News & Public Affairs

McCollum Linked to WellCare Case - Attorney listen

10/05/10 Kimberly Vlach
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Tags: WellCare, fraud, McCollum, healthcare, Medicaid

The attorney representing the main whistleblower in the Federal civil lawsuit against WellCare Health Plans has filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court, asking to bar Attorney General Bill McCollum from making any decisions on the proposed $137.5 million settlement. Why? They say McCollum failed to investigate more than $400 million in fraud against Florida’s Medicaid program due to a "conflict of interest."

"We’d sit in this room and think about the leadership’s bonuses…and we’d ...

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Obama to put solar on White House listen

10/05/10 Seán Kinane
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Tags: solar power, solar energy, Barack Obama, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Solar power is coming back to the White House.

The Obama administration will install solar panels on top of the first family’s living quarters by next spring. They will heat water for the Obamas and generate some electricity.

President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the White House in the 1970s, but they were removed by the next president, Ronald Reagan.

Stephen Smith is executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy:

“…We believe ...

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Former FDEP head Sole lands lobbying gig at with utility giant listen

10/04/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Florida Power and Light, Charlie Crist, Michael Sole, FDEP

The man who used to be Florida’s top environmental official will reportedly soon be lobbying his old bosses – on behalf of a utility. Florida Power and Light has hired former Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole to be the company’s new vice president of state governmental affairs.

The position involves advocating on behalf of the state’s largest private utility, one that covers about a quarter of the state’s consumers. Former FDEP Secretary Mike Sole would lob...

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Feinberg says geographic proximity to oil impact will not play role in compensation listen

10/04/10 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Gulf oil spill, BP, environment, Kathy Castor, Kenneth Feinberg

Kenneth Feinberg announced today that geographic proximity to oil-impacted areas will no longer play a role in whether people can get compensated for losses from the BP oil disaster.

The administrator of the compensation fund had previously said that distance from oiled beaches would be taken into account. But he has reversed that decision after hearing from angry Gulf residents.

Governor Charlie Crist released a statement saying, “Removing physical proximity from the criteria for claim...

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Gore tackles Bush tax cuts, offshore drilling at Tampa Meek rally listen

10/04/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Al Gore, Kendrick Meek, Bush tax cuts, offshore drilling, global warming, Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio

You can probably count on one hand the number of times a major player in national politics has come to the Tampa Bay area in the past year. When they do show up, you can bet it’s for a reason. Last Thursday, Al Gore was in town stumping for Kendrick Meek a month ahead of the November election. The Democrat urged the audience to choose Meek over newly-independent Charlie Crist, but he also took aim at Republicans on the issues.

First he was vice president. Then he was the guy who allegedly ...

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Romney stumps for Rubio in Pasco listen

10/01/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, Charlie Crist, Kendrick Meek, US Senate race

Most mainstream media outlets are saying that, come November, heads will roll on Capitol Hill. The-so-called tea party movement has dominated the political sphere this year, and is pushing candidates from the far right to the political forefront. One of these is Marco Rubio, who leads in a multi-way race for the US Senate. One mainstream Republican was in town today stumping for Rubio, who is Florida’s former House Speaker.

They’re gathered at a small Italian restaurant in Land O Lakes. Th...

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Florida's 'Pill Mill' Law In Effect Without Database listen

10/01/10 Kimberly Vlach
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Tags: Dan Gelber, pill mills, Pam Bondi

State Senator and Democratic candidate for Attorney General, Dan Gelber, says the new state law cracking down on so-called pill mills and doctor shopping doesn’t do enough.

Florida’s 'Pill Mill' law went into effect today without having a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program - an electronic database used to track excessive dispensing of prescription drugs by doctors. Without it, critics say, the new Pill Mill law won’t be as effective as it is in other states which do have tracking system...

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County Commission candidates debate at Tiger Bay, and Ken Hagan's under fire listen

10/01/10 Joshua Lee Holton
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Tags: politics, election, Hillsborough County, Hillsborough BOCC, Tampa

Republican Ken Hagan received a firestorm of criticism at today’s debate at the Tiger Bay Club in Downtown Tampa. The Hillsborough County Commission Chair is running for the countywide District 5 seat. He was supposed to debate former Tampa City Council member, Democrat Linda Saul-Sena, and her no-party affiliate competitor Jim Hosler. But Hagan didn’t show u...

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Dems bring out big gun in Tampa - Al Gore listen

10/01/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Al Gore, Kendrick Meek, Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, FL Senate Race

Yesterday Florida Democrats brought out one of the big guns to stump for Senate hopeful Kendrick Meek - Former Vice President Al Gore. While the poll numbers for the unusual race for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat show Meek still has some catching up to do, there was an air of optimism among the hundreds of people who showed up.

Meek, a Democratic U.S. representative from Miami, faces a tough uphill battle in the multi-way race, with Republican Marco Rubio and independent Charlie Crist as his ...

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