Florida on Thursday July 02, 2009

FL: Gov. Charlie Crist resumes gambling talks with Seminoles
By Mary Ellen Klas, The Miami Herald
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida began negotiating a new gambling compact Wednesday that would bring revenue to the state in exchange for the tribe's right to a monopoly on some of its casino games.
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FL: Petition ban at polls stands, Fla. court says
By The Associated Press, The Sun-Sentinel (South Florida)
A federal appellate court has upheld a Florida law banning petition gathering within 100 feet of polling places.
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Stimulus eases community college troubles
By Kimberly Leonard, Special to Stateline.org
States are digging into their federal stimulus money to help finance community colleges, where rising tuition, soaring enrollment and budget cuts threaten to shut students out of the system.
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Weekly wrap: Report questions states' use of stimulus road funds
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
States are spending too much stimulus money on new road construction and not enough on public transit projects, a national advocacy group claims in a report issued Monday (June 29). Meanwhile, Michigan and California consider teaming up to solve their prison problems and North Carolina and Rhode Island face off with Amazon.com over taxes.
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FL: Prescription drug overdose deaths soar in Florida
By Scott Hiaasen, The Miami Herald
Florida continues to see a rapid rise in fatal overdoses caused by prescription-drug abuse -- a trend fueled by a cottage industry of cash-only pain clinics -- while deaths from illegal drugs wane, according to a report from the state's medical examiners released Tuesday.
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US: Coming to 25 states -- higher taxes
By Mark Trumbull, The Christian Science Monitor
More than half of US states are responding to budget challenges with an answer that's often unpopular with their residents: tax hikes.
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US: Mississippi tops obesity rankings; Colorado is leanest state
By The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- Mississippi remains at the top of the list in this year's national annual obesity rankings, with Alabama coming in second. Outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news.
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US: Facing deficits, some states cut summer school
By Sam Dillon, The New York Times
COCOA, Fla. — Nearly every school system in Florida has eviscerated or eliminated summer school this year, and officials are reporting sweeping cuts in states from North Carolina and Delaware to California and Washington.
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