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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.
1/31/02
- Why does the democrat run this as their banner headline this
morning?
Poll:
Gov. Bush gains popularity
Gov. Jeb Bush's popularity is on the rise, a new survey of Florida
voters indicated Wednesday. The Mason-Dixon Florida Poll also showed a
huge leap in President Bush's support, a year after the hotly disputed
Florida election that put him in the White House. Some of the
president's popularity since Sept. 11 may have rubbed off on his
younger brother - who posted a sharp gain among Democrats, especially
blacks who shunned the governor early in his term.
- 2nd lead story in the Democrat:
Survey
shows tax-plan opposition
A business group Wednesday released the results of a survey showing a
lack of support for a Senate plan to overhaul the state sales tax
system. But Senate President John McKay, who is pushing the plan,
quickly dismissed the poll as politically slanted. Today senators are
expected to take up and approve that plan, which cuts the sales tax
rate while applying the tax to new products and services.
- Noelle
Bush needs help, as all addicts do - From a political perspective,
it will be embarrassing and distracting for Bush. I hope it will be
one more thing -- enlightening.
- Hundreds
offer Bushes their advice and support
The arrest of the governor's daughter strikes a chord in many people
with similar experiences and from professionals who offer help.
- Tax
reform critics see signs of vengeance and 'politics'
Sen. McKay responds: "I'm lobbying people, not threatening
them." He says he's the one being treated unfairly by TV
stations.
- One
battle where truth is trumped by politics
TALLAHASSEE -- Suppose that somebody is saying something that you
think is untrue. Not only do they say it, but they publish it. Not
only do they publish it, but they put a bunch of commercials on
television.
- Senate
has questions about education study
Governor's staff met with group presenting the critical report A
long-awaited report on the state of Florida's education system took a
detour on its way to the Senate on Wednesday and has lawmakers
wondering whether Gov. Jeb Bush had his hand on the wheel.
- School
report delayed for analysis
Some say the delay in response to a study critical of Florida
education is an attempt to downplay the criticism.
- Legislative
briefs
Today is the 10th day of the 60-day session.
- First
report: Harris' fund raising tops $1 million
SARASOTA - Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris has already
raised more than $1.1 million for her congressional race, according to
her first campaign finance report. Harris' fund raising at this early
point in the campaign is already about four times what current U.S.
Rep. Dan Miller raised in his last race for the seat. Harris has said
she intends to raise about $2 million in her bid to replace Miller, a
Republican who is retiring.
- Ticketmaster
sets up camp
The company, the subject of consumer complaints, is hired by Florida
to handle reservations at state parks.
- Juror
excused in inmate death trial
STARKE - The judge in the trial of four prison guards charged in the
beating death of an inmate dismissed a juror Wednesday after other
jurors said she told them about a religious revelation and "a
panoramic view of the case."
- Reno
collapses during speech
The Democratic candidate for governor is taken to a New York state
hospital and is said to be "doing very well."
- Enron
and Cheney's energy plan
Even before the Enron scandal broke, the White House should have
revealed the nature of the private discussions administration
officials held with executives from Enron and other energy
corporations in the course of formulating a new dig-and-drill national
energy plan. Vice President Dick Cheney, who chaired the effort, is
supposed to work for the American people, and the public deserves to
know who met with him and what was discussed.
- Less
is more?
Offering health insurance with less coverage might attract some
employers to cover their employees, but such coverage might not be
good for the patient.
1/30/02
-
NASA issues alert on falling satellite debris - NASA on
Tuesday warned residents of a vast swath of Earth -- from South
Florida to Australia -- that heavy chunks of a dying, 3 1/2-ton
satellite could strike the region tonight or Thursday.--
Engineers said that as many as nine pieces of debris weighing up to
100 pounds each could survive as NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer
plunges through the atmosphere. The space junk could hit an area
bordered by Orlando on the north and Brisbane, Australia, on the
south.
- Governor,
speaker kick off Enron probes
Two new investigations into Florida's disastrous experience with Enron
stock were launched Tuesday. Gov. Jeb Bush asked lawyers to look into
suing the company that bought shares on the state's behalf, and House
Speaker Tom Feeney created a committee to find out what caused the
$325 million loss to the state's $95 billion pension fund.
- Gov.
Bush: Sue firm that bought Enron stock for Fla.
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush said the state should consider filing a
lawsuit against the company that bought spiraling shares of Enron
Corp. for the state's pension fund...
- State
gives subpoenas to Enron, two others
Florida is exploring legal avenues to recover some of the more than
$300-million lost by its pension fund.
- Privatization
chief scrutinized - The Florida Police Benevolent Association
asked State Attorney Willie Meggs on Tuesday to file criminal charges
against the head of a state agency that oversees privately operated
prisons, saying he attempted to dupe investigators with falsified
documents.-- The Florida Commission on Ethics last week found probable
cause that C. Mark Hodges, executive director of the Florida
Correctional Privatization Commission, had violated several ethics
laws over the past six years by blending his official position with
his private consulting business. The commission released its official
report Tuesday.
- New
forces enter open records fight
In a battle once fought mostly by newspapers, large industries are
trying to save Florida's open records laws, now threatened by
terrorism and identity theft.
- Drive
to limit justices' terms stalls
Critics say the bill would give the governor too much power and leave
the Supreme Court beholden to legislators.
- Legislative
briefs
Today is the ninth day of the 60-day session.
- Rumble
builds again for walls to block turnpike noise
By Chuck McGinness, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
The next phase of widening Florida's Turnpike is on the way and with
it comes another debate over noise walls. A study shows four of the 13
communities...
- Mentally
ill crowd jails, group says
About 10,000 mentally ill people are sitting in
Florida's jails, stuck in a cycle of crime and incarceration with
little hope of escape.
- Feeding
addictions
The Department of Corrections plans to reduce funding for its drug
treatment programs to the tune of something like $13 million. That's
just foolish public policy.
- Gov.
Jeb Bush's daughter arrested
Charge is felony prescription fraud Noelle Bush, 24-year-old daughter
of Gov. Jeb Bush, was arrested and charged with a felony count of
prescription drug fraud early Tuesday. Noelle, the only daughter of
Jeb and Columba Bush, allegedly impersonated a local doctor and phoned
in a prescription for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax at a Tallahassee
Walgreens pharmacy. The pharmacist became suspicious and called
Tallahassee police.
- Gov.'s
daughter charged with fraud
Jeb Bush's daughter is arrested after police say she called in a
prescription for Xanax to a pharmacy.
- Governor's
daughter faces charges
The arrest of Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter on a
prescription-fraud charge propelled her private struggle with drug use
into public view Tuesday.
- Gov.
Bush's daughter charged in drug case
TALLAHASSEE -- Noelle Bush, the only daughter of Gov. Jeb Bush, was
arrested Tuesday on a charge of prescription fraud for allegedly
trying to buy the sedative Xanax...
- Gov.
Bush's daughter faces a prescription-fraud charge
The night before she was to start a new job, Noelle Bush was picked up
by police in Tallahassee after a pharmacist became suspicious about a
telephoned order for a sedative.
- Ex-guard
says inmate didn't seem badly hurt
STARKE -- There were no tears, no apology and certainly no empathy for
the inmate who was allegedly beaten to death. In the trial of four
Florida State Prison guards...
1/29/02
- Editorial:
Retain an ethical court - Even for a Legislature that has shown
little regard for the value of an independent judiciary, the latest
court-hating proposal sets a standard for recklessness.-- Senate Joint
Resolution 162, which has a hearing today before the Judiciary
Committee, would give the governor power to remove state Supreme Court
justices by not reappointing them.
-
Fla. House probes ill-timed Enron stock purchase - TALLAHASSEE --
Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney plans to appoint a select committee
this week to investigate how the state pension fund lost $306 million
on Enron stock.--Feeney's plan -- coupled with investigations already
under way at the pension fund and the attorney general's office --
will bring to three the number of state entities investigating the
ill-timed stock purchases by a contract fund manager on behalf of the
pension plan.
-
Legislator plans his promotion -- TALLAHASSEE -- State Rep.
Mario Diaz-Balart is trying to line himself up a promotion.-- Diaz-Balart,
whose brother Lincoln already represents Miami in Congress, introduced
a plan Monday to create another Hispanic seat in the U.S. House from
Florida -- a seat most observers agreed was tailor-made for himself.
- Agency
defends Accenture contract
"Sloppy" contract analysis. "Poor business
practices." Those were among the remarks Monday by members of the
Joint Legislative Auditing Committee about a $69 million contract to
create a call center and online licensing system for the Department of
Business and Professional Regulation.
- Just
the facts - They're already throwing punches at one another in the
Legislature, and the session is only a week old. It is time for civil
debates. One thing that would help is refraining from public
misstatements of positions, as has happened with Senate President John
McKay's proposed services tax.
- GOP
senators brace for air war - After weeks of gritting their teeth
through television ads attacking a proposed tax bill, Senate
Republicans on Monday said they're fighting back.
- Senators
criticize TV stations for tax ads
TALLAHASSEE -- Senators who want to overhaul Florida's tax system went
on the offensive Monday, demanding that TV stations yank
"misleading" ads and seeking free air time to respond.
- Lawmakers
assail ads against state tax overhaul
By Michael Van Sickler, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
TALLAHASSEE -- Lawmakers who favor revamping the state's sales tax
said Monday they will air TV and radio ads denouncing negative
commercials from broadcasters critical of the plan...
- Security
qualms spur bills to curb public records
By Jim Ash, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- Terrorists are getting deadlier, scam artists are
growing bolder and lawmakers are more concerned than ever. Couple that
with a critical grand jury report...
-
Sunshine proposed for universities - TALLAHASSEE -- Top officials
from Florida's public universities may be forced to quit meeting
privately to discuss statewide policy issues under a proposal made
Monday at a Senate Education Committee hearing.
- Debate
over new position is lost in sea of big issues
TALLAHASSEE -- In any other year, the fight over who gets to regulate
insurance, state-chartered banking and securities in this state might
be the biggest news in town. What could be more important than the
protection of the homes, health and savings of Floridians?
- Democrats
take a shot at gun control legislation - A group of Democratic
lawmakers held a news conference to push several gun bills, but they
admitted the measures aren't likely to go far.
- Big
Bend district could be split
One congressional representative or two? Tallahassee's future rests in
the hands of state legislators who have two very different ideas about
how the Big Bend should be divided. The Senate version, drawn by Sen.
Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor, leaves the Big Bend intact. The House
version, drawn by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, splits it horizontally.
- Smoke-free
issue nearing the ballot
A statewide coalition pushing a ban on smoking in restaurants and
workplaces says it has collected 500,000 signatures to get an
initiative on the ballot this fall. The Supreme Court has scheduled
oral arguments on the initiative for Feb. 7. The court must review the
proposed constitutional amendment to determine whether it deals with
only a single subject and doesn't contain deceptive language.
- St
Petersburg Times Legislative review
- Miami
Herald Tallahassee Ticker
- DIGEST
- HEALTH Lawmakers push heart surgery bill Lawmakers in the House and
Senate are pushing a bill that would allow more hospitals to perform
open-heart surgery.
-
McBride momentum building against Reno
- Insidious
citrus canker is hopscotching north - PALM BAY - After a battle to
wipe out citrus canker in South Florida, the crop-destroying disease
has spread to the Indian River grove country that is known for the
boxed grapefruit sold to tourists and mailed as gifts.
-
Location of latest canker-infected tree chills citrus industry
- Beaches
left out of budget proposal
WASHINGTON -- When President Bush's new budget is unveiled next week,
it could hit Floridians in two crucial areas: sand and asphalt.
- Indigent
health plan needs support
The debate over how to save Hillsborough County's indigent health care
plan needs to start with an acknowledgement of how it got into
trouble. Here's the short answer: A few years ago, the County
Commission, playing to conservative voters, cut tax support for the
program, raided the trust fund for nonrelated expenses and sold the
public a bill of goods about a projected growth in sales tax revenue
that would keep the program running.
- High
price of naming stadiums
Romance between corporate America and arenas has begun a new chapter -
Chapter 11.
1/28/02
- Sunshine
attack Legislators must have better things
to do than robbing the public of information.
- Lawmakers,
lobbyists go gunning for quail -- CHIPLEY - On the one side are
Florida's brightest and best - about 25 state senators and
representatives - outfitted in Filson camo, flanked by $5,000 bird
dogs and armed with imported $2,000 Baretta over-under 20- gauge
shotguns.-- They will blast through four or five boxes of number 8 low
brass shot before the sun sets Saturday on this isolated 3,000-acre
spread of longleaf and slash pines.-- On the other side, waiting in
their slatted crates are 1,000 quivering bobwhite quail. They have
been raised on farms in south Georgia and Alabama to provide the
entertainment for this weekend. -They have never heard a shotgun nor
seen a hunting dog....
- Before
you oppose tax plan, think of greater good
If the Florida Senate passes the service tax, you will have to pay tax
on laughter. You will have to pay tax on a sunny day. You will have to
pay tax on having a good time at the beach. You will have to pay tax
for every flush. You will have to pay tax on complaining about paying
tax. So call your senators today to "Ax the Tax."
- Subterfuge
on sales tax plan getting crystal clear -
TALLAHASSEE -- Sometimes, understanding events in Florida's capital
requires an interpreter to decipher fact from euphemism.-- Gov. Jeb
Bush promised in his State of the State speech a ``full, honest and
transparent dialogue'' on revamping Florida's tax system and says he
has an open mind.---
But what has really become transparent in recent days is the dwindling
likelihood of that full and honest debate over the proposal by Senate
President John McKay to eliminate billions of dollars in
special-interest tax breaks.
- Bad
politics-- Florida justices should be free
of gubernatorial agendas
- University
Leaders To Strike Back At Graham
TAMPA - Prominent Florida university leaders
say it's time they mount an aggressive defense of the state's new
education system and challenge the political icon who wants to undo
it: U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. ...
- FAMU
law school is 'on track'
Orlando facility to open despite some setbacks ORLANDO - A dismal fall
economy slowed fund raising for scholarships. And many prospective
students are hesitant to trust their future to an unaccredited law
school.
- Blackburn:
Travel to a time without money
Flash forward. It's March 2006. As state lawmakers gather to hear Gov.
Bush's last State of the State address, their computers crash. That's
not unusual. They canceled the maintenance contract to save money...
- Freedom
Caucus takes taxes to task
GOP freshmen are devoted to reducing state government The
Republican-controlled House isn't exactly a breeding ground for new
taxes. Its leadership is dead set against raising them and has led the
way in cutting them.
- Gov.
Bush criticizes his Democratic challengers
ORLANDO - Gov. Jeb Bush took advantage of the annual winter meeting of
the Florida Republican Party to respond to criticism from Democrats
who he said "tell everyone that the whole state is
descending."
-
Reno, Frankel pitch gender issue - For Democratic gubernatorial
hopefuls Janet Reno and Lois Frankel, the focus was on gender Saturday
at the National Organization for Women conference in Lauderhill.--
Reno, former U.S. attorney general, called attention to the many women
she had appointed to judgeships and other positions of power at both
the state and federal level.--
Frankel, a state representative from West Palm Beach, focused on
improving education by hiring more teachers, better technology in
schools and putting more money toward scholarships and financial aid.
- Protecting
speech on campus
The University of South Florida and Gov. Jeb Bush dishonor the ideals
of public universities by trying to fire a Palestinian professor whose
anti-Israel statements have produced threats to the campus and a
decline in contributions. Wartime is precisely the moment when
unpopular views and the role of a university as an open forum for
ideas must be most vigorously defended.
- Editorial:
Last resort on canker
Stalled in the courts, state agriculture officials have turned to the
Legislature to get their citrus canker eradication program moving
again. A bill that would codify the state's much-disputed...
- Mentally
ill man dies after Hollywood police shoot him with taser
HOLLYWOOD · A flailing, disoriented, mentally ill man died Sunday
afternoon after being shot with a taser by Hollywood police.
- Florida
considers Baker Act change
Law establishes when a person can be involuntarily confined
A tragedy has set in motion a push to revise the state's law on
involuntary commitment. A deputy shot to death. A man with paranoid
schizophrenia shot dead after a standoff with a SWAT team. The Florida
Legislature, which convened last week for its 2002 session, has the
final say on whether the Baker Act, which allows someone to be
detained involuntarily for psychiatric treatment, will be amended.
- Tobacco
industry goes public to battle restrictions -TALLAHASSEE --
Usually a behind-the-scenes player, the tobacco industry is taking a
surprisingly public stance against Florida’s proposed constitutional
ban on smoking in restaurants and workplaces. --
Two of the nation’s biggest cigarette makers have hired the man who
successfully fought President Bush’s legal battle for the White
House to represent them when the measure goes before the Florida
Supreme Court.
- Krome
as much a prison as it is processing center
MIAMI -- "You have no rights," an Immigration and
Naturalization Service officer shouts as he warns them all to place
their belts and watches in a tray before they pass through a metal
detector...
1/27/02
- NOW
works to further elections of women in Florida government - FORT
LAUDERDALE · The goal sounds achievable. With women comprising just
over half of Florida's population, how hard could it be to elect more
women at all levels of Florida government? -
But at the state conference of the Florida National Organization for
Women on Saturday, attendees learned that even with the numbers on
their side, achieving their goal will take a lot of work.
- Courageous
warnings on Enron
Everybody's lining up to beat up on Enron now. Politicians, lawyers,
regulators, stock analysts, accountants and business journalists know
a fat target when they see one.
- Workers
watch benefits, nest eggs dive
Jan Molinell retired two years ago ready for the good
life -- a life of freedom, maybe on the open road, where she would see
the country from the driver's seat of a motor home.
- Sugarcoating
truth won't help taxpayers -- Judy Sanchez says Big Sugar is
cleaning up pollution "on their farms and at their own
expense."...
In fact, sugar growers get multimillion-dollar tax breaks from the
South Florida Water Management District to partially remove pollutants
from their water before dumping the dirty aftermath into the
Everglades. District taxpayers also subsidize scientific research and
monitoring costs for the farms....
- Budget
cuts hit hard at Florida's care for addicts
Drug-abuse treatment at most of the state's big prisons is being cut
back severely. South Florida's pioneering drug courts will be
affected, too.
- Stressful
session has the players on edge
Everyone said it would be like this. But no one said it would start so
soon. Just hours after their great show of bipartisanship and unity
during Tuesday's opening session that featured a rousing State of the
State address by Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida legislators were squabbling
among themselves.
- Florida's
ugly secrets
The special interests opposing John McKay's tax reform plan want to
avoid any open and honest debate that would expose the inadequacies of
the state's tax structure.
- Candidates
may keep quiet on death penalty
Until the U.S. Supreme Court last week halted the first of three
scheduled Florida executions, Jeb Bush was on the verge of earning a
new distinction: executing more people in his first term than any
governor since capital punishment was reinstated.
- Rumors
flying around capital shot down
INSIDE POLITICS A couple of persistent political rumors surfaced last
week, but the folks involved insist there's nothing to them. You may
have heard that Florida State University is soon to hire former U.S.
Attorney General Janet Reno as an Eppes professor of law.
- Reno
hopes to garner labor group's backing
MIAMI - Janet Reno is trying to grab an endorsement from the state's
most important labor federation in her quest for Florida's top job,
but rival Tampa attorney Bill McBride may have a leg up on the former
attorney general.
- Gov.
Bush jazzed for campaign
ORLANDO -- Jeb Bush told hundreds of Republicans Saturday that he is a
tax-cutting, crime-fighting, education-winning, recession-busting
governor who will not take any guff from Democrats ... ...Although
Democrats argue that Bush has cut taxes that largely help the rich,
the GOP candidate said he is "happy that we are cutting taxes in
Florida and not raising taxes." The result, he said, "is
that, for the first time in modern times, Floridians have more money
in their pockets" than does state government.
- Schools
to try for freedom
Orange County schools soon will ask the governor and
Cabinet for freedom from all the rules and laws that might interfere
with students getting the best education.
- Court
backs anesthesia rule
The Florida Board of Medicine can require an anesthesiologist to be
present during major office surgeries, an appeals court ruled in an
action largely affecting cosmetic surgeries. The ruling by the 1st
District Court of Appeal upholds a board rule that requires an
anesthesiologist to be present when a patient is heavily sedated or
put to sleep. Typically, certified nurse anesthetists provide the
anesthesia during office surgery.
- Charity's
policy under scrutiny
Woman left off board because she's Jewish TAMPA - The wife of a major
corporate donor was rejected from a position on the board of
Metropolitan Ministries because she is Jewish and the charity's bylaws
require members to be Christian.
- Talk
of censure hangs over USF
TAMPA -- The University of South Florida's reputation took a
significant hit when professor Sami Al-Arian's alleged ties to
terrorists were aired on national television.
- Politics
in folkieland: Music soars above din
When I first got involved in Florida folk music in the 1980s, I
promised myself to stay out of the politics associated with the
movement.
- Town
amid prisons can't escape mark of ex-guards' trial
By John Pacenti, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
STARKE -- Here in the Iron Triangle, the friendly residents readily
acknowledge that if you aren't employed by the corrections industry,
you are related to somebody who watches criminals...
- Conflict
questions raised on regulators' ties
By Robert P. King, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Starting this week, seven people you probably never heard of will
decide an issue that could cost South Florida taxpayers nearly a
billion dollars: How much polluting phosphorus should the state...
- Despite
state effort, slamming remains
Nearly three years after accusing Verizon Select
Services Inc. of "slamming" consumers -- or changing their
phone service without permission -- state regulators last week
accepted a $1.1 million settlement from the company.
- Cheney:
Won't Turn Over Energy List
1/26/02
- Florida's
handling of its Enron stock questioned
By waiting to sell, the state contributed to pension fund losses.
- Florida's
sad record
Just five states are currently funding tobacco-prevention programs at
the level recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Sadly,
Florida isn't one of them.
- A
continuation budget
While Gov. Jeb Bush's budget does help the needy to some extent, some
needs remain, and those needs will grow.
- A
new reality -- It's important that
politicians not play games with budget numbers.-- Finally, Florida
lawmakers have real numbers to consider as they decide how much money
to spend on public schools. An aide to Gov. Jeb Bush conceded to
lawmakers last week that the governor's plan would restore school
budgets only to where they were last summer, before the economy forced
massive budget cuts.
-
Seeking support, Reno plays catch-up - TALLAHASSEE --
Already bruised by the Florida teachers union's endorsement of a rival
in her race for governor, Janet Reno may be facing another
embarrassing setback when the state's most important labor federation
meets in March.
- Cutting corners
The 2nd District Court of Appeal blew the whistle on legislative
sloppiness when it declared Florida's "Three Strikes Violent
Felony Offender Act" unconstitutional.
- Senator
must pay $311,000 election penalty - TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida
Elections Commission issued a final order Friday against state Sen.
Alex Diaz de la Portilla, ordering him to pay a record $311,000 fine
against him for campaign finance violations.
- Broaden
Base And Cut Rate
Boiled down to its essence, here's what a
far-reaching Florida sales tax reform plan means to you:
- Tax
plan headed to Senate
Senate committee approves sales-tax revamp A plan to overhaul the
state's sales tax system won approval from a Senate committee Friday
even as it spawned new questions. The Finance and Taxation Committee
unanimously approved Senate President John McKay's proposal to
eliminate a host of exemptions and cut the tax rate, an incendiary
idea that has dominated the session's first week.
- Opposition
to tax plan fills air with deception
For my first assignment in Tallahassee 20 years ago, I made my way
through the Capitol with a tripod, lights, microphone cables, sound
engineer and cameraman.
- Anger
greets tax overhaul
A plan to overhaul Florida's sales-tax system passed
its first test in the Legislature on Friday but ran into several dozen
skeptical taxpayers at an Orlando public hearing on the matter.
- Tax
reform plan chalks up a win
As the sales tax reform is hotly debated around Florida, a Senate
panel okays two related tax measures.
- Sales
tax plan gets first OK
Senate President John McKay's plan to impose a new, lower sales tax on
92 previously untaxed services and goods received its first
legislative...
- FAMU
trims its list of potential presidents
Movement also under wayto hold on to Henry Lewis III ORLANDO - The
search committee for a new Florida A&M University leader endorsed
a list of candidates Friday that's long on academic experience and
short on presidential leadership.
- NAACP
urged to get out the vote
Rev. Joseph Wright talks politics The Rev. Joseph
Wright urged people to vote during a Friday night meeting of the state
NAACP at Trinity United Presbyterian Church. The gathering, which
featured readings from the Bible, gospel music and political
commentary, was held as part of the NAACP's statewide conference.
- Book
eyes mapping of swelling districts
Those who don't remember history and fear they're condemned to repeat
it will take comfort in a new book on redistricting put together by 22
legal scholars and faculty from six Florida universities.
- Growing,
growing, drawn
Over the objections of Democrats who said the process was being
rushed, the state Senate committee in charge of drawing a new
congressional map passed its version 11-3 on Friday. Unlike the map
that a state House committee will consider Monday, the Senate proposal
keeps the Big Bend region intact, with the boundary lines for District
2 now held by U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, beginning at the
western boundary of Washington, Jackson and Bay counties and
continuing to the eastern boundaries of Lafayette and Madison and part
of Hamilton.
- Senate
takes stab at redistricting
TALLAHASSEE -- A state Senate committee on Friday approved the first
redistricting plan of the 2002 Legislature, creating 25 districts for
Florida's U.S. House seats.
- Speaker
vows to weather session-- While the Legislature's election-year
session is destined to get bogged down in bickering over redrawing the
state's political map and rewriting its tax system, House Speaker Tom
Feeney is confident that the 60-day lawmaking process will go
smoothly.
- Feeney
is snubbed, at least for now -TALLAHASSEE -- A plan to redraw
Florida's congressional districts cleared the first of many hurdles in
the state Senate on Friday, and it didn't include a new seat for state
House Speaker Tom Feeney.--
But the head of the state Senate congressional redistricting
subcommittee conceded Friday that the Oviedo Republican will likely be
given his ticket to Washington when all is said and done in the
once-a-decade reconfiguring of the state's political lines.
- Florida's
teachers union endorses Burt, Dyer for attorney general
Florida's teachers union endorsed State Sens. Locke Burt, R-Ormond
Beach, and Buddy Dyer, D-Orlando, on Friday in their bids to win their
respective party's nomination for attorney general. They were to join
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Bill McBride at the Florida Education
Association midwinter meeting Friday night in Orlando. McBride was
endorsed by FEA last week over three other Democratic hopefuls,
including perceived front-runner Janet Reno, the former U.S. attorney
general.
- Fruit
trees in Brevard test positive for canker-- Florida's long and
discouraging battle with citrus canker worsened this week with the
discovery of the virulent Asian strain of the crop disease in Brevard
County, one of the state's prime grapefruit-producing
counties.--
Brevard is the 10th county, and the most northern along the Indian
River citrus region, to face an outbreak of the bacterial disease in
the current eradication campaign. The disease does not harm humans,
but it ruins fruit and is widely considered the worst threat to the
state's $8-billion-a-year citrus industry.
- Do
we really need new I-10 rest stops? -- Santa Rosa County
commissioners are absolutely right to ask state officials to redirect
$13 million - designated to replace existing Interstate 10 rest stops
- to projects that might actually do something to relieve county
traffic woes.-- Who comes up with these things? It's the kind of
nonsensical decision that gives government a bad name. It also raises
questions about how well state transportation officials have carried
out Gov. Jeb Bush's $668 million "economic stimulus" package
of road projects.
- Alachua's
time out
It was a good sign last week when the Alachua City Commission decided
to impose a moratorium of up to seven months on new industrial
development in the city while officials develop a sense of vision.
- Protecting
Newnan's
Government's objective should be to preserve and protect Newnan's
historical and cultural integrity. That public interest objective
would seem to outweigh the desire of one entrepreneur.
- Valdes
jurors tour prison
Judge leads group through X-wing STARKE - Jurors in the trial of four
former corrections officers visited Friday the cells at Florida State
Prison's X-wing where inmate Frank Valdes was allegedly beaten and
found unconscious.
- Court
upholds tighter rules on office surgery
The appeals court action largely affects cosmetic surgeons, who often
operate in the office to keep costs down.
- Old
bills dog Sen. Latvala's partner
Political consultant Jon Coley defends his actions in not paying his
bills or telling his current clients.
- Judge
triples lawyer's sentence -- WEST PALM BEACH -- Circuit Judge
Marvin Mounts, who probed the shocking murders of Judge C.E.
Chillingworth and his wife more than 40 years ago, shocked his own
packed courtroom Friday by sentencing Chillingworth's nephew, a
once-respected lawyer, to 10 years in prison for misusing a client's
money.
- Jefferson:
Price of public trust plummeting
"Loopholes" are those little areas of regulation that laws
don't explicitly cover. Such omissions, by design or happenstance,
have allowed some American capitalists to exploit the investments of
average...
- Housing
finance inquiry expands
A federal grand jury expanded its investigation into alleged
corruption in Palm Beach County by issuing a subpoena Friday for
documents on two public housing projects and a defunct nonprofit...
- Cirent
will leave anyway
Between 1995 and 1999, state and local officials
created an incentive package full of tax breaks and public money the
likes of which Central Florida had never seen -- all for a company
that announced this week that it is leaving town.
-
Telemarketers a tough turnoff
Just now the phone rings. Serendipity calling. I'm expecting a
call back from Sen. Ron Klein, the Legislature's point man in the
campaign to limit incessant, invasive, despised telemarketers.
``Hello,'' I say into electronic nothingness. No senator on the line.
No living person on the line. Only a recorded variation of something
incessant, invasive, despised.
- Is
there a place for dissension during wartime?
We are now about four months into the war on terror and national
opinion still seems to be largely supportive of our government's
actions at home and abroad. However, if you listen very carefully you
can detect a few still small voices of dissent in certain places.
- Ex-Enron
executive found shot to death
The Enron saga slipped from scandal to tragedy Friday
as J. Clifford Baxter, a former vice chairman of the company who
“complained mightily” about some of its off-the-books
partnerships, was found shot dead in his car, an apparent suicide.
1/25/02
- Suit
asks court to redraw districts
Legislators now have redistricting task Florida lawmakers haven't
finalized their first redistricting map, but the matter is already
heading to court. U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings, D-Fort Lauderdale, Carrie
Meek, D-Miami, and Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, the only blacks in
the state's 23-member congressional delegation, filed a preemptive
strike against the state's congressional map Thursday.
- An
insult to Floridians
A constitutional amendment that would allow the governor to get rid of
justices is insulting. Since retention elections are already in place,
it speaks disapprovingly of how voters vote.
- Democrats
find candidate for agriculture job-- TALLAHASSEE · "Dr.
Andy" Michaud, a Winter Park veterinarian and Democrat who ran
unsuccessfully for the Legislature, has entered the race for state
commissioner of agriculture with a campaign focused on consumer
protection.
- Chorus
of protest helps save folk festival
Department of Environmental Protection steps in to keep the show going
Way down upon the Suwannee River, the Florida Folk Festival shall rise
again. Secretary of State Katherine Harris and David Struhs, chief of
the Department of Environmental Protection, announced Thursday that
the show will go on - despite budget cuts that threatened the
woodlands weekend of music, dance, storytelling and frontier
craftsmanship. The difference will be that DEP's state parks system
will run it, instead of Harris' historical resources division.
-
Florida takes steps to reform job assistance for disabled - Two
weeks after the agency responsible for privatizing state employment
efforts for the disabled was accused of wasting almost $1.2 million,
Education Commissioner Charlie Crist is taking steps to wrest control
of the program from a controversial agency.--
Crist and new Education Secretary Jim Horne removed Carl Miller from
his job as director of the Occupational Access and Opportunity
Commission, the state agency formed in 1999 to oversee the
privatization of Florida's vocational rehabilitation efforts.
- State
seeks health assurances
Bill may help companies better handle rising costs A combination of
increasing health insurance costs and a dwindling number of insurance
providers has forced many Florida companies to start pulling the plug
on the health benefits they offer to employees, a new Florida Chamber
of Commerce study shows.
- Schools
may get more cash
Members of a key House budget committee vowed
Thursday to do better for Florida's public schools than the $728
million boost proposed by Gov. Jeb Bush.
- Bill
would help rape victims prevent pregnancy
Stepping into a morally charged debate Thursday, a Florida House panel
advanced a bill that would require all health facilities in Florida -
even Catholic-run hospitals - to offer the "morning after"
pregnancy prevention drug to rape victims or to refer the victims to a
facility that does.
- Taking
another swing at '3 strikes'
TALLAHASSEE -- Legislative leaders are moving quickly to plug the
legal hole created when a state appeals court struck down one of the
Republican Party's most cherished anti-crime bills: The "three
strikes" law.
- Nitpicking
court pokes two holes in a healthy law
It would be tooooo easy, for the wrong reason, to bash the appeals
court that just threw out Florida's "three strikes" law for
repeat felony offenders.
-
Senate backs McKay plan to overhaul state sales tax -
TALLAHASSEE -- Senate President John McKay on Thursday rolled out his
most detailed plan yet for overhauling the state's sales tax code,
with a majority of senators signed on as cosponsors.--
The 26 cosponsors should give McKay the three-fifths vote he needs for
Senate approval, perhaps as early as next week. But prospects in the
House, where the plan needs 72 votes, are dim. And opponents have
geared up to unveil a new round of attack ads this weekend.
- Tensions
mount in tax debate
TALLAHASSEE -- From haircuts to overnight mail, nearly 100 services in
Florida would be taxed under a bold and controversial Senate plan to
broaden Florida's tax base.
- Controversial
sales tax plan adds 92 items
Senate President John McKay rolled out details on his sweeping tax
plan on Thursday, naming 92 services and goods that would become
subject for...
- Tax
reform opponents take their case to the airwaves
INSIDE Lawmakers haven't finalized their first redistricting map, but
the matter already is heading to court. -- Many companies may be
forced to pull the plug on health benefits, a new study shows.
- Ads
target 14 senators by name, McKay says
TALLAHASSEE -- On the eve of a critical vote to overhaul Florida's
sales tax structure, Senate President John McKay lashed out Thursday
at opponents he accused of launching a smear campaign.
- Editorial:
Crusade for campuses
In a meeting with Gov. Bush more than a month ago, several university
presidents said the Legislature has not completed its job of
reorganizing higher education in Florida. They sought the support of
the governor and the new board of education in getting the authority
over budgets, tuition, fees and financial aid passed from the
lawmakers to the boards of trustees that Gov. Bush has appointed for
the 11 state universities.
- UF's
restructuring
UF faces the biggest challenge of its history; to reinvent itself and
strengthen the institution in an era of dwindling resources and
shifting political realities.
- No
more legalized gambling
It was probably inevitable, as Florida fell on hard times, that the
gambling lobby would try to exploit the misfortune. Sure enough, the
parimutuels are flocking to the Capitol to beguile legislators with
promises of hundreds of millions of dollars for schools, health and
whatever if they are allowed to turn their racetracks and frontons
into casinos.
- Volusia
reverses plan on class schedules
DELAND - The Volusia County school district is rescinding its plan to
convert its high schools to a six-period day by next fall.
Superintendent Bill Hall reversed his December decision to save $1.5
million annually by changing high school class schedules.
- Crist
says elections complaint frivolous
Education Commissioner Charlie Crist said Thursday a complaint filed
with the Florida Elections Commission accusing him of violating
campaign laws is politically motivated and without merit. "This
smells like it's a campaign year," Crist said in a telephone
interview from St. Petersburg, describing the complaint as frivolous.
"There will be a day when I think it will be very clear what this
is."
- Sobbing
ex-guard testifies about abuse
STARKE - A sobbing former prison guard testified in a videotape
deposition that guards punched and kicked a Death Row inmate as they
removed him from his cell and then later lied in their reports.
- Guard
tells of inmate's beating
STARKE -- Corrections officer Raymon C. Hanson tugged at a Kleenex and
cried as he told how his fellow officers beat inmate Frank Valdes and
later made jokes, teasing each other about which of them would be
lovers when they all went to prison for the attack.
- Financial
woes might slow desal facility
An engineering company hired to build and operate Tampa Bay's first
desalination plant has run into financial trouble, the second time in
two years the $110-million project has been jeopardized by money
problems.
- House
vote forced for campaign finance reform
By Julia Malone, Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
Supporters of campaign finance reform corralled enough backers
Thursday to force a House vote on limiting campaign contributions.
Public outrage...
- Congress
opens public inquiries into harm caused by Enron's fall
As Enron's outside auditor tried to deflect the blame for shredding
documents to a single fired employee, Congress began to focus on
preventing similar fallout from the company's collapse.
1/24/02
- Three-strikes
law ruled unconstitutional
A Lakeland appeals court ruled Wednesday that the 1999 "three
strikes" law is unconstitutional, striking down one of the issues
Gov. Jeb Bush campaigned on four years ago. The law violates the
constitutional requirement that statutes deal with only a single
subject, a three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal
ruled.
- Court
revokes 'three-strikes' state statute
Judges say law used on too many crimes An appeals court struck down
Florida's "three-strikes" law Wednesday, saying legislators
used it to get tough on too many types of crime.
- '3
strikes' law backed by Bush swings, misses
An appeals court ruled Wednesday that Florida's
"three strikes" law is unconstitutional, striking down one
of the issues Gov. Jeb Bush campaigned on four years ago.
- Battle-tested,
worthy
Certainly one of the lessons to be learned from the Enron debacle is
how important it is to keep auditing functions independent and honest.
That's as true in government as it is in the private sector.
- Lawmakers
pray together
Red Mass is celebrated for 'justice, peace' Incense wafted upward
Wednesday night and song filled the rafters of Co-Cathedral of St.
Thomas More as prayer upon prayer was heaped on Florida's three
branches of government.
- In
lean year, turkeys stuff budget
After carving $1-billion from the budget, legislators serve up more in
pet projects.
- Bush
says tax reform might hurt business
"We are not undertaxed in this state," he says, referring to
the McKay tax proposals.
- $3.1M
of state property 'lost'
DMS self-audit uncovers documentation problems Florida's housekeeping
agency needs to keep better track of state property, according to its
own troubleshooter. An audit of the Department of Management Services
estimates that 900 items of state property worth more than $3.1
million could be missing. And that's not counting "small,
attractive items" costing less than $1,000 - ranging from palm
terminals to handguns - that weren't properly entered into property
record systems.
- Legislative
panel votes to give state wide powers to search for canker - The
bill, easily approved by a House committee composed mostly of farmers
and commercial growers, would allow judges to issue a search warrant
for an entire county, granting agriculture agents the power to go
anywhere in that county searching for canker.
- Customers
tell state how utility irks them
At local PSC hearings, residential ratepayers share stories of
dissatisfaction with service from Florida Power.
- Folk
festival finds new home with state parks - TALLAHASSEE -- The
Florida Folk Festival, which appeared to be headed for extinction on
the eve of its 50th anniversary, will be placed under control of state
parks officials, Secretary of State Katherine Harris said
Wednesday.... "I've had as many phone calls about this festival
issue as John McKay's tax plan," said Stansel, D-Live Oak.
... An Orlando-based television and music production company, Eagle
Productions, is negotiating with the environmental agency to manage
the festival for the state under contract, officials said.
- Parkway
designation bill taken off table
Tallahassee - Rep. Johnnie Byrd still wants to honor Reagan, call
attention to Alzheimer's Following a meeting with Leon County
lawmakers Wednesday, state Rep. Johnnie Byrd threw the brakes on his
proposal to honor Ronald Reagan by adding the former president's name
to Apalachee Parkway.
- Plans
for tribute take high road
Some Democrats agree to honor President Reagan, but perhaps not by
renaming a road.
- Security
measures require hard decisions, leader says
CLEARWATER -- U.S. troops have been fighting in Afghanistan for more
than three months, but Florida's battle against terrorism is just
getting started -- in the Legislature.
- State
lowers protection status of woodpecker
The red-cockaded woodpeckers in the Apalachicola National Forest don't
realize it, but state wildlife officials no longer consider them to be
threatened. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on
Wednesday voted to continue steps to reduce the state's protective
status of the bird, which timber groups blame for reduced logging in
the national forest.
- Crist
target of election law complaint
A complaint charging Education Commissioner Charlie Crist with
violating state campaign laws was filed Wednesday with the Florida
Elections Commission. Crist, generally considered the front-runner in
a three-way contest for the Republican nomination for state attorney
general, was accused of seven specific violations of Florida statutes.
- Education
commissioner faces 2nd ethics complaint
TALLAHASSEE -- A second ethics complaint has been filed against
Education Commissioner Charlie Crist over his travels and handling of
campaign money in his race for attorney general.
- Bill
lays out structure of financial officer post
TALLAHASSEE -- For the third consecutive year, lawmakers are trying to
figure out how banking and insurance will be regulated in this state.
- Legislature
briefs
Today is the third day of the 60-day session.
-
Tallahassee Ticker - Miami Herald
- Corrections
The Palm Beach Post
Because of a reporting error, an editorial in The Palm Beach Post
Wednesday incorrectly referred to a proposal by Senate President John
McKay, R-Bradenton, to broaden and cut the state income tax. Florida
does not have an income tax; McKay's...
- Plan
to ease rules could hurt Everglades pact, opponents say
By Jim Ash, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
A Republican plan to streamline state environmental regulations could
backfire on Gov. Jeb Bush and his recent agreement with President Bush
to protect...
- Court's
sex-offender ruling shouldn't affect state's prisoners, attorneys say
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week refining the criteria that
allows states to keep violent sexual predators locked up after their
sentences end is not expected to have a major impact on the 385 sex
offenders held in Florida facilities under the state's Jimmy Ryce Act,
Florida attorneys say.
- Official:
Fla. lacks cemetery controls
Six feet under is just another myth when it comes to how deep Florida
graves must be dug. It's more like 12 inches, which is all the state
can require of...
-
Inmate's execution is stayed -STARKE -- In a move that could
affect the death sentences of many of the 372 inmates on Florida's
Death Row, the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday halted today's execution
of a St. Petersburg man convicted of raping and murdering a Tarpon
Springs woman in 1977.
- Ex-warden
testifies in inmate death trial
The former warden of Florida State Prison testified Wednesday that
prison policies were not followed after Death Row inmate Frank Valdes
reportedly...
- Editorial:
Keep crime scene clean working the Enron case
The Palm Beach Post
A humming shredder sounds like a confession. Why would someone risk
obstruction of justice charges unless he or she is trying to cover up
a more serious crime? Legally, Enron and Arthur Andersen are...
- Football
player testifies agent cheated him out of $5 million
Palm Beach Post Wire Services
Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor testified Wednesday that
he was swindled out of most of his $5 million signing bonus by an
agent...
- Hood
seeks state investigation of cover-up claim
Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood asked the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement on Wednesday to investigate a City
Council member's allegation of a cover-up at City Hall.
- Enron
chairman resigns on eve of Congressional hearings
Kenneth L. Lay, the besieged chairman of bankrupt energy trader Enron,
resigned from the company Wednesday on the eve of congressional
hearings into the corporation's collapse.
1/23/02
- Two
signatures needed
Suddenly, there is a Republican disconnect between Enron Corp. and the
laws that were passed to let the company escape both regulation and
paying federal income taxes.…
Now, according to many Republicans, there is no connection between
contributions and favors. Suddenly, there is a disconnect between
Enron Corp., the failed energy commodities trading company, and the
laws that were passed to let the company escape both regulation and
paying federal income taxes, and the $6 million in contributions to
presidential and congressional campaigns over the past 10 years.
"Enron's a different subject, really, from campaign
finance," said John P. Feehery, a spokesman for Hastert, to The
New York Times this week. Rep. Thomas Davis III, R-Va., head of the
House Republicans' re-election committee, said, "If anything,
Enron shows that money doesn't buy special influence."
- Audit
reform, too
In the wake of the Enron scandal will Congress impose
conflict-of-interest rules on accounting firms and the businesses they
audit? Not likely.
- Cities
may lose ability to limit car cell phones
TALLAHASSEE -- The movement to ban drivers from using cell phones
could be halted at least temporarily in Florida.
- Supreme
Court halts Floridian's execution
STARKE -- The U.S. Supreme Court halted the execution of a Florida
man yesterday to consider if his case matches one in Arizona that
could lead to Florida's death penalty being declared unconstitutional.
1/22/01
- Capital
idea: Pay people a livable wage -It is catching on nationwide,
with more than 50 cities passing ordinances mandating some form of
livable wage as opposed to the federal minimum wage. The list includes
Chicago, Los Angeles and Baltimore.
- Death
penalty doubters start Tallahassee trek
RAIFORD -- They joined hands and sang several verses of We
Shall Overcome in a muddy parking lot across Florida 16 from the Union
Correctional Institution as rain sprinkled intermittently.
- State
grand jury suggests reversal of records law
TALLAHASSEE -- For more than a century, Florida law has presumed that
all records are open to public scrutiny.
- Florida's
ethics law needs to be strengthened, enforced
In 1976, Florida voters, in a dramatic and visionary action, raised
their concern about governmental ethics to the highest level. By
initiative petition, they amended the state constitution to declare
that "public office is a public trust" and "the people
shall have the right to secure and sustain that trust against
abuse." It is clear from a review of the legislation enacted to
implement the amendment and the record of enforcement that the
public's right to ethical government has neither been secured or
sustained.
- Katherine
Harris wants $2 million for Congressional bid -- SARASOTA, Fla. -
Secretary of State Katherine Harris set a $2 million fund-raising goal
for her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives.-- She is
running to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Miller, R-Bradenton, who did
not raise $2 million in his ten years in office combined.
- Elections
supervisors to meet in Fort Myers -
About 100 Florida's elections supervisors will meet in Fort Myers this
week, trying to make sure they never again receive the unwanted
notoriety that made the words "butterfly ballot" and
"hanging chad" forever a part of American election lore.
Young will host the supervisors from 22 Florida counties, including
Collier County, who have one thing in common: They all bought the same
touch-screen voting equipment to replace the ones used in the 2000
election. That machinery in Lee County cost $5.8 million.
- Clouds
gather over McKay's tax proposal
TALLAHASSEE -- Rain, overcast skies and mounting opposition to a
controversial tax plan greeted lawmakers Monday as they gathered for a
final round of fundraising and partying before settling in for today's
start of the legislative session.
- Party
unofficially kicks off session
A hot ticket State Sen. Al Lawson can no longer say they couldn't pay
him to hang out with the heftiest of fat-cat lobbyists. "I
haven't been to an AIF party in four years," Lawson, who takes
pride in scoring low on the annual Associated Industries of Florida
report card of pro-business votes in the Legislature, said Monday
night. "But I have to meet some people here to pick up some
campaign checks."
- Redistricting
could spark explosive session
By S.V. Dáte, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- With all the kowtowing they receive from lobbyists, the
opportunity to make long floor speeches and the chance to appear on
television in an election year, Florida's legislators...
-
Bush
to sound off on state's future - Gov. Jeb Bush's State of the
State address is expected to sound like a warm-up for his November
re-election bid. Bush will address the state House and Senate at 10
a.m. CST today, the opening day of the 2002 legislative session.
- Bush
likely to focus on education
As it was for 19 other governors before him, Sept. 11 will be on Gov.
Jeb Bush's mind today when he gives his fourth State of the State
address.
-
UWF
wants state to reward success -University of West Florida
officials say time after time they have stepped up to the challenges
passed down from the state, but now they need the funding that
recognizes their success. UWF is underfunded by about $4.6 million
based on student enrollment.
-
Disabled Floridians linger on a waiting list -- ... Last month,
Gov. Jeb Bush boasted to Exceptional Parent Magazine that social
service administrators had ``eliminated'' a decades-old waiting list
for about 10,000 disabled Floridians seeking care. The list had been
the subject of three federal lawsuits. But he failed to mention the
state's new waiting list, which is expected to hold the names of 6,000
disabled Floridians by this summer.
- Bush
to launch campaign with State of the State
- Bush
calls King one of America's finest
ORLANDO -- Gov. Jeb Bush, speaking Monday at a prayer breakfast
honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., called the late civil rights
leader "one of the two or three greatest Americans of the last
century."
- This
parade not the dream of MLK - ... This town, maybe most towns,
needs a King parade that recalls the real man -- not this Disneyfied
milquetoast feel-good peacemaker taught in elementary schools. Black
marchers, honoring the real King, would have deserted the homecoming
queens, locked arms, veered east and marched defiantly to the beach.--
Someone needs to remind Hallandale Beach, and all of South Florida,
that the man behind their Martin Luther King Day shopping spree was a
hell-raiser.
- Designs
for state quarter bouncing around Capitol
When Gov. Jeb Bush or his successor decides what design to put on
Florida's quarter, dozens of suggestions submitted by residents will
be awaiting perusal in a Capitol filing cabinet. There are numerous
designs incorporating the space shuttle, oranges, orange blossoms and
fish. There's a kneeling Spanish conquistador, a football under a
smiling sun, a golfer in full swing, Seminole Chief Osceola,
flamingos, alligators, palm trees and manatees.
- Area
lawmakers will just need to hang in there
Though the capital city sincerely welcomes lawmakers to Tallahassee,
our community isn't in the coziest position ever to relish every move
that will be made in this extraordinary and complex session. Elected
from a region that's historically Democratic, our local delegation is
naturally largely Democrat. In 2002 we're a little like Charlotte,
Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota counties were in the heyday of
Democratic rule: hanging on fiercely to the rear window like Garfield
the cat.
- Editorial:
One crisis for this year, and no help for Florida
Raising and spending money, also called passing a budget, is the one
thing the Legislature must do in the next 60 days. Anything else is
optional, including the drawing of maps for new...
- Democrats
could play up GOP-Enron connection
Here's how the Democrats should play this Enron thing: 1) Shoot to
kill! Remember Mayor Richard Daley's orders to the Chicago police back
in '68, the bad old days of rioting and street looting?
- State
lets mentally ill buy firearms freely
More people use firearms to kill themselves
than any other method in Florida, yet state officials do nothing to
screen prospective gun buyers for mental illness.
- Officials:
Ban feeding wild critters
Hungry wild animals find snacks too easily and too
often in Central Florida's sprawling neighborhoods, and the problem
gets worse the closer development encroaches on protected areas,
wildlife officials say.
- Project
seeks to chart precise five-day path for hurricanes
By Eliot Kleinberg, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
It's not just trying to predict where the hurricane will strike.
Meteorologists, emergency managers and everyone living in a potential
path of a storm want to know: When? Will it be in the daylight...
- Did
Enron shred papers, too?-- Enron is investigating a report that
documents in its Houston offices were destroyed after federal
regulators issued subpoenas for financial records, a lawyer for the
bankrupt energy giant said.
- Editorial:
Enron's ways and means- ...Enron's contribution trail removes any
doubt that money pays off in influence. The Senate has passed a reform
bill to close the "soft-money" loophole that allowed Enron
and others to give unlimited contributions. House Republican leaders
have blocked a vote. But reform supporters are within two votes of
approving a "discharge petition" to force a vote on the
Shays-Meehan campaign-finance reform bill in the House. Though Rep.
Foley has supported Shays-Meehan, he has insisted party loyalty
prevents him from signing the petition. Enron shows that loyalty to
clean government is more important.
1/21/02
- Editorial:
Fuse burns in Big Cypress
Those who love Big Cypress National Preserve cite its solitude as a
chief reason. An hour southwest of Broward County, the 729,000-acre
wilderness is quiet enough for visitors to hear...
- Martin
Luther King and the leader in the mirror
In this time of lilliputian public figures - calling Tom Daschle,
paging Denny Hastert - the life of Martin Luther King, whose birth we
celebrate this week, stands out in sharp relief. Even 34 years after
his death, the lessons he can teach us are of indestructible value.
They are lessons of courage, justice and tolerance. And especially of
the meaning of authentic leadership.
- Remember
King's message of peace, ending poverty
Each January our nation pauses, quite rightly, to remember the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. But how we remember him is as important as the
fact that we remember him. Many Americans know very little about the
depth of King's convictions and how they evolved over the course of
his lifetime.
- Correction:
Per-student money would rise under Bush budget proposal- By S.V. Dáte,
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- After factoring for inflation, Florida public schools
would get a $40-a-child increase under Gov. Jeb Bush's proposed budget
for next year...
-
Educators
rush to fill budget gap- More students in fewer classes. No summer
school and teachers out of work. These are some of the choices school
districts statewide are grappling with as they rush to fill a budget
shortfall.
-
The
commitment
State lawmakers should make a commitment to children this session
because It is beyond question that rehabilitation, training and
counseling can help keep kids from a lifetime of crime.
- Retirement
plan stays solid despite setback
The Florida Retirement System is in good shape. State employees and
retirees worry when the stock market slides. It doesn't help when
companies such as Enron leave stockholders - including big pension
pots - speed-dialing their lawyers.
- Voters'
Needs Should Be First
One of a series of editorials about issues facing
the Florida Legislature.
- More
bills push less openness
Security threats and identity theft prompt the proposals to limit
access to records and meetings, lawmakers say.
- Take
a breath: Session is busy
State lawmakers are back at it Tuesday, with no shortage of issues to
weigh. Dicey redistricting leads the pack.
- Editorial:
Halt Florida executions over sentencing issue
If Florida will not listen to reason on the death penalty, the state
at least should pause long enough to listen to the Supreme Court. Ten
days ago, the justices agreed...
- A
long road to local dollars
Lean budget year means less room for legislative pork Last March,
trying to find room for an explosion of Medicaid cases, budget writers
asked lawmakers to limit their annual requests for local goodies in
the state spending plan.
- Farmers
try to resurrect suit
Group says feds still owe them OCALA - A national group representing
black farmers is trying to resurrect a lawsuit against the federal
government seeking payments for the denial of federal loans.
- Feeding
wildlife could become illegal
This week the state wildlife commission will consider
making it illegal to feed raccoons, sandhill cranes, foxes and bears.
- USF
hasn't learned from its past
Another atrocity in Israel: A Palestinian gunman shoots up a bat
mitzvah celebration, killing six people, injuring 30. When Sami
Al-Arian infamously shouted, "Death to Israel!," was that
the sort of thing he had in mind? Though the suspended University of
South Florida professor insists he meant it merely as a political
metaphor, many people are understandably unpersuaded.
- What's
so secret?
Our position: University presidents are once again
going to keep themselves out of sight.
- Enron's
free ride
Enron used loopholes to avoid paying income taxes for four of the past
five years and was entitled to a rebate of $382-million.
- Blackburn:
Enron a Texas chainsaw massacre
By Tom Blackburn, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Some media ringmasters already deem Enron a political scandal. They
know how to cover scandals, and they think public policy bores the
audience. But the Enron story isn't about scandal...
-
Court
petition challenges U.S. detention of terrorist suspects; judge agrees
to set hearing
1/20/02
1/19/02
- Budget
shifts funds for state watchdogs
The director of a legislative watchdog agency found his office zeroed
out of Gov. Jeb Bush's proposed budget the same way everyone else did
this week - he read about it after the fact.--John Turcotte, director
of the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
Accountability, discovered that his $6.5 million budget had been wiped
clean by Bush's proposals, as was Auditor General Bill Monroe's $32.4
million budget. The money was transferred to a new category called
"research and analysis," which, like the two watchdog
agencies, falls under support services in the budget.
- Sun
Editorial: Up in smoke-- Incidently, to help prop up his budget
this year, Gov. Bush dipped into the Lawton Chiles Endowment to the
tune of about $136 million, thus continuing his practice of treating
Florida's landmark tobacco settlement like a slush fund.-- "It's
unconscionable," Senate Democratic Leader Tom Rossin, D-Royal
Palm Beach, said of the budgetary sleight-of-hand. "You're
basically using money paid by the tobacco industry to cover the cost
of the Republicans' tax breaks."
- Wheezing
from cuts
Not long ago, the state's commitment to smoking prevention efforts
aimed at young Floridians was a national model. In 1998, $70 million
went toward a youth tobacco control program. But politics and
economics have combined to severely constrict that financial pipeline.
In last month's special session, lawmakers reduced funding by 20
percent, from $37.3 million to $29.8 million. Now Gov. Jeb Bush
suggests cutting another $1 million.
- Gov.
Bush speaks at his father's library
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Florida Gov. Jeb Bush spoke Friday at his
father's presidential library at Texas A&M University, avoiding
any controversial topics while touting his accomplishments in office.
A day after a fund-raiser at the Houston home of a former president of
the beleaguered Enron Corp., Bush never mentioned the now-bankrupt
company headed by family friend Kenneth Lay.
- Editorial:
Smearing McKay's plan
Senate President John McKay, R-Bradenton, does not want to raise
taxes. Some interest groups in Tallahassee, though, are feigning
terror at the thought that he does. A few silly House members have
joined the phony panic...
- McKay
buddy has new gig, old problems
The lawyer Senate President John McKay hand-picked to run his Ethics
and Elections Committee has been publicly reprimanded by the Florida
Supreme Court for ethical lapses and ordered to participate in an
alcohol rehabilitation program.
- Dantzler
leaves race for state post
Former state legislator Rick Dantzler, considered one of the
Democratic Party's best candidates to win a Cabinet seat in November,
dropped out of the race for agriculture commissioner Friday. Dantzler,
46, said he was frustrated by trying "to raise shamefully high
sums of soft money for the party" and said modern-day politics is
"all about money."
- Out
of gas
This promises to be a dismal session. Politics, not policy, will
dictate outcomes. And when it's all over, the politicians won't have
much of substance to brag about when they finally hit the campaign
trail.
- Increasing
health insurance premiums a burden on retirees
We all need insurance to help cover the cost of medical conditions.
However, the cost of insurance is not affordable for many retired
state workers. I recently received notice of our premium costs going
up. I know that everything goes up but please help us, as retirees, to
understand this large increase for the family plan. A family plan may
consist of only two people in many families.
- Overhaul
Sought For Elder Services
TAMPA - Legislators, service providers and
government auditors are confronting what one lawmaker calls
``embarrassing'' lapses in the state elder care system. ...
- Folk
festival's future brightens
DEP appears likely to take control of annual event Rosin up the bow.
The Florida Folk Festival probably has been saved. State officials
said Friday an announcement will be made Thursday about the fate of
the annual festival in White Springs. The festival has been in
jeopardy because of state budget cuts that will eliminate the jobs of
two Department of State employees who organize the festival.
- Transplant
might save Folk Festival
TALLAHASSEE -- When lawmakers sacrificed two staff positions and
$39,000 from the Florida Folk Festival last month to help plug a
budget deficit, many thought that ended the popular spring event after
50 years.
- Doctors:
Death Row inmate Valdes stomped to death
STARKE - Using gruesome autopsy photographs, two medical experts
testified Friday that Death Row inmate Frank Valdes was stomped to
death, with one saying he was handcuffed when the beating occurred.
- 'Another
day' coming
A crucial component of Florida's capital punishment process is
undergoing scrutiny by the U.S. Supreme Court. This is no time to
accelerate the state's machinery of death.
- Firefighters'
anger grows
By all accounts, Lt. Suzie Paxton is a poster child
for the modern fire department. So it came as a surprise when Paxton
found out that a stranger caught skulking around her house with a
video camera this week had been hired by the city she has served for
20 years.
- Electric
deregulation: The skeptics were right
Tallahassee four years ago was in the midst of an intense discussion
over whether to sell all or part of the city's electric utility. A
national movement to bring competition to the world of electrical
power had landed here, and Mayor Scott Maddox led the charge to sell.
-
Union, activists protest at INS-- Union members and civil-rights
activists demonstrated opposite the Immigration and Naturalization
Services building in Miami on Friday, demanding the release of
detained Haitian refugees.
- Repeal
the ban
Some 43,000 colleges students this year may be denied federal
financial aid because of a provision in the law that bans such
assistance to persons who have had drug convictions.
- CEO
to workers: Buy Enron stock
A month after being warned that Enron faced potential
accounting scandals, Chairman Kenneth Lay urged employees to buy the
company's stock and assured them Enron's finances were sound and its
books in good shape.
- Another
Enron victim-- It's not just
employees and stockholders being hurt by the Enron losses.
- Plants
still in Enron's plans
Bankruptcy and the swirl of controversy and
investigations hasn't stopped Enron Corp.'s plans for building power
plants in Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach.
- Editorial:
Still cool on warming
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has offered American motorists half a
tank in their search for sensible fuel policy. He promised major
government investments to develop pollution-free...
-
New
hires offset area job losses-- Escambia and Santa Rosa counties'
jobless rate held steady in December, even as the Florida rate soared
to its highest point in seven years.
-
Baker
told to move new mural
A controversial mural depicting the history of Baker County was
hung on the second floor of the county courthouse yesterday, only to
be moved to another part of the building because of an injunction.
-
Surveyors
weigh in on identity theft woes
Less information intake recommended by panel Don't collect so much
personal information. Make people renew their driver's licenses in
person more often. Exempt more public records from public scrutiny.
Treat identity-theft victims with a little more respect.
1/18/02
- State's
late Enron buys questioned - WASHINGTON -- A New York firm that
bought Enron stock for Florida's pension fund is being investigated
for possible conflict of interest because it allowed an executive to
sit on the failed energy-trading company's board.
State officials said Thursday that they did not learn until late last
year that Frank Savage, a top executive of Alliance Capital Management
Corp., was a member of the Enron board.
- Former
Enron president to host fund-raiser for Bush
A former Enron president will host a fund-raiser for Gov. Jeb Bush
Thursday in Houston.
- Lower
taxes offer liberation from big government
The Jan. 12 column, Florida sliding back to its Old South ways, is
nothing more than a mean-spirited attack on my administration that
tries to equate some of my policies -- especially my support of lower
taxes -- to those of a particularly dark period in the South's past.
Reasonable people can disagree about what policies and tax rates
are better for Floridians, or whether tax reform is necessary for our
state, but it is beyond the pale to brand those advocating lower taxes
as secessionists or de facto racists. Low taxes do not discriminate;
they help everyone, including African-Americans and other minorities,
because they pay taxes, too.
Since 1999, our state has steadily moved toward a better and
brighter future for its citizens -- improving their quality of life
and expanding their economic opportunity -- while clearly distancing
itself from the Old South ways mentioned in your article.
Florida is today a national leader in a number of issues, and all
our citizens should take pride in that. We have increased funding for
our K-20 education system by $3.9-billion over the last four years. We
have gone from 78 "F" schools in 1999 to zero this year. We
have provided health care coverage to 85 percent of all eligible
children thanks to our KidCare program. We have increased by 48
percent the funding allocated for community-based care for our
elderly. We enjoy the lowest crime rate since 1972. We have doubled
the funding destined for child welfare programs since 1998. In
partnership with the federal government, we have committed $8-billion
to protecting and restoring the Everglades. Our list of
accomplishments goes on and on, all while lowering taxes.
I prefer to think of lower taxes, better policies and visionary
leadership not as secession, but as liberation from the slavery of
big, bloated government.
-- Jeb Bush, governor, Tallahassee
- The
ethics banner
Governor
Jeb Bush had his head handed to him on one top-priority issue soon
after taking office. The issue was ethics reform in state government.
- Judge
won't revoke layoffs
But court says state employees are entitled to hearings A circuit
judge refused to reverse state layoffs Thursday but said employees are
entitled to hearings if they suspect favoritism was shown in deciding
who would lose jobs.
- Sharp ton:
Rights fight is now
TAMPA -- A toned-down Rev. Al Sharpton spoke to 1,000 people Thursday
night at the University of South Florida, imploring them to get active
in civil rights causes.
- Judge
says homeowners who lost healthy trees can sue state
South Florida homeowners who lost healthy backyard citrus trees
persuaded a Broward Circuit judge to let them sue the state through a
class-action lawsuit.
- Court
allows vote for pregnant pigs amendment
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously paved the way for
voters to decide whether pregnant pigs should be caged. But three of
the seven justices made it clear they don't think the fate of pigs is
the stuff the constitution should be made of. In the written opinion,
Justice Barbara Pariente said the Supreme Court could advise only on
whether the proposed amendment met two very narrow rules: whether the
ballot summary adequately described the amendment and whether the
amendment dealt with only one subject.
- Plight
of pigs in the family way points to weighty idea
It might sound wacky, but the Florida Supreme Court did exactly right
on Thursday when it approved a constitutional amendment that would
protect pregnant pigs for this November's ballot.
- Graham
previews dismal education report
SARASOTA - U.S. Sen. Bob Graham previewed a statewide report Thursday
that shows barely half of Florida's entering high school freshmen
graduate four years later. Graham brought gasps from his Tiger Bay
luncheon audience when he cited statistics from an executive summary
of the yet-to-be-released report being prepared by the Florida Chamber
of Commerce.
- Orlando
jobless rate rises to 5.1%
The Orlando area's unemployment rate last month stood
at its highest level in seven years -- a troubling figure for experts
who say seasonal hiring typically gives the local economy a boost.
- USF's
firestorm
The Sami Al-Arian controversy won't go away until university officials
either reinstate the professor or come up with a better reason for
firing him.
- Stay
strong on clean air
President Bush's administration is sending a mixed message on clean
air. On Wednesday, the Justice Department said it would prosecute
cases brought by the Clinton administration against coal-fired power
plants and oil refineries that refused to install pollution controls
as required by the Clean Air Act. At the same time, the White House
and Environmental Protection Agency are considering weakening the very
rules that are used to enforce the act.
1/17/02
- Florida
officials ask questions about fund manager's investment in Enron-
Florida officials are trying to determine whether an investment firm
acted improperly when its purchase of Enron stock resulted in a $306
million loss for the state pension fund.
- Former
president of Enron to host fund-raiser for Gov. Bush -- ORLANDO,
Fla. - A former Enron president will host a fund-raiser for Gov. Jeb
Bush Thursday in Houston.- Bush will attend the $500 a person
reception at Richard Kinder's home. Kinder left Enron in 1996 and
formed Kinder Morgan, an $18 billion energy company.
- A
flimsy budget
The budget Gov. Jeb Bush's unveiled this week is inadequate in nearly
every way, offering little help to schools, state workers and health
and social programs.
- Student
money dips in Bush plan
TALLAHASSEE -- Despite claims that his new budget gives more money to
education, Gov. Jeb Bush's proposal would actually deliver to public
schools $30 less per child, after inflation...
-
Juvenile justice head confronts critics-- Faced with a rising
chorus of critics who believe his agency has turned its back on
efforts to reform juvenile delinquents, Juvenile Justice Secretary
William Bankhead confronted child advocates in Fort Lauderdale
Wednesday and vowed not to abandon troubled kids.
- Juvenile
Justice chief fails to sway leaders- The head of the Department of
Juvenile Justice faced tough questioning Wednesday from Broward's
child advocates who charge that budget cuts and a warped department
philosophy are preventing troubled children from getting the help they
need.
- Critics
eager for vote on tax proposal
As opponents stiffen their resolve to defeat John McKay's plan, some
senators drop their support.
- Disdain
greets revised plan for sales taxes-- TALLAHASSEE · If Senate
President John McKay was looking to blunt criticism of his sweeping
tax overhaul by exempting key industries, the strategy flopped
miserably Wednesday.--
Lobbyists representing many of the same interests McKay is reaching
out to said they would continue opposing the plan, now the subject of
a withering TV campaign sponsored by the Florida Association of
Broadcasters.
-
Governor sued over `Choose Life' license plate - The Women's
Emergency Network and others are seeking a temporary restraining order
to block further distribution of the more than $680,000 collected from
purchase of the plates.
- Defense:
Valdes, not guards, was violent
The attorneys for the prison guards charged in the death of Frank
Valdes paint a picture of a dangerous inmate spoiling for a violent
confrontation.
-
Valdes was kicked `like a football,' jury told- STARKE, Fla. --
Two and a half years after the death of Frank Valdes at Florida State
Prison drew national attention, a prosecutor told a jury Wednesday
that prison guards killed the career criminal from Miami, ``kicking
him like a football,'' following a violent attempt to take him out of
his cell.
- Editorial:
Delayed canker ruling
The Palm Beach Post
State agriculture officials hoped to finish nearly all the cutting in
their citrus canker eradication program by the end of last year. Legal
challenges prevented that, and now threaten to permit...
- Bush
proposes restoring health cutbacks
The catch? Low-income participants would have to chip in more of the
cost.
- Crime
rate declines as tack turns tough -- Florida's international image
in the 1980s flashed from ``sun and fun'' to ``gun and run.''
- Loophole
let 125 prohibited buyers get guns in Florida
By Colleen Mastony, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
A little-known loophole has allowed 125 felons and other prohibited
buyers to purchase guns in Florida because background checks took
longer than three days, according to a study...
- Teachers
union to back McBride
Florida's biggest teachers union today plans to
recommend Tampa-area attorney Bill McBride, a long shot in the
Democratic campaign for governor.
- Legal
protection for gays could spark bitter debate
One of the most controversial and bitter issues to
grip American communities in recent years is coming to Orlando: the
debate over whether to ban discrimination against gays.
- U.S.
moves to stop oil drilling at Big Cypress by buying mineral rights
Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced Wednesday that the United
States is attempting to thwart plans for more oil drilling at Big
Cypress National Preserve by acquiring the mineral rights.
-
Stewards of Dry Tortugas park face threats from accidents, pollution-
DRY TORTUGAS -- Out of the corner of his eye, Park Service ranger Mike
Ryan spots a brown plastic bag dancing in the wind above a moat that
rings Fort Jefferson -- a desolate former military fortress that has
become the crown jewel of one of the nation's most far-flung, and
ecologically sensitive, national parks.
-
State considers anti-radiation pill- State officials began meeting
Tuesday to consider the federal government's offer for free
radiation-blocking pills for 230,000 people living close to Florida's
three nuclear power plants.
- Palm
Beach County blasted as one of 'Top 12 Meanest' to homeless
A local homeless advocate denounced a national report released this
week that singles out Palm Beach County for being "mean" to
the homeless.
- Editorial:
Wrong players at recess
How President Bush appoints is less important than whom President Bush
appoints. With Otto Reich and Eugene Scalia, the issue is their
credentials, or lack of them...
1/16/02
- Bush
unveils budget, draws criticism for education claims
By Jim Ash and S.V. Dáte, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday presented his $47.8 billion
budget proposal for next year, an austerity plan that puts education
and tax cuts ahead of state workers...
- 3,023
state jobs cut in Gov. Bush's new budget
Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday unveiled a $48.7 billion, no-frills state
budget plan that slashes more than 3,000 state jobs but restores some
of the spending cuts that legislators made to education and social
services last month.
- No
raises come with Bush budget
Plan has $56M for bonuses, $400M bill pot Gov. Jeb Bush's new budget
contains no pay raises for state employees but would allow performance
bonuses for about one out of three workers.
- Bush's
budget plan keeps status quo
Many of the proposed spending increases make up for cuts lawmakers
enacted last month.
- Governor's
budget proposal emphasizes education
Gov. Jeb Bush wants to spend up to $1 billion more on education next
year, but he's counting on benefits of the 1990s economy and higher
local property taxes, not state revenue, to help him do so.
- Anti-tobacco
coalition assails state's budget cuts - A report released Tuesday
by a coalition of health advocacy and education groups cited Florida
as one of the "10 most disappointing states of 2001" for
slashing funding to one of the nation's most successful
tobacco-prevention programs.
- Tentative
water-sharing agreement reached
Historic proposal helps Apalachicola oysters, cuts off Atlanta's
supply by 2030 ATLANTA - After more than a decade of wrangling,
Alabama, Georgia and Florida announced Tuesday a tentative agreement
on a Florida proposal for sharing water from the
Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system.
- McKay
gives an inch; will tax reform lose a mile?
Dang. What fun is it to be a soldier in John McKay's army if his side
keeps trying to surrender before the battle?
- McKay
bows to critics, changes tax plan
Responding to criticism of his tax reform plan, Senate President John
McKay has proposed to keep a host of tax exemptions in place,
including ones favored by some of his most strident opponents.
- McKay
amends tax plan revision
After redoing the math, he concludes the sales tax rate could be
lowered to 4.5 percent, not 4 percent.
- McKay
puts brakes on tax scheme
Less than a month after launching a controversial
push to overhaul Florida's tax structure, Senate President John McKay
scaled back his proposal Tuesday, dropping a planned tax cut for theme
parks, hotels and rental cars.
- Leaders
face off about schools
Bush, Graham debate state education plan Comparing Florida's new
education system to the Titanic and the Legislature's treatment of the
Board of Regents to a mass execution, U.S. Sen. Bob Graham predicted
Tuesday that Florida students will fall behind in the "new
economy."
- Citing
report, Graham blasts education reform
Sen. Bob Graham is leading a campaign to restore the board of regents
that Gov. Jeb Bush abolished.
-
Plan
to search for oil in preserve moves ahead
WEST PALM BEACH - A proposal to search for oil in the Big Cypress
National Preserve by detonating dynamite in 14,700 holes and drilling
a 11,800-foot exploratory well has won initial approval from the
National Park Service.
- 'Choose
Life' tag challenged in suit
WEST PALM BEACH - A pro-abortion rights law firm challenged the
constitutionality of Florida's "Choose Life" license plates
Tuesday, saying in a lawsuit the way the funds it raises are
distributed violates the separation of church and state.
- Counties
unveil new vote machines
Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark stood before a bevy of
TV cameras and supporters Tuesday, saying county residents were about
to undergo "a revolutionary change" in how they vote.
- Mother
Nature has little to do with catching the cold or flu
Americans will catch a billion colds this year, and most will pick
them up during the winter months. But it won't be because they went
out in the chilly weather without a hat or got wet feet getting from
parking lot to office.
- UF's
sham committee
The decision to downgrade the status of the task force for the purpose
of evading the Sunshine Law is just the latest development in a
disturbing trend toward secrecy in state university governance.
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