Cigarette tax boosts state budget

By Marc Caputo, The Miami Herald

A new tobacco tax is doing just what its proponents envisioned -- reducing cigarette sales while fattening state coffers.
Read More

Retailers want rollback of Fla. unemployment tax

By The Associated Press, Tallahassee Democrat

Some Florida businesses want to partly roll back an increase in their unemployment compensation tax after being shocked by its magnitude.
Read More

As the South Florida economy slows, so do divorces

By Julie Kay, The Miami Herald

MIAMI -- With the economy sputtering, South Florida couples are staying together more or attempting do-it-yourself divorces rather than paying pricey divorce lawyers. Read More

Need a job? Senate going to pay budget expert up to $170K a year

By Dara Kam, The Palm Beach Post

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander is setting up a new office to help him figure out if the state is spending money wisely. Alexander and his House counterparts have grappled with the state's plummeting revenues and are facing a $2.7 billion projected spending gap in next year's budget. Read More

State rates teacher prep programs

By Ron Matus, St. Petersburg Times

Out of the blue, the FCAT has a new job: measuring the programs across the state that produce teachers. And it is already waving a red flag at the University of South Florida. Read More

Miami-Dade leaders to fight wage theft

By The Associated Press, Tallahassee Democrat

MIAMI -- Miami-Dade Commissioner Natasha Seijas announced a plan to combat the problem of wage theft -- an effort that could serve as a model for cities nationwide. Read More

Medicaid providers get electronic records access

By The Associated Press, Tallahassee Democrat

Florida health care providers will now be able to access information on Medicaid patients, including diagnoses and prescription history, electronically. Read More

Broward grand jury recommend pain clinic reforms

By Scott Hiaasen, The Miami Herald

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A Broward County grand jury issued a damning report Thursday bemoaning the explosion of illegal painkillers sold through Broward pain clinics -- and warning that reforms passed by the Legislature may not be enough. Read More

Miami Dade College faculty member named top Florida professor

By Luisa Yanez, The Miami Herald

MIAMI -- Sandra L. Schultz, a 30-year Miami Dade College North Campus professor, has been named the 2009 Florida Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Read More

Victim in `juice scam' never met alleged villain Scott Rothstein

By Amy Sherman and Jay Weaver, The Miami Herald

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A Coconut Grove businessman says he invested $2.16 million with Scott Rothstein after a friend solicited him to buy into a high-profit deal -- that returned nothing. Read More

Gov. Charlie Crist (R)
Elected: November 2006
Term expires: January 2011

	State capital: Tallahassee
	State nickname: The Sunshine State
	Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp (R)
	Secretary of State Kurt S. Browning (R)
	Attorney General Bill McCollum (R)
	Senate President: Jeff Atwater (R)
	House Speaker: Larry Cretul (R)

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Florida daily news roundup

Cigarette tax boosts state budget

Retailers want rollback of Fla. unemployment tax