By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST. PETERSBURG — Critics are blasting Gov. Rick Scott for takingoff on yet another foreign trade mission, this time to the booming Latin American tiger of Colombia. Critics view these kinds of…
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FL: Miami-Dade prison work program ‘obviously unconstitutional’
By Marianela Toledo and Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog MIAMI — Reacting to the news that Miami-Dade County wants to use accused criminals for manual labor in return for paying off debts, lawyers across the state say such a…
Video: RNC spoils help bolster Tampa’s surveillance state
While most of the RNC convention goers have long since left Tampa Bay, the millions of dollars in security costs awarded to local police departments have stayed put, engendering a new kind of technological surveillance…
FL: Alan Grayson gives flawed lesson on Walmart economics
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST. PETERSBURG — Taking his victory lap on the heels of his return to the U.S. House after losing two years prior, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson staged his first public spectacle against the…
FL: Convention spoils help bolster Tampa’s surveillance state
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST. PETERSBURG — A vast network of surveillance cameras, armored trucks with weapons mounting capabilities and state-of-the-art bulletproof vests strong enough to withstand high-caliber rounds. Those are just a…
FL: Chambers of commerce want taxpayers to foot bill for new Tampa baseball stadium
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST. PETERSBURG — Whether or not they’re fans of baseball, residents in Tampa and St. Petersburg have the opportunity of a lifetime to become investors of the future of America’s pastime. They’ve been…
FL: A ‘pro-business’ legislature isn’t necessarily pro-market
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST. PETERSBURG — As Florida’s state lawmakers head back to Tallahassee this week to begin committee sessions that will largely determine the Legislature’s agenda for next year, all eyes are on…
FL: Florida officials aim to outlaw cell phones at wheel, public meetings
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST. PETERSBURG ─ To ban or not to ban, that is the question. Throughout the state of Florida, lawmakers and citizens’ groups are casting their ire on cell phones, demanding…
OSSOWSKI: Puerto Rican statehood could be GOP’s redemption
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST. PETERSBURG — If the Republican Party is looking revitalize public sentiment and renew popular support for its platform and policies, a perfect opportunity can be found on a tiny island…
OSSOWSKI: GOP’s rejection of social liberty lost the election
By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog ST. PETERSBURG — Devotees of the Republican Party will spend the next several months testing various theories of why their candidate Mitt Romney lost to incumbent President Barack Obama in the 2012 general election. Inevitably, some…