Government and politics

Governor Rick Scott’s team is continuing to fight the press in a Twitter War. The public is following the argument between Scott’s Communications director Brian Burgess and St. Pete Times reporter Michael Bender. But University of Florida Social Media Expert Mike Foley says Scott’s image should not be affected. “I …

Florida lawmakers are getting closer to adopting a final budget, and the University of Florida could face significant changes. U-F spokeswoman Janine Sikes says both the House and Senate are looking at funding cuts which would hurt university services and employees. “We’re concerned that our employees would basically be facing …

Gainesville Regional Utilities posted the full contract detailing their purchase agreement to buy biomass energy from American Renewables. Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM’s Olivia Link has more on the previously-censored contract. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/GRUBiomassWrap.mp3]

Legislators seeking to discourage the hiring of illegal immigrants are now one step closer to reaching Florida’s employment law. The state senate’s judiciary committee approved a bill on Monday requiring companies to use the electronic verification program for new hires. The bill must go through two more committees before reaching …

Early voting for Gainesville’s run-off elections began today. Lauren Poe and Todd Chase are up for the district two seat, and Susan Bottcher faces Rob Zeller in district three. Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Pam Carpenter says she anticipates about 15% of registered voters will participate in the run-off. Carpenter …

Alachua County Commissioners and Alachua County Sheriff, Sadie Darnell met last night to discuss next year’s budget and the pending budget appeal she plans on taking to Tallahassee. Florida’s 89.1, WUFT FM’s Natalie Beigel reports on the outcome of the meeting. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/sheriffbudget.mp3]

Getting civil rights restored became more difficult this month when Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet voted against allowing automatic restoration for nonviolent offenders. Now, a bill allowing former felons to get a job before restoring their civil rights won unanimous approval from the senate yesterday. University of Florida …

Florida Governor Rick Scott will now have his say on Republican-sponsored legislation setting up a merit pay plan for Florida teachers and ending tenure for new hires. The bill is one of the Republican governor’s top priorities. It’s the first bill the Legislature has sent Scott since he took office. …

The results from the Gainesville City’s Commission race leaves two District three candiates, Susan Bottcher and Rob Zeller, to go head to head until runoff elections next month. Susan Bottcher says if she gets elected, one of her main goals will be economic development and job creation. Former candidate Ozzy …

Gainesville residents will have one more opportunity to vote for the District 2 seat when both candidates face each other in a runoff election April 12th. Incumbent Lauren Poe and businessman Todd Chase were not able to take the 50% plus one requirement for a winner. City Commissioner and incumbent …