Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Thursday, Aug. 9

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Carolina G.O.P. Moves Up Primary

CONCORD, N.H., Aug. 9 — The South Carolina Republican Party has moved up its primary to Jan. 19, leapfrogging ahead of the Florida primary and setting the stage for more states to move up their contests, potentially pushing the nominating calendar into December and moving up the date of the New Hampshire primary.

 

Florida’s CFO: ‘Mass confusion’ could reign if PIP lapses

The state’s chief financial officer said Wednesday that ”mass confusion” and more lawsuits could reign in Florida if legislators let the state’s no-fault auto insurance law lapse.

 

Fla. won’t put polluted water in Lake Okeechobee to help farmers

Despite pleas from farmers, South Florida officials will not pump polluted water into Lake Okeechobee to raise its drastically low levels.

 

State Dabbles In Insurance, But Not Reality

It turns out, after hours of silence on the subject, that Mike Fasano remains displeased with the insurance industry. Hey, get in line. That “state senator” in front of your name doesn’t cut much ice among citizens who imagine dirt-cheap premium payments are all that stand between them and their smidgen of sun-drenched paradise.

 

State agency: We’ll reduce costs by hiring more people

A state agency’s plan to cut its budget involves hiring more state workers, but the state Legislature has to accept the proposal.

TALLAHASSEE — The agency responsible for helping Florida’s disabled residents has come up with a novel way to cut its budget: Hire more state workers and fire the private companies that now do the work.

 

FEMA will release disaster aid records to newspapers that sued

The federal government has agreed to release public records on disaster grant payments to four Florida newspapers, which had sued for release of the data.

 

AIG reassures investors about subprime

NEW YORK — American International Group on Thursday told investors the housing market would have to spiral to Depression-era levels before the insurer would be harmed by its exposure to the residential mortgage market.

 

Our view: Another disaster

Bush administration’s secret plan increases likelihood of repeating Katrina

Leave it to the Bush administration to compound one disaster with another.  We’re talking about its decision to rewrite in secret the nation’s emergency response plan, shutting out state and local emergency managers and repeating the same mistakes that led to its ill-fated response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

 

Study: More Consumers to Purchase Auto Coverage Without Agent

Forty percent of U.S. adults say they would purchase automobile insurance directly via phone, Internet or mail without first consulting an agent, an increase from 29 percent in 2003, according to Vertis.

 

Mississippi’s Commissioner Dale Loses Primary

George Dale, Mississippi’s insurance commissioner for 32 years, was defeated in a Democratic primary losing to a government relations political consultant by a close vote.

 

Homeowners Get Promise of Reponse, Not Help

LAKE WALES — Homeowners who claim their homes were damaged during construction of the city’s rails-to-trails project got a promise of a response — but not of help — from the company that built the trail.

 

Global Warming Will Step Up After 2009: Scientists

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Global warming is forecast to set in with a vengeance after 2009, with at least half of the five following years expected to be hotter than 1998, the warmest year on record, scientists reported on Thursday.

 

Utah Cave-in Happened too Soon for W. Va. Safety Reforms

The cave-in that trapped six men in a Utah coal mine happened too soon for key safety reforms adopted after a dozen miners were killed in an underground explosion in West Virginia.

 

Analysis: Edwards uses anger in campaign

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is taking a page from Bill Clinton’s playbook and building on it. He feels your pain – and your anger.

 

Senate president’s 29-year-old son dies; overdose suspected

TALLAHASSEE — Ken Pruitt Jr., the oldest of Florida Senate President Ken Pruitt’s five children, died early Wednesday, according to the Tallahassee Police Department. A computer specialist at a Tallahassee hospital and the father of a daughter, he was 29.

 

Rubio: Allen’s post-arrest comments ‘disturbing’

Rep. Bob Allen’s post-arrest comments, including a recorded statement that he felt intimidated by black undercover officers, are “disturbing,” Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio said Wednesday.

 

Wildlife board: friends or foes?

The appointees have ties to developers, but the governor defends his selections.

To run the board that oversees protection for the state’s wildlife, Gov. Charlie Crist has appointed a South Florida developer who was investigated for wrestling an alligator and an Orlando land-use attorney who steered a public contract to a private business that then hired him.

 

Alliance Seeks to Expand Dental Care to Poor Kids

The University of Maryland Dental School and an insurance company have partnered to provide low-income children with more access to dental care. The action comes six months after a 12-year-old Prince George’s boy died from a tooth infection.

 

First Father: Tough Times on Sidelines

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 — There are times in the life of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States and father of the 43rd, that people, perfect strangers, come up to him and say the harshest things — words intended to comfort but words that wind up only causing pain.

 

U.S. Political Climate Ripe For Grassroots Groups

PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kansas (Reuters) – Jennifer Roe considers herself a typical American mom — juggling a part-time writing job with the needs of two young daughters, volunteer work at a children’s museum and her church.