Innovation is at the root of job creation. The U.S. Patent Office is innovations’ gate-keeper, with a backlog of 715,000 patent applications. Yet Congress just reduced the office’s budget by $100 million while dickering over reforming its administration.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Hurricane Tallahassee: Environmentalists Survey Wreckage of 2011 Legislative Session
Developers gained more power in environmental disputes, state regulation of development was scaled back, the Department of Community Affairs is all but history as the Florida Legislature diminished the state’s growth management role in favor of development.
Foreclosures Down 59 Percent in April, But Don’t Celebrate Yet, Florida
Longer processing times and the backlash against banks’ speed-dialed foreclosures have more to do with the brighter number than an actual recovery in the housing market.
The Taste of 100 Wines, Henry Patrick Raleigh, Shrek & Fringe: Culture Worth the Miles
All Florida art at the Mennello Museum, American illustrator Henry Patrick Raleigh at the Maitland Art Center, the science of wine-tasting at the Orlando Science Center, Shrek at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, violinist Joshua Bell, and more.
Making It Right in New Orleans, 6 Years After Katrina: The Grit of Pitt and Green
From Brad Pitt’s Make It Right program to a broad-based spirit of enterprise, Flagler Beach’s Frank Gromling has been tracking New Orleans’ rebirth every year by attending the city’s annual jazz festival.
Florida Home Sales Rise in 1Q, Home Values Tumble Again
Florida home sales rose 13 percent in the 1st quarter, led by a glut of bank-owned homes on the market, but housing prices continued to fall, dampening hopes that property values have bottomed out.
From Nursing Homes to Medicaid to Pill Mills, Florida Re-Writes Austere Health Rules
Health care reform opt-out, broad abortion restrictions, managed care for 2.8 million Floridians, less care for patients in nursing homes, Healthy Start slashed: Florida redrew the state’s health care map in the 2011 legislative session.
Loan Modifications: How Banks Require Struggling Homeowners to Waive Rights
Mortgage loan modification scams: Regulators ban the practice, but banks are forcing homeowners struggling to save their home to sign away their right to sue.
Weather and Climate Extremes Punctuate a Very Warm, Very Wet April Across the U.S.
The average temperature was almost 1 full degree above the 100-year average, and Florida’s drought aside, April was the 7th wettest month on record, triggering historic flooding.
Il Scott, Il Duce, Whites Against Black Movies, Florida Against Watchdogs: The Live Wire
The what-ifs of capturing bin Laden, Obama’s Osama rap, Florida’s war on watchdogs, why whites don’t watch movies starring blacks, a girl is forced to cheer for her rapist, arts, education and Obama, David Hume at 300, and more.
2011 Session Under GOP Supermajority: Stingier, Looser, More Preferential Florida
The 2011 Session revamped Medicaid, teacher pay and pill-mill regulations, cut the budget and brooked favors with insurers, but culminated in corrosive revolts among Republicans as anti-union and anti-immigration bills failed.
Lawmakers Quietly and Hurriedly Approve $10 Million Statewide Boarding Charter School
The charter school, vehemently opposed by Ormond Beach Sen. Evelyn Lynn, who cited other education priorities, would focus on troubled youth but be paid for with public funds and run by a private concern.
Class-Size Limits Lifted on Numerous Courses As Lawmakers Redefine Meaning of “Core”
Foreign language classes, Advanced Placement courses, and certain social studies courses would be exempt from constitutionally required class-size limits, while caps in other classes could be exceeded by three to five students.
Doubts, Debates, Debacles and New Details: The Bin Laden Follies Weekend Round-Up
In the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, there’s no dearth of debates over torture’s merits, whether he’s really dead, what Pakistan knew and when it knew it, and the Obama administration’s ever-changing stories. A guide.
Underage Sex Sting Nets 17 Men in St. Johns, Including Teacher and 2 in Military
“Operation Sheepdog” involved undercover detectives posing as juveniles between 8 and 15 years old or parents online to arrange for unknown suspects to meet with them at an undercover house.
Economy Adds 244,000 Jobs, an Unexpected Surge, But Unemployment Back Up to 9%
The 244,000 net new jobs defied economists’ expectations of a much weaker April, but the unemployment rate, obtained from a separate survey, rose for the first time in five months.
Prom Night Recklessness: FPC Rattles Students With Tombstones and Scary Statistics
Carrying pickets and tombstones to symbolize the dangers of recklessness on prom night, students and FPC Activities Director Cheryl Perry sent a cautionary message to fellow students who’ll be partying on prom night Friday.
Last-Minute Budget Deal Reduces Districts’ Dollars and Oversight of Charter Schools
Charter schools that have received an “A” or “B” rating in the last three years would be given the ability to expand enrollment or add new grades without having to wait for approval from the school district.
Violinist Joshua Bell with the Orlando Philharmonic and Other Virtuoso Acts: Culture Worth the Miles
Joshua Bell in two concerts with the Orlando Philharmonic, and the Orlando Philharmonic’s Concert at the Springs, Epcot’s annual Chef’s Gala to benefits Heart of Florida United Way, The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey’s “Baby Owl Shower” in Maitland, and more.
Splitting Florida Lawmakers, Arizona-Inspired Immigration-Law Rewrites Won’t Make It
The Florida House proposal would have turned cops into immigration officers and increased penalties on businesses. The Senate proposal would have been less harsh. The two sides couldn’t agree on a joint proposal.
Kent State, Trump Foxed, Holocaust Tales, a Fawn Saved in Flagler Beach: The Live Wire
Remembering the 14 students shot by their own troops at Kent State in 1970, First Fridays in Flagler Beach, Rick Scott in Daytona, the super-rich’s tax hypocrisies, and the continuing stupidities of Donald trump, and more.
Room for Debate
Bin Laden Death Photos and Videos: Should They be Released?
A dead and bloodied photo or video of Osama bin Laden may be “gruesome,” as the White House claims, but why should the public not have a full accounting of the raid and of bin Laden’s burial?
College Drop-Outs: Florida Lawmakers Cutting Bright Futures Scholarships a Further 20%
Once a scholarship that covered almost 100 percent of a student’s tuition and fees and half the cost of books, students entering UF next year will see their Bright Futures scholarship covering less than 50 percent of those costs.
THE END OF BIN LADEN,
The Endings Yet to Come
There is an inevitable, visceral, justifiable need to celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden. Let’s just not repeat the mistakes of 2011 and let the visceral dictate the next chapter of wars still looking for an ending.
Property Tax Overhaul Passes House: Breaks For New Home Buyers, Business, Snowbirds
First-time home buyers would get a 50 percent property tax break on the value of their home. Voters would decide whether to cap property tax assessment increases for commercial properties at 5 percent.
Stetson Awarding Degrees to 570 Students at Saturday’s Commencement
Student speakers are Caitlin Peterson of Ocala, Jason Reese of Telford, Tenn., and Maxwell Grossman of Wellington, the latter, a conductor and pianist, representing the School of Music.
Corporate Tax Cut Out, Privatizing Prisons and 3% Public Pension Contributions In
As the Legislature’s 2011 session veers uncertainly toward its final days, lawmakers struck deals Saturday on privatizing prisons and compromising over public employees’ pension contributions, but no deal yet on health care and education cuts.
Donald Trump Can’t Take a Joke and Other Tales from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
“Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising, since I just assumed he was running as a joke.” And more from the White House Correspondents’ Association’s dinner, videos of Obama’s and Seth Meyers’s routines included.
“The Me Nobody Knows” at Flagler Playhouse: Vivid, Raw and Joyful Ghetto Truths
“The Me Nobody Knows,” at the Flagler Playhouse for the next three weekends (April 29-May 15), is an original and affecting 1970 musical drawn from the true stories of adolescents in New York City’s slums.
Birthers, Royals and Crocks
Between Barack Obama’s birth certificate and William Windsor’s wedding to his girlfriend Kate, lust for make-believe idiocies at the expense of reality explains why problem-solving isn’t much of a priority these days.
Proposal to Split Florida Supreme Court Faces Long Odds in the Senate
The proposed constitutional amendment would create a criminal and civil supreme court, change the way justices are picked and the way the judicial system is funded, but the idea may be dying.
Jonathan May Remembered, Sounds of Music and Texting Mommies: Culture Worth the Miles
The Metropolitan Area Youth Symphony celebrates Jonathan May Day, “The Sound of Music” at the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden, a new musical for texting moms at the Plaza Theater, the Orlando Philharmonic’s La Boheme, the senior pageant comes to Orlando, and more.
Florida Legislature Redrawing Abortion Rules, Targeting Women, Physicians and US Law
The House approved a slew of bills that would force women to submit to ultrasounds before an abortion, broaden parental notification when minors are seeking an abortion, and require physicians to own abortion clinics, among other bills.
Obama Releases Long-Form Birth Certificate; Trump Takes Credit
President Obama this morning released his long-form birth certificate, hoping to end conspiracy theories about his place of birth. The release is unlikely to put an end to birthers midwifing new theories.
School Districts Will Have to Vastly Expand Virtual Education; Charters to Click In
At least one virtual class would be mandatory for graduation, kindergarten students could take online courses, and charter schools could offer full or part-time classes in what’s almost certain to become law.
Birther Myths, Imagine’s Cheerleaders, In Defense of Flogging and Typewriters: The Live Wire
Anderson Cooper takes on birthers, Imagine School’s cheerleaders take on Sarasota, Unions take on the Florida Chamber, a prison scholar takes up flogging, the typewriter is still clicking, and more.
Gun-Toting Bills, Supplanting Doctors and Local Governments, Poised to Become Law
One bill would penalize local governments with stricter gun restrictions than the state. Another would muzzle doctors’ abilities to ask their patients about gun ownership.
John F. Kennedy’s Speech on the Arts and Robert Frost, Amherst College (1963)
Full text and audio of John F. Kennedy’s Amherst College speech on the arts in 1963, one of the most eloquent defenses of the artist and art’s role in American civilization by an American president.
Dull and Duller GOP Candidates, Pink Toenails, Bright Futures Dim, The Beatles at Shea: The Live Wire
Why homebuilders have the blues, why real estate agents also do, a Palm Coast molestation case reopens, The Legislature’s latest cleavers, vegetarian oral sex, Sheriff Fleming’s videos, and more.
New Home Sales Rebound From Record Low, But Sales Still 22% Lower Than Last Year
March new home sales post an 11 percent increase over February, but February had posted a record low, and March’s 300,000 sales volume is still 22 percent below sales in March 2010.
Bail Bondsmen Would Cash In at Taxpayers’ Expense As Pre-Trial Release Is Scaled Back
A bill written to boost bail bondsmen’s business would force inmates to post bond to get out of jail rather than rely on county-run pre-trial release programs. Taxpayers are likely to pay the price as fewer inmates can afford bond and jail populations soar.
Criminal Backgrounds of Health Providers: Florida’s Licensing System Is All Cavities
Dentists, doctors and pharmacists can still practice in Florida even after committing crimes, while the Department of Health passes over criminal backgrounds in a lax and self-reported licensing procedure.
NTSB Preliminary Investigation Report: Flagler County Airport Crash on March 26, 2011
Full text of the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigation report, released on April 19, 2011, of the fatal plane crash at the Flagler County Airport on March 26, 2011, involving an Aerostar S A YAK-52, piloted by Bill Walker.
News-Journal Inexplicably Spikes Follow-Up Story on Drowning of 3-Year-Old Girl
The story, spiked Wednesday evening after being approved for the next day’s paper, cited police saying that the girl’s 5-year-old brother had told his mother he’d drowned his sister–information that other media reported Wednesday evening.
Phantom of the Opera, Art for $100 or Less, Snake Farming: Culture Worth the Miles
The Morse Museum’s new wing opens, the Works Progress Administration’s arts come to life at the Mennello Museum of American Art, Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera at University High School, art for $100, snake farming and more.
Varieties of Religious Experience: Watching an Eagles’ Nest, Live
The Raptor Resource Project’s live, 24-hour streaming video of a family of eagles, from their nest in Idaho. With hatchlings and river sounds nearby. Warning: watching can be addictive.
Property Tax Reform: 50% Exemptions, Breaks for Investors, Losses for Local Governments
Supporters of the overhaul say it’ll fill up empty homes. Critics say it’ll also slash local government revenue and further shift the tax burden to current residents, exacerbating inequities.
More Losers Than Winners as HMOs Skim Off Florida’s $20 Billion Medicaid Overhaul
Managed-car plans will take over almost all of Florida’s 2.8 million Medicaid patients. The overhaul does nothing to change the status of 3.8 million uninsured Floridians.
Stetson University Takes 3rd Place in National RecycleMania
Stetson’s third-place overall showing was out of a field of 288 colleges and universities. The university won first in the paper-recycling division, earning it a trophy made of recycled glass.
“Education Savings Accounts” Would Shift Public Money to Private and Home Schools
A vast expansion of school vouchers, Education Savings Account would shift 40 percent of per-student funding to children attending private school, to college savings accounts or to home-school spending, among other diversions from public-education budgets.