Florida's Senators will cancel out the State's vote in The Foreign Affairs Committee. Republican Mel Martinez and Democrat Bill Nelson will vote along party lines on the nomination of John Bolton, President Bush's nominee to serve as Ambassador To The United Nations. Jill Morrison has more from Our Capitol Hill Bureau. (AUDIO)

There’s not one central issue dominating this year’s state legislative session. That’s according to political reporter for the Fort Myers News-Press, Betty Parker. She’s in Tallahassee… for the final weeks of the two-month long session. But, Parker says among the MANY issues—vying for lawmakers’ attention— is funding for growth. In other words… paying for the infrastructure that’s required with so many people coming to Florida. (AUDIO)

Lighters are banned from airliners beginning this week. They’ve never been allowed in checked baggage. This provides one more layer of security for the nation’s travelers. The Transportation Security Administration says the lighter ban is in response to a provision in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. It adds butane, absorbed-fuel or Zippo-type, electric or battery-powered and novelty lighters to the TSA’s list of prohibited items. Federal Security Director at Southwest Florida International Airport, Bob Cohen, says the rules are aimed at preventing air piracy and the use of an airplane as a weapon.

“As you remember Richard Reed had a potential shoe bomb that he could ignite and the reduction of that lighter capability or capacity on the aircraft precludes the wherewithal to do that.”

TSA agents will dispose of lighters brought to checkpoints. Passengers at some airports may be able to ship them via a private company for a fee but Cohen strongly recommends passengers just leave lighters home from now on. Matches on the other hand are ok for now.

“Matches at this point are still allowed. You can have up to four little match books. That’s also still being considered down the road and may be precluded and may not. It’s still being discussed up in Washington.”

TSA screeners will begin to enforce the new rule banning ALL lighters from carry-on luggage, from people’s pockets and in checked baggage on Thursday.

Rising healthcare costs – workers compensation – and the post-hurricane insurance climate… All were hot topics at a roundtable discussion today with the state’s chief financial officer.
Florida’s CFO – Tom Gallagher – met with local small business owners and representatives to get their input on key issues facing them. Held at Florida Gulf Coast University, this was the latest in a series of such discussions Gallagher’s holding around the state. Rising healthcare costs were at the forefront of the discussion. Gallagher says it’s easy to blame the guy to whom you write the premium check…but what’s needed is a broader look at what’s driving up the costs…

“Those cost drivers are – Lifestyle…smoking…lack of exercise…obesity – and that’s what the individuals themselves can control, and don’t. Then we move over to the provider side…doctors and other providers doing more tests than need to be done. And then we move over to drugs…we are now paying for all this advertising we’re seeing on television, which just drives me crazy. So you’ll go to a doctor, when you don’t even need to, to go get a prescription drug…that ends up being a cost to medicine.”

CFO Gallagher says lifestyle issues can’t be addressed by government…but other cost drivers – such as frivolous lawsuits, which he contends are the primary reason doctors do more tests than are needed – can be. Tort Reform, he says, is a huge part of the answer. Gallagher says he fears Florida will lose its healthcare providers if something isn’t done…The roundtable discussion also focused on workers comp issues – fraud in particular. Gallagher says there’s a bill now moving through the Legislature that would substantially increase penalties to businesses for not carrying workers comp…which he says will help bring rising costs under control.

A two-year-old Marion County toddler drowned in a backyard pool on April 3rd after walking through an open sliding glass door. Every year, an average of 250 children under age 5 die in swimming pools nationwide. In Florida, there are more than 1 million residential pools. Drowning is the state’s leading cause of death among young children. In Lee County, the April Pools day campaign promotes child water safety in an effort to avoid such tragedies. Janette Janero has more. (AUDIO)

In spite of improved management practices – Florida’s coral reefs are still suffering, and near death. That’s according to a recent report in the journal Science. When established in 1997, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary was the largest in the U-S. But according to the Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography – professor John Ogden – the protection it affords doesn’t address other serious issues contributing to reef decline. Ogden co-authored the report in Science – which points to 3 issues facing reefs: over fishing, pollution, and global climate change.
He says looking for one, simple solution is shortsighted - and that a more comprehensive approach is necessary.

“…there isn’t one thing. There’s at least 2 things in the Florida Keys that have to be done…the creation of adequate areas of protection, and the control of land-based pollution sources. And then there is reasonable scientific evidence that says if we can do those things maybe we can have a system that is more resilient to the third which we’re not going to be able to control by any management plan applied in the Florida Keys.”

Florida has lost more than a third of its reefs in the past 15 years…and another third are at serious risk. Ogden says the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is doing a good job of protecting reefs from over fishing – but that’s not enough to stem the decline. He says if land-based pollution sources aren’t better addressed, the future looks grim for Florida’s reefs.
The report in Science says coral reefs provide more than a billion dollar impact on Florida’s economy. Ogden says by putting a dollar value on the issue, the hope is to get the attention of policy makers.

“I mean, here we are losing these systems before our very eyes, and we haven’t gotten organized enough in our political will and lobbying to make that loss significant enough in the halls of power where it has to make sense.”

Ogden says not even the events of 1997 created political momentum. That’s when a massive number of reefs were bleached worldwide. Bleaching is when corals die because water temperatures get too high…killing the reef.

An outbreak of E. coli bacteria in central Florida is definitively linked to animals from petting zoos at three fairs. Amy Tardif reports. (AUDIO)

The City of Sanibel is in the process of collecting people’s views on restoring the trees that lined the island’s main thoroughfare prior to Hurricane Charley. Wendy Humphrey reports. (AUDIO)

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection this week made two offers to the Babcock family… for the 91,000-acre Babcock Ranch which straddles Lee and Charlotte Counties. The first option is to buy the land for $455 million. The second relies on a third party likely an investor/developer to buy the Babcock Corporation, then sell about 80,000 acres to the state. Under the second offer, the investor would keep 11 thousand acres.
That second offer concerns Lee County Commissioner Bob Janes. He co-chairs the Babcock Preservation Partnership—a coalition of citizens and environmental groups. Janes says given the relative secrecy of the negotiations, he hasn’t been able to learn the specifics of the third party scenario.

“Our Babcock group prefers the first option… which is total acquisition by the governor. We don’t have the facts to make any decision whatsoever to make a judgment on the second—in which the state suggests a third party. We don’t know anything about it. There’s many details that are missing.”

Both offers from the DEP use Florida Forever funds to pay for acquisition. The 10-year, state program makes money available to conserve sensitive land, restore waterways, and preserve cultural sites. The state has set a deadline of April 12th for the Babcock family to respond. The Ranch is home to a variety of endangered species… including the Florida Panther and black bear.

Students from around Collier County are getting a chance to explore possible careers on and in the water. (AUDIO)