Much of the business of state government has gone private
Bush's push to privatize services will have an impact long after he leaves office. While some moves have drawn praise, others have wound up in court.

GOP using subtle threats for funds, Democrats find-- Bush is hardly the first governor, Republican or Democrat, to dominate a state's political fund-raising. But many Florida Democrats say his and his allies' tactics are unusually blunt. Republicans in the governor's administration and the Legislature, they say, have warned prospective donors who have business with the state to make sure they give much more to Republicans than to Democrats.- 
Democrats still get money from organized labor and trial lawyers, but so far this year the state GOP has raised $37.8 million to the Democrats' $11 million.- 
Martha Barnett, former president of the American Bar Association and a partner in McBride's law firm, Holland & Knight, said her efforts to raise money for McBride ran into repeated roadblocks. "Any number of people I have called ... have told me they would like to, but they had been given a strong message that if their name shows up on any list, they should worry whether they will continue to get state work," she said.

Groups will help votes be counted-- A nonpartisan civil-rights group has teamed up with activists with the goal of ensuring that all Florida votes are counted on Election Day.-- 
The People for the American Way Foundation has launched a project called "election protection," consisting of a team of volunteers who will monitor polls and answer voters' legal questions in the event of problems.

Black vote could help McBride; Bush hopes to chip away
TALLAHASSEE — Bill McBride is hoping for a large turnout among black voters. Gov. Jeb Bush is hoping fewer of them vote Democratic than in years past. Bush led a news conference with several black community and church leaders Wednesday in Miami while McBride spoke to a standing room only crowd at New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jacksonville. In what is shaping up to be a close race, it's clear black voters could play an important role in election results. Analysts say if black turnout is similar to the 2000 presidential election, McBride could win.

Poll shows Gov. Jeb Bush gains lead over Bill McBride
MIAMI — Gov. Jeb Bush has built a lead over Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride less than a week before Tuesday's election, a poll published Wednesday showed. A poll conducted Oct. 28-29 by the Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., showed Bush ahead of McBride by 51 percent to 43 percent, with 5 percent of the 800 registered voters interviewed undecided.

Poll shows Bush with open road to victory-- TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush is poised for re- election Tuesday, barring a dramatic turn of events or an extraordinary outpouring of Democratic voters for Bill McBride, a new statewide survey shows.- 
The governor leads the challenger 51 percent to 43 percent in the final week of the race, according to the telephone poll of likely voters conducted for the Orlando Sentinel, WESH/NewsChannel 2 and other Florida media.-
Bush's advantage is overwhelming in most parts of the state, the poll shows. The independent-minded "swing voters" critical to any electoral victory in Florida are supporting the governor, and even one in five Democrats supports Bush

Five points up, five days to go
To be five points ahead five days before the gubernatorial election is to draw a veritable pantheon of Republican Party stars to campaign by your side and sing your praises, as Gov. Jeb Bush has this week. 

Bush leads in Mason- Dixon poll
Gov. Jeb Bush is right back where he was on the eve of his election four years ago, a new poll indicated Wednesday. As he and Democrat Bill McBride head into a nonstop long weekend of campaigning, the governor scored a lead of 51 percent to 43 percent in a Mason-Dixon Florida Poll.

Haitians' outrage spills into Bush stop
MIAMI -- The motorcade slipped past barricades and protesters, pulling up behind a little green building. Gov. Jeb Bush, accustomed to wading through adoring crowds, slipped in a back entrance.-- 
It wasn't supposed to happen this way

Governor pressed to 'call brother' for help
Tensions over U.S. treatment of Haitian refugees spilled into the governor's race Wednesday when U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek confronted Gov. Jeb Bush, demanding that he wield his sibling power to free from detention 235 refugees.

Source of U.S. policy on Haitian migrants a well-kept secret
WASHINGTON - Ten months after it was put into effect, the origin
of the policy of incarcerating Haitians who arrive on Florida shores seeking political asylum remains a mystery that even veteran legislators apparently can't solve.
Critics decry the policy as discriminatory, saying that no other nationality is singled out and jailed. But where the policy came from within the Bush administration -- or even who established it -- remains unknown.

END THE DOUBLE STANDARD
Packed into a rickety 50-foot boat, more than 200 Haitians beached on Rickenbacker Causeway Tuesday -- their heart-wrenching desperation in plain view on national TV. The Bush administration must offer the Haitians a fair chance to plead their cases to stay. This isn't asking for special treatment, only an appeal for a fair chance to pursue their cases.

Tenacious lawmaker thorn in Bush's side
By S.V. Date, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Gov. Jeb Bush is white, and attended an elite private school in Massachusetts. State Sen. Kendrick Meek is black and graduated from the public Miami Springs High School. Bush is a millionaire. Meek ranks among the poorest of 160 state legislators. Bush and Meek. Jeb and Anti- Jeb.

Budget problems are likely, no matter who is governor
Set aside for the moment who your choice for governor is.

Election 2002: Bush endorsements
Here are excerpts from newspaper endorsements for Jeb Bush in the gubernatorial race.

Election 2002: McBride endorsements
Here are excerpts from newspaper endorsements for Bill McBride in the gubernatorial race.

Where Bush and McBride stand on education issues

FBI looks into misleading voter calls
ORLANDO — An FBI agent has interviewed Florida Democratic chairman Bob Poe about a phone call he received urging him to cast his absentee ballot days after the Nov. 5 election. Poe said Wednesday that an agent from the FBI's Orlando office interviewed him by phone for about 15 minutes on Tuesday about the call he received late last week from a man purporting to be with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride's campaign.

Florida draws most national hard money from GOP
WASHINGTON — Florida, where presidential brother Jeb Bush is trying to win re-election as governor, has drawn the most money from the national GOP of any state this election, while the Democratic Party has taken aim at President Bush's home state of Texas, a study released Wednesday shows. The Federal Election Commission analysis also found the Republican Party's national fund-raising committees with a more than 2-to-1 advantage over the national Democratic committees in "hard money," limited contributions the parties can spend directly on candidates.

Nelson for agriculture
Sentinel position: David Nelson would better represent Florida in the agriculture post.

Ag candidate criticizes land deal
The wife of New York Gov. George Pataki is an investor in the 1,410-acre deal.- A $15 million state land purchase meant to help the Loxahatchee River is a "swindle" that would enrich the wife of New York Gov. George Pataki, Florida agriculture commissioner candidate David Nelson charged Wednesday.
"This is just another example of special-interest politics," said Nelson, who issued a news release reciting information from a recent article in The Village Voice.

Bronson Spends; Nelson Contends
TALLAHASSEE - Charles Bronson is finding out that money can't buy you love - or an election. Bronson, appointed last year as commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, is beloved by Florida farmers and ranchers. But he remains virtually unknown to most state ...

Bronson has tough challenge in Nelson
The race for Florida commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services has quietly become one of the most curious, hotly-contested statewide elections this fall.

Rhea Chiles, consumer group support class-size measure
TALLAHASSEE — Rhea Chiles, the widow of the late Gov. Lawton Chiles and a longtime advocate for social services and groups representing seniors and retirees, endorsed the class-size ballot measure on Wednesday. Budd Bell, a veteran advocate for the Clearinghouse on Human Services, also backed Amendment 9, as did the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans and the Florida Consumer Action Network.

Voters will have say on open records, meetings
A year after state lawmakers launched the strongest assault yet on Florida's constitutional guarantee to an open government, voters are being asked to make it harder than ever to seal public records or close public meetings.

State auditor recommends further election reforms
TALLAHASSEE — The state should take a stronger role in voter and poll-worker education to avoid problems like those experienced in the September primary, an auditing agency said Wednesday. The elections division should identify options for improving the effectiveness of education programs and monitor counties' processes for determining voter eligibility, said the report from the state Office of Program Policy Analysis and Governmental Accountability. The report noted the problems in Broward and Miami- Dade counties Sept. 10 when some precincts did not open on time, some voting machines failed to operate and there was an insufficient supply of ballots.

Long delays likely at polls
A ballot larded with election contests, judicial retentions, county questions and constitutional amendments could produce long delays at the polls Tuesday even if the new voting machines work perfectly, according to local and national experts.

State attorney probes ballots
A suspected ballot-stuffing scheme aimed at Hispanics prompted Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar to launch an absentee-ballot fraud investigation Wednesday.

Bush centralizes governor's power
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush manages the nation's fourth-largest state a little like Bill Gates manages Microsoft -- he wants all systems to evolve around his concept and he uses his computer finesse to separate him from the opposition.
The 49-year-old governor has moved mountains in state policy by his strict adherence to a tough management style that stays focused, solicits broad input, and punishes public dissent. It helped that he had a Republican-led legislature to enact his lengthy agenda.

McBride a consensus-builder
Bill McBride says he would like to think of himself as a manager who seeks consensus.

Graham sees uphill task on universities' overhaul
Bob Graham is gambling he can persuade voters to dismantle the overhaul of the public universities system.

Postage goof returns ballots to Seminole absentee voters
Confused Seminole County voters are mailing their absentee ballots without enough stamps, resulting in postal officials stamping them "Return to Sender" a week before Election Day.

Oviedo sues, says Web site intercepts council e- mails - SANFORD -- Oviedo sued the founder of a government watchdog group this week, accusing the organization of intercepting e-mails intended for City Council members.- 
Oviedo CANDOR, or Citizens and Neighbors Deserve Openness & Responsibility, launched a Web site Oct. 1 that includes e-mail addresses for each City Council member.- 
The lawsuit states that CANDOR has no authority to set up such addresses and should be barred from doing so. Also, because e-mail to elected officials is considered public record, CANDOR is interfering with the collection and maintenance of public records, the suit states.

Health costs raise the ire of seniors, HMOs
With insurance companies announcing this week that Medicare HMO members will face major increases in out-of-pocket costs next year, desperate seniors are clamoring for help to Washington politicians. So are the health plans.

Refugees: Graham, Nelson seek change in Haitian refugee treatment
WASHINGTON — Four months before 200 Haitians came ashore near Miami to seek asylum in the United States on Tuesday, Florida's senators began a public campaign to reverse a Bush administration policy that treats Haitians differently from any other asylum seeker. At issue is an unwritten policy initiated in December that calls for the imprisonment of Haitian asylum seekers until their court hearing. Other asylum seekers are released to live freely in the United States until their court dates.

Meek urges Gov. Bush to ask brother to free jailed Haitians
MIAMI — A black congresswoman pressed Florida Gov. Jeb Bush Wednesday to ask his brother, President Bush, to order the release of 211 Haitian migrants captured as they waded ashore on national television, calling their detention discriminatory. U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek confronted Bush, who is fighting for re-election, during a campaign stop where he accepted the endorsement of some local blacks. The Miami Democrat told Bush the Haitians should be treated like Cuban migrants. "All you have to do is call — the wet foot-dry foot policy would take effect," Meek said, referring to a policy that specifically allows Cuban migrants to remain in the United States permanently if they reach land, while those intercepted at sea are usually returned.

Medical students won't face charges in I-75 terror scare
Florida authorities will not file charges against three medical students involved in a terror scare on Alligator Alley last month that ended with their release 17 hours after they were detained. Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman Larry Long said the three — Kambiz Butt, 25; Ayman Gheith, 27; and Omar Choudhary, 23 — won't face charges because "there is nothing to charge them with."

Sierra Club settles litigation against developer
ST. AUGUSTINE — The Sierra Club has settled litigation seeking to halt the construction of Nocatee, a 15,000- acre development in northeast Florida. Specific details of the agreement, announced jointly Tuesday by Sierra Club and development officials, will remain sealed. Identical statements released by the club and Nocatee said the agreement "will benefit the environment and the long-range quality of life" in St. Johns County and the area.

Builders in rush to get permits - For the average 2,000-square-foot home, the road impact fee increases from $2,433 to $5,113. -- The cost of housing in Collier County is going up few more thousand dollars Friday. To beat the deadline and save enough money to pay for, say, an affordable kitchen appliance package including dishwasher, microwave oven, stove and refrigerator, builders are making a run on building permits.

Proposals to settle Collier rural growth plan challenges rebuffed
Landowners pleaded during a mediation session Wednesday that they deserved a break from a new plan for rural growth in Collier County, but they didn't get very far. Collier County representatives, backed by the state Department of Community Affairs and environmental groups, rebuffed proposals to settle challenges the landowners filed in September to the new plan.

Gulf Breeze council defers major talks on Florida Water
GULF BREEZE — City officials in this Panhandle community may have gotten a taste of criticism to come Wednesday as they continue their quest to buy the state's largest private water utility with holdings on Marco Island.

The right to counsel
A federal court of appeals in Richmond, Va., is hearing for the third time the case of whether Yaser Esam Hamdi should be allowed to see a lawyer, in this case a federal public defender. A federal district judge said he should. Hamdi, 22, a Saudi who served briefly with the Taliban, was a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay until interrogators found that he had been born in Louisiana and could plausibly claim American citizenship.

Inside the First Amendment: Respecting the rights of campus newspapers
The administrators at Governors State University must have watched one too many old newspaper movies. "Stop the presses" was a shout by crusty old newspaper editors when big news broke. It wasn't intended as a rallying cry for college administrators eager to cut off student expression. Next month, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is to hear arguments in a case with the potential to undercut First Amendment freedoms on college campuses.

Maureen Dowd: Rummy runs rampant
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fired off a memo last week revoking the longstanding title "CINC," or "commander in chief," bestowed on Tommy Franks and the cadre of other four-star military chieftains who plan and fight American wars around the world. He's been on a rampage for months about top generals and admirals getting to call themselves commander in chief. Himself, as Rummy is known behind his back at the Pentagon, is not being a total tyrant.

10/30/02

DOE fails to conduct audits
The internal watchdogs who make sure the Florida Department of Education is complying with state law and spending taxpayer dollars efficiently were too overwhelmed to do their jobs last year, state auditors said Tuesday.

As you vote, remember Legislature's greatest hits
This morning, let's do precisely what many members of the Florida Legislature hope that we will not do. Let's remember some of what the Florida Legislature did to us in its annual session last spring.  The reason your state House member and your state senator do not want you to remember is that the election is Tuesday.  Your legislator instead wants you to think only of all that stuff he or she has been sending you in the mail more recently. It probably says something like, "Fighting for You."  Just remember:

Relentless growth alarms Floridians, becomes major campaign issue
Rows of barrel-tiled roofs march across the landscape. Earth-moving equipment lumbers through old farm fields, building houses for the thousands of newcomers arriving each year for sunshine and golf. 
Gov. Jeb Bush, a former Miami developer, said the arrival of thousands of newcomers each year boosts the state's economy. But he said the state can do a better job of managing growth. He has signed bills to link local development decisions to schools and water supplies. And his Department of Community Affairs stepped in to restrict development in Collier County. But his commission on reforming growth-management laws saw most of its proposals die in the Legislature, and environmentalists blame Bush for failing use his clout to prevent that.
Democratic challenger Bill McBride has made the need to control growth an important part of his pitch to voters. In a speech on environment issues delivered on the Manatee River, he said the state's "growth as usual" must come to an end. The state must stop developers from continuing to pave over farms and pastures, he said. Instead, the state must direct future development into areas that already have the infrastructure to support it.

After two foul-ups, election system hopes to get it right
The hanging chads and the butterfly ballots are long gone, but there is fear across Florida that at this time next week, everyone will be laughing at the state's election system again. "I think there are going to be some glitches," sighed Henry Callahan, a Fort Lauderdale business consultant. "It's too soon for there to be no glitches."

Bush Ads Hammer McBride In Stretch
TAMPA - As Election Day nears, Gov. Jeb Bush is seeking to bury challenger Bill McBride under a landslide of negative advertising, some of it distorting McBride's career and positions on issues. ...

Congressman says feds should investigate misleading voter calls
TALLAHASSEE — A Michigan congressman asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate who called the chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and urged him to vote — after the election. Florida Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe said he received a call Friday from someone who apparently didn't know his position reminding him to cast his absentee ballot Nov. 10 — five days after Election Day.

Justice Department will send election monitors to Duval
JACKSONVILLE — The U.S. Justice Department will send civil rights monitors to Duval County for next week's general election, officials said Tuesday. The move adds Duval to the list of four other Florida counties targeted for federal monitoring, Justice Department spokesman Jorge Martinez said. Broward, Miami- Dade, Orange and Osceola are the others.

McCain lauds 1 Bush, raps other
The Arizona senator criticizes President Bush's policies during campaign appearances for the governor.

McCain is a little too blunt for Bush
U.S. Sen. John McCain flew to Florida on Tuesday to inspire his fellow war veterans to back Gov. Jeb Bush's reelection, but a little bit of the Arizona lawmaker's famed straight talk took the edge off the governor's finely honed message.

Blacks: It's all about beating Jeb Bush
For Bill McBride to win, it could all come down to the black vote.

McBride goes on offensive -- Bush hammers him on taxes
Democratic candidate Bill McBride went on the attack Tuesday in the governor's race, saying Gov. Jeb Bush has demeaned the office with campaign charges and failed to lead on critical issues from schools to jobs and health care.

He's A Nice Guy. No He's Not. Yes He Is. No He's Not! - DANIEL RUTH - "Chaos reigned through the re- election campaign of the governor, Jeb!, in the wake of his opponent's..."

Man on a mission, but going it alone
Gubernatorial hopeful Bob Kunst, an independent and universally ignored, brings his campaign to Tampa. He predicts an upset.

Elders' advocate backs class size cut
He says Gov. Bush is trying to pit seniors against students, and it won't work.

Crist attack ad draws an angry reply from Dyer
Less than a week after chastising his opponent for "going negative," Republican attorney general candidate Charlie Crist launched a television commercial accusing Democratic state Sen. Buddy Dyer of helping criminals and corporations instead of consumers.

Republican candidate lands Democratic backing
TALLAHASSEE — Several top Democrats, including a former governor, two former House speakers and several former state lawmakers endorsed Republican Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson on Tuesday.

Republican Milligan endorses Democrat Butterworth for Senate
FORT LAUDERDALE — Outgoing Republican Comptroller Robert Milligan endorsed Democratic Attorney General Bob Butterworth on Tuesday in his race for a state Senate seat, saying no one has more integrity.

Panel says pig proposal backers broke election law
TALLAHASSEE -- Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment to protect pregnant pigs have been charged with 210 counts of violating Florida elections laws.

Minors still executed
It's disappointing that the U.S. Supreme Court would continue to allow minors to face the death penalty. If Amendment 1 passes, Florida may be next to allow it.

Theft charge dismissed against former state tech chief
TALLAHASSEE — A judge threw out a theft charge against former state technology chief Roy Cales and threw out key evidence in a forgery charge. Cales, 40, resigned in August 2001 as the state's Chief Information Officer after being charged with grand theft.

Activists urge Gov. Bush to intervene before Haitians deported
MIAMI -- Activists urged Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday to help prevent the deportation of 200 illegal Haitian immigrants who jumped overboard from a freighter after a weeklong voyage and made a dash for a new life.

Citrus canker found in Okeechobee County
OKEECHOBEE — A lime tree in Okeechobee County was infected with citrus canker, agriculture officials said Tuesday. Inspectors found lesions on the tree, located at a residence, earlier this week during a routine inspection of trees.

EPA is sued over spraying
mosquito pesticide

Consumers' outlook sours
Consumers, are caving under the pressure of the job and stock market and war anxiety.

An insurer's bold move
A health insurance company that provides coverage to senior citizens has sent a resounding message to pharmaceutical companies and federal officials with its decision to reimburse seniors who obtain prescription medications outside the country. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. has informed members of the AARP that it will pay the claims for prescription drug purchases that they make in Canada and other countries.

California election a new nadir in modern politics
SAN FRANCISCO — He was the rarest of all rare breeds — a mensch from Minnesota. But this is not a column about Paul Wellstone. No one has to wonder for a minute what he would have wanted, "What would Wellstone do?" The answer all but roars back, "Don't mourn, organize!" The contrast between Paul's passionate populism and this dreary mid-term election is as sad as his death. There's many a contest between political pygmies this year — we're down to seeds and stems again — but even in proud Texas we have to admit that this year's palm for nose-holding voting must go to California.

For the people
Ghoulish but true: as Minnesota mourns the death of Senator Paul Wellstone, many of the state's residents have been receiving fliers bearing a picture of a tombstone. The fliers, sent out by a conservative business group, denounce the late senator's support for maintaining the estate tax. Under the tombstone, the text reads in part: "Paul Wellstone not only wants to tax you and your business to death ... he wants to tax you in the hereafter." 

The rights of 'enemy combatants'
Yasser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen captured in Afghanistan, has been held since April in a naval brig, without formal charges or access to a lawyer. The Bush administration told a federal appeals court in Virginia on Monday that as an "enemy combatant," he is entitled to neither. The administration's position would give the president sweeping powers to strip citizens of their rights and hold them indefinitely. It is unconstitutional, and the appeals court should reject it.

Israeli government on brink of collapse as Sharon's coalition crumbles
JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's hardline government crumbled Wednesday, after Labor Party ministers submitted their resignations in a dispute over funding for Jewish settlements.

FBI gives terror tip 2nd look
U.S. plans to deport Walid Arkeh when his prison term ends. 

Is Big Oil lubricating drive for war with Iraq?
Does the Bush administration have a hidden agenda? If you want to know how utterly estranged Europe and the United States have become, listen to the talk in the streets over the possible U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In the United States, most Americans believe President Bush when he says we have a moral obligation to protect the world from Saddam Hussein's pathological desire to build and employ weapons of mass destruction. In Europe, by contrast, most people believe that the United States is planning to invade Iraq to secure its oil fields.

Wellstone infused politics with soul
"Something died in America," said civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis of Robert F. Kennedy's untimely death. "Something died in all of us."

10/29/02

Candidates to get air waves for free
Giving free air timeto political candidates sounds like a pipe dream, so maybe it's appropriate that the idealists at Tampa community radio station WMNF-FM are offering just that.

Rights activists question U.S. attorney general's plan to monitor Miami-Dade polls - A group of civil rights leaders and community activists took issue Monday with Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision to send lawyers and other observers to the polls in Miami-Dade County, saying his poor record casts doubt on the effort.-- 
The Miami-Dade Elections Reform Coalition, composed of the NAACP, ACLU and black community activists, charged that Ashcroft has repeatedly ignored evidence of discriminatory voting procedures in Miami-Dade and Florida. As a result, its members said, Ashcroft's decision to spend up to $100,000 and send 20 observers to Miami- Dade is suspicious.

Of democracy's many voices those not voting may be loudest
A week from today some of us will head to the polls and vote. Most of us won't. Voter turnout has been declining so stubbornly since the 1960s that barely half the electorate votes in presidential elections, and only 36 to 38 percent does in off-year elections such as this one. Actual voters, in essence, are America's newest, most powerful minority. 

McBride struggles to a slim lead in S. Florida
Outside a strip shopping mall in Hialeah, a crowd of antsy Democrats milled Monday, waiting for Bill McBride, the man they hope can unseat Gov. Jeb Bush next week.

Thousands to lose drug benefits
Prescription drug coverage will end or be scaled back for thousands of county seniors.- Thousands of Palm Beach County seniors will lose their prescription drug coverage in January as several Medicare HMOs cut the coveted benefit to control rising health-care costs, according to data obtained Monday by The Palm Beach Post.- 
Both Health Options and Neighborhood Health Partnership -- with 19,296 and 1,185 Medicare customers, respectively -- are eliminating prescription drug coverage. ... ... In addition to paying more for drugs, most Medicare HMO members next year will face higher fees for hospital stays and visits to specialists.- 
Humana members, for example, will pay $250 a day for their first five days in the hospital next year instead of the $250 per admission they pay now. America's Health Choice members in the Treasure Coast will pay $100 a day at network hospitals, up from nothing this year.

Soaring medical costs a big issue for S. Florida retirees
At the billiards room where he hangs out, military veteran Bob Trader tells his pals he is upset by a news story on how the U.S. Army served Porterhouse steaks and crab legs to soldiers in Afghanistan.

Canker is a key Cabinet race issue
South Florida voters angry with the state's Citrus Canker Eradication Program may play a key role in deciding who becomes the next commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and captures a powerful seat on the newly revamped Florida Cabinet.

Bush calls in GOP star power
With a week to go before Election Day, Democrat Bill McBride is not only running against Gov. Jeb Bush, but he's battling a seemingly endless stream of political celebrities intent on sealing Republican control of Florida.

Judge guts case against Cales
A circuit judge Monday eviscerated the state's case against former state Chief Information Officer Roy Cales by throwing out one count and suppressing the evidence on the second. 

Vote "no" on vague price-tag amendment
Most of the amendments on the ballot next Tuesday are an exercise in hocus-pocus at worst and wishful thinking at best. It sounds reasonable, for example, to let voters know the fiscal impact of constitutional amendments. But Amendment 2, which presumes to attach price tags to proposed future amendments, is flawed in two big ways.

Yes on Miami-Dade home rule
Thanks to a county charter written into the state Constitution in 1957, voters throughout Florida are being drawn into a heated intramural fight in Miami-Dade County. The question is this: Should state lawmakers from Miami-Dade be able to ask county voters whether they want to change their charter?

Paper renews Earnhardt autopsy-photo law fight
A law passed after the death of race car driver Dale Earnhardt that restricts public access to autopsy photos should be tossed out as unconstitutional, the attorney for a student newspaper has urged the Florida Supreme Court.
This is Miami attorney Tom Julin's third attempt to convince a state court to overturn the controversial Family Protection Act passed after the NASCAR driver's death Feb. 18, 2001. 
Julin, representing the Independent Florida Alligator, wrote in part to the justices, "Once a record has been requested, the right to the record is an immediate, fixed right of present enjoyment. To hold otherwise would destroy the operation of the public records law." 

Felons' money still good
As the world learned two years ago, Florida makes it hard for ex- felons to vote. Too hard. They're banned for life, unless the governor and Cabinet act to restore their civil rights. The hoops are easier than they used to be, but Florida ought to do it the way most other states do: by making restoration automatic once one's debt to society is paid.

State reports general election voter registration figures
TALLAHASSEE — Florida gained 143,944 voters since registration closed for the September primary, figures from the state elections office showed Monday. There were 9.3 million voters registered for the Nov. 5 general election.

Reject county term limits
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Term limits is an idea built on myth. Rather than promote democracy, term limits undercut it.

Former poll worker says she was forced out by official's mom
FORT LAUDERDALE — A Broward County poll worker said she lost her job after 15 years of service because the election supervisor's mother wanted the position Kathleen Weinstein, a paraplegic who lives on Social Security, said she needed the $135 wage from the primary election.

Disabled elections worker displaced by official's mother is rehired in Broward
A paraplegic widow living on Social Security, who lost her poll worker position in the primary to make way for Elections Supervisor Miriam Oliphant's mother, will get her old job back.

Prison racial discrimination suit in Ocala begins
OCALA — The white employees and supervisors at Marion and Lake county prisons had a shared sense of contempt for black workers, an attorney said Monday during opening statements of a discrimination trial. The federal lawsuit alleges that white corrections officers at prisons in Marion and Lake counties discriminated against black employees.

Federal program to pump $153 million to Florida sensitive lands
WEST PALM BEACH — Hundreds of farmers in Florida can volunteer to plant native grasses and vegetation in place of crops through a new program designed to restore environmentally sensitive lands. Federal and state agriculture officials announced the $153 million project Monday on the banks of the ailing Lake Tohopekaliga near Kissimmee.

Wildlife will roam on rented land
State and federal agriculture officials went to the edge of Lake Tohopekaliga in Osceola County on Monday to announce a $153 million effort to turn farmland into wildlife habitat.

'Case of paralysis by analysis'- Environmentalists suing EPA in attempt to suspend use of mosquito-fighting pesticide-- 
Environmental groups filed suit Monday asking a judge to suspend the use of a mosquito-fighting pesticide used in Collier and Lee counties and to order the EPA to work with federal wildlife officials to devise new rules for spraying it. Fenthion, sold as Baytex, is suspected in the deaths of hundreds of shorebirds on Marco Island beaches in 1998 and 1999, including birds protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. A federal investigation is ongoing. The lawsuit was filed by the American Bird Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife and the Florida Wildlife Federation against Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman

U.S. violent crime rises for 1st time since 1991 - ...The FBI reported violent crime, except for aggravated assault, had risen 2.1 percent in America last year, the first increase since 1991. Some experts cited the worsening economy as a reason.- 
Florida reported an increase in major crimes, except for murders

SECURITY WAKE-UP CALL
On the day that the FBI warned that another terrorist attack on U.S. soil might be imminent, a bipartisan task force reported that the country is unprepared to protect people or targets against such a disaster. By now, we should be doing better at safeguarding the nation.

Big sell-off in Washington on reform of accounting
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Industry undercuts push for tough oversight.

10/28/02

10 Reasons Not to Vote for JEB 
Make no mistake. Americans do love their royalty. Our founding fathers may have given the finger to the royals in England, but generations later the monarchy still rules. The lack of an official king and queen has only allowed the American public to anoint several unofficial royal lines instead. As much as Americans extol the virtues of hard work, most of us probably would have preferred the silver spoon route. Work is fine, but really, wasn't leaving the womb hard enough? For some lucky sperm, the birth canal is the last tight spot they'll have to find their way out of. Like the Kennedys and the Rockefellers, the Bush clan is a monument to unearned privilege and power, but they've distinguished themselves with their capacity for denial. ...

Bush letter shows need for university system repair
On the 11th of this month, Gov. Jeb Bush sent a letter to each member of the board of trustees of each state university in Florida.
The recipients of this letter already knew Bush, of course. Every one was named to his or her post by Bush last year as part of the brand-new "reorganization" of the state university system.
Every one of them, in the future, might need to be in Bush's good graces to be reappointed.
In his letter, Bush asked his appointees -- actually, he "strongly urged" them -- to give him political help.
Bush asked them to give money to defeat Amendment 11, a proposal put on the Nov. 5 ballot by a citizens' petition. ... ...
Amendment 11 would return us to an independent state university system, under a new Board of Governors.
Do you see a certain irony here?
The very purpose of Amendment 11 is to try to reduce the direct influence of politicians over higher education. ...

Election puts One Florida offstage
As universities' minority enrollment holds steady, the governor's race is dominated by public education issues. (??? see One Florida)

Governor stands by One Florida
In March 2000, opponents of Gov. Jeb Bush's One Florida plan marched on the Capitol 11,000 strong, calling him ``Jeb Crow.'' The marchers, including civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, predicted that the plan to do away with affirmative action in university admissions would undermine decades of progress in minority enrollment.

Day's issues precise
FORT LAUDERDALE -- With two new polls showing him maintaining his lead over Bill McBride, Gov. Jeb Bush found time Sunday to rally opposition to his other opponent on the ballot, the class-size amendment.

Education Measure Roils Florida Race
Ballot Measure to Cut Class Sizes, Opposed By Jeb Bush, Boosts His Democratic Rival

Caution, accuracy now paramount in projections
An exit polling consortium's new approach is at the heart of media reforms triggered by missteps in 2000.

McBride aims to reassure North Florida Democrats
Despite having a centrist image expected to woo conservative voters, he trails Bush in a poll of the region.

Mass mailing from GOP attacks McBride
A flier mailed by the state Republican Party accuses Democrat Bill McBride of entering the governor's race mainly as an escape from his ``failing law firm.''

Bush attack puts rival on defensive
Once viewed as the most potent weapon for Democrats eager to cast Gov. Jeb Bush as a failure on schools, a measure to cap class size instead has turned into an unexpected burden for Bush's Democratic rival, Bill McBride.

McBride has a two-part strategy
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride, trailing Gov. Jeb Bush as the race enters the final stretch, is pursuing a two-part strategy to overtake his rival by Election Day.

McBride encourages blacks to vote
By Brian E. Crowley, Palm Beach Post Political Editor
Black voters are crucial to McBride's effort to deny Bush a second term.

Jeb Bush woos Christian Coalition
By Marc Caputo, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
The governor's views on abortion, gay rights please the group.

DCF workers hard to hold on to
Gov. Jeb Bush has shoved money at the problem so more could be hired. Bill McBride says it's not enough.

New security is cheaper, but will it be better?
When legislators and department heads discuss privatization of state functions, they always say services will be cheaper and better.

Are FCAT grades true barometer?
By Nirvi Shah, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Some educators say the grades don't reflect the reality of achievement inside their schools.

Florida in the habit of Sunshine
Like alcoholics searching for their next drink, Florida legislators are addicted to hiding one public record after another and holding one public meeting after another beyond public view.-- 
In the 10 years since voters embedded the requirement for open government in the Florida Constitution, lawmakers have approved more than 800 exceptions. So it's fairly astounding that this Legislature -- which offered up a record 125 exemptions last session -- would agree to make it harder to pass them.-- 
Maybe lawmakers know they need help breaking this horrible habit. Voters should help them.

Panel's makeup bothers some
Not everyone views the group of 21 people charged with relieving Orange County's gridlock as the perfect mix.
Some see in the lineup appointed by Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty the usual suspects of powerful leaders with ties to business, politics and each other.
Many have sat on previous transportation commissions and organizational boards, raising questions about whether today's problems flow from their lack of prudent planning.

Corporations just the tonic drug benefit effort needed
WASHINGTON -- Georgia-Pacific was one of several large corporations that decided to speak out this year against soaring drug prices.

Strapped charities request 'bailout'
By Andrew Mollison, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Shrinking investments lead ailing nonprofits to consider lobbying the government to raise taxes to pay for services they can no longer provide.

What the insurers don't tell you
The insurance industry -- you may be pleased to hear, as you recover from your premium notice -- is on "The March to Profitability."- 
That's the title of an eight-page advertising feature the industry paid for -- ultimately with your premiums -- in the Oct. 28 issue of Business Week. I usually pass over sections of puffery that advertising departments write with the help of advertisers. But I read this one, and then couldn't wait to pass on the message to those who pay insurance premiums and those who wish they could find a company to cover their home or condo.-- 
The industry, the puff says, "staged a remarkable recovery" from the events of 9/11/01, surviving "the stock market decline that has hurt so many other sectors over the past 12 to 18 months." Insurance company stocks are up again after falling only 1.9 percent for 2001, compared with declines of 12 percent in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and 21 percent in the Nasdaq." Message for investors: Happy days are here again.
That message isn't for policyholders.
How did the companies avoid "what could have been a catastrophe of even greater proportions than it was"? The section explains....

'Theological gynecologist' bad pick for FDA panel head
President Bush's pick to head a key FDA reproductive health committee is a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist who has a long record of practicing "theological gynecology" -- that is, gynecological care based upon a doctor's religious beliefs instead of science.

10/27/02

Bush brother trying to sell FCAT software to Florida schools
A software company run by Neil Bush, a younger brother of Gov. Jeb Bush, hopes to sell a program to Florida schools that students would use to prepare for the test that is key to the governor's education policy. Texas-based Ignite Inc. makes software being used in a pilot program at an Orlando-area middle school to help students prepare for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which the governor has championed as a yardstick for school performance.

Neil Bush touting education venture
TALLAHASSEE - Neil Bush, a younger brother of Gov. Jeb Bush, is
promoting a new business venture in Florida with the potential to benefit from his brother's policies.
The Texas-based business, called Ignite, is tailoring software to help middle-school students prepare for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, a standardized test that is the backbone of Gov. Bush's ''A+'' plan that grades schools.

As state services go private, GOP reaps donations
The moment he set foot in the governor's mansion, Jeb Bush set
out to run state government like a Fortune 500 company.
He promised to slash costs and improve services by awarding government work to competing businesses while eliminating state jobs.
Four years later, the governor's record of privatizing various services can be viewed as ''mixed,'' his staff acknowledges.
But politically, his bold experiment has been a success -- at least for him and the Republican Party, records show. The policy has spawned a network of contractors who have given him, other Republican politicians and the Florida GOP millions of dollars in campaign donations since 1998....

Firm donated after permit
Representatives of a company that sought permission to build a cement plant in North Florida gave more than $180,000 to the Republican Party after Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet approved the deal, two newspapers reported Saturday.

Florida's political power shifts to governor's mansion
TALLAHASSEE - There was a time when Florida was governed by a
strong Legislature full of savvy operators and a Cabinet of politicians with sweeping statewide power.
But in just four years, Jeb Bush has fashioned an empire ruled largely by one man.
Now, Bush and his chosen lieutenants decide how Florida's children learn, who presides over the state's universities, who nominates judges and Supreme Court justices, and which hometown projects get money.
He alone has transformed the way public schools are judged, the expectations for Florida students and state workers, the standards by which minorities gain admission to college and win state contracts, and the process that state agencies use to upgrade technology...

Rampant growth is good? No way
During an otherwise solid performance in last Tuesday's gubernatorial debate, Jeb Bush blurted something so wacky that I could hardly believe my ears.

McBride optimistic despite polls giving Bush lead
Democrat Bill McBride said he can win the race to be Florida's next governor with high voter turnout, despite two polls released Sunday that show him stalled in his attempt to overtake Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. McBride, campaigning Sunday at three black churches in Orlando, said recent polls have shown him both even and behind Bush and that no one knows right now which way voters are going to go.

Closing The Deal In Politics Ain't Patty- Cakes
... Tuesday night, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride had perhaps his last big chance to close the deal in his quest to unseat Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.
And what happened?

Young voters feeling ignored by candidates
A cork bulletin board inside the Lenholt Student Center speaks to the busy lives of the young adults who, maybe, spare a glance as they hustle to the Daytona Beach Community College cafeteria. 

Democrats want call investigated
The chairman of the state Democratic Party asked U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Saturday to launch an investigation into possible dirty tricks in the final weeks of the governor's race.

Butterworth seeks Senate seat after 16 years as A.G.
Forced out by term limits after 16 years in office, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth is running for a state Senate seat, a baffling decision for those who believed he'd challenge Gov. Jeb Bush. Now the Republican governor is trying to edge his way out of a statistical dead heat with political newcomer Bill McBride, and the Democratic attorney general is battling a freshman state representative in what's shaping up to be one of Florida's most expensive and competitive races.

Polls show close races for agriculture commissioner, A.G.
With just over a week to go, Florida's two Cabinet races are too close to call, according to two polls released Sunday. Education Commissioner Charlie Crist received 41 percent and state Sen. Buddy Dyer was at 40 percent in the race for attorney general, according to a poll taken Oct. 23-25 for The Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times. A total of 19 percent of respondents were undecided.

Not many congressional districts in play after redistricting
Artful redistricting gives Republicans an inside track for winning the state's two new congressional seats and could help them defeat a Democratic incumbent in what may be Florida's only competitive race for the U.S. House.

Yes to protect pregnant pigs
Critics of Amendment 10 -- which would regulate treatment of pregnant pigs -- have loaded up on sarcastic puns as they attack the issue. "This is the archetypal pig-in-a-poke," said Pat Cockrell of the Florida Farm Bureau, the amendment's main opponent, calling it a "greasy attempt" to "lard up our state's Constitution." But there is nothing funny about the conditions addressed in this amendment, titled the Animal Cruelty Amendment.

Support ebbs for class size limit
Amendment 9 is still popular with voters, but concerns about cost could drive it to defeat.

Amendment frenzy suggests death of common sense
...Pity either Jeb Bush or Bill McBride if Amendment 9 passes - also if it doesn't. Florida is in a mess financially because Bush and the GOP Legislature spent nonrecurring revenues on recurring annual expenses.-- 
Bush seems oblivious. In the October issue of Florida Trend, he didn't even acknowledge the projected shortfall of $2 billion to $4 billion Florida faces, depending upon the rate of economic recovery and unanticipated expenses like amendments.

Bush left trail of hard feelings
The governor won often in the Legislature but bruised lawmakers' egos while doing so.

The Golden Age of the Florida Legislature
LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Brooklyn had the Boys of Summer, Notre Dame the Four Horsemen. Ancient Britain, so the legends go, had Camelot. The Florida Legislature had its Golden Age.

Prescription drug costs are busting my budget
In these days of rising drug and medical costs I find myself caught in the middle of the eternal battle between research and the dollar.

High court leaves young killers' fates to states
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling won't affect four young murderers on Florida's death row, but some death penalty opponents say a proposed state constitutional amendment could cause the execution of killers as young as 16. Amendment 1 on the Nov. 5 ballot would put the death penalty into the Florida Constitution and change its prohibition against "cruel or unusual" punishment to "cruel and unusual" punishment — the same wording in the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

First in a series: Has education changed?
By Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Governors' vows aside, per-student spending has fallen to 40th among 50 states.

As prosperity returns, Florida's jobs may not
Core businesses wracked by change
No matter who wins the Florida governor's race, the victor will have
to grapple with an increasingly serious problem with no easy answers -- rising unemployment.
After dipping below 4 percent in early 2000, Florida joblessness has gone on a steady march upward. While it now stands at 5.1 percent, considerably below the national rate, the sheer size of Florida's labor force makes that a big headache. It translates to 401,000 people out of work, or 130,000 more jobless Floridians than in 2000, and the numbers seem certain to grow in the coming months....

Lessons of a true disaster
Don Meritt describes the bleak future of the state's native oyster population as he stands near a huge tank at the University of Maryland's Horn Point Laboratory where researchers grow oysters.

Desal proposal receives early public criticism
Homeowners present a petition to Tampa Bay Water with concerns over sinkholes, dirty water and their home values.
CLEARWATER -- A plan to pump brackish water from wells to a desalination plant may be years from reality, but some residents who live near the proposed well sites hope the project never gets off the ground.

The Clean Water Act's early midlife crisis
Clean water is one of the American people's most basic expectations for a quality environment. And as of this month, we have lived for 30 years under the law that guarantees it: the Clean Water Act.
The White House on Oct. 18 even proclaimed this the Year of Clean Water - ignoring the Environmental Protection Agency's statement in a September report that unless a widening funding gap is closed, "by 2016 pollution levels could be similar to levels observed in the mid-1970s."
Far from congratulating ourselves on a job well done, we should be debating whether the nation's glass of clean water is half full or half empty. The administration is charting a course that threatens to unravel three decades of progress.

Thousands march against Iraqi war as Protesters converge on D.C.
WASHINGTON - Thousands of protesters from across the country
marched from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the White House on Saturday to oppose a first strike U.S. attack on Iraq.

Where are veterans' friends now?
The White House has riled up the enemy. But is the enemy Iraq's
Saddam Hussein or the hundreds of thousands of U.S. career military veterans who have become disabled fighting to protect America for all these years?
Many disabled veterans and their families may wonder. They are frustrated by years of political double-talk, and they are particularly angry that President Bush, who campaigned two years ago as a friend of veterans, would now hide from them and have House Speaker Dennis Hastert maneuver more delays on so-called concurrent receipt legislation.
It all comes down to money and priorities, and apparently disabled vets who are hurting are not a Bush priority. Tax cuts certainly are, though, for a president who in his first year in office rammed through Congress $1.35 trillion in tax cuts that will kick in over a decade. Yet the Bush administration can't find $58 billion for those Americans who sacrificed their lives and suffer all sorts of maladies. Pathetic....

10/26/02

Did cement deal pour money into GOP? - Paving firm gave $190,000 to Republican Party accounts after N. Florida deal was sealed-- TALLAHASSEE - A year after Gov. Jeb Bush canoed down Florida's beloved Ichetucknee River and vowed to protect it, he shocked environmentalists by allowing construction of a cement plant nearby that they claim could pollute surrounding air.- 
Now, a Herald analysis reveals new information about the controversial episode: Executives and lawyers representing Anderson Columbia Inc., the big paving firm that sought approval for the plant, poured nearly $190,000 into state and national Republican Party accounts over the two days after a key part of the deal was concluded.- 
At the same time, a Herald review of public records shows that one critical component of the deal -- the $23 million price the state paid to buy a lime rock mine from Anderson Columbia -- was based on an unusual appraisal process.

Ballot chock full of amendments- 
TALLAHASSEE — Florida voters going to the polls in 10 days may be well advised to pack a lunch. Included among the lists of candidates for governor, Congress and state Senate and House seats are 10 proposed constitutional amendments ranging from the death penalty and school funding to homestead exemptions and pregnant pigs. And with so much at stake, the attention being paid the governor's race and the sheer length of the ballot has election observers worrying that voters may just quit early. That would work against some of the amendments nestled near the bottom of the heap.

For better universities, approve Amendment 11
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Amendment 11 not only deserves to be in the state constitution, the state needs it there.

McBride unveils ad showing Bush praising him
MIAMI — Gov. Jeb Bush appears in a new ad released Friday lavishing praise on Democratic challenger Bill McBride, calling him "one of the great Floridians of our time." The McBride ad — utilizing a 3- year-old videotaped testimonial — seeks to confront critical spots by the governor's campaign calling him a "reckless corporate lawyer," ending with a challenge to voters: "Does Jeb Bush believe his own negative ads? You be the judge."

Ad shows Bush praising McBride
By Brian E. Crowley and Marc Caputo, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
The governor says his foe was also full of praise at the '99 event.

The 'Bubba image' can boomerang on McBride
He played football. He was in the Marines. He sounds Southern. ... "Bubba" might be an appealing candidate to men, but it's more likely that the election will be decided by a single mom living along the I-4 corridor, with two kids in overcrowded public schools. She didn't see the debate. Her kids had too much homework....  Here's the irony in McBride's "Bubba" TV image. On the day before Tuesday's last debate, the McBrides' housekeeper called in sick. With Sink campaigning in Tallahassee, guess who had to load the dishwasher, pick up his son from school, and fight the rush hour traffic in Tampa to take his daughter to basketball practice?
Bubba McBride. That's who.

Complaint filed against Gov. Bush on air travel
TALLAHASSEE — A complaint was filed with the Florida Elections Commission over Gov. Jeb Bush's use of private airplanes as a newspaper reported Friday that the governor used a private jet to fly himself and his two sons to the Rose Bowl last year.

Elections law complaint filed against Bush
By S.V. Date, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
A consumer group claims the governor failed to properly report travel on corporate jets as donations.

Political allies manage Bush's not-quite blind trust
Some of the governor's money is in a mutual fund that has investments in companies tied to Florida.

Florida Lottery's ad company is big GOP contributor
When the contract was up for bid, other firms viewed the current holder's tightness with the party and concluded, why bother?

TV ads in attorney general's race pack more punches
TALLAHASSEE -- With the race tight and the clock running out, the two candidates for Florida attorney general are getting increasingly hostile.

No-show Crist forfeits election--  Buddy Dyer opened an early Christmas present this year.
Charlie Crist, his rival in the race for Florida attorney general, declined a long-offered invitation to attend the only statewide televised debate of their campaign.
Crist, in effect, has forfeited the election.
In this close contest -- a virtual dead-heat in the latest Mason-Dixon statewide survey -- both Democrat Dyer and Republican Crist are airing arsenals of paid TV ads.
"Say no to negative ads," Crist says in one of his ads, "and yes to making Florida safer."
But Crist has said no to the one free forum that offers Floridians statewide an opportunity to compare candidates for one of the state's most important offices.

Group buys TV ads to aid Crist-- A national group funded by secret donors has launched a television ad campaign across the state on behalf of Republican attorney general candidate Charlie Crist.- 
The American Taxpayers Alliance started airing a 30- second spot this week that promotes Crist's tough-on- crime record and urges voters to "Call Charlie Crist and tell him to keep fighting for Florida families."

Review shows Oliphant ignored state staffing directive
FORT LAUDERDALE — Democrats held every poll clerk and inspector job at more than 20 percent of Broward County's election precincts during last month's primary, violating state law.

Some counties advertise early voting to avoid election lines
MIAMI — Several Florida counties are urging people to vote early and avoid lines during the Nov. 5 general election as officials try to prevent a repeat of the botched September primary. Federal officials, meanwhile, also are working to ensure a smooth election by preparing to monitor some precincts in Broward County, with additional observers possibly going to Duval County.

Ethics commission dismisses complaint against Feeney
TALLAHASSEE — The state's ethics commission Friday dismissed a complaint accusing House Speaker Tom Feeney of wielding his influence to help a legal client in an $8 million contract dispute with a state agency.

Excuses fly as ethics group hears appeals
Public officials who didn't file required financial disclosure reports tell the Florida Ethics Commission why.

DOJ recommends long distance for BellSouth in Florida
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice recommended Friday that federal regulators approve BellSouth's application to provide long distance in Florida. BellSouth's pending application with the Federal Communications Commission is the company's last hurdle to be able to provide Florida customers with long distance.

The red ink returns
It's official: The U.S. government is back in deficit. Closing the books of fiscal year 2002, which ended Sept. 30, the White House budget office reported that spending exceeded revenue by $159 billion. Thus, four straight years of budget surpluses and a substantial pay-down of the national debt came to a formal end. Fiscal 2001's $127 billion surplus may be the last one we see for a while.

Dead parrot society
A few days ago The Washington Post's Dana Milbank wrote an article explaining that for George W. Bush, "facts are malleable." Documenting "dubious, if not wrong" statements on a variety of subjects, from Iraq's military capability to the federal budget, the White House correspondent declared that Bush's "rhetoric has taken some flights of fancy." Also in the last few days, The Wall Street Journal reported that "senior officials have referred repeatedly to intelligence ... that remains largely unverified." The CIA's former head of counterterrorism was blunter: "Basically, cooked information is working its way into high-level pronouncements." USA Today reports that "pressure has been building on the intelligence agencies to deliberately slant estimates to fit a political agenda."

Farewell, Son of Enron
Palm Beach Post Editorial
The 2001 energy bill is President Bush's health-care bill, which makes Vice President Dick Cheney his Hillary Clinton.

Turbulence for new transportation security agency
WASHINGTON — Most Americans probably haven't heard much about the newest federal alphabet agency — the Transportation Security Administration. That's good. Knowing about the TSA would just make them angry. After Sept. 11, 2001, Congress set up the agency to make travel — especially airline travel — and transportation of commerce safer. An absolutely first-rate lawman, John Magaw, former head of the Secret Service, was named director. Surely a new agency with a vital mission, launched amid the post- 9/11 determination to protect Americans, would be a boon to everybody.

Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone killed in Minnesota plane crash; election thrown into chaos
EVELETH, Minn. — Sen. Paul Wellstone, the passionately liberal Democrat whose re-election campaign was vital to control of the Senate, was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota on Friday along with his wife, daughter and five others. The crash came just 11 days before the election and sent state and party officials scrambling to see about a replacement. The twin-engine private plane went down about 10 a.m. in freezing rain and light snow near the Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, about 175 miles north of Minneapolis.

10/25/02

Jeb enlists half-truth to fool vets
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
His support for benefits is markedly less than Bill McBride's.

Bush radio ads target McBride on gun control issues
TALLAHASSEE -- A former Marine, Bill McBride likes to say he's been on "the working end of a rifle.''...And as the Democratic nominee for governor, McBride says Florida doesn't need more gun-control laws. "I'm in favor of leaving the gun laws in the state like they are,'' he said during a televised debate this week.
But in recent days, radio listeners in Jacksonville have heard a different story. Republican Jeb Bush has started running an ad in Northeast Florida that says McBride and Democratic running mate Tom Rossin "support liberal gun control.''..."Big spending, higher taxes, a moratorium on the death penalty, and more gun control,'' the ad says. "That's the real Bill McBride. Too liberal for Florida.''
But McBride supporters said the ad was misleading, with State Attorney Harry Shorstein, who co-chairs McBride's campaign in Duval County, calling it "outrageous.''
"They [the Bush campaign] are desperate,'' said Clyde Collins, chairman of the Duval County Democratic Party. "They're promoting flagrant lies.''...

Corporate dominance belies representative democracy
Recent scandals have revealed the greed of corporate CEOs and board members to increase their income without any concern for the adverse consequences on their employees and shareholders and investors in the stock market. Some have been so very successful in satisfying this greed that many other corporations have become afflicted with it, and it has become institutionalized in corporate boardrooms. - 
The methods utilized to satisfy this greed have also multiplied. The most dangerous is the control corporations have accumulated over politicians and government, state and local as well as federal. -- 
Corporations with their generous contributions to both major political parties, their propaganda mills that mislead the media and public opinion and their lobbying activities that prevent fair hearings and real debates have gained special favors from government that are very harmful to our country. ...

Governor's use of pals' jets questioned
By S.V. DATE, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Did Jeb Bush's Rose Bowl trip aboard a developer's jet, among other private flights, violate ethics?

In McBride, voters see Chiles
Bill McBride runs as the anti-Jeb wrapped in old he-coon fur - warm and fuzzy and down to earth. McBride's a Southern-drawl kind of guy, which reminds people of Lawton Chiles, the late "He-Coon" governor who beat Jeb Bush in 1994 by the narrowest of margins, using his folksy ways to hide his cut-throat political instincts.

McBride unveils ad showing Bush praising him
Gov. Jeb Bush appears in a new ad released today lavishing praise on Democratic challenger Bill McBride, calling him "one of the great Floridians of our time."

Cheney comes to praise security and to politick
TAMPA -- Vice President Dick Cheney swept through Tampa on Thursday to make a direct appeal for a Republican in a tight congressional race and a thinly veiled pitch for his boss' brother.

Problems already being reported in three Florida counties
FORT LAUDERDALE — The general election is still nearly two weeks away, but voting problems are already popping up in three Florida counties. In Broward County, where voting officials received an emergency influx of $1.4 million to avoid another election debacle, some residents have reported receiving the wrong absentee ballot, ones with missing pages, or no ballot at all.

Ads mimic GOP attack on Butterworth-- For the second time in three days, state Attorney General Bob Butterworth on Thursday denounced television ads that accuse him of plotting to raise taxes and favoring a personal income tax.-- 
But this time, the state Republican Party insists it has nothing to do with the ads. So does state Rep. Jeff Atwater, Butterworth's Republican opponent in a state Senate race in Palm Beach and Broward counties.-- ... a mystery group calling itself People for Integrity in Government is sponsoring the commercials ... It also uses the same partial quote from The Ledger newspaper in Lakeland, implying Butterworth's support for an income tax, that have appeared in Republican fliers and TV ads for Atwater.-- 
Like the GOP ads, the new one is "a flat-out lie," Butterworth said Thursday. And he scoffed at the notion that Atwater knows nothing about it.

Mix-up switches candidate's party-- STUART -- State agriculture commissioner candidate David Nelson wants Martin County voters to know he's a Democrat -- a feat an elections office printing blunder hasn't made easy.- 
A sample ballot sent to about 7,000 registered voters mistakenly lists Nelson as a member of the Constitution Party of Florida, an error he worries will cost him votes in the Nov. 5 general election.- 
"They are sample ballots, but they carry a lot of weight," said Nelson, who'll face incumbent Charlie Bronson, a Republican. "I put a lot of effort into this thing to win the primary as a Democrat. After the problems we've had in Florida, you'd think it would be picture perfect."

Do you want anchovies with that amendment?
After Tuesday night's debate I dreamed that Jeb Bush and I were hanging out over at Bill McBride's house. We were having a big fight over whether to order an extra-large pizza.

Bush cools tone on initiative
He says he will deal with it if voters impose a Board of Governors to oversee 11 universities.-- For more than two years, Gov. Jeb Bush has bitterly opposed an attempt to revive a separate governing board for Florida universities.-- 
Now less than two weeks before voters decide the fate of the proposal, Bush has toned down his rhetoric: He's not bothered by it.-- 
"I'm not going to lose any sleep over it," he said recently. "It will be cumbersome, but we can still develop new partnerships and strategies."

Colleges' new setup draws fire at UCF-- Florida officials who are trying to persuade voters to keep the state's university system as it is have garnered endorsements from university and student leaders throughout Florida, but they still haven't won over the campuses.-- 
Florida Board of Education Chairman Phil Handy was reminded of that during a public debate on Amendment 11 on Thursday night. Appearing before more than 100 professors, students and others at the University of Central Florida, Handy frequently appeared to be positioned against questioners as much as against his formal opponent, Lake Wales attorney Robin Gibson.

McBride may be vague but seems genuine
I sat down in a room with Bill McBride for 90 minutes. He comes off better than when giving 90-second responses in a debate while Jeb Bush rolls his eyes in disbelief and makes finger horns behind his head.

McBride defends himself against 'tax-and-spend' label
ORLANDO — Bill McBride defended his campaign on Thursday against charges from the Bush campaign that he would preside over a massive tax increase if he reached the governor's mansion. McBride touted the class-size initiative to members of the Florida Chamber of Commerce board of directors, describing an integral link between economic growth and school achievement.

Bush won't budge on class size
In Hernando County, the governor repeats his opposition to the amendment. But what if it passes?

National Dems say McBride top priority, but most donations in state
TALLAHASSEE — Democrats nationwide say beating Republican Gov. Jeb Bush is their top priority, though Bill McBride is relying mostly on Floridians in his campaign for governor. And that's how McBride wants it, says state Democratic Chairman Bob Poe, who says the campaign to unseat Bush is focused on Florida issues today.

Coming soon: Jeb Bush praises McBride in TV ad-- Bill McBride, the Democratic nominee for governor, has bagged the biggest endorsement of his campaign: Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.
"He really is one of the great Floridians of our time," Bush says of McBride -- the same opponent the governor has been attacking as a "reckless corporate lawyer" in ads for months.
Bush's high praise, videotaped for an awards ceremony at McBride's former law firm in 1999, begins airing today statewide. The McBride campaign has made Bush's remarks the centerpiece of a new TV ad challenging the governor for running attack ads against McBride.

Polls indicate close agriculture, attorney general races
TALLAHASSEE — Although he's been outspent by nearly $1.5 million, Miami school teacher David Nelson is in a neck-and-neck battle with Republican Charles Bronson in his bid to unseat the sitting agriculture commissioner, a new poll shows.

Feeney's ethics case goes before state today-- In a campaign once run on core Democratic issues, Harry Jacobs has staked his bid for a Central Florida congressional seat on his opponent's ties to an obscure Oviedo software company -- Yang Enterprises.
In a stinging TV ad, direct mail and pointed debate sound bites, the Altamonte Springs attorney charges that House Speaker Tom Feeney was "unethical" and allowed Yang to buy his influence.
His accusations boil down to this question: Did Feeney, Yang's registered local lobbyist and lawyer, use his position to lean on state officials for his clients?

Candidate mistakes his opponent for another in negative mailing
WEST PALM BEACH — A state Senate candidate sent out a mailing blasting his opponent, David Aronberg, for suing the school district and canceling children's field trips. Turns out he had the wrong David Aronberg.

Friend of Bill hopes to trip up Harris' cakewalk to Congress
SARASOTA — Katherine Harris has only one thing in between her and her congressional aspirations — a Democrat with no name recognition and barely any money in the bank. But Jan Schneider, a Sarasota attorney and friend of former President Clinton, is hoping for a monumental upset in her race against the former Florida secretary of state for the 13th congressional district in southwest Florida.

Labor using phones, fliers, Katherine Harris to mobilize voters
WASHINGTON — It's a striking cover on the union magazine: Katherine Harris with a sour expression on her face. Below her photo in bold yellow are the words, "Don't Vote." The International Association of Machinists is hoping to use the former Florida secretary of state to stir emotions and energize its members, just one of labor's tactics to get workers to the polls on Election Day.

Computer glitch spreads inmates' wealth around
TALLAHASSEE -- For dozens of Florida prison inmates, it was a windfall. -- Suddenly those inmates in three state prisons had an extra $200 to spend on candy, cigarettes, shampoo and other items sold in the prison canteen.-- 
A computer program being modified to create a central bank account for all inmates dumped the extra money into some inmate accounts. At the same time, the computer deducted $2,000 from the accounts of 40 inmates.--... a total of about $80,000. The errors were discovered after the inmates who lost money began to file grievances. ...... 
The state has repaid the inmates who lost money and collected about $22,000 of the $80,000 spent by those who got the extra.

FDLE files more charges
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has filed additional charges against a former state Department of Insurance employee. FDLE arrested Jamie Glenn Payne on July 25 and charged him with one count of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior for improperly running a public records request. Payne now also faces a grand theft charge in excess of $20,000 and two charges of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior. The charges are felonies.

Horne speaks of new teacher salary system, higher starting pay
ORLANDO — Education Secretary Jim Horne made a proposal at a Thursday board meeting for a new teacher salary system, improved recruitment and retention and increased starting pay. Horne noted that the school system's current salary system was adopted in 1921 and is based on experience and higher degrees.

State board endorses idea for teachers-- Florida could end up with four tiers of teachers in the public schools, each with its own pay scale, hours and performance expectations.

Supreme Court backs neighbors in growth fight
Ruling against hotel on Intracoastal stands-- The Florida Supreme Court yesterday ended a complex fight over a city's freedom to interpret growth plans by siding with neighbors who sued Jacksonville City Hall.
The court withdrew from the case, upholding an earlier verdict that Planning and Development Director Jeannie Fewell wrongly approved construction of a hotel on Intracoastal Waterway property intended for other uses.
City lawyers argued it was the planning director's job to interpret the intent of the local growth management plan.
The case had implications for growth planning statewide and drew broad legal attention. The Florida League of Cities, the Florida Home Builders Association, a section of the Florida Bar and 1,000 Friends of Florida, a growth-management advocacy group, all filed briefs with the court.

Algae, illnesses linked
Scientists Thursday announced that they have linked a frightening string of illnesses caused by eating pufferfish from Central Florida's east coast with a deadly algae toxin never discovered in the state before.

Panhandle tree saver wins small victory over progress
NAVARRE — Leroy Wells won a small victory over progress when the state agreed to bury utility lines instead of cutting through two majestic oaks to move overhead lines for a road widening project.

Bill O'Reilly: This ain't no game
Now that the sniper case has apparently been solved, it is time to take a hard look at the media's saturation coverage of this horrendous story. And the harsh truth is that some of us actually made the murderous rampage into a game, a kind of macabre sporting event. Because facts were few and public interest was so intense, TV and radio commentators were forced into the murky world of speculation and drama creation. Is Chief Charles Moose employing the right strategy? Should the authorities pay a ransom? What about the kids? And on and on.

U.S. deficit for year $159 billion
By Marilyn Geewax, Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
Just a year ago, the government enjoyed a $127 billion surplus, the second- largest in history.

10/24/02

Key evidence missing in case
A missing piece of evidence could cause charges to be dropped against a former state official accused of using a forged letter to secure a loan from a local bank.-- Former Chief Information Officer Roy Cales, 40, allegedly forged a letter of credit to get money from Farmers and Merchants Bank in 1996, three years before taking the state job. Cales resigned after his arrest last year and has pleaded not guilty.-- 
The missing evidence - the original letter that was supposedly forged - hasn't been located by Assistant State Attorney Sean Desmond....
The letter promising future computer work for Cales was used to persuade the bank to loan him $30,000. He used the loan to start a software company - which he named Integrity Data Inc. He and his wife, Dawn Cales, a business partner who now works for the Department of Education, later defaulted on the loan and declared bankruptcy.--
Cales took a job with the state after working on Gov. Jeb Bush's 1998 campaign. The governor has said he relied on Cales heavily when setting up the new centralized technology office that Cales was to head.-- 
Bush had consistently defended his CIO as the best pick for the $95,000-per-year position, despite a bankruptcy and another grand theft charge in Cales' past. The charge that Cales embezzled $1,800 from a lumber company he worked for in 1985 was dropped after Cales admitted to the crime and repaid the money.

The truth is you're not getting the truth
This is the season of the Big Lie. Everywhere you turn, the people you most count upon to tell you the truth are lying. Politicians are lying to you so they can win, or keep, a job. And the journalists who cover the politicians are lying — lying down on their job. They are failing to perform the watchdog role that is essential to our democracy, the job of telling you what you need to know before you are asked to vote...

Tax cuts merit a mere whisper
In his last debate with challenger Bill McBride, Gov. Jeb Bush emphasizes his largesse, not his billions in tax cuts...

War of words intensifies as Bush, McBride trade accusations and insults -- TALLAHASSEE -- Insults and accusations of lying flew between the campaigns of Republican Gov. Jeb Bush and Democratic challenger Bill McBride on Wednesday, as the two escalated their battle over taxes, spending and how to pay for reducing class size.-- 
While flatly refusing to say how he would fund the popular class size reduction amendment, Bush lashed out at McBride for supporting the proposal, insisting the Democrat would have to raise taxes or cut programs to pay for it...

Governor attacks McBride on taxes
By Brian E. Crowley, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Bush says the Democrat will cut programs and raise taxes to pay for smaller classes.

McBride's latest TV ads polish homespun image-- In campaigns, like boxes of chocolate, you never know what you're going to get.- 
But Gov. Jeb Bush never bargained for Democrat Bill McBride, a disarmingly simple opponent who walked into three broadcast debates without practicing for them. ... On the street -- and most importantly, on TV -- the shambling, sometimes rumpled Democratic nominee for governor, a TV repairman's son who waited on tables to work his way through college, comes across as your best bass-fishing buddy.-- 
This is The Real McBride, and his strategists are playing it for all it's worth, both in broadcast debates that ended this week and in a deluge of paid TV to come.

Bush says data shows increase in black students taking advance placement tests
TALLAHASSEE — The number of black and Hispanic high school students taking advanced placement tests in Florida increased 21 percent in the current year, Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday. The number of black students taking the tests was up 21 percent and Hispanics 22 percent, with both exceeding the average national increase, he said.

Bush says McBride will cut services to pay for smaller classes
CALLAWAY — Gov. Jeb Bush and Democratic challenger Bill McBride accused each other Wednesday of misrepresenting the cost of a proposed constitutional amendment limiting public school class size. The Republican incumbent told a crowd of flag-waving veterans in this Florida Panhandle city that McBride would cut services to pay for the amendment, which would lower and then cap the number of students in public school classrooms. McBride, speaking at a Broward County luncheon that raised $25,000 for his campaign, said the state's students need the amendment and that Bush is exaggerating its cost.

Bush: Initiative imperils veterans
Backed by a Pearl Harbor survivor who got White House help through his office, Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday a constitutional amendment cutting class size in public schools will hurt services to Florida veterans.

Tide shifts: Bush takes the offensive on tax issue
After months of successfully framing the Florida governor's race as a referendum on Gov. Jeb Bush's controversial education agenda, Democrats are suddenly feeling the political ground shifting beneath their feet.

Memo surfaces pointing to cuts if class size passes
TALLAHASSEE — Doomsday scenarios about what lawmakers may have to do to meet the cost of a proposed ballot measure capping class sizes are being floated by its opponents, but supporters say the grim warnings are unrealistic scare tactics. A memo from Sen. Ken Pruitt to incoming Senate President Jim King outlining some ideas for meeting the class size reduction requirement surfaced Wednesday.

Put limits on class size so Legislature will act
Palm Beach Post Editorial
The best reason to vote for Florida's class-size amendment is the campaign against it.

Four years later, Gov. Bush's DCF vows remain unfulfilled-- Tallahassee -- They came in with big plans and bigger promises to remake Florida's child welfare system. Gov. Jeb Bush and Kathleen Kearney, the judge he picked four years ago to lead the Department of Children & Families, vowed to overhaul foster care, reduce case backlogs and pay workers more to keep them from leaving.-- 
Today, Kearney is gone, the number of children in state care has nearly doubled and workers are fleeing the agency faster than before. New attention on missing children -- highlighted by the case of Rilya Wilson -- has put the state's woes on a national stage.
As Bush's first term comes to a close, the agency he promised to fix is stumbling, despite a child welfare budget that doubled to about $845 million a year. What's striking, child advocates say and agency records show, is that DCF's most troubled areas are among the ones Bush and Kearney called their top priorities: foster care, worker turnover and runaway children.

Referendum on statewide university panel splits top politicians - The question -- whether to appoint a statewide group to oversee Florida's public universities -- amounts to a referendum on one of Gov. Jeb Bush's signature education reforms. And it represents a face-off between two of Florida's most prominent politicians: Bush, the state's top Republican, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, who is leading the drive to reinstate a system much like the one Bush pushed to get rid of.

Lobbyists shut out of Beach campaigns
Lobbyists representing clients who do business with Miami Beach wouldn't be allowed to make campaign contributions or hold political fundraisers for City Commission and mayoral candidates under a new ordinance given preliminary approval Wednesday.

2 state races could have photo finish
The races for attorney general and agriculture commissioner remain too close to call, according to a new opinion survey that shows Democrats giving their better-known Republican opponents tough fights.

Activist running without a party
Bob Kunst is on the ballot, but his campaign has only about $16,000 to compete with Bush and McBride.

Reno predicts ballot woes outside Fla.
She says that other states could have more problems than Florida when voters go to the polls Nov. 5.

Monitor the monitors
Palm Beach Post Editorial
State will be packed with election watchers.

Florida Supreme Court upholds death penalty law
The Florida Supreme Court ruled today that the state's death penalty sentencing law is constitutional, even though it lets a judge overrule a jury's recommendation.

Orange Bar takes on Barry grads' case
Another rescue is being attempted for forlorn Barry University law graduates who have a degree but weren't allowed to take the Florida Bar exam because their school wasn't accredited when they graduated.

Blue Cross seeking layoff volunteers
Hoping to reduce costs by about $20 million, Blue Cross and Blue Shield is asking 3,000 employees this week to consider leaving the company.

Officials seek wider citrus canker search - West Palm Beach · State Department of Agriculture officials will seek warrants to search for citrus canker-infected trees in approximately 2,700 additional properties in a West Palm Beach neighborhood, an agency spokesman said.-- 
The agency finished serving 1,442 warrants in the same neighborhood at the south end of Lake Mangonia on Wednesday, spokesman Mark Fagan said.

Ocala National Forest closing 7,000 acres from offroad access
OCALA — Off-road enthusiasts will lose access to 7,000 acres of the Ocala National Forest starting next month, in an effort to prevent further damage by the vehicles. Wildlife, vegetation and other delicate resources have been damaged by the new trails continually created by off-road users in the Lake Delancy and Paisley Woods areas, forest officials said.<