Editors:
Among the stories for Wednesday from the Florida AP:
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Rick Scott gives his third state of the state speech, where he will try to lay out his arguments for why the Legislature should embrace his agenda, including a push for teacher pay raise. One key question is whether he will use this stage as an opportunity to prod them on Medicaid expansion as well.
TALLAHASSEE - Incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz kick off the 60-day session where they are expected to urge fellow lawmakers to adopt ethics reform, revamp the state's election system and make additional reforms to education. There are also protests scheduled for the opening day, but it's unclear how many people will show up for these.
TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Senate is expected to take up - and possibly pass - a sweeping ethics bill on the first day of the annual session. Senate goes into session at 2 p.m.
SANFORD — Attorneys for George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch charged in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, appear in court for a pre-trial hearing on several defense motions. Included is a proposed subpoena for any audio recordings made of Martin by a Miami-area girl he was supposedly talking to on the phone when Zimmerman began following him.
MIAMI — The federal health overhaul is difficult enough for lawmakers and health advocates to understand, let alone for the hundreds of thousands of Floridians who barely speak English. Experts say the current website to sign up for Medicaid is only in English and a call center to speak to a translator rings busy more than half the time. Advocates worry the state won't have enough resources to help enroll the 1 million residents who may be eligible for expanded Medicaid, let alone help tens of thousands of others figure out if they qualify for a federal subsidy to purchase their own insurance and sort through the benefits in dozens of plans to pick what's best for them.
Also:
DEPUTY INVOLVED CRASH — Investigators are trying to determine whether a Lee County Sheriff's deputy had engaged his siren before crashing into an Ohio couple's vehicle.
HORSE HERPES — Two more horse farms have been quarantined following an outbreak of equine herpes virus at an Ocala area farm.
HORSE VIRUS — Louisiana agriculture officials are monitoring an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus-1 at the Horse Shows in the Sun equestrian event last month in Ocala, Fla.
BIRDS-BEER CANS — Wildlife officials say a guest at the Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge found a pelican and a herring gull with Busch Light beer cans around their necks like collars.
FLORIDA COMMUTERS — The largest number of cross-county commuters in Florida are those Broward County residents who drive to Miami-Dade County for work each day.
BIKE305 MONTH — March is "Bike305 Month" in Miami-Dade County.
Contacts:
— Tallahassee, Brendan Farrington, 850-224-1211 (office), 850-224-2099 (fax)
— Pensacola, Melissa Nelson, 850-438-4951 (office), 850-438-0720 (fax).
— Tampa, Tamara Lush, 727-823-4721 (office), 727-821-2931(fax).
— Orlando, Mike Schneider, 407-425-4547 (office), 407-648-8011 (fax).
— West Palm Beach, Matt Sedensky, 561-832-3466 (office).
The AP, Miami
