» Miami-Dade Sen. Alex Villalobos, once the front-runner to become Senate president following the November 2008 term, has been rebuffed by fellow Republicans in favor of North Palm Beach Sen. Jeff Atwater.

» Former AT&T executive Barry Johnson has been named president and CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

» Lani Kahn Drody, executive vice president of Lowell Homes, has been named president of the Builders Association of South Florida. She is the first woman to lead the association.

» An administrative law judge has ruled that state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla should pay $8,750 in fines for election law violations during his 1999 campaign, rejecting arguments that the Republican lawmaker is too poor to pay.

» The University of Florida has created a $1.5-million endowed professorship in early childhood studies in honor of former Miami Herald publisher David Lawrence Jr. A UF alumnus, Lawrence is president of the Miami-based Early Childhood Initiative Foundation.