Statewide Reports - July 16-31/01

NOTE - 
If the link to the on-line articles has changed, search the paper's archive section by date and title - Palm Beach Post links are only good for the day posted, and there is a fee to access archived articles. Same is true for some of the others although the time frame varies.

7/31/01

  • Rebate sounds too good to be true
    Many misconceptions unraveled in calls to tax preparers' offices
    It's not every day that Uncle Sam opens his wallet to give money back to his nieces and nephews. In fact, it's hardly ever.
  • No additional cases of West Nile reported
    State officials said Monday that dozens of North Florida residents have been tested for the West Nile virus, but no additional cases had been identified as of Monday.
  • West Nile virus moves steadily down state -Dead birds are piling up at collection points in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, and public health experts are advising vigilance, and this is why: The West Nile virus is marching slowly but relentlessly toward South Florida, state officials said Monday.
  • Ruling on citrus canker delayed; clearing allowed
    FORT LAUDERDALE - An anxiously awaited ruling on the citrus-canker eradication program failed to come down Monday, and all sides braced for the return of the tree-cutting crews next week.
  • Sen. Nelson: Budget could starve NASA
    He warns that astronauts' safety is at risk
    ORLANDO - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson warned federal and state officials Monday that the proposed budget for NASA could "starve" the nation's civilian space program and compromise astronaut safety.
  • Partisan rancor absent in picking vote system
    Some commissioners find touch-screen balloting better, but questions remain.
  • Millions for Harris' trips under review - ...Buried on page 363 of the 420-page state budget is the creation of a special review committee to look at the $3.4-million Harris budgeted for international relations this year and the money spent since she took office.
  • Consultant looks at Harris' computers - A Sarasota-based consultant worked most of Monday going over a pair of computers used by Secretary of State Katherine Harris trying to recover files that may have been deleted following the 2000 presidential election...Tony Welch, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Florida, said Monday that no one should have examined the computer before the media.
  • Governor urges delay in education bonuses-- Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday he supports incentive packages for members of the Florida Board of Education, but favors delaying the bonuses...However, two board members are ready to challenge any delay, The Sentinel reported, and that could lead to the board's first public struggle...``This is an emergency. We are on a mission,'' said Garcia, adding that salaries could be even higher than $400,000. ``We need to turn this around, and we need to do it quickly.''
  • Not so fast = Our position: The new Board of Education must get its priorities in order first.
  • Bush's first reform - Recently, President Bush directed that the deputy secretaries in the 14 Cabinet departments be designated as chief operating officers, with a mandate to make their agencies "citizen-centered, results-oriented and market-based."...And the premise underlying the initiative is an old one: Adapting business practices to government. These government-as-business reforms have been tried before but have run up against the simple reality that government is not a business.

7/30/01

  • Small surprise: Government is undersized
    The U.S. Census Bureau last week published some data that won't surprise many people in Tallahassee. The bureau said that this state's government, which Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican Legislature is trying to shrink, is already one of the smallest per capita - and maybe even the smallest - in the nation.
  • Harris won't allow media experts to monitor computer check - FL "Secretary of State Katherine Harris won't allow computer investigators hired by several Florida newspapers to monitor the work of a computer scientist hired by her...
  • Harris: There was no crisis, just close vote - “We didn’t have a crisis of democracy,” Harris told several hundred homebuilders and sellers of building materials at a trade fair Friday at the Orange County Convention Center. “We simply had a close race.”  
  • E-Spy Identity Stumps State Politicos - TAMPA - An anonymous, Drudge- like Internet site with insider Florida political news and gossip has state politicos puzzling over the identity of the author. 
    It's The Grapefruit, and it's at communities.msn.com/thegrapefruit
  • FSU seeks funds for expansion
    'We are essentially out of money,' university vice president says
    Florida State University's new money wish list for building and land improvements includes $5 million to purchase property. Nonexistent on its list last year, the request headlines at No. 2 on its $85.8 million list of desired construction and renovation projects.
  • Fish populations sinking in Biscayne National Park
    MIAMI - Fish populations in Biscayne National Park are in sharp decline, and popular fish such as grouper and snapper could come close to disappearing if something is not done soon, a study shows.
  • Democrats lag in money race
    Democrats are lining up to oust Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002, but their party is behind the Republicans in campaign contributions.
  • Reason to oppose Ybor cameras
    Tampa mayor Dick Greco says people who oppose the Ybor City cameras don't know what they're talking about.
  • A drug test to watch
    The United States has exported its drug-war mentality to other nations through heavy-handed persuasion and intimidation, and every year we scrutinize our handiwork. An annual report issued by the State Department comments on the drug enforcement efforts of other countries. In it, nations that don't follow the U.S. model of zero tolerance and are experimenting with alternatives to a punitive approach to the drug problem are lectured in a patronizing, we-know-better-than-you tone.
  • Pesticides make us sick, field hands sayAfter a day of work in the fields here, migrant workers' arms and fingers can itch so unbearably that some seek relief by plunging their hands into cool gasoline or bleach.
  • Wetlands supporters worried - A proposal to relax rules on development around wetlands in Seminole County could have a major impact on the number of homes allowed in rural areas.
  • Campaign attack ads go around cash limits - TALLAHASSEE -- Doctors, lawyers and some of Florida's most influential businesses are steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in unregulated campaign cash toward a pair of pivotal state Senate races.
  • Whistleblower's lawsuit draws retaliation - TALLAHASSEE -- One of Florida's largest insurance companies is suing a former employee who claims she was fired after telling her bosses she thought a lobbyist for the firm was supplying drugs to state lawmakers and their staffs.
  • State reinvesting in tobacco stocks -- TALLAHASSEE · The state has invested $352.4 million in tobacco and tobacco-related companies over the past month now that state officials lifted a ban on such holdings. - 
    Four years ago the state dumped about $900 million in tobacco stocks from the pension fund that covers almost 800,000 state and local employees.
  • Editorial, July 30, 2001
    Promises, promises. That's all we seem to get from the Bush administration when it comes to environmental policy.
  • Fatality linked to equine encephalitis
  • Editorial: Keep schools 'public' -
    Florida has a new Board of Education that promises "seamless" progression from kindergarten to college. At the seven-member board's first meeting last week, the seams were...
  • Editorial: Block Alaska drilling
    Using the excuse of an energy crisis that doesn't exist, overstating the urgency for a project the energy industry doesn't need, endangering a natural treasure the country can't replace, the Republican leadership in...
  • Q&A: Questions to NCH and the Cleveland Clinic -- The Daily News submitted the following questions to Cleveland Clinic Florida and NCH Helathcare System. Cleveland Clinic did not respond. Edward Morton, president and CEO, responds in this space today for NCH.
  • Anthony Lewis: The vision thing -In 1969 President Nixon renounced the development or use of biological weapons. It was an act of enlightened self-interest. He then led the way to a 1972 treaty banning the development, production or possession of biological weapons. This week President Bush wiped out eight years of effort on a protocol to enforce the 1972 treaty.
  • State tax break zone expanding Tropicana gets zoned tax break BRADENTON - A district that provides state incentives for businesses in the city to expand and hire more people just grew to include Tropicana Products Inc. and the surrounding area.
  • IRS gives answers to check questions - The IRS says the checks are not a rebate or refund on 2000 taxes. Instead, the checks are an advance payment for 2001.

7/29/01

  • Enterprise Florida responds
    Officials of Florida's privatized economic development agency have denied that state money was "recycled" into a private bank account that was used for executive bonuses, private club memberships or junkets.
  • County feels effect of vouchers
    Under a new state voucher program for students with disabilities, 50 students will leave public schools for private ones, resulting in a loss of between $200,000 and $300,000 for the Leon County School District in the coming school year.
  • Date set for guards' trial
    GAINESVILLE - Three former prison guards charged in the 1999 beating death of a Death Row inmate will stand trial in October.
  • Profit pressures haven't compromised our journalism
    Some of you may have read Washington Post columnist Geneva Overholser's lament (Op-ed column, July 24) about the decline in journalistic quality because of newspaper companies' efforts to please Wall Street. She's right that times are tough for newspapers, as they are for most businesses. Readers who were once ours alone now get information everywhere they turn and they don't spend as much time reading a daily newspaper. At the same time, we're under pressure from investors to improve profit margins that are already the envy of most industries.  
  • School funds on the move for new law - Many districts must spend more in the classrooms. But that means less money for other services, school officials say.
  • Drivers can scout ahead on FHP site for road tie-ups
    A highway patrol site lists problems on state roads by region and will warn motorists of road closings or backups.
  • Court leaves room for confusion
    The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a public elementary school that chooses to open its facilities for use by community groups for educational purposes must also make meeting space available to a proselytizing religious organization. While this 6-to-3 ruling authored by Justice Clarence Thomas is constitutionally sound, there remains a nagging discomfort with the decision.
  • Margo Hammond Studs Terkel is what characters are made of
    At first I thought the gravelly voice on my answering machine, a voice right out of a bad 1930s gangster flick, was someone doing an imitation of Studs Terkel, and a pretty good one at that. But, no, it was the real thing. I had been trying to get through to Studs for weeks, leaving messages at the Chicago Historical Society, where the 89-year-old writer and radio commentator has an office. I wanted to talk to him about his latest book of interviews, which concentrates on the author's most intriguing subject yet: death.
  • Martin Dyckman - Huge voter database left in familiarly questionable hands
    TALLAHASSEE -- A certain heresy had taken root in southern France early in the 13th century. The Crusaders who set out to exterminate it had no time to spare for separating the guilty from the innocent. "Kill them all," the knights cried. "The Lord will know his own."
  • Virus, dilemma plague people in horse country 
  • Tracking the truth even when it goes into unpopular territory
    This is my farewell column to readers of the Orlando Sentinel. I'm not very good at this kind of thing. Thanks and goodbye.

7/28/01

  • Attorneys not happy with court changes
    The Bush brothers are taking a step toward "demeaning" the courts by trying to make judges more "accountable" to popular political trends, the president of The Florida Bar said Friday.  
  •  Workers discuss asbestos concerns
    Department of Management Services executives assured construction work crews Friday that they will be consulted before renovation work and advised of any asbestos hazards in state buildings.
  • Peterson takes first jab at not-yet candidate Reno
    FORT LAUDERDALE - Gubernatorial hopeful Pete Peterson said Friday he would fare better against Gov. Jeb Bush than would former Attorney General Janet Reno, one of his possible opponents in next year's Democratic primary.

7/27/01

  • Jeb Bush withholds dollars from agencies - Gov. Jeb Bush's decision to hold back 1 percent of the money he normally would have sent to his agencies this quarter has fueled growing concerns about budget shortfalls.
  • Technology Office criticized - Legislators troubled by vague plan
    Just three months ago, both houses of the Legislature unanimously passed a bill transferring 1,760 technology employees and a $600 million budget to a new centralized State Technology Office. On Thursday, key lawmakers had second thoughts.
  • Republicans rap governor's technology plan
    A budget panel maligns the lack of detail in a proposal to consolidate computer purchases.
  • Bush on academic freedom --- Academic freedom is a concept nearly everyone can support in the abstract. Unfettered scholarship and freedom of thought on our university campuses is the underlying principle of higher learning and discovery. But when the threat to that freedom is real, there are always deserters.
  • Off to a shaky start with lavish education salary
    Florida politicians like to talk about paying good teachers well, but they have rarely walked the walk. So at a time when the state's teachers remain concerned about inadequate compensation, what's a government to do?  
  • The revolution begins
    The new state Board of Education has come up with a business plan to revamp the system, only the board forgot to ask the people who know what works, the educators.
  • Broad action needed on the West Nile virus
    The disease is expected to spread nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says.
  • Doctors upgrade possible West Nile victim
    A Madison man believed to be the first person in Florida infected with the West Nile virus has been upgraded from critical to serious condition.
  • Tests could implicate mosquito
    Testing is under way to determine whether a 9-year-old boy in North Florida who died this week from encephalitis had a mosquito-borne variety of the disease.
  • Many West Nile cases not reported - For every New Yorker diagnosed with encephalitis or meningitis from West Nile virus in the summer of 1999, there were probably 140 milder infections that went undetected, scientists have estimated.
  • Chess fever catches on - Players compete to claim victory in a game of wits- Giovanni Justice was gunning hard for Kenny Moseley's king. "I'm going to die now," said Kenny, a 13-year-old Swift Creek Middle School student. "He took my rook in three moves."
  • Dog hailed as a hero - When an 85-year-old woman fell and couldn't get up outside her waterfront home in southwest Florida, the family dog fought off an approaching alligator, enduring numerous bites to save its master.
  • 90% wool, 10% gone - About 100 sheep are brought in to chew away at a Tallahassee park's kudzu problem. Ten are missing and presumed mutton.
  • State attorney probing anti-gay petitions -- The Miami-Dade state attorney's office confirmed on Wednesday that it has launched an official investigation into possible widespread forgeries in the petition drive to repeal the county's human-rights ordinance.
  • Desperate seniors may pick death
    Seniors, who often face illness, depression and failing mental faculties, are committing murder-suicide at almost double the rate of last year in Florida.
  • Prison population is racially distorted
    About one out of every 37 blacks in Florida is living in a prison, jail or detention center, figures released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau show.
  • Scientists discover - years of overfishing -- Centuries of excessive hunting on the high seas, besides devastating the populations of whales, sea turtles, sea cows and otters, has set in motion the collapse of kelp forests, coral reefs and other marine habitat essential for sea life, scientists are set to report today in the journal Science.
  • Bush thumbs his nose at treaty after treaty  
    WASHINGTON — It's like watching a horror movie in slow motion. Former President George Bush gained lasting respect for having put together a coalition to fight the Persian Gulf War . In six months, his son, President Bush, has thumbed his nose at one international agreement after another with mind-boggling speed and mind-numbing disregard for what the rest of the world thinks.
  • Key Democrats back Bush faith-based plan
    Despite predictions of a quiet death in the Senate, President Bush's initiative to expand partnerships with religious organizations is gaining support among key Democratic senators.
  • Computers May Hold Answers - TALLAHASSEE - Experts say every keystroke typed on state computers by two high-powered Republican advisers may be recovered from the hard drives. ...

     

7/26/01

  • Florida task force fighting rampant fraud
    Just busted: an identity theft ring led by an inmate from his jail cell
  • County, FDLE target agencies linked to Maloy
    A partnership between a county agency, formerly headed by suspended Commissioner Rudy Maloy, and a private marketing organization is being scrutinized by both county officials and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
  • Horne starts at $225,000
    MIAMI - The new secretary of the Florida Board of Education will earn a base salary of $225,000 and could earn thousands more by meeting performance standards and goals.
  • Education paycheck revisited - MIAMI -- The Florida Board of Education on Wednesday reconsidered its pay package for Education Secretary Jim Horne, delaying lucrative incentive bonuses until at least 2004.
  • Jeb Bush invited anti-regulation lawyer to speak
    Like Lawton Chiles before him, Gov. Jeb Bush is looking to author Philip Howard to drum up support for his reshuffling of state government.
  • Officials to begin aerial spraying for mosquitoes
    State officials have received requests from Wakulla and Liberty counties in North Florida to begin nighttime aerial spraying in the fight against mosquito-borne viruses.
  • Harris OKs inspection of hard drives
    Secretary of State Katherine Harris said Wednesday she will allow the media to inspect computer hard drives in her office, though she says she isn't required to do that by law.
  • Harris to give media access to computers - TALLAHASSEE -- Secretary of State Katherine Harris will allow media inspection of two office computers used to write public statements during the presidential recount, but only after a computer scientist of her choosing tests both units to verify that no public records were destroyed.
  • Many of Florida's inmates are black
    JACKSONVILLE - While blacks make up 15 percent of Florida's overall population, they represent a far larger percentage of the inmate population, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
  • Bill Cotterell: Quibbling over e-mails seems fishy
    The Florida secretary of state's office has certainly come a long way in 30 years. When he held that Cabinet post, Dick Stone made a big show of taking all the doors off of his offices in the Old Capitol. Tourists would wander through, poking their heads into conference rooms where Stone and his aides might be going over a Cabinet agenda or chatting with George Wallace, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern or other candidates in the state's first presidential primary.
  • Computer voting gets fresh backing
    After testing two systems, Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Pam Iorio urges the county to switch to touch screens, the costlier option.
  • FDLE surrenders decision on gun records to committee - TALLAHASSEE -- After placing himself at odds with the attorney general, some local police officials and gun control forces, the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will let an oversight board determine how to keep track of firearms transactions at pawnshops.
  • Mosquito spraying starts in Panhandle to halt virus - People are asked to stay indoors as a DC-3 sweeps over at night to kill mosquitoes that can spread West Nile virus.
  • U.S. Interior to review tribal gambling rules - TAMPA -- Under pressure from the Jeb Bush administration, the U.S. Department of Interior has withdrawn federal rules aimed at expanding gambling on reservations of the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes of Florida.
  • Bush lectures university leaders - The governor delivers some tips and directives to the state's university trustees. Not everyone is favorably impressed.
  • Shoppers, this holiday is for you -The state sales tax holiday returns for a nine-day run beginning Saturday, but this year fewer items are tax-free.
  • Bush's little interest in science - The Bush administration hasn't been in a hurry to fill key science posts in the government. In fact, neither the White House nor the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has shown much interest in science as they make difficult policy decisions on 21st century issues. When Republicans seized control of the House six years ago, one of their first targets was the Office of Technology Assessment, the science and technology research arm of Congress that is no more.
  • Abortion doctor starts four-year prison term Keywords:  Dr. James Scott Pendergraft IV,  11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Florida Crystals to buy Domino Sugar
    By Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
    WEST PALM BEACH -- Domino, the nation's leading sugar brand, is about to become a Palm Beach County business. Florida Crystals Corp., with headquarters in West Palm Beach, and the...
  • West Nile threat looms - The chances of death or even serious illness are slim, but residents of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties have one more mosquito-borne virus to worry about. The West Nile virus, which caused 79 confirmed U.S. cases of encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, and seven deaths over the past two years, is coming closer on the wings of birds.
  • Counties unite for environmenttEscambia and Santa Rosa counties are ready to join forces to improve the region's air and water quality. City managers, mayors and county administrators in both counties agreed Wednesday at a first-ever environmental summit to meet again and outline the scope of the problems and what can be done to fix them.
  • U.S. rejects germ treaty - Allies are dismayed when the U.S. didn't back a ban on biological weapons. WASHINGTON - The Bush administration Wednesday rejected a draft agreement designed to enforce an international ban on biological weapons, dismaying some allies who said the United States effectively was killing the pact after seven years of arduous negotiations
  • G-8 summit protester laid to rest - GENOA, Italy - His coffin draped in the red-and-gold banner of his beloved soccer team, the young protester shot by police during last week's riots at the Group of Eight summit was laid to rest Wednesday by thousands of mourners
  • Patients' rights bill shelved by GOP - - Republican leaders of the House of Representatives shelved a popular ?patients' bill of rights? Wednesday because the version President Bush supports appeared to be headed for defeat. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., put off action on the legislation, which would give patients legal rights to a host of basic medical services and increase their bargaining power in disputes over coverage with managed health care plans.
  •  UF player dies from heat stroke complications
    Florida freshman fullback Eraste Autin, 18, died Wednesday afternoon at Shands at the University of Florida.
  • Gill a suspect in cell mate's death - A convicted murderer who told a judge and others he would kill again if not given the death penalty is the suspect in the Tuesday slaying of a cell mate at North Florida Reception Center near Lake Butler.

7/25/01

  • Education secretary may earn $400,000 -MIAMI -- The Florida Board of Education voted Tuesday to pay Education Secretary Jim Horne a $225,000 salary and said it would add incentive bonuses that could bring his annual compensation to as much as $400,000.
  • Harris planning run for Congress -- She'll enter race to represent Sarasota Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who attracted worldwide attention during last year's disputed presidential election recount, is running for Congress, a top state Republican Party official said Tuesday.
  • Secretary of State Katherine Harris will run for Congress in 2002.  David Johnson, Executive Director of the GOP in Florida told The Associated Press late Tuesday that Harris was trying to assemble the best team possible for her Campaign.
  • Voting machines for state's disabled still not approved
    Almost nine months after the presidential election that made Florida an international laughingstock, the state Division of Elections has yet to certify a single new piece of voting equipment. That's frustrated a number of county officials as local governments start putting budgets together, but it's also made many disabled voters angry. There are more than 500,000 visually impaired and almost 100,000 mobility-impaired people in Florida, but no voting systems for either are currently allowed in the state.
  • Patient groups want to sue HMOs -- Industry says health plans vary too much to allow class actions MIAMI - Thirty-seven million members of six major managed care companies asked a judge Tuesday to allow patients to sue as groups for deceptive health care promises and hidden cost crunching.
  • Butterworth: Child-abuse records open - Drawing praise from government watchdogs, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth on Tuesday told the state's child-welfare agency that records of abuse, neglect and abandonment of children in the state's foster homes, shelters and treatment centers are a matter of public record.
  • Primary for Scarborough's seat finishes
    PENSACOLA - The selection of a successor to resigning U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough began Tuesday with a primary election among six Republicans and two Democrats in the Florida Panhandle's 1st District.
  • Peterson files papers for potential campaign
    Less than a week after returning from Hanoi, Pete Peterson - the former U.S. ambassador to Vietnam and Big Bend congressman - filed papers in preparation for a possible run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
  • Thrasher fine for lobbying is not so fine. Former Florida House Speaker John Thrasher must be a quick study, yet he appears to be a slow learner when it comes to complying with the Sunshine Amendment. He's about to be fined $500 - just $500 - for violating a lobbying ban that keeps former lawmakers from immediately lobbying colleagues who are still in office.
  • More baffling maneuvering from Team Bush
    Normally when a politician flip-flops on some issue, we all boo and hiss. The pleasant thing about President George W. Bush is that his original positions are so frequently buffleheaded, it's quite encouraging when he changes his mind.
  • Nelson seeks narrow primary - TALLAHASSEE -- Democratic hopefuls may spend the next few months shaking hands and raising cash in a quest for the governor's mansion, but if the field hasn't narrowed by next spring, party heavyweights may step in and declare a favorite, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Monday.
  • E-mail virus arrives in message purportedly from Cuba -- When Enrique Pollack, a staunch anti-Castro talk show host on Spanish-language radio, opened up his e-mail Tuesday morning, he was surprised to find a friendly message from a Cuban government website. ``Hi! How are you?'' the message said. ``I send you this file in order to have your advice. See you later. Thanks.''
  • Howard Troxler - GOP's views on Cuba: Like Democrats', only different
  • Butterworth cuts the red tape -- TAMPA -- The domestic partner of slain Tampa police Officer Lois Marrero should never have been asked to fill out an application or sign it in order to receive money from the state's crime victims fund, Attorney General Bob Butterworth said Tuesday.
  • Constitution clutter - Legislators should find ways to protect the state Constitution instead of allowing it to be cluttered with causes that just don't belong there.
  • State Ready For West Nile Virus - TALLAHASSEE - Hoping to slow the spread of West Nile virus, state officials will begin aerial spraying across parts of North Florida today, waging a battle authorities once thought was still years away. ...
  • State to spray against West Nile virus
    By S.V. Dáte, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
    With Florida now home to the first likely human case of the West Nile virus outside the Northeast, state health officials are stepping up the usual summer warnings against the mosquito bites that spread it and other occasionally...
  • Greco Says Ybor City Cameras Will Stay - TAMPA - The Tampa City Council can vote it down. Congress can investigate. The American Civil Liberties Union can protest all it wants. ...
  • Push to privatize criticized
    By Larry Lipman and Lisa Helem, Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
    WASHINGTON -- President Bush's Social Security reform commission came under heavy attack Tuesday from critics who charged that the panel's support for private savings accounts would...
  • Tax-cut fraud -  From The Washington Post - The president's tax cut has begun to limit his ability to deliver even on his own campaign promises. The House has passed a version of his proposal to give "faith-based" organizations a larger role in delivering social services. It included a provision to let nonitemizers deduct charitable contributions just as generally higher-income itemizers do.
  • Pollution talk fine, but action is needed - Pensacola Mayor John Fogg has a good idea in proposing a joint group of elected and other governmental officials to monitor and coordinate pollution cleanup efforts by Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.
  • Florida's prisons hold 48% blacksAbout one out of every 37 blacks in Florida is living in a prison, jail or detention facility, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday.
  • U.S. rejects U.N. germ warfare enforcement planThe United States announced today it is rejecting a U.N. draft treaty designed to give teeth to an anti-germ warfare accord.
  • Rethink priorities - Our position: A bleak revenue forecast requires state leaders to be responsible managers.

7/24/01

  • Sen. Nelson to press for party unity
    He says some Democrats should quit governor race
    Without runoff primaries next year, Democrats vying for governor will probably find themselves playing "weakest link" with three party elders who want to thin the herd charging at Gov. Jeb Bush.  
  •  Nelson: Party consensus needed vs. Bush - Florida's first-term U.S. senator said he and the state's two other leading elected Democrats, Sen. Bob Graham and Attorney General Bob Butterworth, must "bring consensus" among many potential candidates for governor in the next few months.
  • One's running; two's a crowd - If Jim Davis joins Bill McBride in the race for governor, Democrats worry they will split the same Tampa backing.
  • Audit uncovers missing equipment
    State commission's policies questioned
    The Florida Correctional Privatization Commission, an appointed board that oversees five privately operated jails and prisons around the state, can't adequately account for more than $57,000 in computers and other equipment.
  • State Board of Education meets for the first time
    MIAMI - The new state board that will overhaul and govern Florida's public education system met for the first time Monday to begin designing what Gov. Jeb Bush has called a seamless path between kindergarten and graduate school.
  • Staffs of Bush brothers keep in touch each week
    Every Thursday the staffs of the Bush brothers - President George in Washington and Gov. Jeb in Tallahassee - talk by phone to discuss everything from oil drilling to the Cuban embargo.
  • Human case of West Nile suspected
    Officials find 13 more cases of virus-infected birds
    Florida may make the medical books - in a chapter it would prefer to avoid: The Florida Department of Health announced Monday what it suspects is the first case of West Nile virus in a human being in Florida. The victim is an unidentified person who lives in Madison County, 50 miles east of Tallahassee.
  • Felony charge for Flakes is over the top - There are two theories on the origin of felony charges for Florida A&M University Professor Robert Flakes, who scuffled with a police officer over a protest sign nine months ago. The state attorney's office explains that battery on a law enforcement officer is a felony, period, and that Mr. Flakes was charged accordingly. But his supporters say the outspoken chemistry professor is being punished for his political views more than his actions.
  • News no longer top priority for newspaper industry
    I'm assuming that you believe the primary business of your newspaper is news. And indeed, that used to be true. Not that newspaper companies haven't always sought to be strong businesses. They have.
  • Brady Law works as it is - As Bert Lance used to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The Brady Law background check system for handgun purchases isn't broken. To the contrary, it has stopped gun purchases by 600,000 lawbreakers. So why does Attorney General John Ashcroft want to weaken the law? The obvious answer is that he was doing the bidding of the National Rifle Association, giving the gun lobby what it failed to win in court.
  • City folks could use some country manners - The big deal is this: To the degree possible, you should avoid interrupting the lives of others. - People who have roots in the country, or at least an appreciation of country living, will understand this. City folks may need to be walked through it.
  • 14 counties on alert for virus - A Madison County man was in the hospital Monday fighting the first suspected human case of West Nile virus in Florida, prompting health officials to issue a medical alert for the illness for 14 northern counties
  • Judge to shape phosphate's future - VOICE YOUR OPINION Public testimony on phosphate mining will be taken during a 6:30-9:30 p.m. Aug. 7 hearing at the Sarasota County administration building, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. For information, call the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings at 1-850-488-9675.  
  • City prevails in Perico hearing - The judge's decision now goes before the DCA secretary for a final ruling. - BRADENTON - Plans to build 898 residences on north Perico Island cleared a major hurdle Monday when a state judge ruled against a sweeping challenge that could have scrapped the project
  • Jury finds Marchianos, firm  Guilty of racketeering - NEW YORK — More than 6 1/2 months after his stock-fraud trial began, A.S. Goldmen & Co.'s Naples owner, Anthony Marchiano, remained stoned-faced Monday as a jury pronounced him guilty of racketeering and more than 50 other crimes.
  • Molly Ivins: Bushian diplomacy -Normally when a politician flip-flops on some issue, we all boo and hiss. The pleasant thing about President George W. Bush is that his original positions are so frequently buffleheaded, it's quite encouraging when he changes his mind.
  • Demand fair representation -- Southwest Floridians who demand their fair share of representation in the U.S. House are aware of the possibility of having their influence trashed. That will happen if Collier and Lee are forced by redistricting to sever ties and/or become tails wagged by east coast-dominated districts. It's politics run amok, with leaders of eastern vote blocs coveting our region's Republicans and campaign donations.

7/23/01

  • DMS firing bad for Gov. Bush's political capital
    When Gov. Jeb Bush speaks to the Florida Sheriffs Association at Ponte Vedra tonight, he'll be among a lot of old friends who are a bit irked at Department of Management Services Secretary Cynthia Henderson.
  • State rep draws fire in congressional primary
    PENSACOLA - Only one candidate has ever held public office among six Republicans and two Democrats running in Tuesday's special primary election for a Panhandle congressional seat. That experience has given state Rep. Jeff Miller an edge in name recognition, endorsements and especially fund-raising, although he has spent less than three years in the Legislature.
  • Scientists' manatee criteria ignored -For more than a year, a team of seven scientists studied the Florida manatee population. Finally they crafted a recommendation to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about what criteria should be used in deciding when manatees can be taken off the endangered species list.- But when federal wildlife officials unveiled their latest plan for protecting the manatee this month, the scientists discovered their careful work had been tossed aside. Instead, federal officials substituted their own goals for downgrading the manatees' protected status, a move they said could begin in 2003...
  • Daunting job awaits new education board - The seven members of Florida's new Board of Education say they bring no grand design for the state's education future to their first meeting today. "You can't suggest solutions until you have identified the problems," says board member William Proctor, longtime president of Flagler College, a small, private school in St. Augustine. "The only thing I can say with certainty is that we are entering a period of major adjustment."
  • Credit affects car insurance
    In a practice drawing opposition from consumer advocates and scrutiny from state officials, auto insurers are relying more and more on what they call credit scoring when deciding what to charge customers for insurance.
  • Rule saves owners of pipelines billions - 
    WASHINGTON -- A rule the petroleum industry negotiated with federal regulators will allow pipeline operators to avoid spending billions of dollars to protect certain environmentally sensitive areas and...
  • Leon County commissioner takes on industry - 
    TALLAHASSEE -- While the federal government is easing pipeline regulations, Leon County Commissioner Bob Rackleff, a former speech writer for President Jimmy Carter, is trying to push Florida...
  • Pipeline accidents make activists of ordinary citizens
    WASHINGTON -- Frank King of Bellingham, Wash., says that before June 10, 1999, he had never tried to change anything. "I was just a normal, apathetic American citizen," he said. "I voted and did all that and felt like that..."
  • Editorial: Laying down the law
    Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Tim Moore has claimed that Florida law prevents a new database of pawned items from keeping track of guns. In an opinion last week...

  • Pollution to face new scrutiny - Leaders from almost every governmental agency in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties will meet Wednesday to discuss possibly undertaking a nationwide search to find a consulting firm or group of consultants that can identify the area's most pressing pollution problems.

  • Editorial, July 23, 2001
    More than half of all illegal immigrants living in the United States come from Mexico. Many end up in Florida, where they harvest crops, repair roofs and clean hotels.

  • Group think - They're back -- and with a vengeance. People for a Better Florida. The Alliance for Florida's Economy. Who are these groups? And what do they want?
  • Liberals are making hell on Earth
    Totalitarianism is American liberalism carried to its logical conclusion.

7/22/01

  • Dog is registered to vote
    LAKE WORTH - Cocoa Fernandez is a Palm Beach County Republican who received her first voter registration card in the mail Friday. She would have preferred a belly rub. Cocoa Fernandez is a 12-year-old Standard Poodle. (thanks SMVP)
  • Interest grows for special ed vouchers
    As about 500 students with disabilities sign up for private school vouchers, public school officials expect headaches.
  • Harris' disappearing act
    Withholding or erasing the records of two GOP operatives in the secretary of state's office during Florida's recount violates our public records laws.
  • Martin Dyckman - Still time for instant runoff - TALLAHASSEE -- One of the slickest political tricks of all time was pulled off in broad daylight this spring when the Republicans contrived to do away with next year's runoff primaries. If they don't need one, the Democrats sure do. There may be at least six plausible Democrats running for governor, not counting the usual array of nonentities filing for the fun of it. In that event, someone could be nominated with as little as 16.7 percent of the vote, which would suit Jeb Bush and the GOP just fine.

7/21/01

  • Despite asbestos fear, work goes on
    Three state construction workers who complained to Tallahassee legislators about being exposed to asbestos resumed knocking out walls in the Collins Building on Friday, but they weren't breathing easier.  
  • Election reforms are facing more criticism
    Civil Rights group wants parts of plan rejected As Florida gears up to implement a massive election reform package, a civil rights group is pushing the U.S. Justice Department to reject the parts of it that it says are discriminatory.
  • Thrasher fined for violation -- Former House Speaker John Thrasher has admitted he broke state ethics laws by lobbying lawmakers and has agreed to pay a $500 fine. But Tallahassee resident Eugene Danaher, who filed the complaint against Thrasher with the Florida Commission on Ethics, is vowing to fight Thrasher's settlement agreement because he says the fine's not high enough.
  • Ex-House speaker works for deal in ethics misstep
    John Thrasher admits to improper lobbying and agrees to pay a $500 fine. The proposal needs final approval.
  • Harris defends her conduct during presidential recount
    Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris said she did not permit two Republican strategists to conduct partisan activities in her office during the state presidential vote recount. Harris, who was traveling with a state delegation in Argentina on Thursday, said she did not regret allowing J.M. Stipanovich, a Tallahassee lobbyist, and Adam Goodman, a Tampa consultant, to help her handle media inquiries.
  • Groups oppose 3 parts of new election law
    Requirements regarding felons, voter responsibilities and provisional ballots would hurt minorities, they say.
  • Capital crawls with candidates, scenarios
    Life just gets more and more interesting around the state Capitol.

7/20/01

  • Meek says Talented 20 isn't working
    Governor defends program to increase minority students State Sen. Kendrick Meek on Thursday said the governor should revisit race-based college admissions because the year-old Talented 20 program isn't significantly increasing the number of minority students.
  • Senator calls Talented 20 admissions program a failure -State Sen. Kendrick Meek said Thursday it is time that Gov. Jeb Bush allow Florida universities to ``embrace fully affirmative action,'' calling the state's Talented 20 plan a failure that hasn't increased diversity among college students.
  • Jeb Bush's minority programs assailed -- Two leading foes of Gov. Jeb Bush's One Florida plan demanded Thursday that he lift his ban on race-based college admissions because it has hurt minority enrollment at public universities.
  • Charge against news anchor dismissed
    Shepard Smith settles with the reporter whosaid he ran into her in fight over parking spot The State Attorney's Office has dropped a battery charge against a Fox News anchor, who in November reportedly had run into another reporter with his car, after both sides agreed to a confidential payoff last month.
  • Message on public record sent to Harris
    Democrats charged Harris may have broken law by deleting files Attorney General Bob Butterworth said in a letter to Secretary of State Katherine Harris that material on state computers is a public record unless a state law specifically exempts it. 
  • Potential hurricane modifier tested
    WEST PALM BEACH - A company developing an absorbent powder it says could eventually weaken a hurricane sucked the moisture out of a thunderstorm Thursday in its latest test of the product.
  • Research predicts how warm the Earth will get
    For more information on this story, see the EPA Global Warming Site: www.epa.gov/globalwarming and the Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory: www.cmdl.noaa.gov At century's end, globe could be 5 degrees hotter WASHINGTON - The odds are dead even that the world's average temperature will increase at least 5 degrees by the end of the century, enough to trigger flooding, famine and drought across much of the globe, according to a new study in today's edition of the journal Science .
  • Albert Afterman, Gray Panthers leader - Albert Afterman, founder of the South Dade Chapter of the Gray Panthers, died Tuesday night after a two-year fight with stomach cancer. He was 92.- Originally from Ukraine, Afterman was familiar with poverty and hardship. After immigrating to the United States in 1923, he worked in several temporary jobs and became a union organizer fighting for the rights of those in need.
  • Congressman's campaign pays out fine of $30,000 WASHINGTON -- For the second time this year, Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balarts congressional campaign has paid a fine to the Federal Election Commission -- this time $30,000 for accepting excessive contributions.- An earlier fine of $5,500, paid to the FEC in February, was made for filing late campaign finance reports last fall.
  • Democrats: Investigate Harris for barring view of computersTALLAHASSEE -- Secretary of State Katherine Harris, both vilified and lauded for her role during the Florida presidential election recount, is under fire for refusing to let reporters view the hard drives of government-owned computers -- documents Attorney General Bob Butterworth said Thursday should be open to the public.--  Now the Democrats are asking Gov. Jeb Bush to launch a criminal investigation into whether Harris erased files.
  • Butterworth challenges Harris on overseas votesTALLAHASSEE · In a spat over the overseas absentee ballots cast in Florida's contested presidential election, Attorney General Bob Butterworth is challenging Secretary of State Katherine Harris' claim that Butterworth supported "a more liberal standard" for counting ballots.
    Butterworth, in a letter to Harris on Thursday, also asserts that anything -- even personal correspondence -- on state computers is considered a public record.
  • Records issue pits Butterworth against Harris
    ... Butterworth's position is not shared by Harris. Her attorneys told the New York Times that some material was removed from two computers used during the 36-day presidential recount period but that everything considered a public record under state law was preserved on computer disk or on paper and has been provided to many news organizations.
  • Environmental groups to sue EPA over water rules -- WASHINGTON - Environmental groups plan to sue the federal Environmental Protection Agency over new state pollution rules they claim could make Florida's water dirtier not cleaner.-- On Thursday, a coalition of eight conservation groups notified the EPA of their intent to file suit if the agency does not perform a formal review of Florida's revised water-quality standards.
  • Job seekers have work cut out -- unemployment up -Unemployment in the region climbed to 3.3 percent in June, the highest level in 3½ years, fueled by layoffs and the seasonal bump that occurs when students pour into the summertime work force. -- Statewide, joblessness increased a half-point, to 4.3 percent, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation reported Thursday.
  • Group forms to prevent GOP gerrymandering - Southwest Florida political activists are becoming more active than ever as they begin marshaling forces to prevent a congressional district invasion from Florida's East Coast. Unlikely partnerships between Collier and Lee county Republicans and Democrats have recently arisen over redistricting efforts by the state GOP that would give slices of local votes to East Coast districts.
  • City Council Deadlocks On Face Scanning -- TAMPA - Confronted by angry protesters, city council members deadlocked Thursday on whether they will continue to support the police department's use of face-scanning surveillance cameras
  • Arguments, pro and con, on Ybor City spy in the sky
    By my count, 19 citizens addressed the Tampa City Council on Thursday on the topic of using face-recognition software to scan the public streets of Ybor City. Of these, 15 spoke against the system, and four spoke in favor.
  • Al-Najjar's appeal is rejected -- A U.S. appeals court says the once-detained Palestinian and his wife have not proved their case for asylum.

7/19/01

  • Tech boss placed on leave
    Action comes after report on probe Roy Cales, the state's chief information officer, was placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday pending the outcome of a grand theft investigation. "As you know, the Leon County Sheriff's Office has publicly announced that you are the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation," Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan said in a letter to Cales. "I am hereby placing you on administrative leave with pay. This action is effective immediately, and will remain in effect until further notice."
  • Capitol Police commander resigns
    "DMS has damaged my client professionally and personally, repeatedly; this is just one more act of retaliation against him. His name has been dragged through the mud for no reason - unlawfully dragged through the mud."
  • Supporters welcome Petersons
    Please see PETERSON, 2B He's still mulling over candidacy Before Pete Peterson could answer a question about whether being from North Florida was a disadvantage in running for governor, people in his welcome-home crowd began calling out "here's one voter from South Florida" and "here's another."
  • Flaw in FREDS crashes systems
    Please see SOFTWARE, 2B Bug discovered in software used for redistricting The FREDS 2000 redistricting software that the state Legislature began selling last week has a bug in it that can cause a major meltdown.
  • Task force reviews racial disparity in jail
    IF YOU GO What: Town Hall Meeting Where: Bethel AME Church, 501 W. Orange Ave. When: 7 p.m. Why: To discuss the high proportion of black inmates in the county jail. Group to recommend study of Weed and Seed program
  • Study: Talented 20 fails to boost numbers
    FORT LAUDERDALE - The program once billed as a key alternative to affirmative action in state university admissions did little to expand the pool of minority students eligible for college this year, a Sun-Sentinel analysis has found.
  • GOP still negotiating legal bill from recount
    President George W. Bush's campaign still hasn't paid a Miami-based law firm $800,000 it was billed for the firm's help in the critical Florida vote recount last fall, but neither side wants to talk about it.
  • Lawmaker in manure incident loses post
    Lawmaker who sent lobbyist manure loses leadership post A state lawmaker who sent a prominent business lobbyist a box of cow manure this spring lost her leadership position Wednesday in the Florida House.
  • UF fund spent on wrong students
    FORT MYERS - The University of Florida Foundation took millions of dollars from a southwest Florida donor and put it in the wrong scholarship fund, using it for national scholars instead of students it was meant to benefit.
  • Prison officer to testify against his colleagues - GAINESVILLE -- In what could be a major breakthrough for prosecutors, a corrections officer has agreed to testify against several other officers accused of beating an inmate to death two years ago.
  • Speaker yanks post away from feisty Citrus lawmaker - TALLAHASSEE -- State Rep. Nancy Argenziano, a maverick Republican from Crystal River, angered House Speaker Tom Feeney not once, but twice last spring.
    She opposed a nursing home bill Feeney supported, and in a moment of frustration, sent a gift-wrapped 25-pound box of cow manure to an opposing lobbyist who had camped out in her office.
  • A Tampa Bay think tank  -- One reason local issues such as water and transportation get politicized is that this region lacks a source of independent research and information. The result is often partisan gridlock on a range of issues -- from health care and growth management to support for tourism, sports and the arts -- because elected officials and the public have nowhere to turn for sound, independent advice.
  • Red Light Cameras Opposed Nationwide -Since San Diego launched its camera system three years ago, 84,000 tickets have been issued at $271 each. The police union denounced them after five on-duty officers received citations. The city dismissed hundreds of tickets and hired an auditor to evaluate the program after three cameras proved to be inaccurate.
  • Brogan responds to Democratic attack on Bush's calls to brother - TALLAHASSEE -- With Gov. Jeb Bush in South America on a trade mission, Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan on Wednesday ripped Florida Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe for peddling what Brogan called a ``baseless accusation of untruthfulness'' about the governor.
  • City prevails in Perico hearing - The judge's decision now goes before the DCA secretary for a final ruling. - BRADENTON - Plans to build 898 residences on north Perico Island cleared a major hurdle Monday when a state judge ruled against a sweeping challenge that could have scrapped the project.
  • Drug stores sue over cards -- WASHINGTON - Drug store owners have filed a lawsuit to keep the Bush administration from promoting prescription discount cards in the Medicare program, pharmacy trade groups said Wednesday. The stores say the Bush plan is "clandestine and unlawful" and would force them to bear the burden of trimming the cost of medicines for the elderly insured by Medicare.
  • Editorial: More slop than progress
    Why are some Floridians going constitutional amendment crazy? Because they want to head off what they believe to be a bad idea. Because they are frustrated by the hold special interests have on...
  • Condit story highlights media bias -- The Atlanta Constitution last week featured one of the most unusual "corrections" ever printed. It didn't really correct an error so much as it underscored a bit of media bias against Republicans. ...  By itself, failing to note Condit's political affiliation would be a harmless little departure from the style book. But, coming at a time when the networks and major national newspapers are trying to make something - anything - out of Florida's counting of overseas ballots last year, you've got to wonder if there aren't two different standards for news about Democrats and Republicans.
  • Editorial, July 19, 2001 - Eight months after the presidential election debacle, analyses of what went wrong and election reform ideas to avoid a repeat keep arriving.
  • State takes notice of doctors' rejecting on-call care in ERs
    Hospitals increasingly are having trouble getting doctors to respond to emergency-room calls, and many states -- including Florida -- are so alarmed that they are searching for ways to reverse the trend.
  • Algae in Florida waters linked to cancer
    Scientists have identified a toxin produced by an exotic type of blue-green algae spreading in Florida rivers and lakes that is capable of disrupting DNA strands and causing cancer.
  • Purge of gun data may end - Florida’s top law-enforcement officer is reconsidering his order to regularly purge pawnshop gun records from a statewide database. - Critics said the directive to delete the records after 48 hours -- issued two months ago by Tim Moore, head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement -- was the result of pressure from the National Rifle Association.
  • Slow on missile defense - Supporters of missile defenses were right to cheer a recent U.S. military test that saw an experimental interceptor destroy an unarmed missile. The event showed that the research into protecting the United States from errant nuclear missiles or those fired by rogue states has promise. The success does not, however, justify support for President George W. Bush's plan to speed up the program and potentially spend hundreds of billions of dollars.
  • A poor understanding of where world is headed  -- The president says that a key part of his foreign policy will be to alleviate poverty in foreign countries. Horse apples.  

7/18/01

  • Technology plans continue despite probe
    State legislative leaders said Tuesday they'll continue their plan to centralize the state's technology offices under one official, even though the official currently holding the job is under investigation for grand theft.
  • Time to suspend and scrutinize technology czar - (2nd editorial on that page - scroll down)
  • An independent legacy - - Washington Post Chairman Katharine Graham, who died Tuesday at 84, symbolized why aggressive newspaper publishers are so important to a free society. Her commitment to exposing government wrongdoing is what framers of the Constitution must have had in mind when they wrote the First Amendment.
  • Post's Graham knew 'right thing' - I was just barely a teenager when I first became aware of Katharine Graham.
  • Katharine Graham embodied the complexities of womanhood
  • We're on our way to authoritarianism - Ozzie Spengler was probably right in his book, The Decline of the West. He said the age of money, which we're in, will be followed by the age of Caesar. He meant a return to authoritarian governments. I believe the trend has already begun. The reason is simple: The Founding Fathers of this country were right -- democracy can't work on a large scale.
    Delay in flight brings Peterson back today
    Former U.S. Ambassador Pete Peterson's return flight from Vietnam was delayed Tuesday, but the potential Democratic candidate for governor is expected back in Tallahassee today. 
  • Bridges in state of decay
    Repairs could cost $39M; not enough insulating grout is problem
    TAMPA - Engineers have found indications of corroded cables, leaks or cracks on 41 bridges in Florida from the Panhandle to the Keys, including 20 near a highway interchange in Fort Lauderdale.
  • Perico foes plot answers to loss -BRADENTON - Despite suffering a major defeat Monday, those trying to prevent Perico Island from colonization by high-rise condominium buildings still have more fight left
  • Shiver opposed plan for savings - When Miami-Dade County Manager Steve Shiver was mayor of Homestead in 1998, he helped derail a proposal to consolidate the city's banking services that would have netted a savings of more than $100,000 and allowed the city to restore some order to its chaotic financial affairs.
  • The Fall Guy - Meet Robert Nachlinger, the man Steve Shiver has reason to fear
  • Link between baby teeth, cancer rates dismissed at hearing on Turkey Point - Armed with scary statistics linking rising cancer rates in South Florida to a radioactive isotope in the baby teeth of children, activists tried to raise doubts Tuesday about the safety of the Turkey Point nuclear power plant.
  • Environmentalists, regulators debate safety of Turkey Point nuclear plant - A public forum to discuss an environmental study of the Turkey Point nuclear power plant on Tuesday turned into a scientific face-off over radioactive fallout and baby teeth.
    Elections chief recuses herself - Deborah Clark won't participate in picking new voting machines so her family ties won't "cast a shadow" on the process.
  • Scan precedents? Developing - As Tampa police turn cameras on Ybor City crowds, critics point to the legal questions that remain unanswered about the technology
  • Council members who feel entitled - Boy, did we elect a bunch of self-centered, small-bore, perk-hungry pretenders to the St. Petersburg City Council last March. I know, the Times editorial board recommended them. And enough of you agreed with our recommendations to put them in office. In some cases, the alternatives may have been worse, but some of our picks have turned out to be more than disappointing. In fact, they are an embarrassment to the council and the city. The council's decisionmaking, which so far has been generally responsible, is not the issue. The problem is the exaggerated sense of entitlement some council members have brought to their jobs.  
  • Judge's Son Less Qualified But Gets Job
    TAMPA - Although others with more experience applied, the son of a longtime circuit judge has been hired as the new guardian ad litem attorney at the Hillsborough County Courthouse.
  • Editorial, July 18, 2001 - Last week's surreal U.S. House vote on campaign finance reform followed a cynical attempt by Republican leaders to impose rules for debate that almost certainly would have unraveled carefully crafted support for the long-stalled Shays-Meehan bill.
  • Regulating Use Of Cell Phones OK - TALLAHASSEE -- Florida cities and towns can regulate drivers' use of cell phones, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth said.
  • Rumsfeld's Darth Vader strategyYou've got to wonder just why the Bush administration has its knickers in such a twist over national missile defense — to the point that it is now threatening unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. Some of the very best minds in this nation agree that the threat missile defense is designed to counter remains only a future possibility.
  • It's called a 'right' for a reasonThere's no keeping a bad idea down. The flag amendment is back. Flag burning was briefly one of the more flamboyant forms of anti-war protest in the Vietnam era; the intention was to outrage and it did. Congress twice passed laws outlawing flag desecration only to have them overturned by the Supreme Court. The court ruled — and the court was absolutely right — that burning the flag was a protected act of free speech under the First Amendment.
  • Federal Reserve is all about stupidity -- In the late 1960s, you could buy four or five heavy bags of groceries at a supermarket for about $17. Today, you can carry $17 worth groceries in a plastic sack hooked around your little finger. Ever wondered why the change?
  • Hidden Hazard - Pensacola News Journal's Environmental watch - new edition today

7/17/01

  • Grand theft probe looks at tech chief
    Allegations involve 1996 bank loan to Roy Cales Florida Chief Information Officer Roy Cales - a self-taught computer consultant who caught Gov. Jeb Bush's eye on the campaign trail - is under investigation for grand theft, authorities said Monday.
  • Frankel wants special session
    Schools need more money, she says A week after the state teachers union asked the governor to call a special legislative session to deal with widespread financial problems in local school districts, House Democratic Leader Lois Frankel on Monday repeated the request.
  • Residents worry as sinkholes dot Hernando
    The craters have spread to the Timber Pines area, confirming what county officials suspected: They can appear anywhere.
  • Officials invite friends to Rays
    In luxury suites, three council members host contributors and friends, raising ethical concerns.
  • Hearing for two activists delayed - The two, along with another demonstrator, were carrying protest signs at a rally for President Bush.
  • Fired aide claims misuse of services -- Tracy Davis, dismissed after sending a fiery e-mail, says she did personal work for her City Council boss using city equipment.
  • Bush veto prompts senator to drop bridge support - Ken Pruitt had steered $25-million to the east coast project. He ended his support when the governor vetoed money for another bridge.
  • Vote controversy turns to computer recordsDemocrats want an investigation of whether Harris' office erased material from state computers, as the New York Times suggested Sunday (see Bush focus: Get in overseas votes). Harris insisted no public records were erased, and her top attorney, Debby Kearney, said reporters would not be allowed to view computer hard drives because such access is not "contemplated" by state law.
  • High-tech may not be best for voting - A study finds that "touch screen'' machines, being considered in the bay area, are not much better than the much-maligned punch cards.
  • Overseas voter debacle -The recent finding that Florida messed up the overseas votes in the 2000 presidential election is more reason to establish clearer rules for absentee ballots.
  • Harris' partisan fixers - When the outcome of last November's presidential election in Florida was cast in doubt and Secretary of State Katherine Harris' role as the state's top elections official came under scrutiny, Harris didn't go looking for outside help from experts in the mechanics and legal technicalities of ballot-counting. Instead, she sought out the most effective partisan fixers she could find.
  • Democrats Consider Next Step
    TALLAHASSEE - The ghosts of the 2000 presidential election continue to hover over Florida with Democrats blasting Republicans after two national newspaper stories this weekend. ...
  • Democrats call for investigation of Harris' post-election role -TALLAHASSEE -- Democrats Monday called on Gov. Jeb Bush to initiate a criminal investigation into "potential illegalities" by Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the erasing of documents from state computers after last year's presidential election recount.
  • Drug Maker Behind Anxiety Awareness Campaign
    About two years ago, newspaper, magazine and television news stories began popping up across the country about a little-known malady called social anxiety disorder. Psychiatrists and patient advocates appeared on television shows ...
  • Millions Of Votes Didn't Count - Between 4 million and 6 million Americans either failed to cast votes or had their votes invalidated in last year's presidential election because of faulty equipment, mismarked ballots, polling place failures and foul-ups with ...
  • Settlements Great For Big Tobacco - People who think tobacco companies are giving Florida and other states windfall revenue are wrong. Money is rolling in from big settlements with the major cigarette makers, but it's coming from the pockets of smokers who pay higher prices plus high taxes.
  • GOP sits out gay petition drive - Supporters of a petition drive to overturn Broward County's gay rights ordinance failed Monday night to get the local Republican Party to sign on.
  • Frankel: Put vetoed money in schools - TALLAHASSEE -- Echoing the state's teacher's union, House Democratic Leader Lois Frankel called Monday for Republican leaders to hold a special legislative session to spend the $276 million that Gov. Jeb Bush vetoed last month on schools.
  • ON THE 'NET n Caltech-MIT project: www.vote.caltech.edu/ n National Association of Secretaries of State: www.nass.org/ LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Dump punch cards and lever machines and go high-tech. Boost voter education efforts. Get rid of glitches in registration and absentee voting.
  • Wildlife rabies cases on the rise in S. Florida
    Lisa Oken is used to seeing an assortment of wild critters on her daily walks west of Boca Raton — cats, rabbits, possums. But never did she imagine running into a fox — much less getting attacked by one.
  • Editorial, July 17, 2001
    The Salvation Army apparently thought it had a deal with the White House that would allow it to participate in President Bush's proposed faith-based initiative even though it discriminates against hiring homosexuals.
  • 28 countries meet to fight toxic algae - Scientists from 28 nations who gathered here Monday took swift action designed to thrust a relatively unknown human health hazard into the spotlight: They called for countries around the world to start examining water people drink and play in for toxic algae.

7/16/01

  • CONGRESS TO DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS TO BABY BOOMERS' MEDICARE OPTIONS Medicare administrator Thomas A. Scully said Friday it will be up to Congress to decide whether to allow Baby Boomers and younger Americans to get health coverage through the traditional Medicare program when they retire.
  • Claims of GOP pressure denied
    TALLAHASSEE -- Florida elections supervisors said Sunday that court orders and differing interpretations of the law led to discrepancies in how strict they were in deciding whether to accept overseas ballots in the presidential election.
  • Scrutiny of Harris' role is revived
    New election questions about the secretary of state could fuel the debate over her future.
  • Supervisors: Pressure didn't hurt count
    Florida elections supervisors said Sunday that court orders and differing interpretations of the law led to discrepancies in how strict they were in deciding whether to accept overseas ballots in the presidential election.
  • Quarrel over broadband plays on
    Once upon a time, Congress passed a sweeping law. The law, members hoped, would increase competition in the telecommunications industry, giving Americans across the country lower prices and more choices for telephone, Internet and cable service.  
  • Tiny towns need help on repairs
    Sewers crumbling, but state funds are tiny, too
    When Gov. Jeb Bush first used his veto pen in 1999, among his targets was $18 million to improve crumbling water lines and failing sewer systems.
  • Bill Cotterell: Union seeks fair fight with state, finally
    They tried marching on the Capitol, negotiating with the Department of Management Services and lobbying during the legislative session in a futile effort to stop Gov. Jeb Bush from overhauling state employment.
  • Ybor City police cameras protested
    TAMPA - Wearing masks, carrying signs and aiming obscene gestures at police cameras, about 100 people protested a new security system in Ybor City that scans faces, searching for wanted criminals.
  • State cuts parents' bill for youths in detention 
  • Experience doesn't pay under new law- Given all the talk of a teacher shortage, the 24-year veteran teacher figured she would have no trouble landing a job.
  • A paycheck without a job - It's not surprising that Charlie Crist could find the time to raise such an enormous amount of money for his campaign for attorney general. After all, Crist doesn't have a real job anymore, so his schedule is wide open for fundraisers.

 


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