Republican state Sen. Paula Dockery jumped into the governor's race Tuesday, saying she's used to the role of underdog and winning. ...more

November 4, 2009

Florida's $8 billion Florida Prepaid College Plan is safe from legislators looking for ways to plug budget holes, Gov. Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Tuesday. ...more

March 10, 2009

The University of Florida doesn't advertise it, but a few times a year people call about having their ashes spread on the school's football field. The school tries to honor those requests and knows alumni quietly scatter ashes on the campus's Lake Alice or behind fraternity houses. Now the school wants to build a Gator graveyard of sorts. ...more

March 5, 2009

The state of Florida is facing an unprecedented budget crisis. Our lawmakers will be meeting in special session in early January, where they will need to make difficult decisions to address the pressing needs of our state. One area of the budget under consideration is the Medicaid hospice benefit. Because of that, I am writing on behalf of some of our most vulnerable citizens, the terminally ill and their families that receive dedicated end of life care from hospice organizations across the state. The demographics of hospice patients might surprise you. Along with our aging population and cancer patients, hospice organizations also care for children, teens, young and middle-aged adults, heart disease patients, Alzheimer's patients and kidney disease patients. Anyone of any age diagnosed with a terminal illness is able to receive hospice care, where healthcare professionals and trained volunteers address all medical, emotional, social and spiritual needs. ...more

December 30, 2008

With little likelihood of getting state money next year for local projects, Hillsborough County commissioners instead asked legislators Tuesday to end state mandates that tie local governments' hands. ...more

December 3, 2008

Lawmakers are poised to close a loophole that led to troubled teens being abandoned at Nebraska hospitals, but they aren't stopping there. Instead, they're vowing to make sure families can get help in a crisis. ...more

November 21, 2008

Nebraska lawmakers got to work Friday in a rare special legislative session designed to repair a unique "safe haven" law that has unintentionally allowed parents to abandon nearly three dozen children as old as 17. ...more

November 15, 2008

A half-century ago, an East German communist demanded that the people exhibit more confidence in their rulers. "Would it not be easier," the poet Bertolt Brecht responded, "for the government to dissolve the people and elect another?" Though aimed at a long-ago Stalinist, Brecht's gibe comes alarmingly close to describing how legislators in many states keep themselves in power. ...more

November 8, 2008

It's all in the Legislature's hands. The elected representatives in Tallahassee must pass a bill that would officially make Spring Hill Fire Rescue an independent special district. ...more

November 6, 2008

Democrat Elton Gissendanner said a major focus of his race against two-term Republican incumbent Denise Grimsley for the District 77 state representative's seat is redeeming politics from the heavy influence of lobbyists and special interests. ...more

September 29, 2008