Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, July 6

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Bob Graham sues Legislature over tuition powers

TALLAHASSEE — Former Gov. Bob Graham, who spearheaded a 2002 constitutional amendment establishing a board of governors for the state university system, sued the Legislature this morning.

 

Insurer Group Refutes Fla. Gov. Crist’s Claim of ‘Broken Promises’

Insurance companies have taken exception to a reported accusation by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist that the insurance industry has broken its promises to lower rates and help restore the state’s private property insurance market.

 

National Hurricane Center director says he won’t resign, job safe

MIAMI — The National Hurricane Center’s director said Friday he will not resign and his superiors have reassured him that he still has his job, despite calls from about half his staffers for the federal government to replace him immediately.

 

Lauderdale Lakes official to enter legislative race

Lauderdale Lakes Commissioner Hazelle Rogers, arguably the most high-profile Caribbean-American elected official in Broward County, has her eyes on a seat in the Legislature.

 

With county service unavailable, sick diver flown to Miami

BOCA RATON — A scuba diver suffering from the bends was flown to a Miami hospital for treatment Thursday morning, five days after a medical center discontinued its emergency hyperbaric oxygen services despite protests from divers and health officials.

 

Insurers are preventing prevention

Babies die in Florida before they turn 1 at a higher rate than throughout the nation. And due in part to Florida’s health insurers, those who survive may find it harder to thrive.

 

Fla. JUA Removes Carrier Reps From Board

The board of the Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association (JUA) removed the four members of its board appointed by the state’s largest domestic and foreign carriers Friday as part of a reorganization mandated by the state legislature. 

 

Editorial: Crist now needs to put action behind concern about climate change.

 The previews have been great. Next week’s show might be, too. But Gov. Charlie Crist’s climate-change summit in Miami on Thursday and Friday has got to do more than spread good karma and an awareness of global warming.

 

Texas floods worst in 50 years, officials say

AUSTIN, Texas — As rain continued to soak much of Texas on Thursday, emergency officials said the state is experiencing its most extensive flooding since 1957.

 

Some shore up with state funds

Colonial Pines Mobile Estates in Navarre is ready for hurricane season, thanks in part to a state program that provided each homeowner up to $3,500 to harden their homes.

 

Lower-Cost Plan Increases Blue Cross’ Market Share

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is booming by going after folks who thought they could never afford health insurance.

 

Gov. Crist favors individual freedom over more driver safety laws

Q Please reinstate sanity on our roads by requiring motorcycle riders to wear helmets. Car drivers are required to wear safety belts, which is government telling us what to do and necessarily so. Let’s have the same care for motorcyclists, please.

 

When travel insurance isn’t what it seems

Jana Huffman, of Washington, learned a hard lesson about what appears to be a new standard in travel insurance.

 

New radar program makes it easier to predict strength of hurricanes

MIAMI It stands like a sentry, on the lookout for tempests round-the-clock. Yet, until this year, South Florida’s primary weather Doppler radar had been unable to detect the most dreaded of tropical storms, those that explode in strength just before reaching land.

 

Broward County: Residents medically dependent on electricity urged to register

To combat a problem recognized after Hurricane Wilma hit in 2005, the county has created a vulnerable-population database. The program, a partnership between the county and its municipalities, gathers information on residents who are physically vulnerable and where they live.

 

Ex-Mutual Benefits trustee may be charged

Another official connected with Mutual Benefits is expected to be charged soon for his role with the financial services firm that authorities shut down for conducting a Ponzi scheme in 2004.

 

Poll: Few Confident of Border Security

WASHINGTON — The public has little faith the government is adequately screening visitors to the country or could cope with an outbreak of an infectious disease, according to an AP-Ipsos poll.

 

California: Contractors Arrested in Fire Sting          
 
Five men were arrested in South Lake Tahoe as part of a sting intended to catch unlicensed contractors preying on victims of the recent wildfires in the area. The arrests, announced by the state insurance commissioner, occurred Wednesday; all five men were charged with misdemeanors. The fires, which began on June 24 after an illegal campfire was left unattended, burned 3,100 acres and destroyed more than 250 homes. Damage estimates are more than $150 million.

 

Taking your meds? Sensors will know

Technology is making it easier for baby boomers to monitor their elderly parents.

Armed with everything from sensors, Webcams and GPS devices to pendants and bracelets with emergency buttons, caregivers are increasingly relying on technology to keep track of their parents remotely while allowing those seniors to have a sense of independence. While the market for this technology is wildly fragmented and not easily measured, few doubt it’s growing.

 

Contractors Back From Iraq Suffer Trauma From Battle

WASHINGTON, July 4 — Contractors who have worked in Iraq are returning home with the same kinds of combat-related mental health problems that afflict United States military personnel, according to contractors, industry officials and mental health experts.

 

A Career in Hedge Funds and the Price of Overcrowding

What are the career aspirations of the nation’s most accomplished and ambitious students these days? I haven’t seen a formal survey, but a rapidly growing percentage of the best students I teach say they want to manage hedge funds or private equity firms.