This Week’s Heroes: Barney Bishop, Adam Putnam, et al.

Barney Bishop is a Mississippi gambler if ever I saw one – and I’ve seen a few. An EPA administrator overplays her hand, the Associated Industries of Florida president calls her bluff and bets the farm. EPA folds. Game over, Bishop triumphs.

With new spending on rail in question because of a rising anti-tax mood, supporters in South and Northeast Florida may look to duplicate successes in Orlando and Tampa in drawing down federal money so trains can roll, even if there’s state government opposition.

One-hundred and 60 of Gov. Charlie Crist’s not-so-closest friends gathered this week to give him a parting gift on his way out of Florida’s Governor’s Mansion.

A consortium of European companies is vying to finance and operate Florida's high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando.

The highly contentious teacher merit pay proposal that was shot down by Gov. Charlie Crist last spring has re-emerged, but with some preliminary concessions to teachers and also perhaps to Gov.-elect Rick Scott, who -- as the father of a special education teacher -- voiced concerns about the proposal’s fairness to some educators.

The Florida Senate’s political right turn was marked on its opening day by the occasional red light – with a dwindling number of Republican moderates voting ‘no’ on several veto overrides sought by leaders.

The thin ranks of the House Democratic caucus convened Tuesday morning, choosing leaders to face two years of a dominant Republican majority.

Looking to help Florida “slingshot out of this recession,” State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan announced Monday the project winners from all 11 of Florida’s public universities. Universities competed for a share of $10 million in the final phase of the New Florida Initiative.

The two most recently-named Public Service commissioners are yet to make a regulatory ruling, but with a new governor taking office in January, they could have short terms.

As the Senate readies for its special session on Tuesday, incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, named committee and subcommittee chairs.

Becalmed by a string of relatively uneventful hurricane seasons, a growing army of claims adjusters has found lucrative work ... in sinkholes.