Fight over access rates comes down to the wire
The Florida Public Service Commission will decide today how much BellSouth Corp. can charge its competitors to use its phone network, resolving an intensely contested issue that has polarized the giant communications company and its rivals.
PSC should expand local phone service
The interstate long-distance telephone market is deliciously competitive, if a little dizzying sometimes given the recurring choices in quality of service and cents per minute of conversation.
Florida should answer the call for more phone competition
Arriving in many Florida voters' mailboxes this week was an unimaginative, negative piece of campaign literature criticizing several individual legislators for their vote to open the state's market to increased competition to provide local phone service.
Public TV Fans Speak Up Before Board
- TAMPA - Public access TV advocates came out in force Thursday night to plead to have $355,000 in annual county funding restored before 30 programs are canceled this fall.--
``Public access is not for a few privileged individuals,'' said Jameryl Curley, a teacher who has used skills learned at the station to help in her classroom. ``Nobody is forced to watch public access.''--
But in the end, Hillsborough County commissioners let stand their vote to sever connections with Speak Up Tampa Bay, the nonprofit group that operates the TV channel. About 20 people spoke in favor of restoring the public access funds, with five talking against it.
Panel looks at rail route
If high-speed rail gets built in Florida, Disney wants a direct route from its property to the airport, bypassing the Orange County Convention Center and competitor Universal.
High court throws out judge's redistricting rule--
The Florida Supreme Court overturned a trial judge who ruled the boundaries of four new state Senate districts were unconstitutional.--
In July, Circuit Judge Jack Singbush ruled the boundaries were unconstitutional because they split Marion County and left it without a home seat.
The national crisis of black men in jail
I was disturbed, but not surprised, to hear that there are more black men in prison than are enrolled in college. According to a recent report, the number of incarcerated black men has grown fivefold over the past two decades. Black men, while less than 7 percent of the U.S. population, are half of the nation's prisoners.
Freshman minority enrollment remains flat
TALLAHASSEE -- Freshman minority enrollment at Florida's 11 universities stayed flat for the third year in a row, despite a record number of incoming students and aggressive recruiting that replaced affirmative action.
UF enrolls more black freshmen just two years after One Florida initiative
Two years after Gov. Jeb Bush's proposal to end affirmative action in university admissions launched a firestorm of protest, the state's most selective institution, the University of Florida, is reporting a rebound in enrollment for black freshmen.
Young plans to depart helm of UF
The announcement that the president of the state's largest university will leave comes on the heels of FSU's president saying he will resign.
Corporate scholarships skyrocket
Florida's business-backed scholarship program is expected to multiply tenfold this school year. Supporters say it's a victory for parents who want a choice for their children's education. Critics say the scholarships deprive state coffers of revenue and cause planning problems in public schools.
McBride leads Reno in new poll
Bill McBride's campaign jet has whizzed past Janet Reno's little red truck, a new poll showed Thursday. McBride's lead - 44 percent to 42 percent - was well within the 5-percent margin of error in the Mason-Dixon Florida Poll. But it marked the first time he has taken any lead over the former U.S. attorney general, and it indicated the momentum he showed in three previous polls is not slowing.
Bush Campaign Enlists Retired Military Leaders
-- TALLAHASSEE - Moving to combat Tampa lawyer Bill McBride's appeal among military voters, Gov. Jeb Bush has enlisted the help of four retired generals and a former admiral to carry his campaign to Florida's veterans.
--
The new group, Veterans for Bush, will compete head-on with a similar campaign organization that McBride, a former Marine combat officer in Vietnam, rolled out this summer in his hunt for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
What Bushes aren't, McBride is
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
'Anti' factor explains his fast rise in the polls.
McBride stance on vouchers challenged
Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign has obtained a videotape of Democratic rival Bill McBride that suggests he has been hypocritical on a key campaign issue that has helped him woo the state teacher's union to his side: private school vouchers.
Democratic candidates for governor puzzle over running mates
- Tampa · In the final stage of the race to decide which Democrat will get their party's nomination for governor, the question being asked most often to leading contenders Bill McBride and Janet Reno has nothing to do with their views on public schools, health care or any other policy matter.--
What Floridians are clamoring to learn is who will be their choice as a running mate.
State seniors agency director named
Gov. Jeb Bush names Kelly W. Reed to lead the recently created Office of Long Term Care Policy
Spot check
Editor's note: To help voters evaluate political ads, Times reporters review and analyze content.
At Last! Raising The Level Of Campaign Discourse
- ... ``You can't trust Mary Barley to be agriculture commissioner. She even uses Equal instead of real sugar, and she said Bob Graham, a real Democrat, wears goofy ties.
``Paid for by people you would rather not know.''
Click.
``As a young man, Tampa CORPORATE LAWYER Bill McBride had zits that he tried to cover up with Clearasil. And he's been trying to deceive people ever since. Do you really want a man who went to LAW SCHOOL, and later went on to represent CLIENTS, serving this state as governor?
``Paid for by the Committee for the Committee of the Committee You'll Never Be Able To Track Down.''...
...(Ruth covers them all..)
Bush signs death warrants for two, including Wuornos
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday signed orders to execute two death row inmates next month: Aileen Wuornos, a hitchhiking prostitute convicted of killing six middle-aged men along Florida highways in 1989 and 1990; and Rigoberto Sanchez Velasco, condemned for the 1986 murder of an 11-year-old Hialeah girl.
Court upholds child abuse law
TALLAHASSEE — The state Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the section of Florida's child abuse law that makes it a felony to cause "mental injury" to a child. The term is not vague, Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead wrote, noting that it is defined in a related statute.
New rules will rate all child abuse hotline calls as priority--
WEST PALM BEACH · Regardless of whether a child is suffering from head lice or has been severely beaten, any calls coming into Palm Beach County's child abuse hotline will be considered priority calls under a new set of guidelines the Law Enforcement Planning Council announced Thursday.
Feds looking into juvenile abuse claims against agency
An investigator from the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking information about possible abuses of juveniles incarcerated by the state's Department of Juvenile Justice.
Mortgages hit bargain basement
Mortgage rates below 6 percent in Florida haven't been so low since 1966.
Miami court revives tribal challenge to 'Glades cleanup planning
MIAMI — An appeals court has revived a lawsuit by Miccosukee Indians challenging the federal approach to Everglades cleanup planning as bureaucratic foot- dragging shielded from public input. The decision Wednesday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the third recent court victory for the small tribe whose reservation sits in the middle of the Everglades.
Senate OKs Everglades action
The Senate has approved the condemnation of 10 properties in westerm Miami-Dade County.
Reclassification of species delayed
PENSACOLA BEACH -- The reclassification of protected species, such as the bald eagle and gopher tortoise, will wait a few more months, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has decided.
State to test deer for chronic wasting disease
- State wildlife officials will test 500 deer killed by hunters this year for chronic wasting disease.--
The disease has ravaged some deer herds in western states, but hasn't been detected in Florida
Warnings posted
at Collier beaches -- High bacteria levels were found in the water around three Collier
public beach access areas.- Health warning signs stood between beachgoers and the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday after a second day of high bacteria readings at three local beaches. Collier County health workers posted warning signs near the surf's edge at the beach access to Vanderbilt Beach, at Horizon Way in Park Shore and at Central Avenue. Tests at the Naples Pier showed that high bacteria levels earlier this week had returned to safe levels. A health worker pulled more water samples from the three warning areas Thursday morning.
IMMIGRANTS AT RISK
If the CIA and FBI can be left out of homeland security, there is no good rationale for including the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the vast new anti-terrorism department. Yet Congress is planning to do just that.
A New Enemy: Bigotry Within
Why should an American citizen and successful businessman like Nafez Sammour feel safer in the West Bank than in a typical American bedroom community like Coral Springs? What does that say about America or its cherished values?
Florida among first to get fed money
Because Florida geared up rapidly following the Sept. 11 attacks, it was in the best position to use some of the money Uncle Sam started sending states to help defray the costs of homeland security.
(actually Florida began gearing up
for 9/11 a few days before -- curious...)
Blacklisted
By blacklisting Steven Hatfill, the Justice Department has cost the germ-warfare expert his $150,000-a- year job at a bioterrorism training center run by Louisiana State University. Taking his job away is pretty severe punishment for someone the Justice Department has ostentatiously never accused of a crime. He is guilty, in the department's Orwellian phrase, of being "a person of interest."
Guest editorial: Countdown to a collision
We were heartened by President Bush's promise Wednesday to seek congressional approval for any American action against Iraq, and that he plans to make his case to the world at a speech at the United Nations next Thursday. Those steps are critical, but only a beginning. Bush sounded like a man preparing the nation for war.
Push ahead on probe
Orlando Sentinel: A congressional committee isn't the best place for a pre-9-11 probe
9/5/02
Florida elections officials deal with pre- primary glitches
TALLAHASSEE — Hanging chads are an old problem. Confusing ballots have been redesigned. But while the old system may have been faulty, some elections officials are a little jittery because the new system is, well, new. And a week away from what may be the most closely watched American election ever — not for who is running but simply to see if it works — some officials are worried that new may mean difficult.
Rep.
Meek's problems at the polls reminiscent of election 2000 woes -- U.S.
Rep. Carrie Meek stopped by a Miami library branch Tuesday to cast her
absentee ballot for next week's primary -- only to get turned away
because a county computer couldn't verify the 10-year congresswoman
was an eligible voter.
Bill McBride likes to tell jokes, usually at his own
expense. --
"One man told me I remind him of Lawton Chiles," the Democratic candidate for governor told a lunchtime crowd of black patrons at Johnny River's Smokehouse in Orlando TuesDay -- "a chubby Lawton Chiles."
...
At each of his four campaign stops across North and Central Florida that day, McBride made sure to leave folks laughing. That self-deprecation has helped to butter up skeptical crowds from Pensacola to Palm Beach and to persuade Floridians his campaign is no joke.
...
McBride counts endorsements, Reno courts students
MIAMI — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride received the endorsements of Miami- Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas and U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler on Wednesday, which could cut into Janet Reno's strength among South Florida's ethnic communities. Penelas' endorsement could help McBride get Cuban-American Democrats to the polls Tuesday, especially those angry with Reno for the 2000 raid by federal agents that led to Elian Gonzalez being returned to Cuba....
Naples
Daily News: Governor endorsement
Though Bill McBride and Janet Reno have more name recognition and money, the Democratic gubernatorial front-runners cannot keep up with one Jones where it counts — leadership skills and the ability to inspire others to follow. Whatever Florida Sen. Daryl Jones joins, he winds up leading. College. Law firm. Bar association....
Mail piece attacks Crist in race for Republican AG primary
TALLAHASSEE — A special interest group with Republican ties doesn't want Education Commissioner Charlie Crist winning next Tuesday's GOP primary for attorney general. The self-described Alliance for Public Safety has sent mailers to registered Republicans across the state with dozens of newspaper headlines questioning Crist's qualifications and ethics....
Crist follows the money, loses interest in ethics
Palm Beach Post Editorial
The attorney general's office is up for sale....
Spot check
Editor's note: To help voters evaluate political ads, Times reporters review and analyze content....
Senator's concerns over new DCF secretary eased by meeting
TALLAHASSEE — The person tapped to be the next Senate president said his concerns over the new Department of Children & Families secretary were eased after meeting with him Wednesday. But Sen. Jim King did not back off a prediction that Jerry Regier will face tough questioning during his Senate confirmation hearing next March....
Regier's apologists
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Unable to erase Jerry Regier's record, Republicans are trying to spin it. This attempt failed....
'Faith-based' groups debate how to get more funding--
ORLANDO - Leaders of dozens of ''faith-based'' social service programs are meeting here this week to look for ways to better use existing government money and search for new money that may flow from Washington and Tallahassee.--
''Faith and government are not mutually exclusive,'' Gov. Jeb Bush told about 250 representatives at the first Governor's Faith-Based Summit.
...
It's not OK to harm a bicyclist
After 150,000 miles and 30-plus years of bicycling, it finally happened. I was hit by a motorist. No injury; not even any significant damage. But it was intentional....
3 beach spots test
poor for bacteria-
Three spots along Collier County's beach have tested at poor levels for bacteria, preliminary results from the Collier County Health Department showed Wednesday. The water test results prompted a new round of sampling Wednesday and raised the possibility that health officials as early as today could issue a warning against swimming at the beach sites. The three sites are near the public beach access at the end of Vanderbilt Beach Road, at the Horizon Way beach access in Park Shore and at the Naples Pier. The beach water quality program checks 17 spots along the beach in Collier and southern Lee counties each week for enterococcus and fecal coliform, both harmless bacteria found in the intestines of humans and animals...
Nonprofit Housing Agency Nears Collapse
TAMPA - The yearlong implosion of the Tampa- Hillsborough Action Plan is nearly complete. Once a powerful voice for Tampa's black community, THAP funneled millions of government dollars into programs for the ...
Analysis: Congress wants say in Bush decision whether to go to war against Iraq
WASHINGTON — After winning the Persian Gulf War, then-President Bush boasted of the free hand he had had to wage war against Iraq. "I didn't have to get permission from some old goat in the United States Congress to kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait," Bush said.
...
Analysis: Environmentalists and corporations unite in opposition to global warming
In 1997, environmental activists from Greenpeace occupied one of BP's North Atlantic oil-drilling platforms as part of a campaign to get the world to abandon fossil fuels. Last Friday in Johannesburg, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the activists joined representatives of the corporation on a different platform, at a news conference where they all endorsed binding government commitments to stem global warming.
...
West Nile found in 3 organ recipients
- ATLANTA -- Federal health officials confirmed that at least three of the four people who received transplants from a car-crash victim became infected with West Nile virus, likely through the donated organs.
... The cases are the first in which humans are believed to have contracted the disease through something other than a bite from an infected mosquito....
Maureen Dowd: Who's your daddy?
WASHINGTON — In the Bush family, the gravest insult is to be called a wimp. When Newsweek published its "Fighting the 'Wimp Factor'" cover about Bush senior when he was running for president in 1987, he was so angry he refused to talk to the magazine again until he had a meeting with the editors and the publisher, Katharine Graham. Bush even knew the precise number of times the word "wimp" appeared in the article....
Molly
Ivins: Watch out for any paternity claims by George W.
AUSTIN, Texas — Nothing like a lot of distracting saber- rattling to get you to take your eyes off the shell with the pea under it. Kind of like the prospect of being hanged in the morning, impending war does tend to concentrate the mind wonderfully. But the remaining balance, if any, in your 401(k) is an attention-grabber as well, so while the administration tries to make up its mind whether it agrees with itself on the best way to handle Saddam Hussein, I recommend a swift glance back at the corporate reform agenda....
William
Safire: Beware the hedgehogs
WASHINGTON — In the course of writing a Nixon speech imposing wage and price controls (I was only playing the piano downstairs, officer), I zapped "speculators" who were roiling the global gold and currency markets. Arthur Burns reminded me that it was Bernard Baruch who startled congressional investigators in 1917 by asserting coolly, "I am a speculator."...
Court's check on power
An appellate's court rejection of closed immigration hearings for detainees offers hope that the courts will keep our administration in check....
Bush seeks Homeland hiring flexibility--
... One GOP amendment would permit Bush to set up a new personnel system for the agency's 170,000 employees, making it easier to fire poor performers, adjust pay scales and hire new workers more quickly than under current civil- service law.--
Another amendment would allow entire agencies to be exempted from union agreements for reasons of national security. The Democratic bill would limit that power to individual employees, with greater justification requirements....
'Democracies die behind closed doors'
- A federal appeals court last week upheld a constitutional principle that a year ago we would have taken for granted: In the United States, we don't secretly arrest people, secretly jail them, and then secretly deport them.-
In a stinging rebuke to the Bush administration's efforts to secretly deport hundreds of Arab and Muslim men who were rounded up after Sept. 11, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati told us, "Democracies die behind closed doors. A government operating in the shadow of secrecy stands in complete opposition to the society envisioned by the framers of our Constitution."--
This articulate reminder of the need for open government, which could have been titled "Democracy in a Nutshell," should not have been necessary....
Universities play vital role in times of crisis
Why, one wonders, are various conservatives and other voices of the political right seemingly driven to drawing up enemy lines? In the late 1940s, they produced blacklists of men and women in Hollywood and the media whom the right charged with being Communists or sympathizers. In 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy came up with his famous (but nonexistent) list of 205 names "known to the secretary of state as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy...
9/4/02
Group to seek signatures to fight growth in Florida Panhandle
TALLAHASSEE — A group opposed to residential developments by the St. Joe Company in the Florida Panhandle plans to fight it at the polls, seeking to change local growth laws in four towns. The Panhandle Citizens Coalition said Tuesday it is seeking signatures to get referenda on the ballot to try and block development by St. Joe, the largest landholder in the state.
Coalition wants votes on St. Joe
- The group says it will ask cities to put the referendums before voters in spring municipal elections and will collect signatures if needed to force them on the ballot. The Franklin County Commission would have to approve placing the countywide referendum before voters by Sept. 20 to get it on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
Attacks on Crist have tie to Republican
A former state GOP official is listed as registered agent for a group that has leveled mail and Web-based attacks on Charlie
Crist.
Attacks may boost McBride
An advertising attack on Bill McBride could be backfiring on Gov. Jeb Bush.
Norton continues fight over
manatee protection plans -
U.S. Justice Department attorneys filed court papers Tuesday to try to keep a federal judge from finding Interior Secretary Gale Norton in contempt of court. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the government in July to show why Norton and other federal officials should not be held in contempt after he ruled that the government had missed a Sept. 2001 settlement deadline for designating manatee refuges and sanctuaries throughout Florida.
Lawyers fire volleys over manatee care
Environmentalists on Tuesday accused the federal government of thumbing its nose at a judge and using "cynical smokescreens" to avoid protecting manatees that are dying in record numbers in some of the state's waterways.
Amid questions, Regier begins job as DCF head
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Jeb Bush's choice to head Florida's child welfare agency showed up for work Tuesday with more questions than answers. Jerry Regier, who was appointed last month as secretary of the state's troubled Department of Children & Families, started his new $150,000-a-year job looking for more money and more workers to get the agency's tasks done.
GOP women back DCF pick
By Jim Ash, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Female Republican lawmakers rally behind Gov. Bush's choice for DCF secretary.
Black lawmakers accuse Bush of 'race-baiting'
TALLAHASSEE — Black lawmakers accused Gov. Jeb Bush of making statements designed to scare white voters into opposing a ballot measure that would limit the number of children in Florida's public school classrooms. Rep. Curtis Richardson referred Tuesday to comments Bush has made that school attendance boundaries would have to be redrawn and busing would be necessary if voters approve the proposal in November.
McBride campaign gains key endosements
By Brian E. Crowley, Palm Beach Post Political Editor
Three U.S. representatives throw their support behind Bill McBride's campaign for Florida governor.
Republican comptroller supports Democrat McBride
TALLAHASSEE — Although he's not ready to break ranks and endorse a Democratic nominee, Republican Comptroller Bob Milligan said Tuesday he thought Bill McBride would be a good governor. "I have a great deal of respect for what he's doing," said Milligan, who like McBride was a Marine in Vietnam. "McBride handles himself very well. He's sure come a long way."
Florida, counties settle NAACP suit over 2000 election
MIAMI — Ending a dispute over the 2000 presidential election, the state and two counties filed papers Tuesday to settle a lawsuit from civil rights groups over widespread voting problems. Hillsborough and Orange counties, as well as the state, were the only other remaining defendants in the case, which ended without trial. Five other counties settled earlier.
To settle post-2000 lawsuit, Florida will tighten election rules
- State elections officials agreed to restore thousands of Floridians who were improperly purged from voting lists and to designate a coordinator to oversee voting rights compliance in all 67 counties, under the settlement of a landmark lawsuit reached Tuesday in Miami.
9/3/02
Tropical Storm off the coast of Jacksonville
(11:45AM)
Tropical Storm Edouard continued to churn off the coast of Jacksonville this morning, without showing much inclination to move anywhere. At 11 a.m., the storm was still about 180 miles east of Jacksonville and had strengthened with sustained 65-mph winds.
McBride rides improved polls in race for governor
PLANT CITY — Bill McBride rode the wave of momentum in his race for governor on Monday, spurred by polls showing him climbing into a virtual tie with former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in the Democratic primary. McBride addressed about 500 union members and activists at a Labor Day picnic, hoping to boost his standing in the Sept. 10 primary that will determine the challenger to Gov. Jeb Bush.
McBride steps out of Reno's shadow
Janet Reno labors to rally her supporters at the finish line and hold off a charging Bill McBride.
McBride notches endorsement of U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown
Black voters skeptical following 2000 election debacle
DAYTONA BEACH · Lulu Bray was born the year the stock market crashed. In the 73 years since, she has lived through life- altering experiences, like blacks in the South gaining the right to vote.
Straw poll:
Ballot water question deserves 'yes' vote
By the time voters in Volusia County work their way to the bottom of the Sept. 10 ballot, they might not have a lot of patience. And even the most dedicated voters might pause to puzzle over a request for their "advisory opinion" on a fairly convoluted question:
"Do you support creating a centrally managed wholesale water production system for Volusia County to better manage groundwater resources?"
The ballot question raises a host of questions on its own. Centrally managed by who? Does "wholesale" mean my water bills will go up or down? What's "groundwater?' I think I get the "better" part, but better for who?
Tampa
Muslims: There's a double standard in bomb plot's handling
TAMPA — For the past year, some Muslims say they have felt like they've had to apologize for the Sept. 11 attacks. Now, after the arrest of a Pinellas County podiatrist who had a cache of weapons and explosives in his home and a point sheet on attacking an Islamic center, they say they feel the sting of a double standard.
Nativists and the C chromosome
It would be offensive to most voters to hear a political candidate claim that he's a better choice than his opponent for being lighter skinned, more Christian, more manly, better- spoken, better-wed or better-bred. Those rotten standards of political quality were quite real once. They'd be "inappropriate" today, to use the word-whip of behavioral correctness. But it's still OK to call someone a carpetbagger.
Stonewalling Congress
This week is the deadline for Attorney General John Ashcroft to answer questions put to him by the House and Senate judiciary committees to answer questions about the Justice Department's administration of the USA Patriot Act. Congress should not be allowed to enact legislation in haste and under pressure, but last fall it did, rushing into law a far-reaching expansion of government powers of surveillance, seizure and detention. And now lawmakers can't find out what the government is doing with that law because Ashcroft won't tell them.
Whose secrets? Danger in new rules
Post 9-11, our national priority has been to be safe and secure from further terrorism. We have settled for less access to information while American troops fought abroad. Then the Bush administration began aggressively extending the secrecy surrounding foreign combat to the identities and charges against alleged al-Qaeda combatants held incommunicado domestically. And now, after a largely party-line vote, an exuberant Republican majority of the House has offered President Bush an opportunity to define a new regime of "domestic secrets."
Cheney calling for invasion of Iraq a bit off base
AUSTIN, Texas — Excuse me: I don't want to be tacky or anything, but hasn't it occurred to anyone in Washington that sending Vice President Dick Cheney out to champion an invasion of Iraq on the grounds that Saddam Hussein is a "murderous dictator" is somewhere between bad taste and flaming hypocrisy? When Dick Cheney was CEO of the oilfield supply firm Halliburton, the company did $23.8 million in business with Saddam Hussein, the evildoer "prepared to share his weapons of mass destruction with terrorists."
Get ready for a tough battle, as anything can happen on Nov. 5
WASHINGTON -- Summer is winding down. The president is threating a pre-emptive military strike on a nasty Mideastern nation. The stock market is down, and many people older than 55 are frantic about their retirement security. So how does that make you feel?
9/2/02
A Labor Day celebration
- Labor Day has become sort of an all-purpose American holiday, marking the informal end of summer, the start of school, a new football season, an opportunity for serious shopping and a chance for the nation to catch its breath before fall. It has evolved far from its origins.
Pension plan unpopular for several reasons
When the Legislature created the "defined contribution" pension plan two years ago, everybody said state employees wouldn't eagerly jump into it.
Updating the accounting for consumer protection
Just what is consumer protection? That's shaping up to be a big question in Florida's race for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services as Democrat Mary Barley bashes incumbent Republican Charles Bronson for ignoring the issue.
Reno silent as lead narrows
LAKELAND -- Suddenly, Janet Reno was facing questions she never hoped to hear.
Surge of minorities in new law schools
FAMU and FIU law schools debut with about 200 students. But arguments persist about their drawing more minorities to law.
Dress code at 2 Miami high schools: uniforms
Miami Senior and Miami Springs are the first public high schools in the state to require uniforms.
Community disservice
The Department of Corrections should be diligent in verifying that court-ordered community service has been carried out and in legitimate ways.
Dancing with dictators
- For a nation that honors democracy and freedom, the United States has a nasty habit of embracing foreign dictators when they seem to serve U.S. interests. It is one of the least appealing traits of U.S. foreign policy. Like his predecessors, President Bush is falling for the illusion that tyrants make great allies. If Bush is not careful, Washington will be mopping up for years from the inevitable foreign policy disasters that come of befriending autocrats who maintain a stranglehold on their own people.
Tax cuts, again
- President Bush's summer idyll in Texas, which comes to a close this weekend, has been interrupted more than once by bad economic news. As a result, the White House says Bush may present yet another package of tax cuts when he returns to work after Labor Day
9/1/02
Poll reflects worrisome views on free speech
The words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are straightforward. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."--
There, in a nutshell, are the fundamental freedoms that allow us to worship freely, debate ideas and question our government....The national survey of 1,000 people had a margin of error of 3 percent. It found that almost half of those surveyed, 49 percent, said the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees. That was a 10 percent jump from last year....
Florida's East Coast on alert for tropical system
A tropical depression or storm seemed to be forming this morning
about 150 miles east of Cape Canaveral and forecasters advised residents of Florida's East Coast to remain alert. Watches or warnings might be required later today.
Terror hunt may end privacy at the library
- It is called the USA Patriot Act, and the very name implies duty -- duty, in this case, to tell FBI agents what certain people are reading and writing at the local library.--
Federal investigators want to strip away the cloak of anonymity that helped Sept. 11 suspects communicate on public library computers without detection. A provision buried within the 342- page Patriot Act, which took effect in October, allows agents to demand records from librarians and booksellers with unprecedented ease.--
Many in the library community fear an intrusion by Big Brother into the sacrosanct privacy rights of library patrons. The Patriot Act trumps laws in 48 states, including Florida, that specifically protect library records as confidential.
FBI on the wrong hunt
The FBI, apparently flush with idle manpower, is expanding the war on terrorists to include those who talk to the media about terrorists....
Movement to pay a 'living wage' gains momentum
- City by city, county by county, labor advocates nationwide are gaining ground in the battle to gain better pay for some lower-level workers....
Palm Beach Post endorses McBride for Democratic nomination
WEST PALM BEACH — The Palm Beach Post endorsed Bill McBride for the Democratic nomination for governor, saying "he is the leader Florida needs." In an editorial to be published Sunday, The Post supported McBride's proposals "to improve pre-kindergarten programs, reduce class size in the early grades and raise the average salary for Florida's teachers by $2,500."...
McBride deserves nomination
Tampa attorney Bill McBride is the gubernatorial candidate who will most effectively pull together Florida's Democratic Party as its nominee for the Nov. 5 general election....(Tallahassee
Democrat)
Bill McBride:
His plans are comprehensive and realistic-- News-Journal editorial--
Florida's Democrats want a governor who will tackle the tough decisions ahead with intelligence, leadership and principle. They have three candidates to choose from and one chance: Because the second primary has been eliminated, the top vote-getter in the Sept. 10 primary will be the one who faces Gov. Jeb Bush.
-
There's one unexpected standout: Tampa attorney Bill McBride. -
We say "unexpected," because McBride -- unlike former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and State Sen. Daryl Jones -- has never held public office. He's not the intuitive choice. But he is the right one.
Democrats: Nominate Reno
Janet Reno is the most impressive of the three Democratic candidates seeking their party's nomination for governor in the Sept. 10 primary. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board recommends Democrats choose the former U.S. attorney general and Miami-Dade County state attorney as their nominee to represent them in the Nov. 5 election.
What's a 'Yellow Dog' to do this election year?
To paraphrase (liberally) the great novelist Henry James, it's a complex fate to be a Florida Democrat.
... Just a couple of years ago the streets were full of Democrats madder than the proverbial wet hen about Jeb Bush's high- handed decree ending affirmative action, not to mention the disputed presidential vote recount. Now it's just before the primary, and Democrats don't know which way to look. If this were France, we'd be talking existential angst. Because this is Florida, it's more like a bad hangover.-
Not only will that Yellow Dog not hunt, all he does is lie there, curled in the fetal position, trying to figure out which Democrat has the best shot in which race....
Children key issue in governor race
By Brian E. Crowley, Palm Beach Post Political Editor
Democratic candidates see education and child welfare woes as issues that will sweep Jeb Bush from office....
Three Democrats, but one opponent
There are some big changes in the Democratic primary for governor next week. For the first time, it's a winner-take-all race, with no runoff. Janet Reno, Bill McBride or Daryl Jones will be nominated to face Gov. Jeb Bush in November - probably with less than 50 percent of the vote.
Where the democratic candidates stand
By Brian E. Crowley, Palm Beach Post Political Editor
The democratic candidates for governor state their positions.
McBride cuts gap with Reno
A new Times poll shows the Democratic candidates for governor in a statistical tie....
McBride's strategy was a year in the making
The inevitable question came up as Bill McBride stood before a couple dozen Democrats in New Port Richey last October: Nobody's heard of you, a gray-haired man told him. How can you possibly beat Janet Reno in the primary?...
Reno kicks off another 'red truck tour' in Orlando
ORLANDO — With Bill McBride gaining on her, Janet Reno jumped in her red pickup truck Saturday and hit the road again. Reprising the late February tour she used to reintroduce herself to voters, Reno kicked off an 11- day statewide journey in her Ford Ranger as partisan polls showed her main Democratic challenger chipping away at her lead in the race for governor....
Be it beltway or backwoods, folksy image is no facade
Despite her Washington years, the ex-attorney general has fiercely protected her integrity. Yet she's no shoo-in as a gubernatorial candidate....
The difference between a negative campaign and a dishonest one
With Florida's gubernatorial contest about to shift into high gear, I say bring on the negative campaigning. That's right -- negative campaigning, the more the better. After the Democrats' summer lovefest, I'm starved for something resembling a real campaign.
Cabinet contest has seeds of rebellion
Up until the final day of qualifying for election in July, it looked as if incumbent Republican Charles Bronson might have a lock on the state agriculture commissioner's job for another four years.
Diversify Florida's Cabinet
Diversify, diversify, diversify. We're talking stocks. Diversity, diversity, diversity. We're talking race. Balance of power. That's another way of thinking about diversity in public office.
For now, we'll take DCF chief at his word
News flash:Jerry Regier is not the bogeyman.-
He appears to be a measured, thoughtful man, and smart, too. As the new chief of the state Department of Children and Families, he comes across as a quick study of the agency's swamp of problems.-
He demonstrated his agility in a long news conference he held as the Labor Day weekend approached with reporters hooked up by phone across the state....
With focus on
Regier, DCF won't be fixed
Gov. Jeb Bush's comments to the contrary, the controversy centering on his choice of Jerry Regier as secretary of the Department of Children & Families is not the fault of news reporters, who were just doing their job. Nor is it because he is a man of faith. It is because everything on the record says that he is not the person for
DCF.
Altered State
The boundaries of all state and federal legislative districts have been redrawn since the 2000 elections and census. That means many voters in Collier and Lee counties find themselves in unfamiliar territory this year. Some districts are more compact while others snake across, up and down South Florida....
Voters to determine fate of Miami-Dade gay rights ordinance
MIAMI — Supporters and opponents of gay rights around the country will keep a close watch on Miami- Dade County in coming days. On Sept. 10, voters in this county — considered both a gay sanctuary and the epicenter of the modern anti-gay movement — will decide whether to scrap a law that protects gays and lesbians from discrimination....
Reservoir plan concerns county
Leon County officials are raising concerns about a 1,200-acre reservoir proposed for an Ochlockonee River tributary near Cairo, Ga.
The straight truth about impact fees
When I read Lee Building Industry Association President Darin McMurray's propaganda piece on impact fees two Sundays ago, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was long on spin and short on facts. Because of the lopsided nature of Mr. McMurray's comments, there is a need to set the record straight. But first I'll ask a few questions. Why do you think the building industry is spending so much time, money and political capital on trying to kill impact fees?...
What kind of Supreme Court will Ashcroft get?
Five. That's the number Attorney General John Ashcroft must turn over in his mind. "Do I have five? Will Kennedy's mild libertarianism or O'Connor's fact-based decisionmaking scuttle it all?"...
BLOW TO ASYLUM SEEKERS
The U.S. Justice Department is on a rampage -- not just against terrorists but against what little protections immigrants have left. Case in point: A rule the department issued last week will gut the due process afforded by the Board of Immigration Appeals -- the court of last resort for the vast majority of asylum seekers and immigrants fighting deportation.
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