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Staff ReportsSeptember 24, 2015

Associated Industries of Florida, the state’s premier business lobby, will hold its sixth annual Florida Water Forum today. The forum begins 9 a.m. at the Renaissance Orlando at Sea World. “This meeting will provide participants with the most current information from Florida’s policy leaders in the Legislature and state government on issues relating to water […]

Bill PrescottAugust 26, 2015

Writer, international scholar, FSU English professor, opinion columnist and environmentalist Diane Roberts entertained a crowd of North Florida Democrats Tuesday evening with her incisive wit and pointed observations about the state of Florida and its leaders. Referring to herself as “that professor conservatives warn you about,” Roberts let fly a quiverful of bon mots as […]

Ryan RayAugust 11, 2015

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Miami-based governmental affairs firm Gomez Barker took in an estimated $230,000 during the second quarter of 2015, according to recently submitted compensation reports. The firm’s three-lobbyist team — composed of Fausto Gomez, Manny Reyes, and William Helmich — represented 29 clients between the months of April and June, all for legislative work. The roster of interests was heavily South Floridian: […]

Associated PressJuly 29, 2015

Psssst … Need a phony ID? A fraudulent tax refund? Insurance money from a sham car crash? Florida may have just what you’re looking for. Since the first settlers hacked their way into the mangrove tangles and drained much of the swampland, sunny South Florida has been virtually synonymous with shady deals and scams. Over […]

Bill PrescottJuly 15, 2015

Recently, a political operative in South Florida forwarded me a new grassroots outreach email called “The Curl” being sent by Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The preface reads: “Friend — introducing The Curl, your close-up look at Debbie’s work for South Florida.” “Looks like she stole your name Kurly, LOL” my friend wrote. […]

Jac VerSteegJuly 6, 2015

A tough question facing Florida – and particularly South Florida – is: How can we combat flakka? But first, a more basic question: Why should Florida bother to combat flakka? It’s mind-boggling that people continue to take the dangerous drug. And its use apparently is increasing. Anyone with half a brain should know that the […]

Jac VerSteegJuly 5, 2015

A tough question facing Florida – and particularly South Florida – is: How can we combat flakka? But first, a more basic question: Why should Florida bother to combat flakka? It’s mind-boggling that people continue to take the dangerous drug. And its use apparently is increasing. Anyone with half a brain should know that the […]

Mike SchneiderJune 28, 2015

Surely it must be the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, where the traffic jams are legendary. Or Orlando, where thousands of often lost and wandering tourists mix with residents to create a glacial sludge of cars. And if not those, it must be the Tampa Bay area, where many commuters contend with bridges and causeways as they […]

Daniel TilsonJune 9, 2015

Shirley dragged long and hard on her lipstick-stained cigarette. She alternated between shaking and nodding her head while listening to new friend Toni talk trash about politicians. “They did it again, threw us under the bus. They don’t know us, they don’t give a damn about us, we’re just bugs on their windshield, that’s all, […]

Martin DyckmanJune 8, 2015

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Were any of your ancestors here to meet the Godspeed at Jamestown or the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock? No? Then you, like me, belong to an immigrant family. Your forebears may have been here longer than mine, who came in the late 1800s, but we are alike in that none of our American roots were […]

Tag: south florida

Associated Industries of Florida to hold water forum Friday

Diane Roberts skewers ruling class during Tallahassee talk

Gomez Barker firm pulls in $230K in Q2 lobbying fees

By nearly any measure, sunny South Florida is tops in fraud

Steven “Kurly” Kurlander: Curly Politics defined: Only “Kurly,” not “The Curl," is politically correct

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Fight flakka with a tax on tobacco

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Fight flakka with a tax on tobacco

Which drivers in Florida suffer through the longest commute?

Daniel Tilson: Florida's uninsured left standing in the shadow of hopelessness

Martin Dyckman: Why is Jeb Bush the only GOP contender who makes sense on immigration?