MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) -- A Florida newspaper is calling out state legislators and local officials for their actions related to the Indian River Lagoon.
Florida Today used its entire front page to assign grades to elected officials. Eight of the 12 politicians listed, including Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, were given F grades. Both Gardiner and Crisafulli have Brevard County in their districts and Crisafulli is a resident of Merritt Island.
The lagoon has been the site of a massive fish kill this spring that has been blamed on a brown algae bloom.
The newspaper ranked officials on how they voted on various measures that could have helped the health of the lagoon. Executive Editor Bob Gabordi called the scorecard a "clarion call" to take efforts to clean up the lagoon.