Funding cuts reduce child welfare programs
(Daytona Beach News-Journal © 09/24/2008)
DAYTONA BEACH -- Local child welfare officials have slashed a prevention program for families living in high-abuse areas, a sibling foster care program, and reduced monthly stipends for former foster teens living on their own. Community Partnership for Children, the local agency contracted by the state to provide foster care services, cut the programs recently to deal with shortfalls in state fun...

House takes up Senate-passed tax break package
(Ocala Star Banner © 09/24/2008)
WASHINGTON - Major tax legislation that would save 20 million people from the clutches of the alternative minimum tax and renew dozens of popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals is being taken up in the House, where its fate is uncertain. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, center with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right, and House Majority...

An economic meltdown?
(Miami Herald © 09/24/2008)
Without a government rescue of U.S. financial markets, experts say some worst-case scenarios could ensue:Your employer won't be able to make payroll because the company's bank account has been frozen in a bank failure.Your credit card will be rejected when you try to pay for groceries or fill your gas tank.Your bank may close.Continuing failures of financial institutions and frozen credit 'threate...

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State schools raise money together
(Central Florida Future © 09/24/2008)
Courtesy Carrie Pratt UCF Asian-American groups have joined with groups from University of Florida and University of South Florida to raise awareness for the Bloomingdale Library Assault Victim Fund and to help pay the medical bills of a young Vietnamese woman who suffered severe brain damage after being raped. On April 24, an 18-year-old woman stopped to drop off her library books at the Bloom...

Advocates want autism center taken from UF
(Florida Times-Union © 09/24/2008)
First Coast parents are alleging that widespread problems within an agency charged with helping autistic children have wasted taxpayer money and diminished the quality of services for their children.     The parents are circulating a petition asking the University of Florida to cede authority over the Center for Autism and Related Disabilitie...

Florida Atlantic University to build independent film house
(South Florida Sun-Sentinel © 09/24/2008)
Florida Atlantic University plans to offer a new kind of moviegoing experience for students and residents. The university announced recently that it had received a $1.5 million grant, which will double to $3 million under a state matching-grant program, to build a four-screen movie complex and cafe, scheduled to open in summer 2010. Construction is expected to start by February, officials said. ...

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Schools battle bullying culture
(Florida Keys Keysnews © 09/24/2008)
Schools battle bullying culture BY JOHN L. GUERRA Free Press Staff A seventh-grader fell into disfavor with three other girls at her Florida Keys middle school. In years past, she may have faced only teasing in the hallway or in class, but in the digital age, she became the focus of insults and filthy innuendo on MySpace.com, a popular social networking Web site. Instead of finding safety...

THE GPA GATEWAY:A DISTRICT DIVIDE
(Florida Times-Union © 09/24/2008)
Under the eyes of the courts and following a history of education inequity, Jacksonville's Stanton College Preparatory School reopened in the fall of 1981 as a desegregation tool meant to attract black and white students together for rigorous academics without forced busing.     The college prep school accepted students on a first-come, first...

FCAT Review Shows Science Disconnect
(Tampa Tribune © 09/24/2008)
TALLAHASSEE - Florida students have misconceptions about science, and they need more practice demonstrating its concepts and relating them to the real world, according to an analysis of the state's standardized test. The Department of Education on Monday released the first "lessons learned" analysis of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test's science component. It covers tests given to fifth-...

School Explores International Partnership
(Tampa Tribune © 09/24/2008)
NORTH TAMPA - Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School could get an infusion of international students as early as January. Students from the charter school may get an opportunity to study abroad, as well. Although plans are preliminary, board members of the charter school discussed a planned meeting between the school's principal and a representative of an international program that exchanges ...

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Funding cuts reduce child welfare programs
(Daytona Beach News-Journal © 09/24/2008)
DAYTONA BEACH -- Local child welfare officials have slashed a prevention program for families living in high-abuse areas, a sibling foster care program, and reduced monthly stipends for former foster teens living on their own. Community Partnership for Children, the local agency contracted by the state to provide foster care services, cut the programs recently to deal with shortfalls in state fun...

Obama begins 3 days of debate preparations
(Florida Today © 09/24/2008)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama studied and practiced privately with aides in a Florida hotel Tuesday in the first of three days of intense preparations for his upcoming foreign policy debate with GOP rival John McCain. Debates are one of the few times when presidential campaigns loudly tout the skills of their opponent over their own candidate's abilities, and both campaigns were pla...

House takes up Senate-passed tax break package
(Ocala Star Banner © 09/24/2008)
WASHINGTON - Major tax legislation that would save 20 million people from the clutches of the alternative minimum tax and renew dozens of popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals is being taken up in the House, where its fate is uncertain. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, center with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right, and House Majority...

Green construction helps the environment in many ways
(Tallahassee Democrat © 09/24/2008)
By adopting and implementing more 'green' construction practices in Tallahassee, we can minimize the impact on our environment, economy, and health. Today, LLT Building Corporation is one of Tallahassee's leaders in 'green' building. The firm promotes healthy, energy- and resource-efficient building practices and educates their clients, like Florida State University, on ways to cut down on utilit...

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Navy wants a sonar range off Jacksonville
(Florida Times-Union © 09/24/2008)
The Navy wants to build an undersea sonar range off Jacksonville's coast where antisubmarine warfare operators could train and receive immediate data from their operations.     Jacksonville is one of four East Coast sites considered. The Navy prefers to place the 500-square-nautical-mile range off Jacksonville's coast because of the ...

Insurance Overseer Supports a National Catastrophe Fund
(Lakeland Ledger © 09/24/2008)
LAKELAND | Insurance commissioner doesn't sound like a high-profile job, but it can be in hurricane-prone Florida. DAVID MILLS | THE LEDGER Buy photo FLORIDA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER KEVIN MCCARTY has frequently been at odds with property insurers in the wake of last year's rate reforms. Related L...

An economic meltdown?
(Miami Herald © 09/24/2008)
Without a government rescue of U.S. financial markets, experts say some worst-case scenarios could ensue:Your employer won't be able to make payroll because the company's bank account has been frozen in a bank failure.Your credit card will be rejected when you try to pay for groceries or fill your gas tank.Your bank may close.Continuing failures of financial institutions and frozen credit 'threate...

Coastal damage will increase, new research says
(South Florida Business Journal © 09/24/2008)
Leading scientific researchers in Florida are releasing two new studies examining the widespread impacts that climate change will have on Florida’s coastlines. The research, conducted by Florida Atlantic University and Florida State University, is to be made public Wednesday morning at FAU’s SeaTech campus in Dania Beach. The event is titled “Economic Cost of Climate Change on Florida’s Coastal...

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