Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law is under intense scrutiny after 17 year-old Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Calls to repeal the law have intensified but the controversy neatly fits into the legal community’s natural divide. Trimmel Gomes examines why prosecutors decry the law, while defense attorneys are willingly embracing it.
Florida Governor Rick Scott’s desk getting a bit crowded nowadays. Among the bills awaiting his action – or lack thereof – are two measures that could mean big changes for the state’s higher education system. One would create a twelfth public state university. Another would release two existing state universities from a tuition cap. Lynn Hatter tells us both bills sparked much debate during the 2012 lawmaking session….
Florida’s energy future remains an energetic topic at the Capitol. With arguments coming in on both sides of the issue, Governor Rick Scott has until this Saturday to take action on Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s comprehensive energy bill. Sascha Cordner has more.
And while we’re talking about energy, what about the nuclear option? And just as controversial, how does that option get paid for? Four lawmakers have joined a lawsuit against the Florida’s nuclear cost recovery program. Regan McCarthy reports the bi-partisan group says the state’s law let’s utilities charge customers for nuclear power plants that might never get built.
A wildfire is raging in remote swampland northeast of Lake City. A drought in much of Florida, coupled with a persistent La Nina weather pattern, could mean a severe wildfire season coming up all over the state. That’s the warning from Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Adam Putnam. And James Call reports a hot and dry forecast for the spring has Putnam calling on Floridians to stay vigilant in preventing wildfires…