New House districts attract newcomers

SCOTT REAPPOINTS 42 POSITIONS

Gov. Rick Scott re-appointed 42 agency heads and board members Thursday, keeping their nominations alive for at least one more year after the Senate failed to confirm them during the legislative session. The reappointed officials included three agency executives: John Armstrong, Florida's surgeon general and secretary of the Department of Health; Corrections Secretary Michael Crews; and Jesse Panuccio, the executive director of the Department of Economic Opportunity. The governor also kept three members of the State Board of Education -- Ada Adams of Coral Gables, John Colon of University Park and John Padget of Key West -- and about three dozen other appointees who had been left on the table. All the officials would need to be confirmed in 2014 to keep their positions.