?WASHINGTON, D.C. – Obama claims documents leaked from the military and posted to the website WikiLeaks could jeopardize citizens and operations. The documents detail U.S. strategy in the war in Afghanistan, and information about targets and war partners. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he was appalled by the disclosure of more than 90,000 secret U.S. military documents. A Pentagon spokesman says the military has launched “a very robust investigation” into the leak of Afghanistan war secrets but doesn’t know who’s responsible. Geoff Morrell tells CBS’s “The Early Show” the broadcasting of this information poses a substantial hazard to American fighting forces in the wartorn country. Morrell says the document drop “involves secrets that should not be disseminated into the public domain and could potentially endanger our operations and our forces in Afghanistan.” He says that even most recent of the leaked documents “is at least six months old by now.” Related Articles An American takes BP helm US offers $20,000 reward in Afghanistan American Disabilities Act Anniversary Obama deports over 400,000 people
July 28, 2010 | Posted in
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -? A judge says the state cannot place just the text of a health care amendment before voters without the ballot summary. Circuit Judge James Shelfer rejected an argument Friday by state elections officials that the ballot would suffice in lieu of summary language. Tallahassee attorney Mark Herron represented four private individuals who say the summary misrepresents the intent of the amendment. Shelfer said it would be the height of judicial arrogance to change the wording on the Amendment 9 proposal that was passed this spring by the Republican-controlled Legislature in reaction to President Obama’s national health care overhaul. Shelfer will near arguments next Thursday on the merits of the amendment itself. Related Articles Health Department reminds parents to get school children immunized Clean energy congress meeting in Tallahassee Health Alert: Reusable grocery bags Lee to Consider Mandatory Furloughs, More for Health Insurance
July 24, 2010 | Posted in
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MIAMI, Fla. – Elderly Russian immigrants lined up to take kickbacks from the backroom of a Brooklyn clinic. Claims flooded in from Miami for HIV treatments that never occurred. One professional patient was named in nearly 4,000 false Medicare claims. Authorities said busts carried out this week in Miami, New York City, Detroit, Houston and Baton Rouge, La., were the largest Medicare fraud takedown in history – part of a massive overhaul in the way federal officials are preventing and prosecuting the crimes. In all, 94 people – including several doctors and nurses were charged Friday in scams totaling $251 million. Federal authorities, while touting the operation, cautioned the cases represent only a fraction of the estimated $60 billion to $90 billion in Medicare fraud absorbed by taxpayers each year. For the first time federal officials have the power to overhaul the system under Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which gives them authority to stop paying a provider they suspect is fraudulent. Critics have complained the current process did nothing more than rubber-stamp payments to fraudulent providers. Related Articles Authorities search for oysterman who fell off boat Claims top $201 million Florida the epicenter of multi-state medicare fraud bust City refutes firefighters claims
July 17, 2010 | Posted in
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) – BP engineers were back to the slow work of trying to choke the Gulf of Mexico oil gusher with an untested cap after replacing a leaky pipe Thursday, the latest delay in the uncertain fix. Kent Wells, a BP PLC vice president, said at a news briefing in Houston that the overnight leak in a pipe on the side of the towering, 75-ton capping stack was fixed by replacing the assembly, called a “choke line.” The work sent the oil giant back to restarting preparations for testing whether the cap can stop the oil without blowing a new leak in the well. If? it works, the cap will be a temporary fix until BP can drill into the gusher to plug it for good from underground, where the seal will hold better. “Bear with us,” Wells said.? With the disaster nearly three months old, the man in charge of the $20 billion fund set up by BP to pay individuals and business for their losses said it will start making payments in early August. Ken Feinberg, who was in charge of the compensation paid to families of victims in the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, told a meeting of government officials in Louisiana that he expected a seamless transition from BP management of claims to his administration. On the Gulf seabed, the leak was discovered after two of the three valves on the cap that can open or shut the device had been closed, bringing BP and government scientists, who are also watching, tantalizingly close to starting a 48-hour test of how the well and cap withstand the pressure. Wells had warned that the process of getting ready and then choking the oil a mile below the sea, at a depth only submarine robots can reach, consisted of many precise, individual steps. “Any one of these steps can take longer than anticipated,” Wells said Wednesday, before the leak disrupted work. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration’s point man on the disaster, said at a briefing it’s not clear yet whether the cap, which was mounted on the well Monday, will ultimately be used to shut in the oil or to channel it through pipes to collection ships overhead. “I have a high degree of confidence we can substantially decrease the oil coming into the environment,” Allen said.? The cap remains a temporary fix, he said, until one of two relief wells BP is drilling can reach the gusher underground and plug it permanently with heavy drilling mud and cement.? “Make no mistake, the number one goal is to kill the well … to stop it at the source,” he said. The test will involve closing off all three openings in the cap to the Gulf, in theory stopping the oil leaking into the Gulf. BP will be monitoring pressure under the cap. High pressure is good, because it shows there’s only a single leak. Low pressure, below 6,000 pounds per square inch or so, could mean more leaks farther down in the well. BP expects to keep the oil trapped in the cap for 48 hours before it decides if the approach is working.? With the leaking pipe replaced, BP had to start from a few steps back to resume preparations for the test. Preparations included letting more oil pour out of the cap temporarily and turning off a pipe that had been sending some of the oil to a collection ship, so that the full force of all the erupting crude would go into the cap. Engineers also had to recheck equipment and move undersea robots that perform the work back into position. Wells was hesitant to give a firm time frame for when the test could start, but expected it to be Thursday.? “We’re going to keep moving forward with this,” Wells said.? Allen said a committee of scientists and engineers will monitor the results and assess every six hours, and end the test after 48 hours to evaluate the findings.? “I was gung-ho for this test and I remain gung-ho for this test,” he said Wednesday. If the cap works, it will enable BP to stop the oil from gushing into the sea, either by holding all the oil inside the well machinery like a stopper or, if the pressure is too great, channeling some through lines to as many as four collection ships. Allen said the testing will also help prepare for the hoped-for permanent fix by the relief wells. The mapping of the sea floor that was done to prepare for the cap test and the pressure readings will also help them determine how much mud and cement will be needed to seal off the well underground. Drill work was stopped on one relief well because it was not clear what effect the testing of the cap could have on it. Work on the other relief well had already been stopped according to plan.? The government estimates 1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons are leaking every day. As of Thursday, the 86th day of the disaster, between 93.5 million and 184.3 million gallons of oil had spewed into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP exploded in April, killing 11 workers. Related Articles Hundreds of new state laws take effect Thursday New fishing ban issued for the Gulf of Mexico Relief well getting close to blown out well in Gulf Alex weakens to tropical depression over Mexico
July 15, 2010 | Posted in
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA’s space shuttle program will keep going until next year. ????? The space agency made it official Thursday after weeks of hints of launch delays: More time is needed to get the cargo ready for the final two shuttle flights. What’s more, a decision regarding a possible third – and really last – mission is off until at least next month. ????? Managers agreed to postpone the next-to-last shuttle launch until Nov. 1. Discovery had been scheduled to fly to the International Space Station with a load of supplies in September. ????? The very last mission now has a Feb. 26, 2011, launch date. Endeavour will close out the 30-year shuttle program by delivering a major scientific instrument to the space station. ????? The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer – a particle physics detector – is getting a makeover in Europe to ensure a longer working life once it’s attached to the space station. The extra work repeatedly has delayed the Endeavour flight, which initially was targeted for this month and then slipped to November. ????? As for the possibility of an extra shuttle mission, NASA officials said no decision is expected before August. The space agency would like to fly Atlantis one more time, next June, before the fleet is retired. Officials had hoped for an answer by now to start training a crew and preparing the payload. ????? The White House would need to sign off on any additional mission. NASA estimates it could cost as much as $200 million a month to keep the shuttle program going beyond 2010. The original plan – set forth in 2004 by President George W. Bush – was to quit flying shuttles this year. ????? Regardless of the outcome, shuttle Atlantis is being prepped to be on standby for a potential rescue mission for Endeavour’s crew. ????? Earlier this week, the Obama administration released its official space policy. President Barack Obama wants future exploration to be more global, with multiple countries teaming up to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and, after that, to Mars. ????? Obama has directed NASA to focus on those long-range goals, with private companies eventually taking over the business of getting cargo and astronauts to the space station. The California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, successfully flew its Falcon 9 test rocket last month. ????? Until a commercial rocket is ready to start hauling passengers, American astronauts will continue to hitch rides to and from the orbiting station on Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Each seat costs NASA tens of millions of dollars. ????? Mercury astronaut John Glenn, a retired senator and one-time shuttle flier, said last week he’d rather see that money go toward keeping the shuttles flying until there’s a reliable replacement. Related Articles Collier Sheriff seeking donations for Have a Ball Program 8-year-old boy recognized for saving his moms life FCAT scores ready in 2 weeks FPL ready for oil if it nears state’s power plants
July 1, 2010 | Posted in
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla– Governor Charlie Crist announced a new website designed to help unemployed Floridians find work cleaning up the oil spill in the gulf. The jobs pay between $12 and $32. They need workers to spot tar balls, clean up beaches, and run machinery. You can find a link to the website here. Keep in mind the jobs are temporary. Most last between 4 and 150 days. Related Articles Bill McCollum, Rick Scott file paperwork in run for Governor BP will set aside $20 billion to pay the victims of the oil spill Viewers View: How is President Obama handling oil spill? President in Florida today, Oval Office tonight for oil spill
June 18, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=5989&cache=true " alt="BP stock jumps as CEO testifies" class="alignleft" />
NEW YORK (AP) – Shares of BP PLC are rising in New York as the company’s CEO tells Congress he’s “devastated” by the Gulf oil spill. The shares jumped nearly 2 percent before easing back to $31.98, up 13 cents, at midday. CEO Tony Hayward says the April 20 explosion aboard a rig operated by BP never should have happened, but he says it’s too early to know the cause. The accident killed 11 workers and left a gaping well that’s still spewing oil into the Gulf. BP has agreed to set up an independently run $20 billion fund to pay damage claims. Hayward says that move means Americans can be assured that the company will meet its promise to pay all legitimate claims. Related Articles Local companies will not file claims with BP yet BP will set aside $20 billion to pay the victims of the oil spill Viewers View: How is President Obama handling oil spill? President in Florida today, Oval Office tonight for oil spill
June 17, 2010 | Posted in
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SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla – Two Southwest Florida businesses feeling the effects of the oil spill say they want nothing to do with BP’s claims fund. At Adventures in Paradise in Sanibel, Charter Captain Noah Stewart says they have no plans on filing for any money right now.? Tourists have expressed some concerns about the spill, but so far they have not had any cancellations. And at Andy Island’s Seafood Market in Matlache, the market’s general managers say he will not take any of BP’s money, but will file a lawsuit in court oil effects their catch. Both businesses say the long term effects of the oil spill locally will determine whether they file claims with BP in the future. Related Articles BP will set aside $20 billion to pay the victims of the oil spill Viewers View: How is President Obama handling oil spill? President in Florida today, Oval Office tonight for oil spill Florida’s senators disagree on President’s handling of oil spill
June 17, 2010 | Posted in
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BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – Imagine your face in a urinal. ?That’s the reality for one Bonita fire commission candidate. ? A picture of Pat McCourt keeps popping up on urinal cakes across the city. ?Gary Maurer, General Manager of the local bar, Lansdowne Street says he’s already removed six cakes in the past week. “As fast as we find them and take them out, they’re back in a matter of hours,” says Maurer. So who’s behind cake-gate 2010? ?It’s unclear. ?But, the firefighter’s union says its not them. “It doesn’t involve firefighters, union, fire department itself,” says union president Greg DeWitt. Lee County residents say its disgusting.? “It’s nasty but they’ll remember his face,” says resident Carly Fassett. McCourt tells us he thinks the prank is tasteless and is not sure who’s behind it. Related Articles Bonita Springs unveils new logo Bonita Springs firefighter honored Viewers View: How is President Obama handling oil spill? The President speaks from the Oval Office
June 16, 2010 | Posted in
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FORT MYERS, Fla- A new Associated Press poll finds that 52% disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the disaster in the gulf. This morning we’re asking what you think in our viewers view.?? Here is a sample of the opinions we’ve gotten so far.? Call or text your thoughts to 239-2490-8266 as we will continue to air your view in our morning and noon newscasts. Related Articles New poll: Collier taxpayers support Naples Zoo expansion Fort Myers father says, “I killed my kid” The President speaks from the Oval Office SWFL Coast Guard crew helping in Gulf Coast Disaster
June 16, 2010 | Posted in
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