Statewide Reports August 10-17,2002

Statewide Reports -August 10-17, 2002

forums Fl gov't JEB agencies environment groups regions election '02

NOTE -
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8/17/02

	Feds ordered to 'evaluate' emergency sanctuaries In a continued offensive against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a federal judge Friday ordered the agency to "evaluate" designating emergency sanctuaries and refuges for the endangered manatee while it completes a permanent list by Nov. 1. U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan issued the order as a further remedy to environmental groups who sued the agency for not doing enough to protect the manatee.
	Judge denies suit to remove death penalty ballot measure TALLAHASSEE — A Leon County judge denied a bid by 15 elections supervisors Friday to remove a 714-word constitutional amendment on the death penalty from the November ballot because of its length. The amendment — called "Excessive Punishments" — is the first of 11 proposed constitutional changes now set for the ballot.
	Miami judge scolds state, newspapers in child records case MIAMI — A judge scolded attorneys on both sides Friday before they agreed to keep talking to try to resolve a newspaper request for records on 22 children reported missing from Miami-Dade County while under state supervision. Circuit Judge Phil Bloom said the wording of the lawsuit filed by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Orlando Sentinel was intended "to inflame the judge and to inflame the community."
	Bush takes risk fighting class-size amendment The teachers who had lunch at the mansion with Gov. Jeb Bush the other day heard him expound on a variety of subjects, from Steve Spurrier's offense to the quality of local television news.
	Bush's choice to head DCF criticized for religious views TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Jeb Bush gave Democrats new ammunition to use against him by picking a child welfare chief with ties to a paper that says spanking that causes bruising and welts is OK and that married women shouldn't have careers. Democrats who have been criticizing Bush over his handling of child welfare issues were quick to turn the appointment of Jerry Regier as head of the Department of Children & Families into a political issue, attacking the new secretary for his religious views.
	DCF leader denies extremism Jerry Regier's name is on a 1989 paper that advocates extreme views on spanking and women working.
	DCF choice fights for job-- Gov. Jeb Bush stands by Jerry Regier as he disputes controversial writings.-- Gov. Jeb Bush's choice to head Florida's child- protection agency fought hard to keep the job Friday amid a torrent of criticism over writings that suggest it is OK for parents to spank children, even if it causes "bruises and welts." --- Jerry Regier, named Thursday by Bush to lead the state's embattled Department of Children & Families, vehemently denied that he co-wrote "The Christian World View of the Family," published in 1989 by the Coalition on Revival, a California evangelical Christian group.-- Regier told the Orlando Sentinel that he does not agree with the treatise's "affirmations" that married women should not work outside the home, Christians shouldn't marry non-Christians and couples should be allowed to divorce only in cases of adultery or abandonment.
	Extreme views in essay not mine, Regier insists Jerry Regier, named as the new chief of Florida's child welfare agency, distanced himself Friday from some of the more radical statements in a 1980s essay that carries his name, but said he is nevertheless an evangelical Christian who believes in the scriptures as a guiding force.
	Give Regier A Chance The Florida Department of Children & Families needs a ramrod with a soft side, a tough administrator who can make heads roll while maintaining a deep compassion for children, a person of strong moral character who yet understands the constitutional separation of church and state.
	Religious Tract Haunts DCF Nominee TAMPA - Gov. Jeb Bush and his handpicked new child welfare chief, Jerry Regier, scrambled to distance themselves Friday from a strident religious tract published 13 years ago under Regier's name. ...
	DCF nominee tied to extreme group Jerry Regier was associated with writings that women should be submissive and children can be spanked until bruised.
	A troubled appointment Jeb Bush should have done his homework before naming DCF head.
	Wrong choice for child-welfare chief New DCF head is a Bush family loyalist, but mediocre and extreme.
	DCF appointee takes flak over essay A 12-year-old essay that says spanking children enough to cause "superficial bruises or welts" should not be considered a crime is coming back to haunt the newly appointed secretary of the Florida Department of Children & Families. The 1988 document, titled "The Christian World View of the Family," also argues against women with small children working outside the home, says only heterosexual married couples can be called "families," and advocates for women to be subservient to their husbands...
	Spot check Editor's note: To help voters evaluate political ads, St. Pete Times reporters review and analyze content. Analysis of the GOP ad: An unseen narrator says, "On taxes, compare Reno, McBride, and Bush."
	BellSouth rival claims PSC head violated law By Mary Ellen Klas, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Supra complaint says Florida official is an advocate for BellSouth's long- distance campaign.
	Two arrested for role in faking anti-gay rights petition MIAMI — The head of the Miami-Dade County Christian Coalition and another man were arrested Friday on charges they falsely certified a petition seeking a referendum that would repeal Miami-Dade County's gay rights ordinance. Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers charged Anthony Verdugo Jr., the coalition's chairman, with one count of false swearing.
	Monitors will be stationed at Florida's polling places ORLANDO — Voters and workers won't be the only people at Florida's polls during the Sept. 10 primary election, the first test of the state's new election system.A handful of civil rights monitors and Department of Justice officials plan to be watchdogs in some Florida precincts, recording any problems and intervening if necessary on behalf of people who are denied the right to vote.
	Barley says GOP behind suit aimed at taking her off ballot TALLAHASSEE — A prominent environmentalist seeking the Democratic nomination for agriculture commissioner charged Friday that Republican operatives are harassing her in a lawsuit aimed at removing her from the primary ballot. Mary Barley was sued last week by Manly Bolin, a registered Democrat from Lake City, who claims she didn't sign her qualifying papers. Bolin, a firefighter who is also a union lobbyist, has hired handwriting experts to backup his charge.
	Agriculture race detours into court A Democratic candidate and environmentalist fights accusations that an election document is forged.-- TALLAHASSEE -- Political intrigue, legal maneuvering, a handwriting expert and accusations of forgery: Welcome to the Democratic race for agriculture commissioner.
	Bush takes his campaign into friendly territory STARKE -- The chartered bus rolling through the heart of Florida's prison belt Friday looked like the kind that transports rock stars.
	Governor shrugs off criticisms Gov. Jeb Bush served a conservative political diet to rural voters, elected officials and off-duty prison guards who packed his campaign events Friday on a four-county bus swing through northeast Florida.
	McBride set to run new ad on Monday ORLANDO — With just over three weeks left until the primary election, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride planned to start airing Monday a new television ad that emphasizes his education plan. The ad will run in the Fort Myers, Orlando, Sarasota and Tampa television markets, said campaign spokesman Alan Stonecipher.
	Tampa judicial campaign ad sparks racial controversy TAMPA — A campaign ad for a black county judge seeking re-election has angered her opponent, who says she is playing the race card. The ad, which appeared in a twice-weekly local newspaper, has a picture of Hillsborough County Judge Cheryl Thomas' and the words, "Let's support our very own on September 10th."
	Keller 'delivers results' -- at taxpayer expense Three months before the election, U.S. Rep. Ric Keller printed and mailed at taxpayer expense 53,000 newsletters that a well-known political scientist described as "indistinguishable" from a campaign mailer.
	Foley goes cold calling Congressman seeking to shift blame on corporate fraud.
	State won't hire doctor who dumped Texas job -- DELAND -- The doctor who abruptly gave up his job in Texas this week to run Volusia's Health Department won't be hired after all, Florida officials said Friday.
	State, Federal Medicaid Laws Clash TAMPA - When people turn to Medicaid to help them pay the cost of living in a nursing home, they give up nearly everything. ...
	New tag to help hunt for terrorists A commemorative license plate designed to help fund the search for terrorists could appear on Florida roads by Sept. 11.
	Childers' bribery trial set for Feb. 10 - A Feb. 10 trial date is set for suspended Escambia County Commissioner W.D. Childers, a former Florida Senate president, on charges he bribed another commissioner.
	Three finalists named for community colleges chancellor ORLANDO — The Florida Board of Education's Division of Community Colleges named three finalists Friday to become the division's chancellor. A candidate review team will interview J. David Armstrong, Carol D'Amico and Jack E. Daniels III for the chancellor position, which coordinates policy among the state's 28-school community college system and heads the division itself.
	92-year-old fails to regain prized land from Universal ORLANDO — A 92-year-old man has lost his long legal fight to win back the Orange County homestead that a relative sold to a Universal Studios company for $1 million. A judge ruled Thursday that Clarence Moore failed to prove that his name was forged on a deed that gave his wife's granddaughter the land he and his late wife bought in 1959 for $2,000.
	Jobless rate in Florida unchanged Much like the rest of the country, Florida's job market has yet to emerge from an economic slump that has resulted in little or no growth.
	Editorial: Development density Too much. That is the rap on twin condo towers of up to 10 stories apiece on the edge of Rookery Bay between Naples and Marco Island. Collier County's volunteer environmental board says so. So does The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, which runs a nature center amid the sprawling preserve.
	Florida officials warn of future dangers from West Nile VERO BEACH — Florida's tropical, rainy weather could let the West Nile virus spread so fast that it could become a public health disaster for Miami and other populated areas in three to five years, University of Florida experts said Friday. UF officials said they plan to ask for $6 million to $10 million from federal officials to study the virus and the mosquitoes that carry it so they can avoid an outbreak like the one that has killed seven people in Louisiana this year.
	West Nile epidemic 'unlikely' this year But UF scientists warn that the future danger in Florida is 'very great.'
	Guest commentary: War against pesticides is war against you The growing death toll associated with the mosquito-transmitted West Nile virus has captured the nation's attention. Yet environmental activists maintain that public health officials are engaged in a massive overreaction to a small risk, leading localities to use highly dangerous pesticides.
	Guest editorial: Something to crow about People have known for a long time that crows are very smart, but now there is additional and rather extraordinary evidence that as physically small as their brains may be, the circumference of their thinking powers is great indeed.
	September will be a hot month for auto executives Once again, the congressional toadies for the auto industry have beaten back efforts by legislators such as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gradually to increase fuel efficiency standards from the abysmally wasteful levels now inflicted on your pocketbook.
	Award-winning setbacks for women Every year we celebrate Aug. 26, the anniversary of women's suffrage, in our time-honored tradition. Our one-woman jury assembles to dispense the Equal Rites Awards, those coveted prizes given to people who labored mightily over the last 12 months to set back the cause of women.
	INS leader decides to leave agency early - WASHINGTON -- The head of the troubled Immigration and Naturalization Service announced Friday that he will retire at the end of the year, culminating a short term at the helm of an agency that critics said was ill-prepared for Sept. 11 and slow to react.
	Ready for war -- until body bags hit Dover By George McEvoy, Palm Beach Post Columnist I've got a hunch that most of the people polled recently about the U.S. going to war against Saddam Hussein are too young to have experienced any war.
	Bush Promoting No-Deficits Theme Keywords: new budget priority, reign in budget deficits
	Russia, Iraq to Sign $40B Deal
	From goal to burden: Bush is redefining environmental protection laws For the last 33 years, the National Environmental Policy Act has required all federal agencies to study the impact of their projects affecting all land, sea or air. If the Department of Energy wants to turn a salt bed beneath the Nevada desert into a nuclear trash dump, if the Department of Agriculture wants to let cattle roam free all over Wyoming, or if the Navy wants to test a new sonar a few miles offshore, detailed studies are required to prove that the projects won't damage the environment too terribly. .... Richard Nixon signed the act into law in 1970 to "ensure the protection, development and enhancement of the total environment." Every president since has supported it, until George W. Bush. He wouldn't mind seeing the act buried in a Nevada salt bed. Lacking in that sort of legal and geological wherewithal, his administration is undermining it in other ways at every opportunity.

8/16/02

	The governor's house of cards looks very shaky A strong wind is threatening the house of cards that Gov. Jeb Bush has built during the four years of his administration.-- The television ads urging his re-election tout Bush as a leader. The debacle at the Department of Children and Families belies that claim. ... All along, Bush's public relations machine portrayed an agency that was improving. It wasn't. -- The state's public schools are a similar house of cards under Bush. He says that because of his leadership the schools are making great strides. They are not.-- Bush's environmental record is a house of cards, as well. ... Houses of cards won't stand up to winds of reality no matter how fancy the television ads are.
	Department of Children & Families secretary Jerry Regier at a glance Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday named a former aide in his father's presidential administration to head Florida's beleaguered child welfare agency. Jerry Regier, 57, will replace Kathleen Kearney, who quit Tuesday as secretary of the Department of Children & Families. This is a glance at the life and career of Jerry Regier....
	DCF leader: It's OK to spank The man named Thursday by Gov. Jeb Bush to head Florida's notoriously inept child welfare agency is an evangelical Christian who views spanking that causes ''bruises or welts'' as acceptable punishment....
	DCF Chief Named TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush's choice to repair his tattered child welfare agency is a social services veteran of his father's years in Washington, a man with a ``fix it'' approach and strong views about how to help ...
	DCF chief: Job 'daunting' -- TALLAHASSEE -- Conceding he faces a "daunting task," the new secretary of the Department of Children & Families pledged Thursday to work on restoring public confidence in Florida's beleaguered child-welfare agency.-- Jerry Regier, whose resume includes Washington jobs in the Reagan and Bush administrations and five years as Oklahoma's secretary of Health and Human Services, comes to Florida with a reputation as a hard-nosed public administrator.-- He also has ties to the Christian right, having founded the Family Research Council, a public-policy organization that promotes pro-life issues and contends that government should play a role in promoting stable marriages and families...
	Damage control:Waiting for new DCF chief's 'clean up'.... Kearney's resignation this week gave Bush one last chance to make good on his 4-year-old promises to "clean up" Florida's child-welfare system. Thursday, he blew it.... Jerry Regier, the man tapped by Bush to succeed Kearney, has a long track record with social-service issues -- and the Bush family. But it's not a track record that provides much comfort about Regier's qualifications.... many Oklahoma officials say Regier was more interested in grabbing headlines and funneling business to friends than he was about real reform. ... He diverted welfare money to programs designed to push marriage as the solution to a wide range of social ills. -- These concerns are best expressed by Regier's early leadership of the Family Research Council, a group devoted to gay bashing, crusading against sex education, and other far-right stances.
	More on Regier ...
	Some ills defy government logic During his brief campaign for president 30 years ago, the late New York Mayor John Lindsay had a clever response when people accused his city of wasting money on welfare programs.
	Governor admits task is numbing For the first time since his inauguration, Gov. Jeb Bush has acknowledged that he may face a problem he cannot fix. The introduction of a new leader for Florida's beleaguered child welfare agency Thursday brought a dramatic shift in tone for Bush, who promised as a candidate four years ago to transform the Department of Children & Families.
	Bush names new DCF chief Oklahoman Jerry Regier hopes to restore confidence in the beleaguered agency....
	Tallahassee judge throws out part of felon-voting lawsuit TALLAHASSEE — A judge threw out a major part of a lawsuit by civil rights groups Thursday who argued the state isn't doing enough to help ex-felons restore their voting rights. But Circuit Judge P. Kevin Davey told lawyers for the state and the civil rights groups to see if they could work out a settlement on the remaining count....
	Swinging at Legislature, hitting the Everglades Florida's biggest environmental battle is restoration of the Everglades. So it makes no sense for environmental groups to bring the Everglades-threatening lawsuit they filed Wednesday. For all their self-righteous rhetoric, they are thinking of themselves, not the Everglades....
	Water runoff cleanup estimates stun officials Sticker shock hit water managers Thursday as consultants laid out the possible price of cleaning the stormwater runoff from urban and other areas harming the Everglades — work that could total $271 million to $591 million.
	University presidents discuss concerns about class-size amendment TALLAHASSEE — Florida's public university presidents told Gov. Jeb Bush their concerns Thursday about a constitutional amendment that would limit the number of students in elementary, middle and high school classes, saying it would "soak up every dime for education." But the presidents were reluctant to formally come out against the proposal, which is favored by many teachers and parents.
	Florida's university presidents vote to organize - ...TALLAHASSEE - Aiming to increase their collective clout, Florida's public university presidents voted Thursday to formally organize and hire an executive director - a development that could prompt Florida State University to pull out of the consortium.
	Bush needs school ideas in head, not on it Jeb Bush says he will color his hair purple or shave it off if that will motivate kids to learn.
	Small businesses get HMO changes Some workers can expect to pay higher co-payments and deductibles on health insurance.
	Broward has enough poll workers after all -- Because of a recalculation of the number of poll workers it needs and a flood of volunteers, Broward County now has enough people to conduct next month's primary.
	Election panel exonerates Crist - Elections officials gave Republicans good news on Thursday, tossing out complaints against GOP attorney general's candidate Charlie Crist and agreeing to investigate a union-financed television ad that features Democratic candidate for governor Bill McBride.
	Panel clears Crist of charges -- ORLANDO -- Republican front-runner for attorney general Charlie Crist was cleared of charges Thursday by the Florida Elections Commission, stripping his opponents of their most damaging weapon against him heading into next month's primary.-- Crist, the commissioner of education, had been under investigation for two potential violations -- spending campaign money before he had any and failing to print a legally required disclaimer on a fund-raising invitation -- but was cleared of both by the panel during a closed-door session.
	Pensacola billboards critical of Crist to remain up PENSACOLA — Attorney general candidate Tom Warner's billboards criticizing opponent Charlie Crist will remain up in Pensacola after Warner threatened to sue a sign company that wanted to take them down. Randy Oxenham, vice president and general manager for Lamar Advertising in Pensacola, said Wednesday that he still thinks the signs are "inflammatory" but canceled his order to take them down after getting advice from company lawyers.
	Rhea Chiles, Milligan join McKay in tax exemption battle TALLAHASSEE — State Senate President John McKay has some big-name reinforcements in his uphill battle to eliminate long-standing sales tax exemptions: Rhea Chiles and Comptroller Bob Milligan. McKay's fight to revamp Florida's tax structure, a proposal opposed by the state House and Gov. Jeb Bush, dominated the legislative sessions this spring and ended with the Legislature putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
	Candidate sues to keep former secretary of state off ballot TALLAHASSEE — Katherine Harris' opponent in the Republican primary for a central Florida congressional seat sued Thursday to have the former secretary of state kicked off the ballot. John Hill of Sarasota says Harris should be thrown off the 13th Congressional District ballot because she violated a state law that required her to file a letter when she qualified to run for Congress stating when she would resign as secretary of state.
	Cheney warns warns in Florida visit that the U.S. will take action against terrorist threats ORLANDO — Vice President Dick Cheney warned Thursday that any threats from Iraq or terrorist groups would be met with decisive action and expressed confidence that the nation's economy will grow. "A regime that has gassed thousands of its own citizens, a regime that hates America and every thing that we stand for, must never be permitted to threaten America with weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said of Iraq at a fund-raiser for U.S. congressional candidate Tom Feeney.
	Teachers' union airs McBride ad in S. Fla. With about three weeks to go before Election Day, the television war in the governor's race is intensifying: The Florida teachers' union began airing the first pro-Bill McBride ad in South Florida on Thursday, and the McBride campaign said it would begin its own TV advertising Monday.
	McBride's teacher ads in limbo The Florida Elections Commission rejects its staff's pronouncement that teachers union ads for him constitute 'unregulated speech.'
	Elections commission to review GOP complaint about ad touting McBride TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Elections Commission will review a TV ad supporting Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride to determine whether Republicans are justified in their complaint that it's an illegal campaign contribution. Thursday's decision comes two weeks after the commission's executive director ruled there was no legal basis to a state Republican Party complaint about the ad, which was paid for by an organization set up by the Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.
	Builders' case under review The Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office will review whether alleged election-law violations by home-builders groups warrant a criminal prosecution, a spokesman said Thursday.
	Retired Panhandle colonel in congressional rematch with Miller PENSACOLA — Mike Francisco last year was an unknown face in the crowd of five candidates handily defeated by then-state Rep. Jeff Miller in the Republican primary for a suddenly open congressional seat. Francisco, a retired Air Force colonel from Fort Walton Beach, hopes to do better Sept. 10 when he challenges Miller, now the incumbent congressman, in a one-on-one rematch.
	Pensacola deposition: Childers delivered pot of cash PENSACOLA — Suspended Escambia County Commissioner W.D. Childers, afraid his office was bugged, wrote "$100,000" twice on a note pad and then delivered nearly that much cash in a stainless steel pot, a co-defendant told prosecutors. Childers, a former Florida Senate president, is charged with bribing another suspended commissioner, Willie Junior, to vote for the county's purchase of a former soccer complex for $3.9 million last year.
	Proctor ordered to pay nearly $80,000 fine The Florida Elections Commission hit Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor with nearly $80,000 in penalties Thursday for violating financial reporting laws in his 1998 re-election campaign...
	Stadium Naples Follow the money. Money is at the heart of the five-year Stadium Naples racketeering and public-office corruption scandal. The money takes various forms. One is a suitcase with $300,000 in cash, from an Ohio woman seeking to avoid the IRS's gaze, couriered to Naples by a now-jailed thief for investment into a land development led by him and his Stadium Naples partners.
	State, local officials to uphold immigration laws ORLANDO — Thirty-five law enforcement authorities from around Florida can now uphold federal immigration laws, an unprecedented terrorism-fighting tactic that may soon spread throughout the United States. Previously, only the Immigration and Naturalization Service had the power to arrest illegal aliens on civil charges.
	"Phony" DCF agents were undercover officers SOUTH MIAMI — Two men who prompted an investigation by falsely saying they were employees of Florida's Department of Children & Families when they visited a home were actually undercover police officers, not would-be child abductors. "They were officers that were following up on a complaint," Miami police spokeswoman Herminia Jacobson said Thursday, three hours after South Miami police held a news conference to announce they were searching for the two men.
	THE FUTURE OF SOUTH FLORIDA'S AIRPORTS -- The cutbacks and streamlining measures announced by American Airlines this week are prompting Miami-Dade County officials to review the $4.8 billion expansion plans at Miami International Airport. In the same week, US Airways filed for bankruptcy, and United Airlines yesterday warned its unions and U.S. authorities that, without huge cuts and approval of its $1.8 billion federal-loan request, it too could face bankruptcy.
	Issue Protection Rule Promptly The Bush administration needs to get serious about protecting sea turtles. By dragging its feet on issuing a new fishing rule, the National Marine Fisheries Service is allowing an endangered species to become even more endangered.
	Daily rains push St. Johns near flood stage Record rainfalls in Orlando and heavy downpours in the surrounding areas Thursday brought parts of the St. Johns River close to flood stage and caused street flooding across the region.
	Big Brothers Big Sisters endorses gay mentors Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has told its 490 local affiliates to give openly gay and lesbian volunteers an equal chance to serve as one-on-one mentors to children, incurring the wrath of several conservative groups.
	Volunteer arrested for forging names to repeal gay- rights rule -- MIAMI - The state has made its first arrest after a yearlong criminal investigation into whether the petition drive by two groups trying to repeal Miami-Dade County's gay rights amendment was tainted by forged signatures.
	Guest commentary: Bush vs. women The central moral struggle of the 19th century concerned slavery, and that of the 20th pitted democracy against Nazism, Communism and other despotic isms. Our own pre-eminent moral challenge will be to ease the brutality that kills and maims girls and women across much of Africa and Asia.
	Name-dropping for drugs:Healthy industry's stealthy use of Hollywood stars The drug and health care industries' slimy advertising techniques are hard to beat. Judging from their ads, you'd think half the nation was depressed, the other half was impotent, and a third half would be crazy not to upgrade to the latest patent on an old drug. No wonder drug makers' profits added up to $30.5 billion in 2001, a 22 percent increase over the previous year, while health providers saw their profits rise 66 percent.
	Guest editorial: Get lean to be mean What this country seems to need is a lean, mean security machine, but the more that's learned about the department proposed by President Bush, the more it seems it will be anything but that. One report from the General Accounting Office says that getting the new Homeland Security Department organized could take as long as a decade.
	Guest editorial: President Fox sends regrets U.S. and Mexican officials are insisting that President Vicente Fox's abrupt cancellation of a long-scheduled visit to President Bush's ranch is not a snub, but of course it is. The Crawford ranch is a special place to Bush, who goes back there every chance he gets, and the White House considers it a rare honor for a foreign leader to be invited.
	Mexico praises Fox for stand Vicente Fox's protest of the death penalty has won him praise at home.
	Economic summit's feel-good politics aren't inspiring - The economic summit the president held in Waco, Texas, this week was supposed to open the president's eyes and ears to new ideas. Instead, the handpicked participants simply followed the president's lead, acting like those funny toy monkeys that see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
	Bush's infomercial ....With ideology, Mr. Bush sees no need for anything of substance. So he staged a rally to show he cares when the economy doesn't go the way his ideology says it must.
	Contempt of court -If Attorney General John Aschroft were merely guilty of contempt of court, his contempt might not seem quite so chilling. But in essence, Aschroft's Justice Department is demonstrating a dangerous contempt of the United States Constitution and of its fundamental guarantees of due process for Americans.
	Phone Devices Risked Security At CentCom MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE - Missing laptops, a highly classified war plan leaked to The New York Times: These weren't the first security problems to bedevil the U.S. Central Command, the headquarters here running America's ...

8/15/02

	So-called innovations rarely benefit regular people Her retirement savings dropped by half. So a friend who steadily socked $100 a paycheck into her 401(k) fantasizes about blowing what's left.- Maybe, if she acts quickly, there will be enough left for a new sofa.- I'm trying to think of any wrinkle of the past 20 years supposed to benefit the "little" man and woman, namely you and me, that actually did...
	Environmentalists sue state over bill limiting participation TALLAHASSEE — A coalition of environmentalists sued the state Wednesday to block a law that they say makes it harder to challenge permits for new development. The measure was tacked onto a bill that allows the state to borrow money to buy land for cleaning up the Everglades, something many environmentalists consider a top priority...
	Lawsuit claims residents shut out of growth plans - TALLAHASSEE · A group of environmentalists sued the state Wednesday over a new law they say will silence residents' challenges to new development. -- The controversial provision was tacked onto one of the last bills to pass this year's Legislature, a plan to set up a stable money source for the state's obligation to pay half the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration project...
	Right to 'green' lawsuits asserted Environmental activists challenge a law limiting people's right to sue to stop development. Three months after Gov. Jeb Bush signed it into law, a controversial measure making it harder for the average Floridian to challenge developers is headed to court.- Five environmental groups and St. Petersburg lawyer Tom Reese filed suit in Tallahassee on Wednesday to overturn the law, which Senate Majority Leader Jim King slipped through the Legislature on the last day of this year's session.-- King, R-Jacksonville, got the law passed by attaching it to a bill providing money for restoring the Everglades.
	County seeks cleaner waters Declaring that pollution flowing down the Ochlockonee River from Georgia threatens public health, Leon County officials Wednesday urged the state to set pollution limits for the river before 2007...
	Outsider to lead DCF Gov. Bush will name Jerry Regier, a social-services administrator from Oklahoma...
	Ex-Okla. official eyed for DCF job Jerry Regier also worked in the White House under Bush's father. The governor stays mum about his choice to lead the agency.
	Bush expected to name DCF's new boss today A former Oklahoma social services secretary with a reputation as a corruption-fighting conservative is the leading candidate to replace Kathleen Kearney as chief of Florida's beleaguered social services agency, sources said Wednesday...
	Who will take over at DCF? A day after the head of the Florida Department of Children & Families stepped down, Gov. Jeb Bush gave no indication of when he would fill the position...
	New DCF Chief To Share Bush's Vision- TALLAHASSEE - In his search for a new child welfare chief, Gov. Jeb Bush wants someone who embraces his belief that abused and neglected children are served better by nonprofit community networks than by a massive state bureaucracy...
	Bush searches for Kearney replacement TALLAHASSEE — Democrats will use Gov. Jeb Bush's oversight of the state's troubled child welfare agency against him in November's election, just like four years ago when he criticized their administration of the agency, party officials said Wednesday. But some Republicans said Tuesday's resignation of Department of Children & Families Secretary Kathleen Kearney and the department's other problems will have little affect...
	Fix child-welfare system, not election The end of Kathleen Kearney's failed regime at the Florida Department of Children and Families gives Gov. Bush a unique opportunity to transform the stricken agency. He has the responsibility to grab the chance because DCF has declined so markedly since he took office more than 3 1/2 years ago...
	WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE DCF? TRUE REFORM IS NEEDED With the resignation of Kathleen Kearney as secretary of the Department of Children & Families, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature have a chance to do something that heretofore has eluded Florida leaders, Republican and Democrat. They can create an agency that truly protects Florida's most vulnerable families and children...
	Child welfare executives received large pay raises TALLAHASSEE — Top officials at Florida's troubled child welfare agency received pay raises of up to 10 percent in the last two years, according to a newspaper analysis of state records. Some of the Department of Children & Families' 13 district chiefs received pay increases four times as large as the raises given to an average caseworker, who makes about $30,600 a year, according to an Orlando Sentinel analysis of employee performance reviews and payroll records...
	Advocates: Missing kids not picked up State child welfare workers who are given information on the whereabouts of runaways do not always follow through and pick up the children, guardians ad litem say...
	Child Protection Should Be Sheriffs' Job, Advocates Say BRADENTON - The call to Florida's Child Abuse Hot Line is short on details. An anonymous caller alleges a woman staying at some rent- ...
	About that tobacco money With their budgets tight in an election year, states are loath to raise taxes or cut programs to ease financial strains. But some governors and legislators haven't been reluctant to raid a fund that was supposed to have been earmarked for public health projects with long-term benefits.
	Further election probe The state attorney should investigate homebuilders' donations...
	Cheney to visit Orlando for Feeney fund-raiser ORLANDO — Vice President Dick Cheney plans to visit Florida for the second time in a month, this time to help Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney raise $250,000 for his congressional campaign. Cheney is to attend a $500-a-plate reception Thursday night for Feeney at a hotel in downtown Orlando. Feeney, a Republican, is expected to face Democratic attorney Harry Jacobs in the general election...
	Reno, McBride criticize Bush's failures in education, health care PEMBROKE PINES — Democratic gubernatorial candidates Janet Reno and Bill McBride criticized Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday, saying he has failed to improve Florida's education system. Reno spoke at the Century Village retirement community in this Broward County city, along with state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination Sept. 10. Both said teachers' salaries need to be raised...
	Format set for candidates' debate Competitors in the Democratic primary for governor leave little to chance...
	Some missing Hillsborough FCAT tests found in Iowa TAMPA — Hillsborough County school officials say they have found 47 of the missing state student achievement tests, but the affected students may still have to retake the exam. The missing Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test answer sheets, among the 3.5 million taken by students this year, turned up in the Iowa City, Iowa, offices of NCS Pearson, the company contracted to grade the tests, schools spokesman Mark Hart said...
	Candidate files suit over hyphen in opponent's name TALLAHASSEE — What's in a name? And if it's a hyphen that moves a candidate's name up on the ballot, is that fair? Patrick Feheley, one of four Democrats seeking an open Sarasota-area congressional seat doesn't think it is, and sued one of his opponents Wednesday over the question. Feheley objects to Candice Brown-McElyea. He wants her to be Candice Brown McElyea...
	Probe Of War Plan Leak Widens MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE - The investigation into a leak to The New York Times of an Iraqi invasion plan drafted by U.S. Central Command here is far larger than originally believed and is being conducted like an espionage ...
	2nd Escambia official to plead, Childers alone on felony docket PENSACOLA — A second suspended Escambia County commissioner has agreed to a plea deal, leaving only one commissioner, former Florida Senate President W.D. Childers, still facing trial on bribery and other felony charges. Mike Bass entered an agreement Tuesday with prosecutors, who promised to drop all felony charges against him in exchange for no contest pleas to a pair of misdemeanor charges of violating Florida's open-government "sunshine" law...
	Property rights activists to stage 'Sawgrass Rebellion' Veterans of property rights battles in the West are planning two convoys across America this fall to support South Florida activists who say they're being driven from their land in the name of Everglades restoration. The grassroots effort, called the Sawgrass Rebellion, is designed to bring national attention to farmers and property owners in Florida who say their crops and land are in danger of being taken away through restoration efforts and other local conservation initiatives...
	Beltway adversaries join forces Ecologists: Wisely designed road could deliver Wekiva River basin from developers. - For the first time in two decades of battles to protect the Wekiva River from roadbuilders and developers, environmentalists are sitting down with transportation officials to talk about building an expressway that would nearly complete a beltway around Orlando...
	Impasse stymies Everglades project Planning to recreate natural flow in the park's heart halts until a community's fate is resolved...
	Everglades ruling freezes corps' plans - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday it will suspend planning for a major piece of the $8.4 billion Everglades plan -- a piece that truly aims to turn back the clock to play by nature's rules, not those of engineers.- The reason: a tiny Miami-Dade County community called the 81/2 Square Mile Area...
	Daytime homeless site sought Reeling from crackdowns designed to drive the homeless off the streets, advocates agreed Wednesday to ask Orlando leaders for money to create a place for them to go...
	Rain patterns disrupting mosquitoes' breeding cycle Jacqueline Timm walks her Alaskan husky every morning before she goes to work and every night before she goes to bed. Lately, it hasn't been too pleasant. "You can't even walk out your door without getting bitten up," said Timm, 43, a customer service representative for Collier County who lives in North Naples...
	Mexican president's Texas visit in doubt Vicente Fox is considering canceling a Texas trip because it ignored his pleas to spare a Mexican from execution...
	Paul Krugman: Clueless in Crawford Today, in its Waco economic forum, the Bush administration will try to convince the country that everything is under control — that the economy is mending, that "shady" business practices are no longer a problem. To that end a carefully chosen audience will listen to speeches by administration officials and selected models of corporate probity...
	Economic summit's feel-good politics aren't inspiring The economic summit the president held in Waco, Texas, this week was supposed to open the president's eyes and ears to new ideas. Instead, the handpicked participants simply followed the president's lead, acting like those funny toy monkeys that see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil...
	Guest editorial: Mobbs rule In effect, the Bush administration insists, any American can be jailed without charge, without bail, without a hearing and without a lawyer, forever, if necessary, on the say-so of a mid-level Pentagon official named Michael H. Mobbs. Mobbs is described as special adviser to the undersecretary of defense for policy...

8/14/02

	Water: Quest continues for Caloosahatchee reservation There's a giant sucking sound coming from the east, as agricultural and urban interests look to siphon water away from the Gulf Coast and leave our estuaries salty, barren and devoid of fish, Lee County officials say. As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District move toward the massive replumbing of the Everglades, a recurrent theme is "get the water right."...
	Editorial: Black water Black water is hitting home. Readers who may remain ambivalent about mysterious happenings in the distant gulf this past winter and reported by this newspaper now have added reason to take notice. The color photos on our front page on Sunday showed unexplainably dark water along the entire Southwest Florida coast, with an especially large and ominous blob at Sanibel Island on Aug. 1....
	State plays dirty on clean water Changing the rules, not removing pollution. Imagine a miracle: All of Florida's polluted lakes, rivers, creeks and canals suddenly are pristine. No more low oxygen levels that kill fish. No more problems created by runoff from farms and cities. No industrial waste, no phosphorus from fertilizers or nitrogen that feeds the growth of green slime on clear water. No unknown chemicals that make fish develop sores and lesions.- Now imagine that Florida's solution to pollution is the standard for the nation.- Apparently, it is just that simple. Florida's environmental bureaucrats are in the process of removing 600 bodies of water from the state's "impaired" list by changing the rules. They redefined impaired. A discussion of the proposed changes is scheduled today in Tallahassee; citizens have until Aug. 24 to file protests with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.- The only "miracle" DEP and Gov. Bush are manufacturing is another pass for polluters. If DEP succeeds in this sham, it could create a sneaky new way for other states to comply with the federal Clean Water Act.- Jim Egan directs the Marine Resources Council, which has more than 100 volunteers monitoring water quality in the Indian River Lagoon. The inland waterway runs from New Smyrna Beach to Jupiter. Mr. Egan said his workers see no evidence of a "miracle" in the state's decision to remove the lagoon from the list.- "Last July, one-third of all fish kills in Florida occurred in the lagoon," Mr. Egan wrote in an e-mail. "Forty dolphins died mysteriously in 30 days, and a fish never known to be poisonous to humans has turned toxic. Our volunteers testing water quality measured the lowest levels of oxygen in the water in our 11-year history last summer. This summer, we have found the lowest levels of salt in the water. But the lagoon is no longer officially impaired."...
	West Nile alert widens to include Orange, Lake - A 71-year-old Sumter County man has contracted Florida's first confirmed human case of West Nile virus this year, prompting state health officials to issue a medical alert Tuesday for Sumter, Orange, Lake and Marion counties. But state officials think the victim probably got the disease on a recent visit to Louisiana, where the mosquito-borne virus has killed seven people this year....
	Destin engulfed in gridlock, puts brakes on growth DESTIN — Traffic gridlock is putting the brakes on rampant growth that has transformed Destin from a sleepy fishing village into a fashionable and bustling beach resort. No more new developments will be approved on U.S. 98, Destin's main street, until then highway's capacity is increased, City Manager Jill Silverboard said Monday....
	GRIDLOCK? in South Florida (Sun Sentinel) Traffic is bumper-to-bumper. What can we do? This six-part series of editorials, Crisis: Getting Nowhere Fast calls for a regional approach. Vote in our polls; add your opinion to our message board.
	Interstate 4 to be scene of weekend hurricane drill TAMPA — Interstate 4 will be the site of a weekend drill to determine how long a one-way evacuation of the Tampa Bay area would take if a hurricane was bearing down. About 100 National Guardsmen, 125 Florida Highway Patrol troopers and 50 to 60 Department of Transportation workers will take up posts along the 63 miles of highway from Tampa to Orlando on Saturday....
	Pension-fund post goes to interim chief The State Board of Administration's interim executive director was granted the job on a permanent basis Tuesday, over the objections of an employee who had filed harassment complaints against him.
	Reno courts state employees Too many state employees feel "dumped on, bad-mouthed and put down," Democrat Janet Reno said Tuesday. Reno said state government can learn some efficiency measures from the private sector. But she said Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-run Legislature have put cost savings ahead of quality in privatizing services, reducing agency payrolls and overhauling the Career Service system.
	Child-welfare bosses get raises, glowing reviews despite problems -- TALLAHASSEE -- Top state child-protection executives have received glowing job evaluations and pay raises of 7 percent to 10 percent in recent years despite huge case backlogs and repeated examples of abused, lost and dead children that attracted national attention, state records show. Some of the biggest pay increases went to administrators for the Florida Department of Children & Families whose districts have the worst problems, including Orlando, Lake County and Miami, according to an Orlando Sentinel analysis of employee performance reviews and payroll records. As salaries for most of the 13 district chiefs rose to more than $100,000 during the past two years, some DCF bosses received percentage increases four times as big as an average caseworker, who makes about $30,600 a year...
	DCF: A TROUBLED YEAR MARCH The Advocacy Center tells the state attorney general that despite nearly $300 million authorized by legislators, the state is violating an agreed settlement to a suit the center filed in 1998 to provide better care for tens of thousands of people with disabilities.
	Secretary head Kearney resigns Gov. Jeb Bush immediately accepted the resignation, effective Sept. 3, for the controversial department head TALLAHASSEE — Embattled Department of Children & Families Secretary Kathleen Kearney resigned Tuesday, four months after the case of a missing 5-year-old girl put the department under scrutiny. Gov. Jeb Bush immediately accepted the resignation, which is effective Sept. 3. The department has been under fire since it was revealed that Rilya Wilson had disappeared while in state custody. The girl has been missing since January 2001 and no caseworker had checked on her for 15 months....
	Bush takes a political step away from department's turmoil - TALLAHASSEE - With the departure Tuesday of Kathleen Kearney from his administration, Gov. Jeb Bush took a major step toward insulating himself from the most potent threat to his popularity.- But the man who promised to fix the Department of Children & Families and now touts ''leadership'' as the theme of his reelection campaign will have to move swiftly to name a successor and find an aggressive reform plan to fully guard against a backlash on Election Day Nov. 5.- ... The resignation of Kearney, who was perhaps Bush's most acclaimed appointee when he took office in 1999, came in the midst of growing criticism from Democrats -- and even some in the governor's own party -- that too little had been done in the wake of Rilya's disappearance to fix DCF....
	NBC Nightly News DCF report (RealVideo)
	Gov. Bush eyes candidates to replace Kearney “Unfortunately, when she morphed from one of the department’s biggest critics to its spin doctor, children in this state were more in danger than they were in the first place,” she said. “Here was a person who at least in her own jurisdiction really made the department toe the line. Then all of the sudden she’s basically making excuses... Jerry Regier, a former Oklahoma Cabinet secretary for social services, may be a candidate for the job..... Another possible candidate, sources said, is Greg Coler, who led the agency from 1987 to 1990 and resigned amid criticism that he awarded lucrative state contracts to friends and used his political influence for personal gain....
	Failures Oust DCF Head TALLAHASSEE - The high-profile failures piled up way too fast. A little girl missing. A boy beaten to death. Their state child protection workers accused of falsifying records ... Among those often suggested as a successor to Kearney is Chris Card, director of Hillsborough Kids Inc., the nonprofit organization taking over the state's child welfare services in the Tampa area. Florida has plans to put such services under private contract statewide by 2004.-- Card is a nationally recognized leader in the privatization move, which Bush contends is the way to improve care. But Card said Tuesday the top job is ``not really on my radar screen.''
	Fallout from DCF scandals could haunt Gov. Bush's campaign - TALLAHASSEE · Despite Tuesday's abrupt resignation of Kathleen Kearney, the controversy swirling around Florida's child welfare agency may continue to dog Gov. Jeb Bush as he seeks re-election this fall.
	DCF chief resigns Kathleen Kearney suddenly resigned Tuesday as secretary of Florida's embattled Department of Children & Families....
	DCF chief resigns under fire The agency's recent failures were the last straw for the beleaguered Kathleen Kearney.
	Kearney leaves DCF amid highly visible scandals Kathleen A. Kearney, the embattled secretary of the Department of Children & Families, resigned abruptly Tuesday, leaving Florida's social service agency largely as she found it: enmeshed in scandal and struggling to find an identity that will satisfy its many critics.
	Children's agency director resigns When Judge Kathleen Kearney took over Florida's mammoth welfare bureaucracy, she said she ignored the advice of other circuit judges because "I felt there was no other place for me."
	Editorial: Missing children What else could he say? Gov. Jeb Bush says Florida has to do better at tracking missing children. That became all too true with the April disclosure that a 5-year-old Miami girl had been lost for more than a year by the Department of Children and Families, which taxpayers count on to track and safeguard at-risk youngsters....
	Child beaten to death after Florida DCF closed abuse probes RIVIERA BEACH — Florida's child welfare agency conducted three separate abuse investigations into the home of a young boy but took no action to remove the child, who was later fatally beaten. Tarquez Woodson, 4, was removed from life support on Aug. 9 and died of head and body trauma suffered at his Riviera Beach home two days earlier, police said....
	Riviera boy's death ruled a homicide DCF continues to hold on to records of its involvement with the family. A medical examiner's investigator ruled Tuesday that Tarquez Woodson's death was a homicide, but state Department of Children and Families officials refused to release records of the department's involvement with the 4-year-old's troubled family.\
	Newspaper suing to force DCF to open missing children's files - FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A newspaper that used public records to find nine children declared missing by Florida's child welfare agency has sued to force the agency to open the case files of 22 children missing under its care.
	State's adoption law under fire More state lawmakers are talking about throwing out the adoption law after six females challenged it.
	Insane way to deal with the homeless Every morning I have the same routine. Wake up, shower, get dressed make breakfast and read the newspaper. This usually goes without a hitch. Tuesday, Aug. 6, was different. It was one of those days that a headline just grabs you. This headline was "Orlando restricts homeless. Street people no longer may sit, lie down on sidewalks."...
	Opponents argue against tax exemption measure on ballot TALLAHASSEE — Opponents of a ballot measure that would give a legislative panel the power to wipe out tax exemptions argued Tuesday that it shouldn't go to voters because it is misleading. Attorneys for three groups that oppose the measure argued their case before Circuit Judge Nikki Clark, trying to knock the measure off the November ballot....