Right-wingers’ elation at the Romney endorsement aside, to call the Orlando Sentinel liberal of course is to seriously misread the house organ of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, central Florida edition.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Michael Stevens of Palm Coast held on $1 Million Bond in Money Laundering Scheme
Michael Stevens of 8 Calusa Court was arrested at his home Wednesday on a warrant charging him with money laundering in connection with a Flagler County- based business known as Dark Hawk Enterprises, LLC.
Amendment 6: Narrowing Down Florida’s Abortion and Privacy Rights
Sandwiched within a long list of issues on a crowded ballot, Amendment 6 is emerging as a multi-million dollar fight touching abortion, parental rights and privacy protections now guaranteed in the Florida Constitution.
Obama Wins Romney’s Binders Full of Women: Five Reads Wednesday
Obama wins the second one but not overwhelmingly, the lame rules of corporate debates, Romney’s binders of women, the Cuban missile crisis’s eyeball-to-eyeball myth, half your facts are wrong, a polarized electorate, Flagler jail bookings.
I-4 Corridor, Rife with Legislative Battles, Is Florida’s Electoral Ground Zero Again
The I-4 corridor is almost a mythical place in presidential politics, with Republicans and Democrats seeing it as a ticket to the White House. But down the ballot, the vast stretch of Central Florida also is the biggest battleground this year in state House and Senate races.
Environmentalist Lawyer Clay Henderson Is Stetson’s George and Mary Hood Award Recipient
Clay Henderson, the New Smyrna Beach lawyer and environmentalist who’s leaving his mark on Florida’s geography, is the 2012 recipient of Stetson University’s George and Mary Hood Award, one of the university’s most prestigious honors.
Military Dollars Vote Obama, Early Voting Wins in Ohio: Five Reads Tuesday
Obama is outraising Romney by almost 2-to-1 from military donors, the U.S. Supreme Court rejects a GOP attempt to limit early voting in Ohio, a video on why debates matter, torture at the Chicago police, humans at their fittest ever, plus Flagler jail bookings.
Board of Governors’ Power Over Universities Would Grow While Curtailing Legislature’s
A higher education task force is moving toward a recommendation that would significantly increase the power of the Florida Board of Governors, allowing the panel to set the budgets for each of the state’s 12 universities.
Farrakhan to Obama: Be A Little Black, Flipping Houses Booms Again: Five Reads Monday
Farrakhan suggests to Obama to “be a little black” at his next debate, Mitt Romney’s weird idea of tax studies, flipping houses booms again, Stephen Fry on swearing, the HPV vaccine and teen girls’ promiscuity (no connection), Lloyd Shapley and Alvin Roth’s Nobel, and Flagler County jail bookings.
Amendment 1: Floridians Will Get Their Say on Obamacare, But Only Symbolically
Lawmakers have proposed a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would say Floridians can’t be forced to buy health coverage. At least in the short term, the measure would appear to have little effect, but House sponsor Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, pointed to what he sees as a “basic right” that Floridians should not be “fined, taxed or penalized for our health care choices.”
Florida Republicans’ Poll Tax Nostalgia
Hoping to minimize Democrats’ turnout, the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature is going out of its way to make voting more of a privilege than an absolute right. There are a few ways to get around the voter-suppression schemes.
Big Bird Debate: How Much Does
Federal Funding Matter to PBS Anyway?
The amount of tax dollars PBS receives is roughly .012 percent of the $3.8 trillion federal budget – or about $1.35 per person per year, compared to $22.48 in Canada and $80.36 in Britain. Public broadcasting is a popular target among conservatives, who’ve long portrayed it as an example of wasteful government spending.
Biden Bites Back, Drones Kill, Pot Gains: Five Reads Friday
Joe Biden restores order in the Democratic universe, Obama’s drone war, the police’s embrace of legalized marijuana, the European Union wins the Nobel peace prize, the psychology of big-wave surfing, and the usual Flagler jail bookings.
Counties Begin Push-Back Against State’s Prohibition of Stronger Gun-Control
Circuit Judge John Cooper said during a hearing that the counties can continue suing Gov. Scott over part of the law that would give the governor the power to remove local officials for violations — a provision that Palm Beach and Broward say exceeds the governor’s constitutional authority.
Seniors Are Overspending on Medicare’s Prescription Drug Plan
Seniors spent on average $368 more than they needed to on drug coverage through Medicare Part D plans, their decisions complicated by the sheer volume of plans available–1,736 in all–and difficulties involved in determining what makes a plan a good choice, a Health Affairs study finds.
An iPad for Every Student? Florida’s Textbook-Closing Switch Would Cost $441 Million
Lawmakers have helped drive the state toward more reliance on digital learning materials, passing a bill two years ago requiring schools to adopt digital-only textbooks by the 2015-16 school year and spend at least half their textbook budget on electronic materials.
Lance Armstrong Called Ringleader of “Most Sophisticated” Doping Program in Sports History
United States Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart says Lance Armstrong was the ringleader of the most extensive doping operation in sports history, and that sworn testimony from 26 people, including 15 of Armstrong’s fellow-riders, underscore the “overwhelming” evidence the agency is publishing today.
Obama Sends Liberals on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown: Five Reads Wednesday
Liberals are panicking about Obama, Afghanistan’s enduring failures, the National Book Award finalists are announced, Google’s new cultural video library, Americans Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka’s chemistry Nobel, plus Flagler County jail bookings.
Three Florida Supreme Court Justices Fire Back at Attempted Conservative Putsch
Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince pushed back against a campaign to push them off the bench that has spread from a conservative grass-roots uprising to a denouncing of the three by the Republican Party of Florida. The justices spoke to an audience at the FSU College of Law comprised mostly of students.
Should You Keep Paying FPL and PEF For Nukes Plants that May Never Be Built?
The up-front nuclear costs for plant construction have become highly controversial, at least in part because there is no guarantee that FPL and Progress will build the planned reactors and because projected costs have risen to over $40 billion for four reactors. The Supreme Court will decide the matter.
Romney’s Foreign Policy Vacuums
Today’s foreign policy address by Romney, to the Virginia Military Institute, was better suited for the Hoover Historical Center in Canton, Ohio. He spoke for about half an hour. He said absolutely nothing that might have told us what his foreign policy would be–or what he thinks it is today.
Higher Ed Subprime: Parent Plus Government College Loans Are Now Crushing Families
Last year the government disbursed $10.6 billion in Parent Plus loans to just under a million families. The loans are both remarkably easy to get and nearly impossible to get out from under for families who’ve overreached.
Proposed Conservation Amendment: $5 Billion Over 10 Years, Without Raising Taxes
The proposed 2014 constitutional amendment, dubbed the Florida Water and Land Legacy Amendment, would set aside 33 percent of documentary tax collections for 20 years for land and water purchases, leases and restoration efforts. The taxes are collected on real estate and other legal transactions.
Crucial Jobs Report Gives Obama a Boost as Unemployment Falls to 7.8%, Lowest in 4 Years
The national unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September, its lowest level since President Obama’s inauguration in January 2009, as the economy added 114,000 jobs in September, and revised figures for the previous two months boosted those totals by 86,000 jobs. In the last three months, the economy has added 434,000 jobs.
Bob Graham Ridicules $300 Million Higher Ed Cut as Issue Galvanizes Democratic Races
Democrats have started a push to make higher-education cuts and the state’s tuition burdens an issue in state legislative campaigns. The state pays just 40 percent of universities’ tabs, down from 75 percent.
Obama’s Clobbering
Mitt Romney demolished the Obama mystique in Denver while Obama surrendered: This is the Obama flincher we’ve come to know. The man of a thousand retreats. The prevaricator. The terminated.
Canaveral Seashore Plein Air Paint Out on Oct. 21-27 Gets Its Poster Child
Throughout the six-day Canaveral Seashore Plein Air Paint Out, as artists work from dawn to dusk, visitors can enjoy the seashore and to be a part of the art, talking to artists as they paint unique works of art at the many picturesque locations.
Anti-Terror “Fusion Centers” Like Central Florida’s Slammed as Ineffective and Intrusive
A two-year Senate investigation finds that Department of Homeland Security efforts to engage state and local intelligence “fusion centers”–six of which are set up in Florida, including one in central Florida–has not yielded significant useful information to support federal counterterrorism intelligence efforts.
In Recession’s Depth, 2,362 Millionaires Got Unemployment Benefits
Brace yourselves: in 2009, no fewer than 2,362 millionaires got unemployment benefits. The year before, 2,840 did, raising questions about whether unemployment insurance should be means-tested. Five such proposals are pending in Congress.
For Florida Justices, Two Lesbian Mothers, One Child, and a Question of Parenthood
The case pits two former lesbian partners, one of whom provided an egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other woman, who later gave birth. After the relationship ended, the woman who gave birth blocked her former partner from having parental rights.
Strom Thurmond’s Racism, L.A.’s Legalized Pot Stores, Teens’ Babies: Six Reads Wednesday
Mitt Romney shows his abortion mettle in a 2002 debate, Los Angeles repeals regulations on 1,000 marijuana shops, Strom Thurmond’s hypocrisies, teens are having far fewer babies, newspapers still losing readers, Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Richards, and Flagler’s jail bookings.
Jose Godinez-Samperio, Undocumented Immigrant and Lawyer, Falters at Florida Court
A skeptical Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday said it may be powerless to let Jose Godinez-Samperio, an undocumented immigrant, practice law in the state despite recent moves by the Obama administration to allow immigrants brought to the country as children pathway to permanent status in the United States.
Mitt Romney’s Dangerous Game: Making Israel a Wedge Issue in Florida
The Florida Jewish community should see through the false premise that Obama is anything less than stellar on Israel, as Mitt Romney, hoping to score partisan points with Florida’s Jewish vote, has attempted to claim, Dan Gelber argues.
Why CEOs Make Lousy Presidents, Rudeness Online: Five Reads Tuesday
CEOs are not cut out to be president, what rude dogs would be like online, the death of the Great Barrier Reef, of Eric Hobsbawm and of Baathism, an interview with Salman Rushdie, and Flagler’s jail bookings.
Amendment 5 and the Battle to Remake, And Subdue, the Florida Supreme Court
Amendment 5 would subject all Supreme Court nominations to confirmation by the Florida Senate and lower the bar for the Legislature to overturn court rules and would give lawmakers access to the records of judicial investigations.
Al Williams, Volusia County School Board Chairman, Dies at 70
Volusia County School Board Chairman Al Williams, who’d just been re-elected to the board in August, died this morning (Oct. 1) at Halifax hospital in Daytona Beach after he fell ill last month as his health was deteriorating.
The Palm Coast City Council’s Disturbing Synthetic Marijuana High
On synthetic pot, the Palm Coast City Council and other local governments are being had, as governments trample due process to enforce a legal shortcut against a ghost epidemic–the latest hysteria in the derelict war on drugs.
From Tape-Downs to Lockdowns: A Day in the So-Called Life of a Cancer Patient
Three radiation treatments in and with 39 to go, Jo Ann Nahirny describes life at the curfew-happy Hope Lodge for cancer patients, her manhandling on the radiation table, and her husband’s angelic patience.
Deeper Knowledge from an Ocean of Films
Ocean film festivals are venues for knowledge, understanding, networking and, of course, the viewing of beautiful and important films, and they’re vital for those who want to be involved in ocean conservation, writes Frank Gromling.
Florida Conservation Groups Mobilize for National Public Lands Day Saturday
A coalition of Northeast Florida’s leading conservation organizations are using this occasion to raise awareness about the importance of publicly-owned conservation lands and to encourage the community to explore, volunteer and advocate for the protection of these vital natural resources.
Mitt Romney’s , and Republicans’, Goldwater Moment
Blowing an election it should have won, the GOP might finally realize it has strayed far out of the mainstream and become a little too odd for the American public, writes Bill Cotterell.
Customer Wins “Stand Your Ground” Ruling After Confrontation With FPL Bill-Collectors
An appeals court Thursday agreed with the dismissal of criminal charges against a Miami-Dade County man who relied on the state’s “stand your ground” law after a confrontation with two Florida Power & Light workers on his property.
Those 11 Constitutional Amendments on November’s Ballot: Women League Says Just Vote No
Florida voters will see 11 of the most confusing, complex and sometimes misleading state ballot amendments ever proposed, and voters will need to decide: Do I want this in our state constitution? Deirdre Macnab, state president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, says No.
Obama Opens Biggest Florida Lead Yet As Romney Reels from 47% Remark
Romney’s challenge is no longer to win just undecided voters–a very thin sliver–but to win back voters who have decided to give Obama a second term. The three October debates are Romney’s last chance to make a play for those voters.
Floridians’ Consumer Confidence at Highest Level Since 2007
All five of the five components that make up consumer confidence increased, including expectations about personal finance, national economic conditions, and buying confidence, according to the latest analysis by the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
Early Voting War Over as Judge, Citing “Souls to the Polls” Sundays, Refuses Injunction
The war over early voting in Florida ahead of November’s presidential election appeared to wind down Monday, with a federal court refusing to block a portion of the state’s controversial 2011 elections law. In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan denied a request from Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown and other black voters to […]
Florida Republican Party Wades Into Supreme Court Fight as Justices Curtail Fund-Raising
The Republican Party of Florida issued a statement saying the GOP opposes three justices who form the backbone of the court’s left-of-center majority–R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince. The justices slashed their fund-raising activities according to the latest filings.
Partisanship Works. One-Party States Don’t.
They are two of the most repeated claims you’ll hear every four years: That this is the most important election in our lifetime. And that partisanship is demolishing the country. Rubbish on both counts.
Shark Finning, Carnage of Luxury
Shark fin soup is considered an aphrodisiac and sign of wealth. Asia’s exploding middle class is resulting in a carnage of some 70 million sharks a year, killed just for their fins.
Carjacking Followed by Bank Robbery in Ormond Beach; One Suspect in Custody
A Gray Kia Sportage was carjacked in Holly Hill at 11 Friday morning, then spotted outside a Bank of America on Nova Road that was being robbed. The, Glenn A. Neal, crashed the car during a police chase, was was taken to the hospital, injured.