Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's passenger rail bill into law Wednesday in ceremonies in Tampa and three other cities while delivering the message that new rail equals thousands of new jobs. More than 150 Tampa Bay area elected officials, business people and transportation advocates turned out at a vacant lot just south of the intersection of Interstate 275 and Interstate 4, where a high-speed rail station is planned for a proposed Tampa-to-Orlando route. The bill will improve the state's chances at winning federal stimulus money for the high-speed rail line that could be built by 2014. It also will jump-start the $1.2 billion SunRail project planned for Central Florida, create a new statewide rail authority and dedicate additional state money to Tri-Rail, South Florida's faltering commuter line. The high-speed project could provide as many as 15,000 construction jobs beginning in 2011 if the Obama administration approves the state's $2.5 billion high-speed rail bid, state officials said in its federal stimulus application. "Jobs, jobs, jobs is what it's really all about," Crist said. ...more

December 17, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's passenger rail bill into law this morning in ceremonies in Tampa and three other cities while delivering the message that new rail equals thousands of new jobs. ...more

December 16, 2009

The Tampa Palms Women's Club recently distributed $4,000 to local charities and to the University of South Florida scholarship fund. ...more

December 16, 2009

Florida is linking its application for $700 million in federal education grant money to the adoption of local merit pay plans, which have been unpopular among teachers in the past although that could be changing. ...more

December 12, 2009

State Sen. Michael Fasano is taking Pinellas County to task for failing to implement a program he shepherded through the Legislature. County officials should continue to take their time. ...more

November 14, 2009

State Sen. Mike Fasano is upset that Pinellas County has yet to implement a program to help first-time homebuyers with down payments. ...more

November 13, 2009

Fred Nagele of Port Richey says we can improve our energy future with solar power at businesses and homes. ...more

June 17, 2009

State Attorney Willie Meggs says former House Speaker Ray Sansom lied to a grand jury when he testified that a proposed Northwest Florida State College airport hangar wouldn't be used for by any private entity. ...more

May 27, 2009

Florida's chief financial officer scolded Attorney General Bill McCollum on Thursday for spending state money on a no-bid contract with an out-of-state political strategist to produce ads aimed at warning parents and teens about Internet predators. ...more

March 26, 2009

State Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, is pushing a change in the law that would allow Sarasota to keep state money while seeking a Major League Baseball team to replace the Cincinnati Reds as a spring training attraction. This is the Reds' final spring training in Sarasota. She said her goal is to "hopefully steal teams from Arizona," where tax breaks have led to six teams leaving Florida since 1998. ...more

March 11, 2009