http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/index.html http://media.miamiherald.com/images/logos/rss_sitelogo.gif http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/index.html 140 25 News, sports and entertainment from MiamiHerald.com en-us Copyright 2009 MiamiHerald.com Florida and Local Politics 60 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:49:39 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys miamifeedback@miamiherald.com http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1344943.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1344943.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:00 EST The average cost of Citizens Property Insurance coverage for windstorm damage will increase next year but not as much as first expected. <p/> Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty approved an average 5.9 percent hike for single-family homeowners and 9.3 percent jump for businesses, according to an order issued Friday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1344947.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1344947.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:00 EST U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio is about to go on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Attorney General Bill McCollum, running for governor, updates supporters that he is ``honored'' to get the endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist. And Sen. Dan Gelber, hoping to be Florida's next attorney general, wants you to know he's thankful for America's veterans. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1343136.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1343136.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Call this Scott Rothstein's pineapple-juice scam.<p/> Coconut Grove businessman Todd Snyder was lured into it just days before the Fort Lauderdale lawyer's Ponzi scheme imploded in late October. Snyder wired a bank more than $2 million to buy a slice of Rothstein's purported $500 million settlement with Dole Food Co. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1342657.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1342657.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00 EST A high-octane effort to let U.S. tourists visit Cuba got a major endorsement Thursday from one of the island's leading dissidents, who suggested that ``along with suitcases, Bermuda shorts, and sunblock, support, solidarity, and freedom could come too.'' Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who this week drew the attention of President Barack Obama, wrote in an essay to House Foreign Affairs chairman Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., that lifting the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba ``could bring more results in the democratization of Cuba than the indecisive performance of Raúl Castro.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1340982.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1340982.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Gov. Charlie Crist ordered an internal investigation and a citizen lodged an ethics complaint Wednesday over the extensive taxpayer-funded travel of Juvenile Justice Secretary Frank Peterman between the state capital and Tampa, near his family home. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1340981.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1340981.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00 EST New Florida Sen. George LeMieux's first foray into foreign relations has drawn brickbats from former high-ranking State Department officials who say his effort to block the Obama administration's new ambassador to Brazil is damaging U.S. relations with Latin America. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1338788.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1338788.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Gov. Charlie Crist and legislative leaders are discussing a new tax to pay for South and Central Florida rail service in the hopes that federal officials will send billions of dollars to the state for a new bullet train. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1338790.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1338790.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Gov. Charlie Crist and the state's top highway safety appointee endorsed a ban on texting while driving Tuesday, adding new momentum to an idea that has never taken hold in the Legislature. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1337207.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1337207.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00 EST The two leading candidates for Florida's governor have grounded their high-flying ways on state-owned airplanes.<p/> Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum have dramatically cut back their use of state aircraft since a Herald/Times analysis in June revealed that they had racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in flights, including questionable use of planes by family members and use of the planes to commute to work from their homes in other parts of the state. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1335580.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1335580.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Supporters of the U.S. embargo against Cuba have contributed almost $11 million to members of Congress since 2004 in a largely successful effort to block efforts to weaken sanctions against the island, a new report shows. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1335574.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1335574.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Florida's constant search for more money could mean a tougher approach to businesses that fail to file annual reports on time. <p/> By law, the 1.2 million corporations in Florida must file an annual report with the state, which can charge a $400 fine on every company that skips the May 1 filing deadline. The state, however, must waive the fine for most businesses if the company says it never got a reminder notice to submit a report. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1330909.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1330909.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:00 EST The investment scam by Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein ``could well exceed $1 billion,'' making it one of the biggest fraud cases in South Florida history, the head of the FBI in Miami said Thursday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1330848.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1330848.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Republicans should have the wind at their backs this election season with President Barack Obama's poll numbers dropping and independents turning away from Democrats. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1327162.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1327162.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Signaling another shift in direction at the Public Service Commission, state utility regulators ordered their staff Tuesday to come up with ``more robust'' energy conservation goals that reward customers for using less energy. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1325216.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1325216.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:22 EST After picking up a key endorsement Monday that could pump big money into his campaign, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio set to work on another win that would deliver a big, symbolic blow to Charlie Crist in the governor's home county. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1323766.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1323766.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein, who returned from a trip to Morocco last week to face a federal fraud investigation, said he was in good spirits Sunday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1322574.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1322574.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:00 EST If there was one thing Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein craved, it was attention. And how better to get it than to whip out his checkbook?<p/> Like at Gov. Charlie Crist's 52nd birthday party/GOP fundraiser last year, when, instead of buying a $1,000 candle, Rothstein bought an entire chocolate cake covered with 52 candles. His donation: $52,000. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1322675.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1322675.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio is emerging as the champion of activists fed up with Republicans who don't stay true to conservative principles. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1321339.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1321339.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00 EST State Sen. Dan Gelber says the proposed anticorruption package he unveiled earlier this week is more vital than ever in light of the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation of possible fraud by the board that oversees the state pension fund. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1321201.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1321201.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00 EST A bank central to the federal fraud investigation into Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein was ordered by a Broward judge Friday to turn over records to the receiver for Rothstein's embattled law firm.