State Farm Florida dropped its plan to withdraw from the property insurance market in hurricane-prone Florida on Wednesday as part of a settlement with state regulators that includes an average 14.8 percent rate increase for homeowners and condominium owners. ...more

December 17, 2009

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

State Farm Florida has dropped plans to withdraw from Florida's property insurance market. ...more

December 16, 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

Gov. Charlie Crist responded this morning to questions about the latest Rasmussen poll, showing him tied at 43 percent with Marco Rubio in the race for U.S. Senate. ...more

December 16, 2009

Fog shrouded most of west Pasco County on Monday morning. But as though on cue, the sun broke through the clouds to shine on the dedication of the Mike Fasano Regional Hurricane Shelter. ...more

December 16, 2009

The governors of Georgia and Florida have arrived in Montgomery to meet with Alabama's governor to discuss water sharing issues that have been going on for two decades. ...more

December 15, 2009

Its agenda is to save the world, yet you don't overhear people talking about the climate summit in Copenhagen. ...more

December 15, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist is scheduled to sign Florida's rail legislation bill, which won legislative approval last week, at events Wednesday in Tampa, Tallahassee, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. ...more

December 15, 2009

Special interests won the day in Tallahassee last week. For two years, a coalition of my Florida Senate colleagues demanded that the state Department of Transportation renegotiate a sweetheart deal with CSX Railroad for a new commuter-rail line around Orlando. ...more

December 13, 2009