Jacksonville is getting a four-year grant for up to $765,000 to strengthen its efforts to provide poor, urban youngsters more high-quality after-school programs.

The Wallace Foundation is providing the grant to the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, which currently serves more than 10,000 children in 64 after-school programs.

JEKYLL ISLAND - Jekyll Island and Sea Island residents got some news at the post office that many don’t like.

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News Service of Florida

Students attending one of Florida's 11 state universities will collectively spend at least $54 million in additional tuition under a House plan unveiled Wednesday that calls for boosting tuition by at least 8 percent statewide.

The House Appropriations Committee on Higher Education Wednesday rolled out its $69.2 billion spending plan that would allow university officials to tack on an additional 7 percent in differential tuition.

Gov. Rick Scott and members of the Florida Cabinet are putting their weight behind a bill that would ban internet casinos.

That bill passed its last House committee stop, and now heads to the floor.

"These store front casinos are impacting Florida’s neighborhoods and families,” said Scott in a statement.

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By: Matt Dixon (matt.dixon@jacksonville.com, @Mdixon55)   

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The Senate is set to vote as early as today on a measure that deeply divides the chamber, allowing school districts to let students lead prayers at public school graduations, football games and other assemblies, as long as adults aren’t involved.

ATLANTA - Voters soon won’t have to wait until just before an election to learn how well their lawmakers support conservative social issues, thanks to an online scoreboard unveiled Tuesday.

The Life and Liberty Tracker is sponsored by a new coalition called the Peach Tea Party. The party is made up of a collection of groups focused primarily on stopping abortion and on cutting taxes. It aims to give readings on how individual legislators are voting on selected bills.

TALLAHASSEE | Florida A&M University President James Ammons is cancelling a summer band camp and temporarily blocking students from joining student clubs.

Ammons announced the move Tuesday during a safety forum. The ban prevents clubs and organizations from recruiting, enrolling and initiating any new members during the spring and summer semesters.

Any organization that violates the ban will be suspended from campus.

On the final day before their acting status legally expired, Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown named three city employees as heads of their department.

Two other departments — Public Works and Senior Services — had their interim directors replaced Tuesday with new interim directors. Legally, interims could only serve until Jan. 31.

News Service of Florida:

A measure that would grant in-state tuition to Florida high school students who are U.S. citizens but whose parents are in the country illegally was voted down Tuesday by a Senate committee. 

Mitt Romney trounced Newt Gingrich in Florida’s GOP primary, but in Northeast Florida it was a different story.

In the counties – Duval, Clay, Nassau, St. Johns – that make up the region, Romney won by a 51-48 margin, or 3,842 votes. In Duval County, the biggest population base, Romney won by a 40-38 (1,366 votes) margin.

That’s a big departure from the 2008 primary, when Romney won the region by large margins, but lost the state.