http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/index.html http://media.miamiherald.com/images/logos/rss_sitelogo.gif http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/index.html 140 25 News, sports and entertainment from MiamiHerald.com en-us Copyright 2009 MiamiHerald.com Florida 60 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:07:49 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys miamifeedback@miamiherald.com http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135277.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135277.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:00 EDT Florida's surgeon general says the state is preparing for massive swine flu immunizations, starting with schoolchildren, as the Obama administration urges states to prepare for the likelihood that the virus might worsen in the fall. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135198.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135198.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT The Florida economy may be in the dumps, but Charlie Crist's campaign fundraising machine is humming along. Crist announced Thursday that in just 50 days he raised an eye-popping $4.3 million for his U.S. Senate campaign. That not only dwarfs the previous Florida U.S. Senate fundraising record set by Republican Mel Martinez -- $1.7-million in his first fundraising period in 2004 -- but it highlights the huge hurdles for Crist's Republican Senate rival Marco Rubio, who raised just $340,000 in the... http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135191.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135191.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT A multipronged legal battle erupted Thursday over the growing colony of sex offenders forced to live under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135202.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135202.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT Florida will soon start sending some of the state's worst drivers back to school. A new state law will require any motorist convicted of three crash-related moving violations over a three-year period to take a behind-the-wheel education course and pass a driving test, just like a teenager. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135205.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135205.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT Since imposing emergency sprinkling restrictions during a drought two years ago, South Florida water managers have been moving toward making the twice-weekly limits permanent. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1136889.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1136889.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:39 EDT State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is the top fundraiser in the governor's race, but her financial report released Friday suggests she's in damage control over her use of state airplanes. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136744.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136744.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:45 EDT Paris Hilton repeatedly fussed with her hair and makeup in a federal courtroom Friday, sported six-inch stiletto heels and a black dress and amused the judge with a little wave on the way to the witness stand. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136578.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136578.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:05 EDT Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a retired Miami police captain who was working security at a marina. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136523.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136523.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:35 EDT A Cobb County judge has ruled that a 12-year-old Florida boy will remain in jail in the death of his 5-week-old cousin. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136472.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136472.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:20 EDT Investigators asked the public to be on the lookout Friday for a red van they believe carried three men involved in the deaths of a Florida Panhandle couple who were shot in their rural home while eight of their children slept. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136471.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136471.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:20 EDT The company that built the Dallas Cowboys' indoor practice facility that collapsed this spring is telling its customers that the ill-fated fabric structure got a new roof last year because of team concerns about "aesthetics," not structural problems. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135208.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135208.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT The search for a new chancellor got a front-runner Thursday when former education commissioner and lieutenant governor Frank Brogan applied to lead Florida's state university system. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135302.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135302.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT In an exceptionally rare ruling Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ordered that a Death Row inmate be set free because there wasn't enough evidence to convict him of murdering a Fort Lauderdale pawnshop worker. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135369.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1135369.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs letter pledges free medical care and treatment for former patients who have tested positive for HIV or hepatitis since being exposed to endoscopic cleaning mistakes at three VA hospitals, including one in Miami. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133648.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133648.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT Florida's top financial officer blasted state regulators for striking a deal that allowed flamboyant banker Allen Stanford to open a Miami office to sell investments and move vast amounts of money offshore -- without government oversight. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133646.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133646.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT A group of local governments, including several from South Florida, sued Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature on Wednesday, accusing the state of violating its constitution in passing a growth-management law that opponents bash as a developer-relief act. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133637.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133637.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT Most homeowners in South Florida covered by the state-run insurance company will see a 10 percent hike on their policy premiums next year, its board of governors affirmed Wednesday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133628.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133628.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT From Chinese mitten crabs in Chesapeake Bay to the Coqui tree frog in Hawaii, exotic creatures have overrun America from sea to shining sea. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133649.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1133649.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT State Sen. Dave Aronberg's campaign for Florida's top law-enforcement job is getting fundraising help from an ex-convict whose latest arrest came as recently as last year. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1112825.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1112825.html Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Florida's Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who is running for governor on a platform of fiscal discipline, has logged hundreds of flights on state planes, often including side trips for her and family members to their home near Tampa. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1107991.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1107991.html Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT A crucial document in the criminal case against former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom is one spare page: three typed lines, a handwritten note in the margin and the number 1, circled. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1105949.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1105949.html Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT The FBI has begun investigating a web of political and personal connections that have already resulted in state indictments of former House Speaker Ray Sansom and two associates, sources told the Herald/Times Bureau. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1095081.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1095081.html Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT State Sen. Steve Oelrich believes he may have been the first casualty in the crossfire from Florida's Republican primary for U.S. Senate, after Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of a non-controversial bill Oelrich sponsored. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1093337.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1093337.html Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT All bets are off. The Seminole Tribe is not likely to approve a gambling deal under terms set by the Florida Legislature, the tribe's attorney said Thursday, citing provisions that could increase costs and competition. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1086743.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1086743.html Sun, 07 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Florida, famous for shipping orange juice all over the country, may yet be known for a very different kind of export: criminals. With the inmate population hovering around 100,000 and the state lacking money to build new prisons, the Legislature has given the corrections department the authority to ship inmates to other states for the first time. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1083694.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1083694.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:25 EDT The fourth African-American to ever sit on the Florida Supreme Court formally took his seat Friday in a ceremony that helped cement Gov. Charlie Crist's reputation as a centrist. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1080463.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1080463.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT The state's decision to consider a no-bid contract extension for a controversial human-resources company has renewed criticism from a leading state senator who says privatization initiatives have cost taxpayers $200 million with little to show for the money. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1076942.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1076942.html Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday signed into law one of his top priorities of 2009: a bill that allows all 11 state universities to increase tuition by as much as 15 percent a year. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1076955.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1076955.html Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday approved changes to Florida growth laws that supporters say will strengthen the economy and opponents predict will increase urban sprawl and traffic gridlock. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1072715.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1072715.html Fri, 29 May 2009 03:01 EDT When Gov. Charlie Crist proudly announced that he was vetoing a pay cut for 28,000 state workers, there were some salaries he couldn't save from the budget ax: his own, state Cabinet members' and those of about 1,000 judges, prosecutors and public defenders in the state. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1069508.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1069508.html Thu, 28 May 2009 07:55 EDT A grand jury investigating Ray Sansom's ties to a Panhandle college issued a second round of indictments Wednesday, accusing the ousted House speaker of lying about a developer's plans to store aircraft in a taxpayer-funded building. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1069053.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1069053.html Thu, 28 May 2009 03:01 EDT Breaking a pledge against raising taxes, Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's $66.5 billion budget into law Wednesday and barely used his veto pen. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136242.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136242.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:40 EDT The Florida Press Association and the Florida Society of News Editors met for their annual convention this week at the Breakers Hotel & Resort in Palm Beach. Lane DeGregory, of the St. Petersburg Times, won the Paul Hansell Award, given annually to an outstanding reporter and writer. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136216.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136216.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:30 EDT In a July 9 story about a plane that crashed with five people aboard off Florida's Gulf Coast, The Associated Press erroneously reported that family members of two Quality Powder Coating LP employees were among those on the plane. No relatives of the employees of the Carrolton, Texas, company were on the flight. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136214.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136214.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:30 EDT Thunderstorms are threatening to delay NASA's planned launch Saturday night of space shuttle Endeavour, already running a month late. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136156.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136156.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:05 EDT EDITOR'S NOTE - An occasional look at assertions by government officials and how well they adhere to the facts. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136152.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136152.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:05 EDT At just 19 years old, Sahel Kazemi thought she had it all: She was dating former NFL star Steve McNair, partying in VIP rooms and vacationing in Las Vegas. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136085.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136085.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:15 EDT After killing his wife and three children, and before taking his own life with a shotgun, Christopher Wood placed loving, apologetic notes on or near the bodies, according to police records obtained by The Associated Press. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136082.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136082.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:10 EDT Even after a sheriff's sale, the financial and emotional strains that surround a foreclosure are rarely over. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136029.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1136029.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:25 EDT The former principal of a central Florida elementary school has been sentenced to five years in prison, a month after he was found guilty of possessing child pornography.