GOVERNOR’S SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

11:30am MEETING WITH SHANE STRUM (via phone)

12:30pm PALM BEACH HOTEL AND LODGING ASSOCIATION LUNCHEON

Location: The Breakers Hotel

Address: 1 South County Road

Palm Beach, FL 33480

LT. GOVERNOR’S SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

10:30 am ADULT AND FAMILY LITERACY READING DAY

Location: Alfred B. Maclay State Park
Address: 3540 Thomasville Road

Tallahassee, FL 32312

11:00 am MEETING WITH ALEX FERRO

Location: The Capitol
Address: 400 South Monroe Street

Tallahassee, FL 32399

11:30 am SCHEDULING MEETING

Location: The Capitol

1:00 pm-5:00 pm LT. GOVERNOR’S WORK AND CALL TIME

Location: The Capitol

I have big news. Today, we’re kicking this race into high gear and launching a brand new TV ad.

None of the pundits thought we would be on the air this early in the general election, but your tireless grassroots energy is proving them wrong. I am so grateful to have you in my corner.

In Florida, running ads is a critical component of any winning campaign. Today, you helped us prove we can go toe-to-toe with the endless supply of special interest cash powering the campaigns of Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist.

Our media strategy will only go as far as you take it. We’re only on the air because of your support. We need your continued commitment to stay there. We need 150 donors ASAP to keep this ad running. I need your contribution right away.

Click here to watch our new TV ad. You made it possible, and a contribution from you right now can keep it on the air.

The message of this ad is simple. I’m the only candidate who was against offshore oil drilling before and after the spill and who has always been against gambling one penny of your Social Security in the stock market.

Thanks to you, voters across this state are seeing this message for the first time and learning there’s only one Senate candidate who shares their values. We’re delivering a powerful message, and I owe that to you.

I know that as long as I can count on your unyielding support, we can win. Today is another huge step towards that goal.

Thanks again,

Kendrick

Florida’s Public Service Commission (PSC) by a 3 to 2 vote today approved Florida Power & Light Company’s (FPL) Motion of Stipulation and Deferral for nuclear cost recovery. The Stipulation allows the Commission to further investigate actual and proposed costs for the company’s nuclear projects while also protecting ratepayers.

Supported by the Office of Public Counsel and Florida Industrial Power Users Group, the Stipulation permits the Commission to determine prudence and reasonableness of FPL’s nuclear costs during nuclear cost recovery hearings next year. In January, a typical 1,000 kilowatt-hour FPL customer bill will reflect a monthly increase of 33 cents for carrying charges and other nuclear expenses. Costs recovered from ratepayers will be subject to refund pending further review.

In July, Commission audit staff requested more time to further investigate costs associated with the uprate of FPL’s St. Lucie nuclear plant. The Stipulation will afford all parties more time to investigate these costs as well as preconstruction costs for the company’s Turkey Point Nuclear Units 6 and 7.

The Commission is required by rule to conduct a hearing each year by October 1 to review the nuclear project costs for Florida’s investor-owned utilities. Evidence on Progress Energy Florida’s (PEF) actual and projected costs for its Crystal River and Levy County plants concluded during the Commission’s Nuclear Cost Recovery Hearing in August. On October 12, the Commission is scheduled to vote on PEF’s nuclear costs and any other outstanding nuclear issues.

From the Desk of PSC Commissioner Lisa Polak Edgar:
Tuesday, September 7, 2010

CONTACT: (850) 413-6044

It didn’t take long for Rick Scott to try to drag this campaign into the mud. It’s how he won the Republican Primary, and it’s how he thinks he can win the General.

Instead of focusing on the issues facing Florida, he’s spending all of his time talking about President Obama. It’s an attempt to hide from questions about his own record.

I’ve had enough of his brand of campaigning. And I’m calling him out on it in my new TV ad. We need a Governor who attacks Florida’s challenges, not one who bases his campaign on petty attacks. We’ve set a goal of raising $55,000 this week from grassroots supporters like you to make sure voters see the ad.

Click here to watch the ad and contribute to keep it on TV.

There are only eight weeks left in this campaign. The differences between my campaign and Rick Scott’s are becoming clearer every day.

But with supporters like you, I know that Floridians will hear the truth. And together we’ll get Florida back on the right track.

Thank you,

Alex Sink

Today we release our first television ad of the general election, “Best of Both”, in which Governor Charlie Crist spells out what independent leadership is all about – working with Democrats and Republicans to get results.  Watch the video here, then donate to help spread Charlie Crist’s message of independent leadership across the airwaves.

Party bosses in Washington will do all they can to drown out our message.  Our campaign counts on YOU to make your voice heard, and to demand the kind of common-sense, cross-party leadership this video promises.  Please share our ad with your friends, contribute, and stay connected.

Thank you,

The People’s Campaign

New Report “Yes We Can” Shows America’s Public Schools Fail Over Half the Nation’s Black Male Students, Florida Districts Included
Jacksonville, Fl – Declaring that the dismal graduation rate for black males in Florida is “critical and unacceptable,” Senator Anthony “Tony” Hill, Sr. (D-Jacksonville) will be holding a press conference on Thursday, September 9, 2010 to announce plans to turn things around.

Senator Hill will be teaming up with Dr. John H. Jackson, President and CEO of The Schott Foundation for Public Education, which just released a report, entitled “Yes We Can” documenting the poor performance rates nationwide and ways to improve education for Florida’s young black men.

Also joining them at the event will be Isaiah Rumlin, President of the Jacksonville Branch N.A.A.C.P., The 100 Black Men of Jacksonville, representatives from The Achieve, Instill and Inspire Foundation, and community leaders.

The press conference will be held Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 10:00 A.M. at the Duval County Public School Board Building – 1701 Prudential Drive, Jacksonville, Florida.

Dr. Jackson leads the Foundation’s efforts to ensure a high quality public education for all students regardless of race or gender. Both Senator Hill and Dr. Jackson are advocates for high quality educational experiences for all students.

Some highlights of the report’s findings include:

·         The five worst performing districts with large Black male student enrollment (exceeding 40,000) are New York City, N.Y. (28%); Philadelphia, Pa. (28%); Detroit, Mich. (27%); Broward County, Fla. (39%); and Dade County, Fla. (27%).

·         The districts with the lowest graduation rates for Black male students are Pinellas County, Fla. (21%); Palm Beach County, Fla. (22%); Duval County, Fla. (23%); Charleston County, S.C. (24%) and Buffalo, N.Y. (25%).

The report outlines solutions – listing the “Conditions for Success” that are critical for providing a fair and substantive opportunity to learn and the “Conditions for Failure.” “Yes We Can” calls on the federal government and states to ensure that all students have a right to an opportunity to learn, not as a matter of competition or location, but as a civil and human right.

BOCA RATON, Fla. –  State Representative Maria Sachs is proud to announce that she will join Congressman Ted Deutch as hosts of “Investing in Florida’s Economy: 21st Century Energy,” a summit of influential policymakers and leaders to take place at Florida Atlantic University on Monday, Sept. 13.

The summit is one of several planned events by Representative Sachs to focus on the importance of reinvigorating the Florida economy. The event will feature a distinguished panel of energy policy experts, including representatives from the National Green Energy Council, the U.S. Department of Energy, major Florida utilities, and various green energy businesses. An open discussion with public participation will be a part of the forum.

Representative Sachs said the summit aims to build collaboration among constituents, business owners, and policymakers on how to modernize Florida’s economy and create high-tech jobs through the use of renewable energy strategies. As a member of the Florida House Energy and Utilities Policy Committee, Representative Sachs has long been an advocate for progressive energy policy.

“Florida’s abundant natural resources, sunny climate and world-class research facilities presents great opportunity for Floridians to play a leadership role in the decisions involving how we meet the world’s energy needs of the future,” said Representative Sachs. “This summit brings together important partners, such as business owners, technology experts, legislators and citizens to discuss how renewable energy policies can help Florida create-high-tech jobs and grow our economy.”

Details for the event are as follows:

TIME:        (REGISTRATION) Noon to 12:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 13
(EVENT) 12:30 to 3 p.m., Monday, Sept. 13

LOCATION:  Live Oak Room, Boca Raton Campus, Florida Atlantic University

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Sept. 7, 2010 – Legal responses to the disaster caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill this summer are wide-ranging and varied, according to law professors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law who have been studying laws and policies that can determine liability for such environmental disasters.

A symposium outlining the legal basis for responding to the oil spill will be held Thursday, Sept. 16 at 4 p.m. in the Martin H. Levin Legal Advocacy Center at UF’s Levin College of Law. The public is invited.

Symposium participants include six UF law faculty members, one UF sociology faculty member and six UF law students who have studied the legal structures governing follow-up decisions in the aftermath of the spill along the Gulf Coast.

The symposium will examine:

1.      Florida laws governing oil spills, including a comparison of laws in other states affected by the spill, which are Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas;

2.      Federal and admiralty laws relating to oil spills and recovery, including the Oil Pollution Act, which is the central authority on oil spills at the federal level;

3.      Types of recovery that can include natural resource restoration, economic compensation for individuals, communities, and businesses, and punitive damages or fines;

4.      The claims process established initially by BP and now administered by Kenneth Feinberg through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility;

5.      Responses from commissions established by the State of Florida and by President Obama;  and

6.      Legislative actions that could assist oil spill victims.

“We are in the initial stages of developing a legal framework for examining the law and policy issues that will be discussed throughout the region in the coming months and even years,” said Jon Mills, who chairs UF law’s Oil Spill Working Group and also serves on the university-wide Oil Spill Task Force. Mills, who is coordinating the law school group through the Center for Governmental Responsibility, said the legal researchers are working with natural scientists and social scientists who are serving on the UF task force. “Some of the challenges are short-term but many are long-term,” Mills said. “Damage assessments are in their preliminary stages.”

The UF law symposium will include UF faculty members Alyson Flournoy, UF Research Foundation Professor of Law & Director, UF Law Environmental and Land Use Law Program; Mary Jane Angelo, Professor of Law; Tim McLendon, Staff Attorney, Center for Governmental Responsibility; Richard Hamann, Associate in Law, Center for Governmental Responsibility; Joan Flocks, Director, Social Policy Division, Center for Governmental Responsibility; Brian Mayer, Assistant Professor of Sociology, & Member, University of Florida Oil Spill Task Force; and six UF law research assistants, Alyssa Cameron, James Davies, Carli Koshal, Austin Moretz, Fay Pappas, and Jessie Reiblich.

The symposium is sponsored by the UF Law Oil Spill Working Group, Center for Governmental Responsibility, and UF Law Environmental and Land Use Law Program.

~Universities host events for middle and high school counselors guiding students~

~Final stops on the annual tour are this week at FAU, FIU, FGCU, and USF~

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – More than 2,500 counselors from across the state are going “back to college” at a state university to learn best practices and new changes in Florida law – and could set a statewide record for the annual gatherings in the process.

The Annual State University System Admissions Tour is a service sponsored and coordinated by the State University System and the Florida Board of Governors, in partnership with the Florida Department of Education.

The compelling effort provides middle and high school counselors coordinated opportunities to meet face-to-face with university admissions personnel on a wide range of issues. To further maximize the effort, the State University System also invites experts from the Florida Department of Education to present information regarding changes in education that affect students while in middle school and high school, such as changes to standard diploma requirements or the Bright Futures college scholarship program.

State University System Chancellor Frank T. Brogan is proud of the program’s popularity and growth – and noted that the tour schedule was expanded this year to help accommodate the increasing interest.

“Our universities are open year-round and every one of them has an open door to any questions or need for assistance by the schools whose students pursue a higher education, but this special annual event ensures we maintain and strengthen that bond, and I am grateful to the host universities this year on the tour for making this effort so successful and even more accessible,” Brogan said.

This year, the growth and popularity of the program translated quickly to full capacity at four of the seven spots long before the event occurred, indicating there may be an attendance record set.

This week marks the final stops on the tour.

Sept. 7:  Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton (registration closed).

Sept. 8:  Florida International University, Miami (registration closed Sept. 2).

Sept. 9:  Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers (registration closed Sept. 3).

Sept. 10: University of South Florida, Tampa (registration closed).

This year, with changes to the admission standards and changes in the law due to Senate Bill 4, the demand has been higher than ever.  It is anticipated that approximately 2,500 counselors statewide will attend the events.

“We appreciate the leadership and partnership of the State University System to bring this program to our dedicated counselors who are committed to ensuring that our students complete graduation requirements and succeed in their next steps,” said Florida Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Eric J. Smith.

The tour this year also was supported in new ways by The College Board and ACT, Inc., the national testing company.  Representatives from both organizations also are on-hand for questions and to discuss any issues one-on-one with counselors.

Earlier stops on the tour last week were the Florida State University’s Panama City campus, the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

For more information, parents and students are encouraged to connect with school counselors.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Children’s Movement of Florida is taking its non-partisan “Milk Party” rallies on the road in an effort to raise awareness of children’s issues. The Movement will be in Tallahassee on Tuesday, September 7th at 6:00 p.m., as part of a statewide campaign to improve the lives of Florida’s children.
Led by a 27-member committee of influential Floridians, the movement is delivering its message to thousands of supporters who are gathering in cities from Pensacola all the way to Key West – between Sept. 6 and Sept. 30.
These major events include appearances by movement leaders, children’s advocates, entertainers, and local celebrities and supporters. To complement the child and parent friendly message, organizers will be serving milk and cookies – and pizza. A bus called “The Children’s Express” is carrying the group from city to city.
The campaign’s objective: To educate political, business and civic leaders – and all parents in Florida – about the urgent need to improve the way we care for infants, toddlers and all of our children, making the well-being and education of our children the state’s highest priority.
The thousands of supporters who attend these events also are being asked to contact Florida’s gubernatorial candidates and urge them to participate in a debate – devoted exclusively to children’s issues – set for Oct. 16 at the University of Miami.

For more information please visit www.childrensmovementflorida.org/

What: Children’s Movement of Florida “Milk Party” Rally

Where: Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center
505 West Pensacola Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301

When: Tuesday, September 7
6 – 7 p.m.
*The Children’s Express bus will be on site 90 minutes before the rally begins and speakers will be available for pre-rally interviews.
Who:
•    David Lawrence Jr., president and co-chair of The Children’s Movement of Florida

•    Anna Johnson, former co-anchor WCTV’s “Morning Show”

•    Sue Semrau, Florida State University women’s basketball coach

•    Candy Fisher, children’s advocate and wife of Florida State University head football coach Jimbo Fisher

•    Leonard Hamilton, Florida State University men’s basketball coach

•    Rickards High School Marching Raiders Band