New website makes Florida statutes accessible, understandable

A more user-friendly way to read and understand Florida's complicated law books just launched online.

SunshineStatutes.com has features that the state's official website, Online Sunshine at leg.state.fl.us, does not. For example, there is an easy-to-understand description of each law's history and hyperlinked text that shows the definitions of terms in other parts of the law.

Florida's Statutes cover 951 chapters separated into 48 "titles."

Eventually, the Sunshine Statutes website will allow people to trace laws back to bills and court cases that reference them. One day, it could even be possible to link a law back to the lobbyist who supported the issue.

"The idea is to make the statutes more accessible to the citizens and to make it more meaningful and understandable," said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation. Her organization worked with the Florida Society of News Editors to assist in the site's development.

Florida is the second state to have its law books simplified by Waldo Jaquith, who first worked on Virginia's.

Read more here.

Ken Sorenson, former House representative from South Florida, dies at 77

From The Florida Keys Keynoter:

 The Florida Keys lost one of the island chain’s most dynamic political figures on Friday.

Ken Sorensen, 77, died by his wife Diane's side, family friend Norman Higgins said. The cause of death was not immediately known. Tragically, his death came eight years to the day the Sorensens' son, Mark Sorensen, lost a two-year battle against lung cancer at age 48.

Sorensen, a retired Eastern Airlines pilot, quickly climbed the political ladder in Monroe County and gradually became a major player in the state Republican machine.

His influence and knowledge of state politics was so in demand that Florida's GOP senator and possible vice presidential candidate, Marco Rubio, hired Sorensen to work on his successful U.S. Senate campaign in 2010 against then-Gov. Charlie Crist.

Sorensen was also a powerful senior member of Rubio's staff when the senator was elected state House speaker in 2006.

Sorensen served District 120 in the Florida House of Representatives from 1998 until he was term-limited out in 2006. Ron Saunders, who now represents District 120, which includes the Keys, had a close professional relationship with Sorensen. In fact, some of Sorensen's Republican staff now works for Saunders, a Democrat.

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Broward set to mail 83,000 absentee ballots

Let the primary voting begin: on Tuesday, Broward will start delivering more than 83,000 absentee ballots for the Aug. 14 primary. The ballots will be loaded into a postal service truck at the county's Voting Equipment Center in Lauderhill at 11 a.m. A Broward Sheriff's deputy will follow the truck to the post office in Oakland Park.

Among the races on the county primary ballot:

* Democratic sheriff's primary between Scott Israel, a former Fort Lauderdale police captain and Hollywood police Assistant Chief Louie Granteed 

* In part of the county, a Democratic primary in Congressional District 22 between Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs and former state legislator/West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel.