Best of the Blogs: Stirred Up

Progress Florida Education Center’s Best of the Blogs for the week ending 6-20-14
Best of the Blogs is featured weekly as part of Progress Florida Education Center’s popular free Daily Clips service.

Scott’s Oil Company Investments Just The Latest In A List Of Conflicts At The DEP
By Martha Jackovics
Beach Peanuts
Back in 2011 when Rick Scott named Herschel Vinyard as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, it was in part due to what Scott said was his expertise in the permitting process between businesses and environmental concerns.

Say ‘No’ to the Sabal Trail Pipeline
By Cathy Harrelson
Gulf Restoration Network
Florida’s besieged waterways are facing a new threat: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC, wants to run a natural gas pipeline over, under and through our aquifers, rivers and springsheds.

Federal Court in Miami Rules on One of the Major Outstanding Constitutional Privacy Questions of Our Time
By Nate Freed Wessler
Blog Of Rights
In a tremendous step forward for our right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held in United States v. Quartavious Davis that police need a warrant to obtain historical cell phone location information from a cell service provider.

Patrick Murphy provides a playbook for Florida Democrats success
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Florida Squeeze
This week we learned what has been rumored for two months now – that Congressman Patrick Murphy, one of only eleven Democrats sitting in a Congressional Seat won by Mitt Romney in 2012 will not be a top target for the national GOP.

The GOP’s Single Biggest Donor Just Dropped Millions To Oppose Marijuana
By Nicole Flatow
Think Progress
Gambling mogul and GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson has spent $2.5 million to oppose Florida’s medical marijuana ballot initiative, according to filings reviewed by the Tampa Bay Times.