Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Sally SwartzAugust 4, 2015

It’s skunk week in Martin County. Not to malign Florida’s real skunks, but their human imitators have left an odiferous trail countywide this week. On the hit list: A respected environmental group, Martin County government, and residents who have fought developers who don’t want to follow the county’s protective growth rules. The stinkers: Sugar industry […]

Guest AuthorJuly 14, 2015

Interested in learning more about the early Native Americans from a site excavated by the Smithsonian? How about the no-name storm of 1928 when more than 2,000 people died in an hour Or a detailed diorama of Belle Glade in the early 1920s? The Lawrence Will Museum, just reopened this May in Belle Glade, should […]

Guest AuthorJune 8, 2015

This is a story about pediatric cancer clusters in Florida. It begins in Durham, N.C., at Duke University, where Dr. David Banks is a professor in the Department of Statistical Science. In 2013 Dr. Banks was the new editor of Statistics and Public Policy, a journal of the American Statistical Association. In early February, Banks […]

Guest AuthorJune 7, 2015

During the 2015 special session, a controversial topic involving Amendment 1 funding entangles a push to purchase land south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Extreme elements of the environmental movement have made it sound as though the simple purchase of one property will “save the Everglades.” If the Everglades ecosystem is […]

Peter SchorschMay 29, 2015

Some people simply won’t take no for an answer, such as Republican State Sen. Joe Negron. After the South Florida Water Management District rejected a land deal for the state to buy thousands of acres south of Lake Okeechobee for water treatment and storage, environmentalists and a handful of politicians – including Negron – are not letting go. […]

Mitch PerryMay 27, 2015

Among those heavily disappointed by the recently aborted Legislative Session are environmental advocates, frustrated by lawmakers who failed to allocate enough money for Florida Forever, the state’s land acquisition program. That failure came despite more than 75 percent of voters in November approving Amendment 1, which calls for setting aside part of real estate document […]

Bruce RitchieMay 1, 2015

Another legislative session dubbed the “year of water” failed to deliver in 2015 as the House went home early over a health care spending dispute with the Senate. HB 7003, a water bill that was a legislative priority of House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, passed the House by a 106-9 vote on the second day of […]

Bruce RitchieApril 30, 2015

The Florida office of a national environmental group on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against federal agencies over protection of an endangered sparrow and Everglades restoration indirectly related to a proposed big land purchase. Environmental groups and some local government officials are pressuring the state to exercise an option to buy 46,800 acres of U.S. Sugar […]

Bruce RitchieApril 29, 2015

A House bill establishing comprehensive water policy was amended and passed by the Senate on Wednesday, but was dead because the House had adjourned on Tuesday. House bills dealing with hydraulic fracturing were not voted on in the Senate because their Senate sponsor said they lacked the two-thirds vote needed. The 2015 Legislative Session continued […]

Sally SwartzApril 26, 2015

The emails are puzzling. They are misleading. They are sneaky. The subject lines, in lower case letters, are nondescript, such as “funding” or “need this finished.” The sender – the Economic Council of Martin County – does not want to explain them. The emails do not ask readers to back what the Council website lists […]

Tag: Lake Okeechobee
Image via Fresh Take Florida.

Sally Swartz: Stinky lawsuits befoul Martin County development fights

Catherine Martinez: Glades museum tells tales of Old Florida

Alan Farago: Florida Department of Health failing to respond to credible reports of cancer clusters

Dan Peterson: Amendment 1 Everglades restoration money more complex than just buying land

Email insights: Say it ain’t so, Joe Negron

Statewide rallies to push for Special Session action on Amendment 1

“Year of water” failed along with most environmental bills

Sparrow lawsuit has indirect link to water storage, U.S. Sugar land purchase

Water, fracking bills die as Senate meets without House

Sally Swartz: Martin Economic Council misleads with sugar-flavored emails