Free Republic

Humana Inc., the nation's fourth-largest health insurer by market share, warned Thursday that the risk pool of applicants for insurance through President Obama's health care law would be worse than previously expected. Ever since the botched rollout of the health care law's exchanges in October, the policy community has been eager to know more about the mix of individuals signing up for insurance through the law. Because the law forces insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions, insurers need to attract a critical mass of young and healthy individuals with lower medical costs into the exchanges to offset the cost....

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume warned Friday that the “Gang of Eight” efforts to pass immigration reform could be in trouble not only in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, but also in the Democratic-controlled Senate as well. Hume said by rejecting all efforts to beef up border enforcement, the bill was being condemned to “a death sentence.” “I think the bill is in trouble,” he said on Laura Ingraham’s radio program, “And it would in trouble whether they had a gang in the House or not, and will continue to be in trouble unless or until the enforcement...

President Obama on Thursday declared 11 Florida counties a disaster area for damage sustained in August from Tropical Storm Isaac. The declaration makes federal funding available to state and local governments. In September, the Federal Emergency Management Agency refused Gov. Rick Scott's request for a presidential declaration of disaster for damages caused by Isaac. FEMA director Craig Fugate... basically argued that Florida could handle the costs on its own. ....It was unclear late Thursday why the decision about the declaration was reversed...

As the secretive campaign against the three Florida Supreme Court justices up for merit retention took shape Monday, one of the targeted justices warned that the future of the state’s independent judiciary was under threat. "This is the most stressful time I’ve ever experienced in my life,’’ said Justice R. Fred Lewis at a meeting of the Hillsborough County Bar Association. “There is an entire branch of government to protect and defend. We cannot sacrifice fairness and impartiality and the court system to political whims." Lewis’ remarks came three days after the Republican Party of Florida announced it will oppose...

A human skull found by two teenage Boy Scouts in a lake has sparked off a police investigation - who believe it may belong to a small child. Hollywood police say divers spent Monday morning searching Oak Lake Park, looking for bones and other evidence. Spokeswoman Lt Diana Pereira says that so far they haven't found anything after the two 15-year-olds found the skull over the weekend.

As it turns out, Maine Republicans in a few towns will caucus this Saturday (January 28). The original plan I spoke with the Maine Republican Party about back in September revolved around the idea of holding caucuses within a window from February 4 and February 11 with a big reveal on that final date. That is still mostly true as most of the caucus venues will hold party meetings within that window. However, there are a few caucuses that branch out quite far from those two bookend dates. The collective caucus Lincoln, Lowell, Burlington, Chester, Enfield, Winn and Howland will...

Obama heads to a formal news conference Friday morning to cap off a week of events highlighting his efforts to invigorate the economy. SNIP 1. You’ve defended the constitutional right of Muslims to build a mosque two blocks from ground zero in New York, even though its deeply offensive to some 9/11 families. The Rev. Terry Jones in Florida has suggested he too has a constitutional right to burn the Quran to send a message, yet you’ve implored him not to – because it will anger and offend some Muslims. Do you worry some Americans might question why you don’t...

A central Florida woman who was arrested after her shirt got wet at a kiddie splash park in Tavares is suing the city for violating her rights, the woman's attorney told AOL News. "We are trying to vindicate her [and] establish [that] what was done to her was unconstitutional and wrong," said civil rights attorney Howard S. Marks. The incident that provoked the lawsuit occurred in April when Janet Lovett and her husband took their 7-year-old son, who is autistic, to the Children's Splash Park in Tavares. While she was in the park, Lovett was splashed by water, which soaked...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is endorsing Marco Rubio's campaign for U.S. Senate.

Two separate groups of bobcat babies are really milking the attention they're getting from their adopted moms. In Tampa, Fla., three bobcat kittens, whose mother was killed by a hunter in Alabama, are being nursed by a domestic cat named Bobbi, whose own babies recently jumped to solid food. If that isn't strange enough, a similar case is occurring in Columbia, S.C., where three other bobcat babies are being nursed by a domestic tabby named Zoe, after they were orphaned when the abandoned house they were living under was demolished.

ORLANDO, Fla. — It is billed as a leisurely boat tour. The shark surfaces, its fin slicing through the water. The boat's captain, armed with a grenade launcher, blasts away at the bloodthirsty monster. Nearby gas lines explode and a column of fire erupts into the blue sky. We feel the heat from the flames, hear the shark's body churning in the water. A child hides her face in the crook of her mother's arm and whimpers as chilly water sprays everyone on the boat. Of course, it isn't real. It's the "Jaws" ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, an...

As the early-morning fog cleared at the Dunnellon airport in Marion County, Fla., and the temperatures slowly rose, 8-year-old Edon Palchar waited with his family to see whooping cranes for the very first time. The cranes, guided by an ultralight aircraft, were on their way to their winter homes at a wildlife refuge in Florida this week. Experts say there are only 350 of these rare birds left in the world. Their arrival is becoming an annual spectacle that draws thousands of bird lovers. Watching Live And On The Web For Edon Palchar, the coolest thing about the cranes is...

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- A state health inspector says a dog familiar to many regular customers at a Gulf coast gas station will no longer be able to join his owner at work. The Clearwater BP station's owner, Karim Mansour, received a warning from the Florida Department of Health on Thursday, informing him that Cody would have to go or all of the store's food - mostly bottled soda, candy and other snacks - would be declared unfit for consumption.

PINELLAS PARK, Fla.- A Florida couple said the homeowners association of their retirement community is trying to evict their 6-year-old granddaughter. Jimmy and Judie Stottler of Pinellas Park said their granddaughter, Kimberly, came to live with them as an infant when authorities took her away from her drug-abusing mother, WSTP-TV, St. Petersburg, Fla., reported Thursday. The girl has stayed with her grandparents in the retirement community since, even though the community's rules don't allow children. The couple said the homeowners association is now pressuring them to comply with the ban on children, but they are unable to move because they...

Giant Rattlesnake Slithers Its Way Into St. Augustine Townhouse Community ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- The trappers who caught and killed a giant rattlesnake in St. Johns County said the snake was 7 feet 3 inches long. Experts said it's one of the biggest rattlesnakes they've ever seen. The rattlesnake slithered its way into Tuscany Village, a St. Augustine townhouse community, over the weekend. Someone spotted the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, now being called Rattzilla, near homes off State Road 16 and Interstate 95 and called police. Police then called Brandon Booth, a professional trapper. Booth said that when he pulled up,...

A green light UFO was spotted July 6 by multiple witnesses over Boca Raton, Florida, according to witness reports filed with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database. One witness said it was "a green glowing diamond shaped object, about 100ft above us, floating"

The shark attack capital of the United States is New Smyrna, Fla., sort of, according to the International Shark Attack File. The beach is in a county that has logged 210 attacks on humans. No. 2 is North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii and Long Beach Island in New Jersey gets the No. 3 spot. Truth is, shark attacks are rare (learn how to avoid them). Globally there are a few dozen a year, with 4 deaths last year. In Florida, there were 32 in 2008 and the same number in 2007, with no fatalities. The overall number of attacks had risen...

LAUDERHILL, Fla. -- Another reward is being offered for information that will help authorities figure out who or what is killing cats across South Florida. The Clydey Foundation Inc., a Miami-based nonprofit group, says it will give a $5,000 reward for information on the slaughtered cats, whose mutilated bodies have been found in Miami-Dade County and nearby Lauderhill. Organizations and private donors have also raised a $7,500 reward for information on the Miami-Dade cases, which have occurred around the Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay neighborhoods. Local officials and police say more than a dozen dead cats have been reported this...

A TeaParty in Bradenton Fla. was put together in a hurry. The owners of a local citrus company let us use their facility for the get together. We had speakers from local citizens to politians from local and state organizations. The best part of the whole event had to be the kids that will be featured below. The kids seemed to be as excited as the parents that dressed them up. Fun was had by all, and the event was uplifting for all that I could see. Pictures below:

FRUITLAND PARK, Fla. - A local sheriff's office said Ku Klux Klan recruitment fliers and photos ended up in his mailbox.The sheriff said one of the men seen in it was a police officer.The photo sparked an internal investigation by the Fruitland Park Police Department, and now one of its officers has resigned in the wake of the allegations.The first complaint surfaced three weeks ago, when the Sumter County Sheriff's Office said someone was putting up KKK recruitment fliers around town.Investigators said a post office box connected to the fliers came back to Fruitland Park police Officer James Elkins.