Though FPL’s and Progress Energy’s nuclear plants may never be built, the Public Service Commission is set to approve billing utility customers now for those future costs.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
What I Learned Occupying Wall Street and DC
The unemployed, the foreclosed, and the sick-of-it-all are coming together to discuss the world that we want to see and how to get there, says Lacy MacAuley, an activist, in an attempt to define the movement’s purpose.
Herman Cain: Myths, Facts, 9-9-9s: A Guide
Herman Cain’s background and origins: a guide to the best coverage of the GOP presidential contender from a variety of sources, including analyses of his 999 tax plan.
Happy 50th: Stetson Celebrates Its Beckerath Organ’s Half Century With 2 Days of Recitals
Stetson University will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Beckerath Organ on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4 and 5, with a series of guest recitals, receptions and talks to be held on Stetson’s DeLand campus.
Beyond Qaddafi’s Good Riddance
Chest-thumping illusions aside, there wasn’t much difference between the killing of Qaddafi and the killing of bin Laden, and America’s coddling of other Arab dictators carries on.
Existing Home Sales Just Under 5 Million, 11.3% Better Than Last September
Existing-home sales were down in September on the heels of a strong gain in August, but remain well above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Class-Action Lawsuit Calls Florida’s In-State College Tuition Restrictions Unconstitutional
American citizens who’ve lived in Florida for years and have all the documents to prove it are denied in-state tuition rights the moment they can’t prove that their parents are lawful Florida residents–an unconstitutional form of discrimination against citizens, the Southern Poverty Law Center charges in the lawsuit.
A Florida Bank’s Rise and Fall Spotlights Fast-and-Loose Culture Plaguing the Economy
The rise and fall of U.S. Century, whose leaders used it as their own corporate ATM, exemplifies the failure to regulate banking during the boom years and the slipshod approach to the bailout. Losers are taxpayers and Florida residents grappling with ill effects of sprawl.
School Uniforms as Contrived Regulation: 10 Answers to the Flagler School Board
School uniform FAQ: Nancy Nally, a local parent and writer, lays out 10 reasons why the Flagler County School Board should not adopt school uniforms. The board is discussing the matter later this afternoon.
What About Paul? The Blackballing of a Candidate.
Just as Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich were blackballed by media early in their Democratic runs, Ron Paul, a libertarian running as a Republican, is being blacked out even as he’s climbed to fourth in the presidential field, William Collins argues.
Flag-Pin Fanaticism in St. Augustine, Huxley’s LSD, Occupying Anger: The Live Wire
A graph-by-graph illustration of what the Occupy Wall Street crowds are angry about, Clint Eastwood’s Thelonius Monk, U.S. flag pins get banned in a St. Augustine hotel, and more.
Room for Debate: Should Your Child Be on Facebook?
Facebook privacy for adults is hard enough to keep up with. For children and teens, keeping things private on Facebook is a seemingly intentional maze–and a marketer and advertiser’s dream.
The 99% Answer the 53%
In what has turned into one of the most virally circulated pieces of the year, Max Udargo explains the Occupy Wall Street movement to a conservative critic who calls himself part of the 53 percent.
Coming To: A Woman Re-Imagined
And the Making of a First Novel
Caren Umbarger, the artistic director of the Flagler Youth Orchestra, describes how she came to write Coming To, her first novel, which would resonate with “anyone who has struggled out of oppression to make a better life for themselves.”
CLASS Act No More: Obama Ends Long-Term Care Program in Defeat for Health Reform
The Obama administration determined the CLASS Act program could not simultaneously meet three important criteria: be self-sustaining, financially sound for 75 years and affordable to consumers.
Florida Unions Looking to Reward Moderate Republicans for Support–and Influence
Following a brutal legislative session that brought them to the brink, Florida’s public employee unions are shifting strategy and rewarding moderate Republicans in hopes of re-amplifying their diminished influence in Tallahassee.
Herman Cain, Calling Himself “Häagen-Dazs Black Walnut,” Gets Front-Runner Flavor
Between the collapse of fellow-Republican candidates, his folksiness and the appealing simplicity of his 9-9-9 plan, Herman Cain is now leading Rick Perry and Mitt Romney among Republican voters.
Gov. Scott Proposes Corporate Tax Cuts Even As Florida Faces a Deficit of Up to $2 Billion
Gov. Rick Scott wants to double the corporate income tax exemption to $50,000 and eliminate the tangible tax for half of the state’s 300,000 businesses that now pay it. It’s part of his plan to eliminate all corporate taxes ins even years.
“Neptune’s Children,” the Art of Elizabeth Brody-Hastings, Opening at Ocean Publishing
Elizabeth Brody-Hastings’s work, inspired by the Roman god of the sea, evokes Van Gogh, Manet, Matisse, and Picasso, among others. It’ll be on exhibit at Flagler Beach’s Ocean Publishing through the month.
Universities Defend Against Rick Scott’s Primitive War on Anthropologists
Not wanting tax dollars spent educating anthropologists, Rick Scott appeared unaware that the science is among the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math) he himself is emphasizing to add jobs in Florida.
Bleak and Bleaker: State Revenue to Fall Another $2.5 Billion Over the Next 2 Years
The Legislature’s revenue estimating economists today announced a shortfall of about $1 billion for the coming year and $1.5 billion the following year. Rick Scott continues to rule out tax increases.
Rubio’s Rig: Florida’s Answer to Obama Health Law Leaving Small Businesses Cold
Florida’s Marco Rubio-created insurance exchanges aren’t open to individuals, provide no subsidies or tax credits, and no essential health benefits, as federal plans do. The exchanges have not been popular.
Tasers and the Flagler County School Board: Feeble Surrender to an Instrument of Torture
The re-introduction of Tasers on campus is disturbing on many levels, not least because the Flagler school board had no evidence they were needed. Nor did it consider the barbaric implications of Tasers in school settings.
Florida Is No. 1–In Costs and Effects of Hunger
In the past 3 years, costs related to hunger rose 62 percent in Florida. In 2010, the state’s hunger bill was $11.7 billion, or six times more than the $1.75 billion in budget cuts Gov. Rick Scott proposed for public schools.
In Praise of Steve Jobs
Lionel Rolfe, the writer and journalist, chronicles Steve Jobs’s influence on capitalism, cybernetics, typography, Rolfe’s own work and, to some extent, his life.
Occupy Jacksonville: Video and Reports of Saturday’s Occupy Wall Street-Inspired Protest
Occupy Jacksonville at hemming Plaza Saturday drew between 200 and 300 people, including participants from Palm Coast and Flagler County. Video of the protest, updates and pictures.
Florida Lawmakers Gloomily Expect $2 Billion Shortfall: The State Week in Review
As Florida Legislature budget committees met this week, gloom set in again. Medicaid costs are rising, schools need to find money, tax revenues are lagging. Gambling-industry lobbyists had a better week.
Saturday’s Great Bed Race in Flagler Beach Postponed Until Dec. 3
Weather is causing the postponement of the third annual Great Bed Race, which means that there’s two more months to enter the contest, which has already drawn a record 17 beds.
A Shade Less Than Dire, Unemployment Holds Again at 9.1% as 103,000 Jobs Are Added
July and August figures were revised upward for a net addition of 287,000 jobs over the last three month, still far short of what the economy needs to be healthy, or to bring the unemployment rate down.
Gambling Florida: Court Says Legislature May Expand Slot Machines Around the State
In a ruling that may open the way for gambling in Florida resorts, the first District Court of Appeal said it’s up to lawmakers to decide where they allow casinos. Companies are pushing hard for the expansion of slot-machine resorts.
Obama’s Job Creation Record: Millions Created or Saved, Still Too Few to Overcome Crisis
While the $825 billion stimulus raised employment from at least 1 million to 3.3 million people and significantly softened the recession, subsequent cutbacks at all level of governments reversed the gains and prevented a sustained recovery.
Ruthless Hilarity, Shop of Horror, Altar Boyz and Philharmonic Oscars: Culture Worth the Miles
The absolute fun of “Ruthless: the Musical” at the Winter Park Playhouse, “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Winter Garden Theater, “Altar Boyz” at Orlando’s Abbey, the Oscars with the Orlando Philharmonic, and much more.
Occupy Wall Street Protests Spreading to Florida–Jacksonville, Gainesville and Ocala
Occupy Wall Street, the tea party’s growing flip-side movement, is organizing a series of protests across the nation and in a half dozen cities in Florida, from Jacksonville to Miami to Tampa.
Bogus Students, Fake Curriculums, Ghost Schools: Florida’s Voucher Fraud Is Probed
Florida House members grilled a Department of Education official Tuesday over reports of rampant fraud and lax oversight of private schools that receive state funds through a voucher program for students with disabilities.
School Construction Money Slashed By $267 Million; Charters and Universities Affected
Traditional public schools in Flagler County no longer receive Public Education Capital Outlay dollars, which now go to charter schools, including Imagine School at Town Center. Imagine is again applying for PECO dollars.
Animal Refuge Regulations: Advocates Call Them Overbearing; Flagler Holds Off, For Now
Conceding that it overreacted, the Flagler County Commission tabled a proposal that would have imposed stringent rules on animal shelters and sanctuaries, pending more inclusive public meetings with animal advocates.
Report Shows How Far Florida and Other States Are Scuttling Voting Rights and Turnout
Reductions in early voting days, ending voting-day address changes for registered voters, clamping down on registration drives and other new rules could make it harder for 5 million people to vote in 2012, which may be just what GOP-led legislatures passing those laws aimed for.
False Sunshine, Rick Perry’s Niggerhead Problem, Groucho’s 121st: The Live Wire
Rick Perry’s self-destruction speeds up, Kenneth Starr wants the US Supreme Court on TV, Jacques Derrida deconstructs American journalists and universities, proof that Mondays suck, and more
Of Course It’s Class Warfare. And the Rich Are Winning in a Rout.
Republicans are accusing President Obama of waging class warfare, which, Donald Kaul argues, is a little like the Japanese complaining about the time Pearl Harbor attacked them in 1941.
Florida’s Plan to Privatize 29 Prisons Halted As Judge Rules Process Unconstitutional
Leon County Curcuit Judge Jackie Fulford ruled that lawmakers violated the Florida Constitution by approving prison privatization in the fine print of the state budget rather than by changing the law explicitly.
Laughs in a Trance at Flagler Playhouse’s “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
Funny, endearing and biting to the core: A misfit-filled middle school spelling bee is the unlikely setting of the Flagler Playhouse’s 33rd season opener with the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Guns, Teen Abortions, Sexting and Bestial Misdemeanors: 29 New Florida Laws Kick In
A slew of new laws go in effect Saturday, including the NRA-inspired restriction on local governments’ gun regulations, making it a crime to have sex with animals, reducing credit card fraud and reducing teens’ abortion rights.
Florida Aiming for Jan. 31 Presidential Primary, Setting Up State vs. National GOP Clash
State Republicans seemed headed for a showdown with the national party over the date for Florida’s GOP presidential preference primary, which breaks the Republican National Committee’s calendar rules by more than a month.
Bug Worlds, Juilliard Secrets, Great Arrangers and Even Mica: Culture Worth the Miles
A bug invasion at the Orlando Science Center, the Juilliard School comes to Edgewater to tell you how to apply, the Orlando Philharmonic’s Great Arrangers (Copland, Stravinsky, Holst), Family Fitness in Winter Park Village, and more.
Florida’s Bondi, 25 States and Obama Ask U.S. Supreme Court To Take Up Health Law
Florida Attorney general Pam Bondi led 26 states’ call to the US Supreme Court to take on Obama’s health care law. So did the Obama administration, as the court prepares to convene for its new term on Monday.
Claude Kirk, Florida’s First 20th Century Republican Governor, Is Dead at 85
Gov. Claude Kirk–flamboyant, outspoken, quirky–gave rise to Florida’s Republican ascendance and ushered in an era of environmental stewardship and conservation as governor between 1966 and 1970.
Much Slimmer Water Management District Approves Lower Tax Rate Imposed From Above
The St. Johns River Water Management District’s 26 percent tax reduction resulted in lay-offs of 95 people and the elimination of more jobs through buyouts and vacancies, affecting various parts of the district’s mission.
Hidden Pay Cut: Health Premiums Soar Again, Hitting Families Hardest, as Earnings Stagnate
Health insurance premium costs rose 9 percent for families in 2011, reversing four years of slower premium increases and again raising questions about long-term health costs.
Check the Box Scoundrels: Corporations Lobby to Preserve a $10 Billion Loophole
The ‘check-the-box’ rule, meant to cut red tape for companies, has inadvertently allowed them to avoid billions of dollars in taxes each year, and the government keeps balking at closing the loophole.
Herman Cain? Seriously? He Wins Florida Straw Poll, Upending GOP Race
Herman Cain, a pizza magnate seen as a minor candidate in a crowded field for the GOP nomination, scored an upset victory Saturday in the Republican Party of Florida’s Presidency 5 straw poll, raising questions about the standing of the two front-runners and the bellwether status of the fundraising event.