Government and politics

Alachua County Commissioner Rodney Long says he won’t be seeking re-election to the seat he’s held for three terms. Long was first elected to the county commission in 2000. Before that he served two terms on the Gainesville City Commission. Long’s seat is one of three that will be on …

Gainesville Regional Utilities is warning customers to beware of fraudulent checks and other scams. This warning comes after several customers deposited fake checks with GRU’s name. Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hunt says three or four customers have tried to deposit the checks. “The customers have been contacted with the fraudulent …

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has filed a suit to stop Governor Rick Scott’s executive order 11-58 mandating the drug testing of state employees regardless of suspicion. As WUFT-FM’s Brittany Thompson reports, this is the first of several lawsuits coming after what the ACLU calls a legislative session …

Ocala state representative Dennis Baxley, a republican, says the governor’s vetoes help the state live within its budget. WUFT-FM’s Stephanie Brown talked with Baxley. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/BAXLEY 1.mp3]

State senator Nan Rich(D-), is critical of the governor’s actions. She talked with WUFT-FM’s Dan Katz. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/Rich 1.mp3]

Florida Governor Rick Scott signed off on a roughly 69-million dollar budget after vetoing more than 600-million dollars worth of items. Lynn Hatter reports the Governor took the budget signing to the Villages, where he surrounded himself with supporters. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/ScottBudget0526s.mp3]

A former state senator will serve as interim executive director of the Public Service Commission. James Call reports, Curt Kiser will fill in for Tim Devlin who unexpectedly resigned Monday [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/PSC0524s.mp3]

There are now some major changes to Florida’s election law in effect. Governor Rick Scott signed the bill, passed during this year’s legislative session, into law today (Thursday). The law cuts the number of early voting days in half, but keeps the same number of early-voting hours. Voters must vote …

Governor Rick Scott says the Legislature did a good job in implementing policy changes that will create more jobs in Florida. Days after the close of session Scott went on an all out media tour, an unusual move since he’s known for keeping the media at bay. But Florida’s 45th …

While Governor Rick Scott says the recently ended legislative session was largely a success for his policy goals, Democrats in the state legislature say they’re also relatively satisfied with the recently-concluded session. WUFT-FM’s Chris Peralta spoke with Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith about the bills the legislative session produced, …