​If you need affirmation that West Palm Beach is too rich rich for your blood, Forbes has you covered. More >>

​For what it's worth, there are only two states in the nation with more registered sex offenders than Florida.

Florida's 57,896 sex criminals puts the Sunshine State behind only California (106,216) and Texas (68,529), and even though Florida's population is about 400,000 less than New York's, the Sunshine State is home to nearly 25,000 more sex offenders.

According to statistics released this week by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, there's been an increase of 7,555 sex offenders nationwide since the last survey -- in June 2011 -- bringing the country to a grand total of 747,408.

More >>

​Florida led the nation in police officers killed in the line of duty in 2011, according to a report released today by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Fourteen of the 173 cops killed this year were in Florida, and four other states had at least 10 police fatalities.

According to the report, 68 cops were shot and killed this year nationwide -- the first time in 14 years that more officers died from firearms-related incidents than traffic-related incidents.

More >>

sondheimguide.com

​In the first population estimates since 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today that Florida gained 256,000 people between April 2010 and July 2011, the third-highest total behind Texas and California.

In that same time, New York gained only 87,000 people, which means Florida is getting closer to becoming the third-most populous state.

New York's currently around 19.5 million people, and Florida's around 19.1 million.

More >>

​They didn't have much reason to do it before, but the Bahamas and Cuba have defined an international boundary in the waters off the coast of Florida. Now, the reason is clear: Both countries are poised to start drilling for oil from floating rigs.

Former Florida Sen. Bob Graham cochaired a commission that investigated the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010; now he's raising questions about the safety of this drilling off our shores and talking about preparing an international plan to deal with a potential spill.

One problem, though: That requires having a conversation with Cuba.

More >>

Colin Au: No B.S. from this guy.

​The CEO of Genting Group, which bought the Miami Herald's property on Biscayne Bay earlier this year and dreams of turning it into a mega-casino, wasn't exactly subtle when he said the project would result in a net gain of jobs for the state -- especially in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

At the first hearing about the casinos, somebody asked CEO Colin Au about claims that building a casino would cost the state jobs instead of generating them. (Here in Broward, pari-mutuel owners and the Seminole tribe also worry about losing gamers across the county line.)

A video of Au's blunt response is after the jump.More >>

Racism? Not here.

​To: U.S. District Court
From: Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning

We're having a small problem with voting down here in Florida. In May, our Legislature passed some brilliant new requirements designed to crack down on unnecessary voters -- specifically, people who are poor, move around a lot, and might possibly have brownish skin. We're not racist or anything; we're just afraid these folks would lynch us at the polls if they were allowed to fill out ballots.

There's nothing sinister about the new rules. They make it tougher for get-out-the-vote More >>

The private company still wants the prison contract.

​Poor GEO Group. The Boca Raton-based private prison operator, former known as Wackenhut Corrections, had planned to invest $3 million in its quest to win a contract to run most of the prisons in the southern part of Florida. More >>

The New York Times

​The New York Times likes to discover things around the country, allowing hemmed-in Manhattanites to observe a little of the goings-on around our fair country without crossing the Hudson. So are born trend pieces on Portland's coffee, Chicago's restaurants, Pennsylvania's Dairy Queens. As for us swamp-dwellers, an occasional huckster makes the news, but what about cultural trends?More >>

Blame this guy.

​The Ledger is reporting that Ken Keck, the Florida Department of Citrus executive director, will resign next week.

That's consistent with the citrus commission's August 3 agenda, which states the third item is to consider "terms of resignation of acting executive director," and the next item is to consider "designating new acting executive director" of the department.

The Ledger says Keck is "the victim of, in no particular order, declining orange juice sales, citrus greening, higher taxes and state Sen. J.D. Alexander."

More >>