Lake Okeechobee dips to new low

West Palm Beach

The lake measured just 9.99 feet Monday, a level never before seen at this time of year. Experts say it's an indication that lake levels will likely continue to drop.

The lake hit an unprecedented low in July when the level was 8.82 feet, after nearly two years of below-average rainfall and persistent drought conditions. Typically drenching summer rains failed to deliver enough boost to bring the lake back to normal.

Water managers have imposed the toughest restrictions ever throughout a 16-county region from Orlando to the Keys, limiting outside water to once a week, at least until the rains return and lake levels rise.  

TALLAHASSEE

Health care agency gets new leader

A former Republican state lawmaker from Pensacola will be the new leader of the state Agency for Health Care Administration, Gov. Charlie Crist announced Tuesday.

Holly Benson is now secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Her new job will be replacing Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, who is leaving after a little more than a year heading the agency. Agwunobi has been commuting from Atlanta, where his family lives, to Tallahassee, and said it just wasn't working well.

The agency regulates health care, including hospitals and nursing homes.

MIAMI

Budget adds millions for storm forecasts

President Bush's proposed budget would include millions more in funding to improve hurricane forecasts and further research the storms, a federal official said at a regional discussion of the budget Tuesday.

Mary Glackin, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's No. 2 official, discussed her agency's proposed budget in Miami on Tuesday, though it was officially released Feb. 4. Hurricane-related money is only a fraction of NOAA's proposed $4.1-billion budget but closely watched.

The money would be used to improve hurricane forecast modeling, including predicting how rapidly storms intensify and dissipate, as well as upgrade and deploy ocean buoys that gather information about the storms. Approximately $5-million would go to improving forecast models and another $6-million to deploying and maintaining the buoys.

WASHINGTON

House panel backs bid to end vote probe

A House committee on Tuesday rubber-stamped the findings of a task force that voted last week to end an investigation into a disputed 2006 Florida congressional election.

The Committee on House Administration voted unanimously to dismiss a complaint by Democrat Christine Jennings, who lost to Republican Vern Buchanan by 369 votes in the race for the Sarasota-based seat.

The next step is for the full House to vote to conclude the probe, putting the issue to rest.

TALLAHASSEE

Justice reform group hires ex-prisons boss

Florida's former prisons chief, Jim McDonough, has accepted a position with a New York City foundation that promotes criminal justice reform, officials said Tuesday.

McDonough, who resigned last month after almost two years as secretary of the state's Corrections Department, was named a senior fellow for the JEHT Foundation. The acronym stands for justice, equality, human dignity and tolerance.

The foundation, created in 2000, has invested more than $1-million in projects in Florida, including juvenile justice reform and the mental health needs of people in the criminal justice system. It also has projects in Michigan and Kansas.

[Last modified February 13, 2008, 00:21:29]