Misc

The proposed Florida Hometown Democracy amendment could lead the Legislature to substantially weaken requirements for comprehensive planning in state law, says a former state planning official and land-use attorney in Tallahassee. The Florida Division of Elections on Monday agreed to place the measure on the ballot for the 2010 general election in November. The proposed […]

By Michael PeltierThe News Service of Florida Ballot casters going to the polls in November 2010 will be asked whether changes to local comprehensive plans must be approved by local voters, state election officials announced Monday. A week after the Florida Supreme Court ended a legal challenge to its initiative, Florida Hometown Democracy officials received

JUPITER, Fla. — Enigma.Paralyzed.Decentralized.Schizophrenic. Those were the one-word descriptions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers given by four panelists earlier this month during a discussion at Florida Atlantic University’s branch in Jupiter. St. Petersburg Times reporter Craig Pittman set the tone for journalists at the Scripps Howard Institute on the Environment with his presentation

By Bruce Ritchie Reduced water flowing from Georgia and Alabama in the Apalachicola River in Florida could have wider effects than have been traditionally studied, according to Florida State University researchers. Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been fighting in federal court over water from the river system since 1990. Alabama and Georgia want water for

Assistant Executive Director Nick Wiley will become chief of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission when Executive Director Ken Addad retires in December. The commission, meeting in Crystal River, voted Wednesday to name Wiley to the position without conducting a search for Haddad’s replacement. All seven commissioners expressed support for Wiley and praised his

The Florida Supreme Court today ruled in favor of Florida Hometown Democracy Inc. in the PAC’s challenge to a state law allowing voters to revoke their petition signatures to place measures on the ballot. Florida Hometown Democracy is pushing a proposal to require that comprehensive plan changes be approved by voters. Supporters say they hope

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission today adopted what the agency says are the toughest regulations against harvesting freshwater turtles. Prompted by concerns that Florida turtles were being shipped to China for food, commissioners in April agreed to consider a regulation that would virtually ban the commercial harvest of turtles. Meeting today in Crystal

Supporters of a proposed wildlife underpass along U.S. Highway 27 north of Tallahassee received unwelcome attention in national media to their project on Tuesday when a Republican U.S. senator identified it as wasteful spending. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., included the “Lake Jackson Ecopassage” as one the top 10 of 100 examples of wasteful spending that

Honeymoon Island State Park The cost of visiting most Florida state parks will be going up July 1 with the entrance fees to some of the most popular parks increasing by $3 per vehicle. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced new entrance fees on Monday. A DEP spokeswoman today said the fee increases, the

The University of Florida, Buckeye Technologies Inc. and Myriant Technology LLC today announced plans for a research and demonstration plant near Perry to explore ways to produce “environmentally-friendly” plastics or other petroleum-products from cellulosic ethanol. The plant will be located at Buckeye Florida’s 90-acre site where the company produces pulp products that other companies use