Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Phil AmmannJuly 28, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott appointed Miami-Dade grower Sam Accursio to the South Florida Water Management District, the regional agency that administers water resources for 16 counties. SFWMD serves 8.1 million customers from Orlando south to the Florida Keys. Accursio, 52, of Homestead, owns Sam S. Accursio & Sons Farms, which cultivates 2,000 acres in Miami-Dade County. […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 10, 2015

On Wednesday, the Florida Chamber announced the appointment of Michael Minton to a one-year term as the Florida Chamber’s Palm Beach/Treasure Coast Regional Board Chair. Minton is a shareholder and chair of the Agribusiness Industry Team of Dean, Mead, Minton & Zwemer. Minton, who returned to his hometown of Fort Pierce in 1987 to practice law, has […]

Guest AuthorJune 1, 2015

Last month, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) voted to forgo purchasing U.S. Sugar-owned land to build a vital reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). That decision is a setback to Everglades restoration and to communities enduring damaging discharges of polluted Lake Okeechobee water along Florida’s east and west […]

Guest AuthorMay 31, 2015

Last month, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) voted to forgo purchasing U.S. Sugar-owned land to build a vital reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). This decision is a setback to Everglades restoration and communities enduring damaging discharges of polluted Lake Okeechobee water along Florida’s east and west coasts. […]

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. […]

Diane RobertsMay 20, 2015

It’s tempting to take a break from the 83-car pileup that is Florida government and amuse ourselves with, say, the festival of unseemliness that is former Congressman Alan Grayson who, when he’s not accusing the Tampa Bay Times’s Political Editor of being a robot with bowel issues (I paraphrase, for which you should thank me), […]

Christine Jordan SextonMay 11, 2015

Health care experience may not be a prerequisite to get onto the newly created Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding, but contributing to political committee and candidates doesn’t hurt. Carlos Beruff, a Parrish home builder, is executive director of the commission. A review of campaign finance records shows that Beruff has given $107,369.69 to Republican candidates […]

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 […]

Bruce RitchieApril 24, 2015

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shut off discharges from Lake Okeechobee on Friday in reaction to claims of an algae bloom in water coming from the lake. The federal agency discharges water to prevent weakening the Herbert Hoover Dike around the lake. But the nutrient-rich discharges can cause algal blooms that smother aquatic life […]

Tag: South Florida Water Management District

Gov. Scott names Sam Accursio to South Florida Water Management District

Florida Chamber appoints Michael Minton as Palm Beach/Treasure Coast Chair

Eric Eikenberg: Everglades Foundation still eager to work with Legislature on water storage

Eric Eikenberg: Everglades Foundation still eager to work with Legislature on water storage

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

Diane Roberts: Big Shug and Rick Scott's minions poison land deal and Amendment 1

Health care panel appointees gave to Rick Scott, his PAC, other GOP hopefuls

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

Water, fracking bills die as Senate meets without House

Feds halt Lake Okeechobee discharges after Florida pols sound alarm