By JOHN KENNEDY
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Oct. 10, 2009…..Democrat Alex Sink cast herself Saturday as an outsider and leader running against “career politician” Bill McCollum, firing-up Florida Democrats eager to regain the Governor’s Mansion after a decade’s absence.

Sink swept through her resume – 30 years in the banking business, rising to president of the Florida division of Bank of America. She won her first bid for elected office in 2006 – winning the Chief Financial Officer’s Cabinet post.

In turn, Sink gave short shrift to McCollum’s 20 years in Congress and 13 past political campaigns.

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A Republican hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz literally set his sights on the Broward County Democrat at a shooting range, according to press reports.

Robert Lowry was one of the Southeast Broward Republican Club who went on a shooting spree at a gun range and fired assault rifles at targets including a man in a headdress holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

Lowry’s target was a silhouette of a human figure with the initials “DWS” next to the head.

The target practice drew criticism from state Sen. Ted Deutch, a Boca Raton Democrat, who issued a statement condemning the event.

“In a nation that has a tragic history of violence against our leaders it is unconscionable that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz’s opponent would fire an assault rifle at a silhouette bearing her name,” Deutch said.

“Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz is a dedicated public servant who has earned the respect of her constituents. She deserves far more than a halfhearted apology. The Republican Party of Florida should condemn this candidate in the strongest terms. Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of outrageous vitriol in our political discourse and it needs to stop,” he concluded.

FPL Group CEO Lew Hay and three other chief executives broke bread with President Barack Obama yesterday in the president’s private dining room.

But taxpayers needn’t worry about picking up the tab for the Hay and the bosses of Amazon.com, Kraft and Eastman Kodak.

The Wall Street Journal’s Elizabeth Williamson blogged that the four chiefs whipped out their credit cards at the end of a sandwich and salad luncheon “for the same price as the going rate outside the walls of the White House.”

It was the third Dutch-treat lunch hosted by the president at the White House, Williamson reported.

Obama’s no-free-lunch policy is meant to reflect the administration’s harsh view of coziness between elected officials and special interests.

That attitude is also reflected in Florida’s gift ban laws that make it illegal for legislators or their staff from accepting goodies of any sort – including meals, beverages and even after-dinner mints – from lobbyists or for lobbyists to give them.
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The nation’s schools need to be more milk-y, according to Jeb Bush.

That’s what the former Florida governor said in a speech today at a Washington D.C. education summit put on by his non-profit organization, the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

“I wish our schools could be more like milk. You heard me, I said milk,” a copy of Bush’s speech reads. “Go down the aisle of nearly any major supermarket these days and you will find an incredible selection of milk.

“You can get whole milk, low fat milk or skim milk. You can get organic milk, milk with Vitamin D or milk enzymes to improve you the way your brain functions.

“You can get flavored milk — chocolate, strawberry or vanilla – that doesn’t even taste like milk. Most of the time, there is a whole other refrigerator case dedicated to milk alternatives – like soy milk, almond milk and rice milk. They even make milk for people who can’t drink milk.

“Who would have ever thought you could improve upon milk? Yet, freedom, innovation and competition found a way.”

To transform education, Bush went on, “we need to embrace the fundamental concept that education should be custom-designed to maximize every child’s god given capacity to learn. And then we need to allow freedom, innovation and competition to reshape to education system around the goal of ensuring their success.”

Bush transformed education in Florida during his tenure as governor by instituting a school grading system, the now-dreaded FCAT achievement exams, and a school voucher system later struck down by the Florida Supreme Court.

Former Gov. Bob Martinez is pushing state lawmakers to restore funding to the Florida Forever land buying program with a press conference in Tampa next week.

Martinez, who was governor from 1987-1991, created Preservation 2000, the precursor to what is now called Florida Forever.

Lawmakers slashed funding for the program last year as they struggled to close a $2.8 billion budget gap.
They did, however, find the money to go forward with $250 million in bonds already authorized to allow the program to limp forward.

Gov. Charlie Crist had included $300 million in his budget for the program. The state has already spent more than $5 billion in the past two decades on buying and maintaining the land.

Martinez and environmental leaders are scheduled to hold the press conference on Wednesday at the Cypress Point Park in Tampa.

FPL Group CEO Lew Hay lunched with President Barack Obama and a handful of other Fortune 500 executives at the White House today.

FPL Group’s subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Co., has been in the headlines lately because of a contentious hearing over a proposed $1.3 billion rate increase and a $1.5 billion natural gas pipeline nixed by state regulators earlier this week.

Today, the Juno Beach-based power company agreed to pay $20 million in fines to federal regulators and spend another $5 million on itself to improve reliability of its electric grid after a 2008 blackout that thousands of customers in the dark for hours.

Lew along with Amazon.com Jeff Bezos, Eastman Kodak Co.’s Antonio Perez and Kraft Foods Inc.’s Irene Rosenfeld ate with Obama in his private dining room.

“The Administration has continued to seek the input of a diverse group of business leaders in order to hear directly from the private sector about key issues including the health of the financial sector, health insurance reform, climate change policy and job creation,” a White House press release on the meeting said.

Hay boasted to the president about FPL Group’s environmental achievements and Florida Power & Light’s plans to open the nation’s largest solar power plant later this month in Arcadia, FPL spokesman Mark Bubriski said.

“Mr. Hay had a great conversation with the President and fellow business leaders,” Bubriski said. “He also discussed his belief that forward-looking, clean-energy policies are vital to America’s economic recovery and FPL Group’s strong support for legislation to combat global warming and strengthen America’s energy security.”

Hopefully Hay got a warmer reception from Obama, a Democrat, than the cold shoulder Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has been giving the state’s largest utility.

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First Lady Michelle Obama will give out awards at the Florida Campus Compact annual gala in Miami next week.

The fundraiser and awards ceremony takes place Oct. 15 at the Landmark Freedom Tower in Miami.

Florida Campus Compact is a coalition of 50 colleges and universities, including Florida Atlantic University, that gets students involved in community service.

“It’s a huge deal for us,” said Florida Campus Compact executive director DeeDee Rasmussen, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

It may be a huge deal for the coalition of 50 colleges and universities throughout the state but one that apparently is top-secret.

There’s no mention of the First Lady’s presence at the annual gala and luncheon on the Florida Campus Compact home page on its website.

But a little persistence and clicking on the “speakers”
tab on the gala’s page reveals that Mrs. Obama will be joined by Palm Beach County home town celebrity: Frank Brogan.

In July, the state Board of Governors Brogan to be the chancellor of the state university system. Prior to that the former Martin County schoolteacher served as president of Florida Atlantic University.

Michelle Obama was involved in similar campus efforts at the University of Chicago, where she developed the university’s first student community service program.

“I couldn’t think of a better person to come and give kudos and congratulations to the people who are in the trenches every day. She used to work in this field in Chicago and I know it’s something near and dear to her heart,” Rasmussen said.

Gov. Charlie Crist announced he raised another $2.4 million for his U.S. Senate campaign, a third-quarter collection that is roughly the same amount fellow Republicans Jeff Atwater, Bill McCollum and Marco Rubio combined to collect for their respective statewide campaigns in the same time.

Crist said he has $6.2 million on hand after about five months of fundraising.

Crist said the money will help “ensure that our campaign has the financial means necessary to take the fight for the people of Florida to our nation’s capital.”

But the campaign for Rubio, Crist’s Republican primary opponent, said Crist will need “every last cent.”

“Money can’t wipe away Charlie Crist’s record of support for wasteful stimulus spending, historic tax increases and cap-and-trade,” Rubio campaign spokesman Alex Burgos said.

Gov. Charlie Crist will join in a world-wide literacy event starring “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” the classic children’s book published 40 years ago, this morning in Orlando.

Freedom Shores Elementary schoolchildren in Boynton Beach are some of the 100,000 kids throughout the state participating in the event aimed at introducing low-income youngsters to the joy of reading.

The Pearson Foundation, the charitable organization of the publishing giant, donated the books and is trying to beat last year’s “Read for the Record” world record of 700,000 readers.

“Unbelievably, one in three Pre-K innocents have never had a book read to them and too many lack basic literacy skills that are a must for a chance at achieving early literacy which is the base for their entire education experience,” said Victoria Zepp, a Tallahassee lobbyist and consultant whose clients include Pearson.

Zepp is joining Crist at Vista Lakes Elementary in Orlando where the governor is scheduled to read Eric Carle’s classic children’s tale.

Crist is one of a number of celebrities participating in the event kicked off by NBC Today show host Matt Lauer this morning.
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Trial lawyers can blame themselves for their nemesis Sen. John Thrasher taking the helm of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.

Senate President Jeff Atwater tapped the former House Speaker for the post the day after Thrasher won a special election to replace the late Sen. Jim King.

That’s despite Thrasher’s twin violations of state ethics laws – one before he became Speaker and another after he returned to lobbying – that cost him $500 and an admonishment from the state ethics commission.

As head of the Senate committee, the Jacksonville Republican will be in charge of campaign reform legislation that’s a priority for the next Senate president, Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne.

Senate GOP leaders want more transparency in campaigns, and that’s why Atwater tapped Thrasher for the post, sources close to the president said.

That’s where the trial lawyers come in.

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During the past two days, state economists have given the same presentation on the state’s dismal economy an estimated 1,942 times. Or maybe it just felt like it.

But this morning, House budget Chairman David Rivera, R-Miami, summed it in less than 30 seconds.

Listen here.

UPDATE: Tampa Tribune: Dockery ‘leaning toward’ running for governor

Republican Bill McCollum’s gubernatorial campaign adjusted their estimated $4.5 million in campaign collections to $1 million today.

But with Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer claiming credit for $4 million of that initial $4.5 million, McCollum’s third-quarter collections are probably closer to $500,000.

The creative math raises at least a few questions. But what we’re wondering is whether any Florida Republicans wake up Thursday a little less intimidated by McCollum’s long list of supporters and see a possible gubernatorial candidate staring them back in the mirror…

The Florida Department of Corrections is worried about the aging population of its inmates.

The department has more than 14,000 geriatric inmates, nearly 15 percent of the 100,000-plus prisoners behind bars, DOC officials reported to a Senate committee this morning.

That might seem a bit high, but a sheepish DOC official gave this explanation: the department considers inmates over the age of 50 to be “geriatric.”

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” DOC governmental affairs director Katie Cunningham told the panel – only two of whom are younger than 50. Committee Chairwoman Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, is 48 and Sen. Ted Deutch, a Democrat from Boca Raton, is 43.

DOC has special geriatric dorms but wants to add more “old age” beds because the prison population is growing older as more baby boomers enter the system.

Lawmakers are likely to reconsider an idea that went nowhere last year to pare down the number of elderly prisoners: let them go home.

One option would be to make it easier for feeble or terminally ill prisoners to be released so their relatives or someone other than state taxpayers could pick up the tab for their care. That option would only be available to prisoners who aren’t dangerous.

Senate President Jeff Atwater created a special committee to look into water quality issues affecting the state’s springs.

Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, chose Sen. Lee Constantine, an Altamonte Springs Republican, to head the Senate Select Committee on Florida’s Inland Waters.

The committee will hold hearings on water quality and access propose legislation that “balance the need for protection with access and consumption,” according to a press release issued by Atwater today.

“We must become the leader in managing economic growth with water conservation demands and ecosystem protections,” Atwater said.

Senate President Jeff Atwater tapped former House Speaker John Thrasher, the most recent addition to the Florida Senate, to head up the Ethics and Elections Committee.

Thrasher is no stranger to ethics violations. He admitted to breaking state ethics rules twice, once when he was a House member and again after he returned to lobbying.

The first violation took place in 1993 when Thrasher appeared before the state medical board as a paid representative of the Florida Medical Association. State law bans sitting lawmakers from lobbying.

In 2001, after he left the legislature and returned to lobbying, Thrasher was hit with another ethics violation.

The Jacksonville Republican lobbied lawmakers on behalf of his client the University of Miami without waiting for the two-year waiting period to elapse before former lawmakers can legally lobby current lawmakers.

Thrasher admitted he had violated the ethics laws and was chastised for the first violation and fined $500 for the second.

State Sens. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, and Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, called today for a panel of economic and energy experts to travel the state next year and craft a recommendation about changing the state’s strict offshore drilling policies. The bill is drafted anticipating a special session in November.

“We have a duty to make sure we don’t let quick decisions in the pursuit of potentially easy budget fixes get in the way of a balanced economy that includes considerable revenue from coastal tourism,” Deutch said.

The bill would call for a nine-member panel of experts, known as the Florida Energy independence and Coastal Protection Task Force. It would include appointees from the governor, the House speaker, Senate president and, uniquely, one each from the minority party leaders in each chamber. (Read the press release here.)

Deutch and Aronberg both characterized their bill as a way to slow down the issue. House Republicans, led by Dean Cannon of Orlando, introduced a bill late in the session this year to let the governor and Cabinet open Florida’s coastline to offshore drilling. The surge in gas prices last summer — combined with an historic drop in state tax collections — also led formerly staunch opponents of drilling, including Gov. Charlie Crist, to reconsider the issue.

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Gov. Charlie Crist signed a death warrant for Paul Beasley Johnson, a convicted murderer who went on a killing spree after a drug binge 28 years ago.

Johnson, 60, was found guilty of the 1981 murders of a cab driver, a good Samaritan who gave Johnson a ride and a deputy in Lakeland.

After getting high on crystal meth and running out of drugs, Johnson robbed and killed cab driver William Evans in Polk County. He then approached Amy Reid and Darrell Beasley in the parking lot of a restaurant and asked them for a ride to a friend’s house. Johnson asked the pair to pull over in a wooded area so that he could go to the bathroom and then shot and killed Beasley. Reid escaped and called the Polk County Sheriff’s office.

Johnson then started a shoot-out with two deputies who responded to Reid’s call. They later found the body of a third deputy, Theron Burnham, in a drainage ditch. Burnham had been shot three times.

Johnson is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Nov. 4.

Maurice Ferre said today he’ll add his name to the list of Democrats hoping to join the U.S. Senate.

“At a time when Florida faces historic challenges, it’s time to be bold. That is what has defined my entire public service career, and that is what our state needs now in Washington,” said Ferre. “I’m ready to fight for Florida’s future.”

Ferre was Miami first Hispanic mayor, a post he held for 12 years until losing a re-election bid in 2000. He is currently a member of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.

Ferre, 74, joins a list of Democratic contenders including U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami and former North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns.

Photo via Miami Herald.

Read the rest of Ferre’s press release after the jump.

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A racially-charged mail piece targeting former House Speaker John Thrasher will cost the state’s trial lawyer association more than embarassment.

The Florida Justice Association has hired former Florida Supreme Court Justice Gerald Kogan to conduct an investigation into the flier that elicited outrage from the legislature’s black caucus.

“It was the most blatant display of racism I’ve seen in 27 years,” Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson, who is black, said at the legislature’s black caucus meeting last night.

The mailer was especially offensive to black lawmakers because they have historically sided with the trial lawyers in votes and considered them their friends, Lawson said.

“This experience really threw me for a loop,” Lawson, D-Tallahassee, said.

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Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said he collected $500,000 during the third quarter for his state CFO campaign. That’s about what he brought during the second quarter, giving him $1 million so far.