This Weeks News In Florida

NICEVILLE — A 55-year-old woman was rescued the night of April 28 after calling the police department stating that she was locked in the Dollar Tree, the Northwest Florida Daily News reports. According to dispatch records, the woman called dispatch around 9:30 p.m. stating she was locked in the store. The manager of the store was called and unlocked the store for the woman.

Florida conservative talk radio host Joyce Kaufman has backed U.S. Senate candidate Craig Miller. "Washington is broken and needs real reform minded socially and fiscally conservative leaders,” Kaufman said in a news release.  “Issues like Obamacare, the economy, and protection of the unborn need a bold leader who will stand up to the radical agenda espoused by the current occupant of the White ...

Kentucky-based Connected Nation lobbies for Florida contract. ... Paducah uranium plant to stay open at least one more year after receiving federal aid. ... One-time Louisville resident is now successful filmmaker. ... The Tennessean finds that a quarter of the state's abortions are for women from neighboring states.

WHAT'S NEXT? Eckerd College graduates look to the future after their commencement ceremony. (Times photo, Leah Millis)  VOICES CARRY: Florida school districts hire lobbyists to have their messages heard in Tallahassee. JOINING IN: The Martin and Indian River school boards consider adopting an anti-testing resolution that is growing nationally, the Stuart News reports. UNHAPPY: South Florida ...

Divers use sunken ship as underwater race track Sunday. Photo Credit: Florida Keys News Bureau

OPTIONS: Some Spanish-speaking Hillsborough teens turn to the GED in Spanish as a different path to high school completion. (Times photo, Daniel Wallace)  BACKGROUND CHECKS: USF changes its professional conduct policy to make it easier to discipline faculty who violate it. TOO MUCH EMPHASIS: Florida's focus on the FCAT hurts education , columnist John Romano writes. Several other opinionators ...

Coast Guard searches for 5 missing Fla. boaters...woman gets 20 years for firing warning shot...child may have drowned after accident...plane's wheel falls off during takeoff...no confirmation on chemical at airport...Truman Legacy Symposium praises late president...

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ad attacking U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson for supporting the Obama administration's health care reform plan appears to confuse Bill Nelson of Florida with Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, some news outlets reported Thursday.

News item: Florida's Department of State reported this month that there are more than 53,000 dead Floridians who are registered to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

STUDENT CRITIQUE: Fourth graders at Pasco's Sand Pine Elementary School say the state needs to give kids more time if they are to perform well on the FCAT writing test. (Times photo, Jeffrey S. Solochek)  TUTORING TROUBLE:  US Education secretary Arne Duncan  criticizes Florida's decision to keep paying for NCLB tutoring  despite its waiver from the requirement, the AP reports. More  from the ...