FLORIDA DIGEST December 24, 2008

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~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Ft. Lauderdale - Sunshine Cathedral
Wednesday is Christmas Eve! We are happy to be having Christmas Eve services
right here at the Cathedral; so, it will feel good to be "home" for Christmas. Our Christmas Eve services are at 7:30 PM, 9:00 PM, and 10:30 PM at our Ninth Avenue location. We are honored to be joined by not only our own Sunshine Cathedral Choir and instrumentalists but also by the South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble, the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men's Chorus, the Fort Lauderdale Women's Chorus, and the Lambda Chorale. Candles and Christmas trees adorn the Worship Center, our Knabe piano and Rogers organ will be in use, and the Sunshine Community Foundation has just had our parking lots repaired! This will be a wonderful Christmas Eve for us to share together. I hope you will join us and invite your friends and family to come with you.
You may bring a canned food item to the service to share with a family in need of assistance. All donated canned goods will be given to the Pantry of Broward. This is a magical time of year and I am delighted to be spending it with you. I hope to see you on Christmas Eve.
Holiday Blessings,
Durrell Watkins, Senior Pastor



~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Wrong-way diversity
Gov. Crist has the right idea on judges but fumbles the execution
If Gov. Charlie Crist wanted to ruin the concept of diversity, he could do no better than his ham-fisted handling of a nomination to fill a vacancy on the Florida Supreme Court. After a late-night meeting last week, the Judicial Nominating Commission acquiesced to the governor's request for a more-diverse selection of nominees from which he could choose.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/824897.html

-South Florida's tourist season opens with empty hotel beds
A tourism downturn gained steam in November as South Florida hotels cut room rates but still were left with too many empty beds -- a weak prelude to the crucial winter tourism season.
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/824618.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Judge's supreme court bid still alive
By MARC CAPUTO
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga is due to be interviewed by Gov. Charlie Crist and his staff at 9 a.m. today in his bid for the Florida Supreme Court, after the governor said he would reconsider Labarga in what has been a controversial selection process. Labarga appeared out of the running for the high court after Crist this month tapped him for an appeals court post and then asked the Judicial Nominating Commission to send him a list with more "diversity'' for the Supreme Court.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/state/epaper/2008/12/23/a1b_jncflap_1224.html

-Feds kill FL plan to switch Medicaid patients to HMOs
By Carol Gentry
Bowing to a decision by federal authorities, the Agency for Health Care Administration has shelved a plan to shift Medicaid patients in 25 counties into managed care -- mostly HMOs -- if they didn't specifically request not to be moved. The provision, passed in the most recent session, was seen as a gift to Medicaid HMOs because it was expected to bring them thousands of new recipients in 25 counties. (See FHN's article published May 1.)
http://floridahealthnews.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10238/top/true

-Florida Supreme Court exempts nursing homes from records law
The Florida Supreme Court says a state constitutional amendment letting patients check records of past medical mistakes doesn't apply to nursing homes. The justices ruled in the case of a nursing home resident who allegedly choked to death on coleslaw she was served against her doctor's orders in West Palm Beach. The decision means her estate cannot obtain nursing home records it had sought for a lawsuit against Tandem Health Care, which owns the facility. The 'Patients' Right to Know'' amendment applies to hospitals, doctors and other healthcare facilities and providers.
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/824926.html


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