MICHAEL PELTIER

An ambitious property insurance rewrite with everything including the kitchen sink(hole) has been filed and will get its first public hearing this week as lawmakers try again to reduce costs for the industry.

Property tax breaks, unemployment compensation, corporate incentives and a revenue cap proposal favored by the Senate president will be among a handful of high priority fiscal items to be addressed by the House, the chamber’s top finance and tax leader ...

In what likely will become fodder for upcoming lawsuits, a stinging federal report scheduled for release this week shows shortcuts, mistakes, questionable technology and overall poor management combined to cause the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

The 27-year-old woman, born with AIDS and now dying of cancer, was serving a five-year sentence for biting a Collier County sheriff's deputy and kicking another after her 2008 arrest in Naples on a child neglect charge that later was ...

Despite a sluggish economy and a potential $3 billion budget gap, Florida would more than double the state’s tourism marketing budget and may give big electric utilities a break under proposals unveiled so far by Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s transition team.

Combatants in the fight over national health care reform squared off last week in a federal court in the Florida panhandle, the latest battleground over national health insurance that will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

There was a little irony last week as fans of deceased rock icon Jim Morrison waited for hours before finding out the Doors’ lead singer and consummate bad boy rock star had been pardoned by Florida officials for a libido ...

Lawmakers in January are expected to begin revisiting efforts to reduce the cost drivers they say are making the state’s property insurance market unstable and potentially budget busting.

Florida’s recovery from the worst economic downturn since the 1930s is going to take a little longer than previously expected, but it’s coming, a panel of economists predicts.

In what may have a more significant impact on future actions, the Florida Supreme Court last week approved the financing plan needed to purchase 27,000 acres of land in the Everglades from U.S. Sugar.

Saying the provision reduces already depressed selling prices and lacks any uniform standards, lawmakers this week will attempt to override a veto that if left intact would require coastal property sellers to tell potential buyers what they’ve done to hurricane-proof ...

Governor-elect Rick Scott made a courtesy call Tuesday as he met with outgoing governor Charlie Crist and the incoming House speaker as he begins the task of transitioning to his administration.

For the tea party of Florida, the party however small, is definitely not over.

Yes, there is a Halloween analogy for the upcoming showdown between Alex Sink and Rick Scott to see who occupies the governor’s mansion for the next four years.

Democrats hoping to stem the tide of a potential Republican rout in November are eyeing a solidly GOP seat in Southwest Florida and may be aided by a tea party candidate who has rarely stepped foot in the district.

Created to “level the playing field” and open the elections process to less-affluent candidates, Florida’s system of public campaign financing would likely go away if voters on Nov. 2 pass Amendment 1.

Ali v. Fraser has nothing on these guys when it comes to pre-fight hype. This ballot fight card has been seven years in the making.

It’s time again for that friendly reminder. We’re going into the final month of campaigning and there will continue to be a barrage of politically charged ads that should remind everyone not to believe everything they see. It’s already started.

Frustration over the slow pace of BP claims processing continues as local government officials and private citizens slog their way through separate but equally complex mazes constructed by the company and the overseer Ken Feinberg.

Tuesday may well be a critical day in the U.S. Senate race, especially for breakaway independent candidate Gov. Charlie Crist. On that day, he may learn if he can spend the millions he has sitting in the bank.

Like the oil sheen from the Deepwater Horizon well itself, talk of a special session to address issues related to the historic oil spill appear to have vanished as legislative leaders and political hopefuls turn their attention toward upcoming elections ...

Following more than a decade of discussions, arguments, stops and starts, state wildlife officials this week are scheduled to change the way they classify endangered and threatened species.

Early voting appears to be catching on, according to a survey of elections supervisors who say millions already spent on gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races may be raising the level of early interest across the board.

Suzanne Burke is ecstatic that BP has successfully capped the well that before its cementing poured 5 million gallons of light crude into the Gulf of Mexico.

It looks like the Beatles were wrong. I seems money, indeed, can buy you love. Or at least provide a significant downpayment.

So much for grass-roots efforts. If anyone tells you the constitutional amendment process is a means for regular citizens to avoid the courts or the Legislature, think again.

Despite the optimism of Gov. Charlie Crist, local delegates say it’s unlikely lawmakers will conclude the four-day special session with a proposed constitutional amendment to ban drilling in state waters.

Following months or criticism over paying claims too slowly, BP is now taking heat from some for just the opposite, paying locals too much for their efforts and upsetting a regional economy that some fear will never return.

Nerves are wearing thin along the Florida Panhandle as heavier concentrations of oil invaded once sugar sand beaches last week and dashed the hopes that Florida would somehow escape the ravages of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Legislative qualifying ended Friday at high noon with a few surprises, including the last-minute filing of Naples Republican Ann Grady to run for the seat held for a single term by her husband, Tom.

Gary Chernekoff doesn’t own a restaurant, isn’t a charter boat captain and doesn’t work for a hotel or resort. At first blush, he’s not directly connected to the tourism industry that is so important here along the Florida Gulf coast.

At first view, nothing seems to have changed as a few tourists and locals enjoy the surf at one of Florida’s most famous beaches over the weekend. People pick up shells, snap photos and set up beach umbrellas for what ...

The immigration fight may come to Florida as early as next year after a House Republican said he’ll likely file legislation to crack down on illegal immigration by proposing a measure similar to a controversial measure passed in Arizona that ...

Bolstering its involvement from cheerleader to plaintiff, a national business group has joined Florida and other states in a growing lawsuit against national health-care reform. In the meantime, the list of plaintiffs has grown from the original list of 13 ...

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday he will call lawmakers in for a special session later this month to consider a constitutional ban on oil drilling in Florida’s coastal waters.

A little over a year ago, it looked as if the table had been set for November 2010.

Florida lawmakers called it quits Friday with little fanfare as they gaveled to conclusion a session shaped as much by political winds as budget constraints as election year considerations appeared to limit the scope of the possible.

Capping off years of effort, Gov. Charlie Crist Wednesday signed into law a measure that expands Seminole gambling in exchange for $1.2 billion over the next five years.

House and Senate budget negotiators on Monday agreed to earmark $50 million in economic development funding to sweeten the pot in efforts to attract Jackson Laboratory to build a genetic research facility in Collier County.

Lawmakers enter the final week of session with most major items remaining on the table as they try to conclude work by Friday but have a handful of major issues separating them from session’s end.

A $50 million earmark for Maine-based The Jackson Laboratory remains in the mix as budget negotiators expect to meet this weekend to craft a compromise $68 billion state budget. So far, Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, remains hopeful funding will be ...

Anticipating a possible bolt of Gov. Charlie Crist, the Republican Party of Florida on Thursday told members in no uncertain terms that there would be a price to pay for bolting with him.

The next two weeks may prove helpful for local plans to lure the Chicago Cubs to Naples, as a pair of measures loosening state purse-strings are moving but face looming deadlines and may easily be overshadowed by tight budgets and ...

TALLAHASSEE— The Florida Senate approved a gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida Thursday morning that will give the tribe exclusive rights to card games and slot machines in what backers say will mean $41.5 billion for the state ...

Medicaid, gambling and teacher tenure will dominate the week while lawmakers are also likely to begin budget talks to reconcile two different spending plans approved by each chamber a little over a week ago.

Despite a $3 billion budget shortfall, lawmakers spent much of last week putting together proposals to spend state money to attract aerospace companies, boat manufacturers, film makers and biotech researchers to the state.

Jackson Laboratory, which now employs 1,000 workers at its 43-acre complex, wants to establish an Institute for Personalized Medicine and Research Village near the newly built university.

The Florida Department of Health would be reorganized and its mission reined in under a measure the House sponsor says is needed to maximize efficiencies in a sprawling agency that now oversees a gamut of initiatives from emergency response to ...

A proposal to allow companies to explore for oil off Florida’s Gulf Coast will come before lawmakers.

Oil drilling and proposed changes to state sexual predator laws will face lawmakers in the next few days as they enter the third week of the legislation session. With budget allocations released, House and Senate budget negotiators will also get ...