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The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16273793.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Tue, Dec. 19, 2006
FOCUS ON BROWARD
Treatment, not prison, for mentally ill
BY WINGATE PAYNE
wpayne@miamiherald.com
The controversy over whether a Broward judge would hold the state Departmentof Children & Families in contempt has obscured the much-larger issue: Fordecades county jails have been the largest mental-health facilities in mostareas. Although mental-health treatment in the criminal-justice system ismuch better than it was 10 years ago, largely thanks to persistent judgesand public defenders, that treatment is still full of gaps and disconnects.
Then there's the larger question: Why have Florida and its counties neverbuilt a cohesive, comprehensive system of treatment despite saying theywould do so as they started to shutter state mental hospitals in the 1960s?
A crazy system
To be blunt, we ask people in mental crisis to try to navigate a crazysystem, mostly by themselves, and when they can't, we put them in jail.What's really crazy is that a decent, humane mental-health system would becheaper than using police, courts and jails as a substitute.
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For Immediate Release
For more information phone the Stonewall Library and Archives at (954)763-8565
Stonewall Library Book Club to discuss Jay Quinn's "Back Where He Started"(Feb. 8)
The Book Club of the Stonewall Library and Archives will meet at the Libraryon Thursday, February 8, at 7:30 p.m. Moderator Jesse Monteagudo will leada discussion of the novel "Back Where He Started," by famed South Floridawriter Jay Quinn. While other novels deal with "gay marriage," "Back WhereHe Started" deals with "gay divorce" as it tells the tale of Chris Thayer,who must deal with the perils of a single life after he is dumped by hispartner of 22 years. The Stonewall Library and Archives are located at theGay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida, 1717 North AndrewsAvenue, in Fort Lauderdale. For more information phone SLA at (954)763-8565.
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http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/OPINION/612190358/1015
Editorial
Face truths about death penalty
Originally posted on December 19, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush was wise to suspend executions and order the review of lethalinjection procedures after the bungled execution of a convicted murdererlast week.
Whether Angel Nieves Diaz deserves sympathy for the fact that it took him 34minutes to die - about twice as long as usual - and required double theusual dosage is not the point here.
It appears the injection missed the vein. One such mistake does not byitself invalidate lethal injection, but we'd better be very sure theexecutioners know what they're doing.
We owe that not to the killers, but to ourselves.
We support the death penalty as a matter of justice, but it must beadministered competently and as humanely as possible. Otherwise a solemnritual becomes a gruesome farce, and a detriment to justice.
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The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cfraud19dec19,0,602748.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Officials uncover Medicaid scheme
Pines man facing charges of running $39 million fraud.
By Sofia Santana
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 19, 2006
A Pembroke Pines man was charged Monday with running a $39 million Medicaidfraud in which he bought stolen prescription drugs in bulk and then soldthem to unsuspecting pharmacies nationwide, according to the FloridaAttorney General's Office.
Authorities are calling the case, which was three years in the making, oneof the state's largest in recent years.
Wilber Bherviz, 40, was in the Broward County Jail on Monday night on $5million bond. An alleged accomplice, whose name investigators declined torelease, has not been caught.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16273793.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Tue, Dec. 19, 2006
FOCUS ON BROWARD
Treatment, not prison, for mentally ill
BY WINGATE PAYNE
wpayne@miamiherald.com
The controversy over whether a Broward judge would hold the state Departmentof Children & Families in contempt has obscured the much-larger issue: Fordecades county jails have been the largest mental-health facilities in mostareas. Although mental-health treatment in the criminal-justice system ismuch better than it was 10 years ago, largely thanks to persistent judgesand public defenders, that treatment is still full of gaps and disconnects.
Then there's the larger question: Why have Florida and its counties neverbuilt a cohesive, comprehensive system of treatment despite saying theywould do so as they started to shutter state mental hospitals in the 1960s?
A crazy system
To be blunt, we ask people in mental crisis to try to navigate a crazysystem, mostly by themselves, and when they can't, we put them in jail.What's really crazy is that a decent, humane mental-health system would becheaper than using police, courts and jails as a substitute.
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http://cgi.jacksonville.com/cgi-bin/printit.cgi?story=ZZNOSTORYZZ
December 18, 2006
TAXES: Keeping them low
If someone wants to start a business, or move an existing one, he shouldconsider putting it in Florida.
That's one of the conclusions to be drawn from the Tax Foundation's 2007"Business Climate Index."
The foundation, a Washington-based think tank, compared corporate,individual income, sales, unemployment and property taxes in all 50 states.
Florida, it concluded, had the fifth-best business climate in the nation,behind only Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska and Nevada.
Georgia ranked 19th.
Chairman Carole Jean Jordan stated:
"Florida's economy is a microcosm of the nation's economy as a whole,because Republicans have encouraged emerging technologies and enhancedtraditional industries.
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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/12/18/a16a_opengov_edit_1218.html
Right opening from Crist
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Monday, December 18, 2006
A key tenet of American democracy is that citizens will disagree but thepolicies that govern them will be established in public. The attacks on thatprinciple in Florida in recent years make Gov.-elect Charlie Crist'scommitment to a new Office of Open Government all the more timely.
Traditionally a national leader in open government, Florida went dangerouslyretrograde as legislators and Gov. Bush gutted the state'sGovernment-in-the-Sunshine Laws. For example, only public awareness and thediligence of such watchdog groups as the First Amendment Foundation limitedthe 2006 legislative session's 100-bill assault to 10 new exemptions.
In contrast to Gov. Bush's stonewalling on public records requests, thefoundation recognized Attorney General Crist in 2005 for his efforts topreserve the public's access to public records. Now, a new office within thegovernor's office will ensure compliance with open-records and -meetingslaws.
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The Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/12/19/a12a_crist_1219.html
Crist vows to check ethics, efficiency of outsourced deals
By S.v. DÁte
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush's efforts to outsource and privatizestate government functions will be reviewed to make sure the contracts arebeing handled "appropriately," Gov.-elect Charlie Crist said Monday.
"My interest is in saving the taxpayers as much as we possibly can, but alsoin providing services they expect and they deserve," said Crist, who in hiscurrent role as attorney general got involved in a whistle-blower's lawsuitover the state's $350 million contract with Convergys, an Ohio company hiredto handle the state's payroll system. The suit alleges, among other things,that the company subcontracted work to India in violation of the contract.
"If we can outsource and save money and have it delivered ethically andefficiently, then I'm all for that," Crist said. "If we find that there is aproblem and it cannot be done, and we keep it internal, I'm fine with that,too.
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