More than 42 percent of Palm Beach County’s homesteaded property owners might be in for a surprise when they get their property tax bills this year, Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits warned Thursday.

Story here.

Florida’s courts tackled 398,825 foreclosure cases in 2009, an 8 percent increase over the previous year and a glut that led to a new statewide mediation rule aimed at reducing the overload.

Story here.<

It sounded vaguely familiar when Republican gubernatorial candidate Paula Dockery announced today that she won the endorsement of fellow state Sen. Nancy Detert. Turns out that Detert has endorsed in the governor’s race, just another candidate.

In July, about four months before Dockery entered the race, Republican Bill McCollum announced that Detert, a Venice Republican and head of the Senate K-12 Committee, was part of his extensive “Statewide Campaign Leadership Team”.

A McCollum spokeswoman said Detert told the campaign about her intention to join Dockery’s effort in November, when she accompanied Dockery to the state elections office to file official campaign papers.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush continues to thinly veil his support in the U.S. Senate race. From his interview today with WGCU in Fort Myers:

“I’m proud of what Marco has been able to accomplish in the campaign, but there’s a long, long way to go.”

Florida Republican leaders bristled at the suggestion Wednesday from Palm Beach County schools Superintendent Art Johnson that the conservative, anti-spending tea party movement could force the district to cut 1,600 jobs in 2011-12.

“If the common-sense approach of reducing government spending and cutting taxes makes me part of the tea party movement, then pass me some sugar,” House Republican Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton said.

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander said his spending decisions will be driven by the state’s 11.8 percent unemployment rate, not by a particular political message.

But in a page from the “All Politics is Local” chapter of Florida government, the Republican leader has a tea party activist living next door to his Lake Wales home. Alexander said he’s attended two of his neighbor’s meetings.

“He walks my dog from time to time and I have to go over and say hello to everybody,” Alexander said. “They’re very reasonable people. They are concerned about the course of the country. I welcome everybody’s involvement in the discussion of how we move the state forward.”

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Trying to pump up his own state as a top destination for tourists and businesses, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a Silicon Valley conference this week that Florida is “for the old people.”

Schwarzenegger said California has a diverse reputation — Hollywood, technology startups, agriculture — while other states are noted for just one attribute.

“Like one state is known for its potatoes; one state is known for its oil,” Schwarzenegger said. “And another state like Florida is known for the old people.”

Florida CFO Alex Sink, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, shot back that the ‘Governator’ forgot to mention his state’s “high taxes and ballooning deficits.”

“It seems that Florida, one of the most beautiful, diverse, and business friendly states in the nation, with no state income tax, has intimidated the ‘Governator’ – given that his state may be best known for its high taxes and ballooning deficits. I invite Governor Schwarzenegger to take a trip to the Sunshine State and see firsthand what brings people of all ages and cultures to visit and settle in Florida,” Sink said in a release from her governor campaign.

Food loaf. It’s what inmates hope isn’t for dinner.

As if prison food isn’t bad enough already, naughty inmates are fed a mystery “meat” called “food loaf.”

What exactly the loaf is made up of and what prisoners do to warrant the punishing meal isn’t clear either.

“Food loaf” is also known as called “meal management loaf,” “nutri-loaf” or “behavioral loaf in prison circles. In some prisons the concoction is made up of all of the day’s food put into a blender with some oats thrown in and baked into a loaf.

It is given in some prisons to unruly inmates who throw their food trays at correctional officers and was served in the past to Florida inmates with no utensils.

Currently, inmates in Vermont are suing prison officials over the use of the food loaf and which some states have banned.

Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, asked Department of Corrections Chief of Staff Richard Prudhom at this morning’s Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations meeting morning to give her, in writing, the caloric value of the mystery package and the department policy on offenses that result in the loaf.

Prudhom said he will report back.

The state spends $2.33 a day for three meals and a snack on the 100,000 prisoners behind bars.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are putting together a legislative task force to help streamline relief to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The tri-county area is home to the greatest number of Haitian immigrants and has been ground-zero for state and federal Haitian aid efforts.

Newly elected state Rep. Mack Bernard, a West Palm Beach Democrat who was born in Port-au-Prince where the epicenter of the deadly earthquake struck last month, is heading up Palm Beach County’s delegation in the task force, which will include Reps. Juan Zapata, R-Miami, and Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, and up to 9 other South Florida lawmakers.

Bernard wants better communication from Gov. Charlie Crist, who he said telephoned him the night of the earthquake on Jan. 12 but hasn’t spoken with him since.

Bernard visited Haiti last week. His sister and her three children are now homeless as a result of the disaster, Bernard said.

Crist should appoint a “Haiti czar” to streamline efforts that could be an economic boon to financially-strapped Florida, Bernard, D-West Palm Beach, suggested.

Read the story here.

“It’s that lack of communication, especially from the governor’s office” that is creating frustration for representatives from the tri-county area, which has the state’s largest Haitian immigrant population and is now on the front line providing aid and resources to the ravaged nation, Bernard said.

A presentation on the state’s meager tax collections was cut short this morning when a fire alarm was tripped in the Florida Senate Office Building.

Sensing a false alarm, the Senate Finance & Tax Committee tried to barrel through the update from the Florida Revenue Department.

“This is the appropriate backdrop for your presentation,” committee Chairman Thad Altman, R-Viera, said. “It’s fitting very nicely.”

But after several minutes of the alarm blaring, Capitol security cleared out the room. Altman thanked the few remaining audience members. “These are the hard core,” he said.

The numbers crunchers at Congressional Quarterly say U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, with nearly $2.4 million in campaign cash on hand, began 2010 with the 10th fattest campaign account of all Democratic House incumbents.

Klein’s Republican rival, Allen West, began 2010 with $707,150 cash on hand — the second-highest figure for all GOP challengers, according to CQ.

Klein got 54.7 percent to defeat West in 2008. Klein spent about $2.3 million on that race while West spent less than $550,000.

Klein’s District 22 covers parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties. It was represented by Republican Clay Shaw for 26 years but has grown more Democratic and voted 52 percent for Barack Obama in 2008.

The list of potential candidates for Florida Atlantic University’s next president is growing.

A consulting firm, brought on board for the presidential search, released the names of 17 new candidates today who have officially stepped into the public arena. They include candidates from universities such as Texas, Rutgers, North Carolina State and Central Florida.

The first group of 12 candidates, which was made public a month ago, didn’t include any names from within the FAU community or anyone who works in Florida. It included two international candidates and a high-ranking employee for the FBI.

Story here.

Saying there is no obvious cause for the cancer cluster in The Acreage, Palm Beach County’s health director said today that her agency intends to focus on “increasing awareness” of childhood brain cancers in general rather than trying to pinpoint a potential environmental contaminant.

“Research shows that pediatric cancer is on the rise in the entire industrial world,” said Dr. Alina Alonso in a meeting with reporters today at her department’s offices on Clematis Street. “We need to do more research in the area of brain cancer to find out what causes brain cancer. That is the direction we would like to take.”

Story here

For the second year in a row, the Florida Department of Health is considering a proposal to create a state-of-the-art tuberculosis hospital and research center on the Jupiter campus of Florida Atlantic University.

But this year it might be closer to reality.

More here.

The story from the Orlando Sentinel today is ripping through political circles in Tallahassee:

For the past year, Delmar Johnson mixed and mingled with the well-heeled and powerful, chasing checks from large Republican donors from fishing piers in Key West to a football stadium in Boston.

But even as the economy soured and GOP fundraising lagged, Johnson earned more than perhaps any party leader in Florida history — at least $408,000 as executive director and chief fundraiser for the Republican Party of Florida. His total pay was more than triple what party chairman Jim Greer made.

Nearly $200,000 of that came through a contract signed by Greer and Johnson naming Johnson as the party’s chief fundraiser. That contract was apparently never divulged even to senior members of the party’s executive committee.

Click here for the rest.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who has lost a string of straw polls in the U.S. Senate GOP primary, when asked this morning how much straw polls matter:

“Not a lot, as I’ve said before. You know, the only poll that matters is Election Day and I can’t wait for it.”

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, in one of two e-mails last week announcing straw poll victories in the Republican primary for attorney general:

“I am extremely excited to win the FFCR (Florida Federation of College Republicans) straw poll.”

Palm Beach County schools Superintendent Arthur Johnson said he is considering a cut of 1,600 non-instructional jobs to deal with an expected “dramatic reduction in stimulus funding at the end of next year.”

In his latest “economic update,” Johnson cites the anti-spending political winds, embodied by the so-called “tea party” movement.”

“There are a growing number of American citizens, via the Tea Party movement, who are committed to cutting government spending and taxes,” wrote in his update.

A discussion of Johnson’s memo is underway here.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that illegal immigrants should not count in the census, a position that would cost the state federal money and one that puts him at odds with Gov. Charlie Crist — his primary opponent — as well as the Republican-controlled legislature.

Rubio’s spokesman told the paper that his position was based on “rightful representation in Congress and ensuring that every voter has an equal voice.”

Today, Crist, trailing Rubio in recent polls, called the former state House speaker’s position “absurd.”

“Florida deserves to have her fair share. And I think making sure that we count every single Floridian is vitally important. That’s why I went to the school yesterday in North Miami,” Crist said.

“It is important. It’s important to our state, it’s important to our people. And the notion that you would not want to accept federal funding to make a political statement is absurd.”

Republican congressional hopeful Joe Budd says he just left a message congratulating Ed Lynch for winning Tuesday’s GOP congressional District 19 primary.

Lynch appears to have edged Budd by 0.56 percent — just enough to avoid an automatic recount.

Budd said he spoke with Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher this morning and is satisfied with her explanation for Budd losing 9 votes when elections staffers re-checked figures early this morning. The change pushed Lynch’s lead beyond 0.5 percent. State law requires a recount if candidates are within 0.5 percent.

Palm Beach County’s elections Web site still hasn’t posted final numbers. When combined with results from Broward County, Lynch edged Budd by 46 votes out of 8,160 cast.

If the numbers hold, Lynch will face Democrat Ted Deutch in an April 13 general election to replace Robert Wexler, who stepped down last month to head a Middle East think tank.

The seat will be up for grabs again in the fall. Budd says he’s leaning toward running in the August GOP primary.

Related posts:

• As numbers shift, Lynch might be GOP primary winner without recount
• GOP rivals say they won’t back Lynch if he wins primary

Gov. Charlie Crist told lawmakers, who spent much of Wednesday belittling Crist’s budget recommendation, that they have until May to come up with their own spending plan.

“We make a recommendation. This is a process. The legislature appropriates. And they’re beginning that process,” Crist said.

“I know that they will do it in a respectful way and the people of Florida will appreciate that. We have until the beginning of May.”

More than 14 hours after the polls closed, Palm Beach County’s numbers are still shifting from Tuesday’s Republican congressional District 19 primary. The latest unofficial and unposted figures suggest Ed Lynch won the primary by 0.56 percent — enough to avoid an automatic recount.

Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher said Joe Budd lost 9 votes when elections officials re-checked their numbers early this morning in response to discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and the number of voters who signed in at precincts. Bucher said a few votes had been double-counted in precincts that used two optical scanners rather than one.

New numbers still haven’t been posted on Palm Beach County’s elections Web site, but Bucher this morning said Budd got 2,585 votes in Palm Beach County (down from 2,594 posted Tuesday night), Lynch got 2,547 (unchanged from Tuesday night) and Curt Price got 1,195 (down from 1,199).

Lynch beat Budd by 84 votes in Broward County.

Based on the latest numbers, when totals from Palm Beach County’s 263 precincts are added to totals from Broward County’s 93 precincts, Lynch leads Budd by 46 votes out of 8,160 cast. That’s a 0.56 percent difference. State law requires a machine recount if the difference is 0.5 percent or less.