Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, Jan. 22

 

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Senate prepares for insurance tribunal

The Florida Senate warms up its property insurance tribunal today, hearing from the Office of Insurance Regulation and national consumer advocate J. Robert Hunter.

EDITORIAL: Insurance, taxes: 2 sides of the same coin

We want lower taxes.

It’s hurricane politics as candidates storm state

On the first full day that presidential candidates could focus on Florida a rift emerged among Republican contenders over a deeply parochial issue with national implications: a national catastrophic fund.

McCain courts Cuban vote, reminds Florida of links to the state

John McCain courted the Cuban vote Monday and reminded Florida voters of his history in the state, though he may have alienated hurricane-weary voters with his opposition to national catastrophe insurance.

Tax proposal alternative emerging

As groups on both sides of the Amendment 1 tax plan jockey for voter support leading up to the Jan. 29 referendum, the state panel weighing a proposition that could placate them all is quietly going about its business.

Amendment 1 facing legal challenge

Property-tax-relief plan may be in jeopardy

Ensconced in a $650,000 home in Golden Eagle Plantation, one of Tallahassee’s most exclusive subdivisions, former Indiana attorney and new Florida resident Bob Bruner is an unlikely poster child for “second-class citizen.”

Raul Martinez to run against Lincoln Daz-Balart

Raul Martinez, the charismatic but controversial former Hialeah mayor, is returning to politics to challenge one of the most powerful Republicans in the Cuban-American community: U.S. Rep. Lincoln Daz-Balart.

Moving Up Florida Primary Complicates And Intensifies

The Florida Legislature’s decision last spring to move the state’s presidential primary to Jan. 29 has been wildly successful, in the opinions of almost everybody.

Candidates face closed primary in Florida

Florida’s vote is the first of this race in which independents have no say

A record percentage of Florida voters will not have a say in the Jan. 29 presidential primary.

Legislator calls for review of costly flights by water officials

A Miami area state senator said she will request an audit of the South Florida Water Management District’s use of its aircraft to ferry board members to meetings and other events between cities as close as West Palm Beach and Miami and for trips with only one passenger.

Harris gives $10,000 in Katrina aid

Melbourne-based Harris Corp. has donated $10,000 to the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity to help with the rebuilding of homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Crist is hailed as civil rights hero

As the nation celebrated the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s quest for justice, Gov. Charlie Crist was honored Monday for reforming state clemency rules and helping the family of Martin Lee Anderson, the black teenager who died in a North Florida boot camp.

EDITORIAL: Florida’s future: A president’s role

Floridians have a unique opportunity to send a message to America about the qualities we expect in our next president. As the fourth-largest state, Florida has great needs. Florida also has great possibilities.

Florida eyes green energy and greenbacks to fund it

Part entrepreneur, part scientist, they hail from all regions of the state, describing the fruit of their toils with punchy, sometimes esoteric terms like “biomass,” “near zero” and the common favorite, “green.”

‘Bill of Rights’ quietly added to Miami ballot

Miami voters are being asked Jan. 29 to approve a ‘Citizens’ Bill of Rights” that would, among other things, promote religious freedom, clean air and scenic beauty.

Feds Agree to $750,000 Payment in Florida Malpractice Suit

The U.S. government will pay $750,000 to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by the family of a Florida woman who died after eight surgeries in just over a month in 2005.

Insurance for U.S. Spies? Agents Cover Themselves

When Jose Rodriguez Jr. came under investigation for ordering the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, one of his first calls was to a small Virginia insurance company that thrives on government trouble.

 

 

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