FLORIDA DIGEST December 28, 2006

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/12/122706gainesville.htm


Gainesville To Consider Gay Partner Registry
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: December 27, 2006 8:00 pm ET



(Gainesville, Florida) A plan to create a domestic partner registry will bepresented to Gainesville city commissioners early in the new year. Themeasure has been under consideration by the commission's Equal OpportunitiesCommittee for several months and the details of the proposal are nearingcompletion said Commissioner Craig Lowe.

"When issues of justice and fairness and equality come to light in society,and where our citizens - people in the city of Gainesville - are impacted bythat, I believe we have the right, and actually in some instances theobligation, to address that and to provide the full level of equality thatwe can," Lowe, who is gay, told the Gainesville Sun.

If approved, the registry would ensure a partner could have visitationrights when the other partner is hospitalized. It also would cover a numberof other areas over which the city has jurisdiction.



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The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16324322.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Posted on Wed, Dec. 27, 2006

CENTRAL FLORIDA
Tornadoes slam state hard


DAYTONA BEACH - (AP) -- Four Christmas Day tornadoes damaged hundreds ofFlorida homes, flipped airplanes at a flight school and tore the roofs offthree apartment buildings, officials confirmed Tuesday.

''It's all gone,'' said Estelle Hunter, 25, who left her home five minutesbefore the wind uprooted a tree and slammed it through the roof.

''All of my baby's Christmas presents are under water,'' she said as shetried to salvage what she could.

The tornado that hit Daytona Beach on Monday was an F-2, with wind speedsbetween 113 and 157 mph. Its wind tore the roofs off three apartmentbuildings, extensively damaging many of the 240 units. At Embry-RiddleAeronautical University, it hurled an airplane into a wall, sparking a fire,and snapped off wings or flipped about 50 others.



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The Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-miket2806dec28,0,2861884.column?coll=orl-news-col


COMMENTARY

Mike Thomas: Next act for Jeb is prematurely bushwhacked
Mike Thomas
COMMENTARY

December 28, 2006


If only those old folks in Palm Beach had not gotten confused by theinfamous butterfly ballot back in 2000.

Al Gore would be president. And the Republican front-runner for 2008 wouldbe the most successful governor in America, Jeb Bush.

Any other chief executive with his record of budget management, educationreform, job creation, crisis management and towering poll ratings would bean obvious choice for the White House.

He appeals to social conservatives who have no use for Rudolph Giuliani orJohn McCain.

He appeals to fiscal conservatives who have seen Washington Republicans turninto big-spending political prostitutes.



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The Herald Tribune

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20061228&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=612280412&SectionCat=OPINION02&Template=printart


Article published Dec 28, 2006
Two Republicans take leadership roles at NAACP
The directors of the Manatee and Sarasota chapters hope to invigorate theirrespective organizations.

By ANTHONY CORMIER

anthony.cormier@heraldtribune.com


For the first time since anyone can remember, NAACP chapters in this areaare being headed by a pair of Republicans.

It is an historic shift for the group, and a challenge for the two men --Edward Bailey in Manatee County and Trevor Harvey in Sarasota County -- whoare working to assuage the grumblings of some longtime members, who wonderwhether Republicans can co-exist with the traditionally left-leaning andDemocratic social agenda of the NAACP.



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tampabay.com

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/28/news_pf/State/Ethics_clash_with_jus.shtml


Ethics clash with justice in executions
By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
Published December 28, 2006

STARKE - The execution chamber is so white it looks clinical.

The eggshell walls. The bright ceiling lights. The sheet pulled over theinmate who is about to die.

The chemicals start to flow. The prisoner goes still. Then a person inpurple medical scrubs and a blue mask - it appears to be a man but there isno way to tell for sure - emerges from a back room.

The person shines a light in the inmate's eyes and places a stethoscope overthe heart. Eventually, he signals that the inmate is dead.

Florida closely guards the identities of the people involved in executions,but perhaps none more so than the person in purple.





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