The shrieks of horror and howls of grief are dying away on Capitol Hill as defeated representatives and senators accept their fates and pack for the long ride home to find real jobs.

Fifteen-year-old Jordyn Alexander Howe boarded the school bus with a loaded gun in his backpack. He pulled it out, it went off and fatally wounded fellow student Lourdes Guzman-DeJesus, 13.

Miami-Dade police say the shooting on a charter school bus in Homestead was an accident. Howe was charged with manslaughter and carrying a concealed firearm. He spent the night at the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center.

There's more trouble for state-run Citizens Property Insurance.

Investigators look into lavish spending, misuse of resources and other ethical lapses.

Gov. Rick Scott has asked his Chief Inspector General to investigate Citizens after all four people in the company's ethics office were fired.

Miami-Dade police have charged a 15-year-old boy with manslaughter in the shooting death of a 13-year-old girl on a school bus.

Listen to the file above for details.

The Allen West - Patrick Murphy Congressional standoff is now over. The one-term congressman came close to winning the new District 18 that he had to move to run in, but not close enough, so he conceded today on Fox News. West maintains there were enough ballot irregularities to warrant a close look. And there is no disputing there were voting problems in St. Lucie County. The outgoing GOP Congressman gave no definitive plans for his future. Winner Patrick Murphy has already been through freshman orientation in Washington. 

Even though activists were sure earned sick pay would be an easy fight in Miami-Dade, a proposal that required employers to give earned sick pay to all workers died on first reading in a county commission meeting Tuesday.

The Miami Herald's Patricia Mazzei tweeted the vote count:

Earned sick time legislation at Miami-Dade commission failed 8-4. In favor: Edmonson, Jordan, Monestime, Suarez.

The Marlins latest fire sale is official: Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig approved the trade of 5 of the team’s top players.  

Good reading for your holiday plane ride: Businessweek's studious indictment of the Transportation Security Administration and the entire post-9/11 homeland security apparatus.

11/20/12 -  Tuesday's  Topical Currents is with education innovator Salman Kahn.  He says today’s schools and colleges are built upon a model developed by Prussians in the 1700-hundreds . . . and that modern technology should make classrooms more human and teachers more important.  He recommends a pay scale for teachers to match other professions.   Salman Kahn has written, THE ONE WORLD SCHOOLHOUSE:  Education Reimagined.