FLORIDA DIGEST September 25, 2006

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http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB6ODJ7ISE.html


Election Spending Skirts Regulations
By WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune
Published: Sep 25, 2006


TAMPA - "I am running to be the people's governor," is the opening linespoken by Charlie Crist in a TV ad that began appearing after he won theRepublican nomination for governor.

It shows Crist greeting supporters, making speeches and chatting withchildren.

Anyone would swear it was a Crist for governor ad.

It was even produced by the political media company he uses.

Looks, however, are deceptive.

Under Florida's election laws, it's not a Crist ad at all. It's an ad forthe Florida Republican Party.

The clue: the fine-print disclaimer that flashes on the screen for a fewseconds at the end. It mentions two other Republican candidates: Tom Lee forchief financial officer and Bill McCollum for attorney general.




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http://www.tbo.com/news/opinion/editorials/MGB8LZ9JGSE.html


Justices Should Bar Secret Court Dockets
Published: Sep 25, 2006


Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Lewis couldn't believe it when helearned how many court cases have been hidden from the public.

More than 400 civil and family court cases, along with an unknown number ofcriminal cases, have disappeared from public view in Broward County since1989, the Miami Herald reported earlier this year.

And it turns out Broward wasn't unique. Cases also were hidden away inHillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Sarasota counties. Many cases involvedprominent people - judges, doctors, politicians and police. One case maycost a congressional candidate dearly.

"I almost swallowed my tongue when I read about this," Lewis told theHerald. "To have such hiding occur . that's not America, is it?"

No, it's not, which is why the chief should be commended for pushing theFlorida Association of Court Clerks and Comptrollers to draft rulesrequiring judges to hold public hearings before sealing court records.



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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-miket2406sep24,0,7973712.column?coll=orl-news-col


COMMENTARY
State no longer cheap paradise for families
Mike Thomas
COMMENTARY

September 24, 2006


Where are the school kids?

"We were growing at 65,000 students a year for 10 years," says WayneBlanton, director of the Florida School Boards Association."Last year it was 35,000. It's 30,000 this year. The rate of growth is halfof what it was."

Here is a succinct explanation: Florida isn't cheap anymore.

We were a Wal-Mart state. Now we're a Target state. We're headed toward aNordstrom state.

And lots of families can't afford it.

Our home prices now exceed the national average, which also means higherproperty taxes and rents.



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http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/opnOPN56092506.htm


September 25, 2006
Injection as lethal torture


It would be illegal to kill a dog with the drugs Florida uses to carry out executions.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens noted as much in April, duringhearings to determine the fate of condemned cop-killer Clarence Hill.

The court was presented with studies suggesting that lethal injections leftinmates conscious and able to feel caustic chemicals flooding through theirveins -- but paralyzed, unable to scream or move.

Lethal injections use three chemicals -- sodium pentothal to cause
unconsciousness, pancuronium bromide to stop all muscle movement andpotassium chloride to stop the heart.

A University of Miami study looked at blood levels of anesthetic foundduring autopsies of executed prisoners and concluded that most of themshowed blood levels too low to produce complete unconsciousness. Half thecases they studied showed drug levels consistent with a patient who wasaware of his or her surroundings.

In some executions, prison officials are required to cut into a condemnedperson's arm to find a vein for the injection.

In a few executions, drugs clogged in the intravenous tube, requiring theexecution procedure to be restarted.



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http://cgi.jacksonville.com/cgi-bin/printit.cgi?story=ZZNOSTORYZZ


The Florida Times-Union
September 25, 2006

Slowing Prison's Revolving Door

By DANA TREEN
The Times-Union


To most, it is one "yes" or "no" question.

To Charlotte Smith and thousands of Northeast Florida felons released eachyear and facing choices mostly limited to finding work or returning tocrime, it is the entire future.

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"

The past, the present and the future become intertwined at this moment.

"I wanted to lie," said Smith, a 35-year-old Jacksonville woman. "Because Iknew right then they were not going to hire me."

Fresh out of federal prison and living out the last six months of hersentence at a halfway house, Smith said not getting work was a probationviolation that could have sent her back to prison for those final months.

"At one time, I was almost ready to go back," she said.



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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/elections/orl-blacks2506sep25,0,998117.story?coll=orl-home-headlines


ELECTION 2006
State blacks split on Davis' choice for running mate
Maya Bell
Sentinel Staff Writer

September 25, 2006

MIAMI -- A barber in the heart of Liberty City, C. "Fade Master" Crews madea pledge to himself after the contested presidential election in 2000. Hewould not cast another ballot unless he got a receipt for his vote.

But as the Nov. 7 general election approaches, Crews, 45, known for hisspecialty haircuts at a place called Mop City, is thinking about breakinghis vow to vote in the governor's race. A chief reason: If Democraticnominee Jim Davis wins, his running mate would become Florida's first blacklieutenant governor.

"It will definitely keep me interested in the election," Crews said. "When
you have people such as Daryl Jones on the ticket, it will encourage peopleof color. You have an example. You have a foundation."

Like the overwhelming majority of black voters, Crews is a registeredDemocrat and part of a key voting bloc that could lift Davis' fortunes. Ifblack voters choose to sit out this governor's race, as Crews and scores ofothers did four years ago, the Tampa congressman doesn't stand much of achance against his better-funded, more popular Republican opponent, stateAttorney General Charlie Crist.



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http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060924/LOCAL/209240332/1078/news&template=printart


Article published Sep 24, 2006
Sep 23, 2006

Gubernatorial campaigns deal with race, ethnic issues

By JOE FOLLICK
Sun Tallahassee Bureau


ORLANDO - From old votes on compensating wrongly jailed men to jobs at"whites only" country clubs to claims that Islam is a cult, racial andethnic issues have become almost daily discussions in the campaign to becomeFlorida's governor.

But some black leaders say the focus on past injustice is coming at theexpense of solutions for problems facing black residents in the state today.

"It's unfortunate that it's all about issues that are 30 and 50 years ago,"said Adora Obi Nweze, the president of the NAACP Florida State Conference."There are issues in 2006 that these guys need to address. It's being usedin a political sense for the candidates. It's very, very disenchanting andunfortunate for all Floridians."



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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15600553.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Ron Klein: Iraq war could be a key factor in bid for election

Voters will consider the war in Iraq on Nov. 7, but is it a definingquestion in the race between Republican U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw and hisDemocratic challenger, state Sen. Ron Klein?

BY ERIKA BOLSTAD
ebolstad@MiamiHerald.com


He was speaking on behalf of state Sen. Ron Klein, in a humble VFW hall just off Pembroke Road in Hollywood.

But former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland could have been anywhere in America lastweek as he summed up the contest betweenRepublican U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw and his Democratic challenger, Klein: staythe course or change the course.

''Sometimes we feel powerless,'' said Cleland, a former U.S. senator fromGeorgia who lost three limbs in Vietnam and became an advocate for veteransas head of the Veterans' Administration under former President Jimmy Carter.




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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-capview2406sep24,0,2783787.column?coll=orl-news-col


FLORIDA CAPITOL VIEW
Shadowy groups flourish in state, and governor coy about his own
Kennedy & Garcia
CAPITOL VIEW

September 24, 2006


A new nationwide report shows Florida is near the top in overall spending byso-called "527 organizations'' this fall -- part of a trend that finds thesetax-exempt groups shifting from national issues.

The study by the Center for Responsive Politics shows these murkyorganizations -- which typically feature feel-good names but are oftenresponsible for the nastiest mudslinging -- have spent the most inCalifornia, New York, Illinois and Florida campaigns so far.

Maybe it's no surprise, then, that even Gov. Jeb Bush has launched one ofhis own. An early, $100,000 installment to his Foundation for Florida'sFuture Action Fund, an arm of a similarly named charitable organization healready established, came from The Villages and its developer, Gary Morse.The Villages also has given $550,000 to Bush's other nonprofit group.

Bush, though, isn't saying what kind of activity he plans for the politicalcommittee. Campaign television spots and mailers are typical spending.



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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/09/25/a10a_davis_0925.html


Davis shows off running mate at black churches
By Andrew Marra
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 25, 2006


JACKSONVILLE - Jim Davis took his gubernatorial campaign to Jacksonville'sblack churches Sunday, targeting African-American voters after a bruisingDemocratic primary in which questions about an old vote appeared to fray hisrelations with the black community.

Davis, a Tampa congressman, made appearances at four black churches inJacksonville on Sunday morning before joining a lunch meeting of blackleaders and politicians.

He riffed on some of his key campaign issues - overhauling the public schoolystem's standardized test and reining in rising home insurance costs - ashe introduced his newly chosen running mate, former state Sen. Daryl Jones.

Jones is the first black candidate in Florida history to be nominated aslieutenant governor by a major political party. His presence energized thecrowds, and the two candidates reversed their usual speaking order to allowJones to be the final and longest speaker.



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United Teachers of Dade GLS Caucus needs signatures.

The United Teachers of Dade (UTD) Gay, Lesbian and Straight Caucus needs signatures of supportive members in order to be certified as an official UTD caucus. This is an annual requirement and signatures must be received by 9/29/06 in order to be validated.

If you are a member of UTD and supportive of the GLS Caucus, please click to download the signature form < http://www.gaypowernet.net/GLSCaucus.pdf>, sign it and fax it to Michael Molnar at 305-576-7761. If you can obtain signatures from colleagues, please do so as well.

If you are not a member of UTD but know someone who is, please forward this
request if you think your contact might be interested.

The GLS Caucus plans its first meeting of the school year on Tuesday, Oct.
24 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the UTD building to adopt bylaws, elect officers and consider issues to be supported this year such as the safe schools bill and gay adoption legisation that will be introduced in this year's assembly.

Thanks,

Robert Loupo,
President UTD GLS Caucus



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