For many small business owners, health care reform boils down to one issue: Whom do you trust least—insurance companies or the federal government?

Donald Platten, of Boca Raton, was convicted Friday of conspiracy, securities fraud, and tax charges following a jury trial before U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks in West Palm Beach.

State revenues declined last month by $3.6 billion, according to the July Cash Report released by the state Comptroller’s office.

In the weeks since an explosive lawsuit was filed against the leadership of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s oldest black sorority, the organization’s embattled president, Barbara McKinzie, allegedly received nearly $500,000 in checks from the sorority’s general funds, according to an attorney for the members seeking to depose the current leadership.

A former General Services Administration employee was sentenced Thursday to three years and one month in federal prison after admitting to an embezzlement scheme.

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner on Wednesday criticized a proposal by the California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau to increase the state’s base workers’ compensation benchmark rates by 22.8 percent.