Author name: bruce

Forecasted movement of oil spill shows it not reaching Florida through Monday. To view the image source, click here. Gov. Charlie Crist issued an emergency declaration Friday stating that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico poses a major disaster threat to the Florida Panhandle. The explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil […]

Florida has agreed to reduce the length of the red snapper season in state waters to match a federal measure to reduce the season’s length in federal waters. Red snapper is a key species for recreational and commercial anglers. Federal efforts to reduce overfishing of snapper and group have created a political outcry among Florida

Ichetuckneee Springs State Park A springs program launched in 2001 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush would be sharply cut by the Legislature in its proposed 2010-11 state budget even as the Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a bill aimed at protecting springs. The Florida Springs Initiative has helped pay for work including research to

The outlook for a Public Service Commission reform bill passing this legislative session doesn’t look good, Senate President Jeff Atwater said Thursday. And he added that passage of a renewable energy bill is in question. The 60-day legislative session ends Friday. SB 1034 would extend a ban on lobbying to top commission aides and provides

Oil could begin washing ashore on Florida Panhandle beaches as early as Monday, a federal forecast suggested Thursday. About 200,000 gallons of oil per day is leaking from an oil well under 5,000 feet of water off the Louisiana coast after an oil drilling rig exploded and sank last week. The slick appeared to be

Democrats on Thursday clamored for an end to talk about opening state waters to oil drilling in the wake of an ongoing spill off the Louisiana coast. U. S. Sen. Bill Nelson Thursday sent a letter to President Obama telling him that he’s filing legislation to block the expansions of offshore oil drilling announced by

A bill that would ban Burmese pythons and five other snake species along with Nile monitor lizards was approved Wednesday by the House. SB 318 by Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, now goes to the governor. The bill was introduced in response to media firestorm created last summer after a pet python strangled a 2-year-old girl

Oil spill location map provided by The Response Group Wednesday evening. Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday described as “very disturbing” an oil slick he viewed Tuesday on an aerial tour leaving from Alabama. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank on April 22, causing a continuing leak of up to 200,000 gallons per day

A Senate water bill won approval on Wednesday from the House despite opposition from legislators from the Wekiva River area north of Orlando. SB 550 at one time had required that septic utilities be established statewide but the measure faced opposition from the Florida Home Builders Association. That requirement was dropped from the bill last

An oil spill off the Louisiana coast drew the scrutiny from Florida officials Tuesday as it appeared the slick was moving closer to Florida. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up and sank last week, causing 1,000 barrels (about 42,000 gallons) of oil per day to leak from the ocean floor. The Coast Guard said