Federal District Judge Ursula Ungaro rejected the argument that the anti-gerrymandering amendment allows voters to meddle in legislative redistricting. Weird alliances between incumbent Democrats and Republicans have formed to keep fighting the voter-approved amendment.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Obama’s Job Gig: Pin-Up to GOP Voodoo
What jobs program? Obama’s surrender to stimulus by tax cuts is another concession to bully superstitions. Obama has lost credibility. He’s lost respect. He’s losing the nation right along with him.
When Cops Track Your Cell Calls and Location On Public Roads: No Expectation of Privacy
Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeals Wednesday ruled that tracking a drug dealer through his cell phone as he traveled across the state was legal as long as he did not go onto private property.
Black Communities Through a Camera Lens, Louis Armstrong and More Dance: Culture Worth the Miles
Black photographers’ eye on Jacksonville, Daytona Beach and Winter Park, Satchmo at the Waldorf at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Orlando’s Third Thursday exhibits, and more.
Federal Suit Filed Against Florida Law Requiring Drug Tests of Welfare Recipients
The new law requires recipients of temporary cash assistance to pay $35 to $45 for a drug test first. The ACLU charges the law stigmatizes low-income people and amounts to a suspicionless search.
Mandatory Virtual Classes for High School Students Bugging Cash-Strapped Districts
A new state law that requires Florida high school students to take a class online is causing cash-strapped school districts to spend millions on new computers and exacerbating the digital divide.
This Week in Flagler and Tallahassee: Budget Hearing Galore, Saturday at the Galleries
Several local governments hold public hearings on their 2011-12 budgets, the county commission takes on economic development again, the Flagler Youth Orchestra kicks off again, Hollingsworth and the Art League galleries hold show openings, and Tallahassee talks online bookings.
Light Up Palm Coast: Petitioning the City Council to Put Safety Before Beautification
In the wake of 15-year-old Kirt Smith’s death while biking on Seminole Woods, Dede Siebenaler argues that the Palm Coast City Council has focused too much on beautifying streets instead of lighting them up.
Federal COBRA Insurance Subsidies End, Aggravating Strains for the Unemployed
Federal COBRA subsidies for laid-off workers covered 65 percent of premium costs for 15 months, as part of the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus package. GOP lawmakers blocked an extension.
Snooping Security: “If You See Something, Say Something” Campaign Comes to Florida
Gov. Rick Scott is welcoming the “If You See Something, Say Something Campaign,” which encourages callers to use a statewide toll-free telephone number to report suspicious activity. The program raises spying, profiling and other civil liberties concerns.
Zero Job Creation in August as Economy, Recession-Bound, Posts Year’s Worst Showing
Even as the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent, job creation stalled in August, and was revised downward in June and July, signaling a recession.
Texas-Size Holes in Gov. Rick Scott’s Boast Of Florida Job Creation as 2nd to Texas
Rick Scott called the rest of the nation’s job numbers “pathetic” compared to Florida’s, yet Florida ranks near the bottom in the nation on Gallup’s index of job creation, while its 70,000 new jobs in the past year proportionally rank the state below the national average.
Florida Gun Nuts, Evils of Going Green, Blacks and Marriage, Allen West’s Idiocy: The Live Wire
Florida law as a gun to local governments’ heads, when GIs executed children in Iraq, a sickness beyond Fox, Is Marriage for White People?, homeland security sex, Allen West’s stupid comments on the Arab Spring, and more.
Banning Near-Shore Oil Drilling for Good in Florida: Proposed Constitutional Amendment Is Filed
The proposed amendment, filed Tuesday by Sen. Arthenia Joyner, matches a House version filed earlier this year by Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg. It would ask voters to put into the constitution a ban on exploration, drilling, extraction or production of oil in Florida waters.
So You Think You Can Dance in Orlando, Wild Art in Sanford: Culture Worth the Miles
Robert Mier’s wild Florida at Gallery First, So You Think You Can Dance comes to the Amway Center in Orlando, Disney on Ice, the Musical of Musicals at the Winter Park Playhouse, and more.
Pointing to Recession, Floridians’ Consumer Confidence Crashes Again to Near-Record Low
The dramatic decline in consumer confidence is just three points shy of 59, the mark set in June 2008, when the nation was in the midst of the Great Recession. Figures released by the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
A 6% Tax on Bottled Water in Florida: Ormond Beach’s Sen. Lynn Revives Proposal
The bottled-water tax in Florida would pay for repairing environmental damage from trashed plastic. The water industry is opposing Ormond Beach Sen. Evelyn Lynn’s proposal.
Child and Animal Abuse Charges Land a 35-Year-Old Woman in Jail
Three children–ages 5, 8 and 14– more than two dozen animals were living in the Reid Place house in Palm Coast. The house was overrun with garbage, animal food and feces.
Stetson Kennedy, Nemesis of KKK And Jim Crow, Is Dead at 94
Stetson Kennedy, the civil rights activist, journalist, folklorist, author and lecturer, died in St. Augustine Saturday, Aug. 27, with his wife Sandra Parks at his side. He was lucid to the end.
Borrowing From Rick Perry: Gov. Rick Scott Wants More Texas in Florida Universities
Gov. Rick Scott wants to treat universities and colleges more like private businesses, as Rick Perry is trying to do in Texas, with more scrutiny over professor and university performance.
Rick Scott’s Sunshine Problem: Missing E-Mails and a Questionable FDLE Probe
From a supposedly accidental purge of entire Rick Scott administration email accounts to an FDLE probe that appears to be a conflict of interest, the governor’s problems with open records continue.
Campaign Notes: Defacing Moorman, Excluding Ericksen, Unseating Kim Weeks
Palm Coast City Councilman Holsey Moorman reacts to his vandalized sign, Democrats explain why they invited Jon Netts and not Charlie Ericksen, and the complete list of candidates thinking (or not) of challenging Kimberle Weeks, the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections.
Hurricane Update: Tropical Storm Warning Issued for Coastal Waters Off Flagler
Hurricane Irene won’t slam Florida the way it will the Northeast, but high surf of 12 to 18 feet near shore means a tropical storm warning for coastal areas here and windy conditions overnight.
Lethal Edict: Florida Supremes Rule “Isolated Mishaps” Aren’t Enough to Stop Executions
Clearing the way for executions by lethal injection, a unanimous Florida Supreme Court ruled invalid death row inmate Manuel Valle’s objection to pentobarbital, one of the three drugs used to put inmates to sleep–and to euthanize animals.
End of State-Funded Public Broadcasting In Florida: State Board Blanks PBS Dollars
Following on the heels of Gov. Rick Scott’s veto of PBS funding earlier this year, the State Board of Education, for the first time in 35 years, refused to include funding for Florida’s 26 public television and radio stations, putting many of those stations’ future in doubt.
Florida GOP’s Vague Redistricting Schedule Playing Havoc With Election-Year Politics
Critics of the Legislature’s timeline say mass chaos could follow if lawmakers don’t approve maps soon enough to give the attorney general and the Supreme Court enough time to review the plans well in advance of the June 18 opening date for qualifying.
Another Air Show, in Kansas City, Crash Claims the Life of a Ponte Vedra Veteran of Aerobatics
Bryan Jensen, a stunt pilot for 15 years and a captain who flew 747s for Delta Airlines, was killed Saturday when his red Horizon Hobbit biplane crashed at the Kansas City Aviation Expo Air Show in circumstances similar to the fatal crash at Wings Over Flagler in March.
Taxes, the Economy, the Stimulus: Separating Fiction from Fact
Answers to recurring questions of the day: what’s the state of the economy, are Americans really as overtaxed as they think they are, and what has the 2009 economic stimulus accomplished–or not?
Decision Fatigue, Why Music Matters, Immigrants Under Siege: The Live Wire
He decides to give up on Facebook and Twitter, the South discovers a new enemy in immigrants, the bad news of bad news, Irving Kristol on Neo-conservatism, Burger King fires the King, and more.
Florida’s Next Testing Target: Pre-K Children
David Lawrence, a leading pre-K education advocate in Florida, is winning converts to his proposal that pre-K children be subjected to standardized testing to instill rigor and accountability similar to that of K-12 programs. He says it won’t be a “baby FCAT.”
What Barack Obama Can Learn From Rick Scott
With Rick Scott’s poll numbers in the 20s, the governor went for a cosmetology make-over. Barack Obama could do the same, in reverse: he needs to be liked less and to govern more.
Profits of Buying Florida’s Government: Lobbyists Earn $52 Million in 2nd Quarter
Florida is hurting. Lobbyists aren’t: they increased their take from April to June to $52 million, up from $49.3 million in the same period last year.
Maybe They Should Bid Out the Contract
Palm Coast alone didn’t have a tough week with sanitation matters: A sanitation truck went through the wall of a third-floor depot in New York Wednesday in an involuntary homage to Magritte.
The Down Side of Fuel Efficiency: Florida Governments Will Take a $5 Billion Hit
As the Obama administration seeks to double average fuel efficiency by 2025, State and local government revenue dependent on gas taxes will see big declines in revenue that pays for roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Supreme Court Says Rick Scott Overstepped His Authority By Usurping Rule-Making Powers
In a stinging rebuke of Gov. Rick Scott’s interpretation of his powers, the Florida Supreme Court, in a 5-2 ruling, declared the governor’s attempt to blunt and circumvent state agency rule-making invalid.
Whiley v. Scott: Full Text of Florida Supreme Court Decision Invalidating Gov. Scott’s Rulemaking Edict
Full text of the Florida Supreme Court’s 5-2 decision in Whiley v. Scott. The opinion was unsigned.
Publix and Winn-Dixie Recall Ground Beef Sold in Flagler and St. Johns Over E. Coli Alert
The E. coli-contaminated ground chuck was produced by a Dodge City, Kansas-based meat packer and distributed to Publix and Winn-Dixie. Publix stores in four states and 17 Florida counties are affected.
UF Survey: Political Acrimony and Economic Ills Hurt Real Estate’s Outlook in Florida
The University of Florida’s quarterly Survey of Emerging Market Conditions concludes that economic and political worries are holding back spending, except by foreigners. Tourism is the state’s strongest bright sport.
When Income Was Taxed at 94%: How FDR Tackled Debt and Reckless Republicans
The last time the nation faced war debts Franklin Roosevelt didn’t hesitate to raise taxes and show up Republicans who stood in the way of fiscal responsibility, argues Sam Pizzigati.
From Federally Owned Foreclosed Homes To Rental Properties: Can It Work?
Government-owned foreclosures as rental property investments: The government is looking for win-win solutions for taxpayers, renters, investors and neighborhoods, but there’s plenty of skepticism about the foreclosure-to-rental concept.
Philip Levine’s Poetry, Longing for Herbert Hoover: The Live Wire
Celebrating Philip Levine, Poet Laureate, Herbert Hoover sounds good again, and more.
In a Florida Case, 2nd U.S. Appeals Court To Rule on Health Law Strikes It Down (It’s Now 1-1)
A divided panel of the conservative 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, in a case from Florida, ruled health reform unconstitutional, saying it is “unprecedented, lacks cognizable limits and imperils our federalist structure.”
I Love Waste Pro. But.
To my 7-year-old son, Waste Pro’s twice-weekly pickups are a sacred, joyful ritual made more so by Waste Pro’s thoughtful workers. That doesn’t mean Palm Coast should shirk its responsibilities to residents when it comes to bidding out a new garbage contract.
FPL’s $18 Billion Nuclear-Reactor Plans Leak Unanswered Questions Before Florida PSC
FPL’s plan to pass along almost $200 million in nuclear construction costs to consumers in just one year raised a question at the Public Service Commission: why charge customers if the $13 billion to $19 billion nukes plants may never be built?
To Ward Off Senility, Make That Bed: UF Researchers’ Advice to the Medicare Generation
University of Florida researchers have used laboratory-based methods to objectively measure the amount of energy older adults use up as they go about their daily activities. Activity means less senility.
Continuing Charm Offensive, Rick Scott On C-Span for 45 Minutes; Watch Video
Scott has been giving media interviews every day for the past two weeks in an effort to pull his approval rating from the abyss. He is trying to raise his likability.
The Man Behind No New Taxes, Apple Beats Exxon, Obama’s Lack Of A Plan: The Live Wire
A new tower at Ground Zero, Apple tops the market, Murdoch the mob boss, Obama needs a plan, China gets an aircraft carrier, and more.
Museum of Florida Art Turns 60, Cirque Du Soleil Florida Special: Culture Worth the Miles
The Museum of Florida Art’s 60th birthday celebrates children, Cirque du Soleil offers special prices to Floridians, celebrity impersonators, the musical of musicals and more.
Reminder: Florida’s Sales Tax Holiday Is This Weekend: Here’s A Guide
Florida’s Tax Free Days, or sales tax holiday, is scheduled this year for August 12 through August 14. The sales tax exemption applies to clothing and school supplies. A complete guide.
Refusing Other Federal Health Care Aid, Florida Welcomes Abstinence-Only Cash
Florida has been against taking federal health care money until being for it–as long as it sustains abstinence-only sex classes.