored the Third National Confederate flag and a french flag that were removed in two separate incidents in front of the McPherson Complex […]

Associated PressJuly 2, 2015

You may have noticed your Facebook friends getting considerably more colorful. More than 26 million Facebook profile photos have taken on a rainbow hue in the days since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that marriage is a right guaranteed under the Constitution regardless of a person’s sexual orientation. People have been covering their […]

Jac VerSteegJune 15, 2015

“He did nothing wrong. He was afraid for his life. I commend him for his actions.” Those words were, in effect, Alberto Iber’s resignation letter. The Miami high school principal – excuse me, the former Miami high school principal – posted those fateful words online on a Miami Herald comment page. Iber was defending the […]

William MarchApril 20, 2015

Some Florida lawmakers want to impose state-level regulations on the free-wheeling online world, and are drawing opposition from some of the nation’s biggest Internet companies including Google, Yahoo, Facebook and eBay. The conflict is over two proposed laws. One would affect who controls a person’s email and social media accounts and the secrets they may […]

Guest AuthorApril 8, 2015

Student privacy has been much in the news lately, given the revelations that Pearson, creator of the new PARCC tests and one time creator of the FCAT, is monitoring social media to look for breaches of test security. (PARCC is the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.) Not surprisingly, there’s a bill […]

Phil AmmannApril 2, 2015

It’s beginning to look a lot like 2016. Signs are all around that the “silent primary” is well under way. Campaigns are busy assembling campaign teams, while prospective candidates Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Marco Rubio are only days from officially mounting White House runs. At the intersection of social media and politics, candidates and staff members both […]

Mitch PerryMarch 19, 2015

For those of you poised to sit back and watch Jackie Toledo and Guido Maniscalco battle it out for the first and only time in a debate five days before the District 6 Tampa City Council runoff election, you’re out of luck. There will be no debate tonight, after the League of Women Voters and […]

Guest AuthorMarch 15, 2015

Breaking news: thousands of students took the FSA writing test last week with no glitches or slowdowns. Oh, wait, shouldn’t this be a non-news story? This is only news because of the slowdowns and cyberhacks of the previous week. The Florida Department of Education is not yet ready to release the final number of students […]

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Melissa Ross: I can’t remember his name …

Heather Gibson: Let theater take you to a new world … without ringing, glowing cellphones

After protest, third national confederate flag in Marion County still flying

Rainbow Facebook photos: Armchair activism or shifting tide?

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Miami principal inept but didn’t deserve ouster

Internet companies oppose Florida proposals to regulate web

Catherine Martinez: Social media, data mining undermine test privacy

Research firm sniffs out embarrassing staff tweets

So much for that debate between Guido Maniscalco, Jackie Toledo

Catherine Martinez: Kids share test info on social media? That's non-news