FLORIDA NEWS Thursday May 29, 2008

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ArtsUnited will open its annual gay pride art exhibit United and Proudwith a reception to meet the artists on Wednesday, June 4th from 6:30 to8:30 PM. The exhibit will be at Gallery Six, Broward County Main Library, 100 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale from June 1 through 27, 2008.
Admission to the exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.
One of the largest visual art exhibits in the country from the gay andlesbian community, United and Proud will feature over 100 works from over50 artists from around the state of Florida. In conjunction with thisreception, the Stonewall Library and Archives will open its new exhibit "Out of the Shadows: Gay America from Kinsey to Stonewall" in the space adjacent tothe gallery.
www.artsunitedonline.org


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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
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-Florida and Michigan May See Delegates Halved
An analysis by lawyers for the Democratic Party says party rules call for Florida and Michigan to lose at least half their delegate strength at the party's convention in August, an outcome that could close off Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's last opportunity to cut significantly into Senator Barack Obama's lead in delegates. The legal analysis, sent late Tuesday to the party's rules committee, is expected to guide a meeting this weekend where the committee will try to settle one of the most contentious issues remaining in the Democratic presidential race: what to do with delegates from Florida and Michigan, which violated party rules by moving up their primaries ahead of Feb. 5. Mrs. Clinton had hoped for the full Florida and Michigan delegations to be seated, and for their votes to be apportioned according to the results in their primaries, which she won. But the lawyers' analysis said that as punishment for the primaries' being held early, party rules allowed the states nothing more than that their delegations be cut in half, or that the full delegations be seated with each delegate getting only half a vote.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/us/politics/29dems.html?hp


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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-Wanted: A new police chief for Fort Lauderdale
Police Chief Bruce Roberts abruptly quit Wednesday as the popular leader of Broward County's largest municipal police department, saying he was finally fed up with a "suffocating" and micromanaging city manager. Roberts was hired in 1973, and became chief in 2001. His resignation letter came with a stinging slap against City Manager George Gretsas and brought to an end a 35-year law enforcement career in Fort Lauderdale that spanned crime spikes and downturns, economic highs and lows, and many city administrations. But Roberts said he'd had enough. One day after the city settled its long-disputed contract with the police union, Roberts said he would spend only 90 more days as chief.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbchief0529sbmay29,0,2
067521.story

-Tropical depression forms in Pacific near Costa Rica
The National Hurricane Center says a tropical depression has formed off the coast of Costa Rica. Senior hurricane specialist James Franklin says the depression is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm within the next 24 hours as it approaches the coast of Nicaragua. The depression was located in the Pacific, where the hurricane season started May 15. The depression had winds of 30 mph and was moving north at 3 mph. Forecasters say it was located 105 miles west-northwest of Cabo Blanco. Franklin says the depression will primarily bring heavy rains rather than strong winds. The Atlantic Hurricane Season begins June 1.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/sfl-528tropicaldepression,0,4
764002.story


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-'Confusing' guilty verdict in teen's murder trial
A Broward teen accused of robbing and killing a Hollywood woman with a gun in 2005 was found guilty of second-degree murder without a firearm Wednesday in a verdict that confused many in the courtroom.
Demetrius Carey, then 14, was originally charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Elena Carrasco. But the jury lowered the charge after a day of deliberation following a weeklong trial filled with loose ends and circumstantial evidence. The teen, who is now 16, faces 20 years to life in prison for the crime. Sentencing is scheduled for June 27. ''What I gathered from the verdict is that the jury doesn't think he killed this woman, but that he may have been with the person that did do it,'' said Johnny McCray Jr., one of Carey's attorneys. ``He was charged as the man who pulled the trigger and committed the crime alone. This is very confusing and disappointing.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/550273.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
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-Seiler's run for Fort Lauderdale mayor gets boost from out-of-town lawyers
State Rep. Jack Seiler, who is running for mayor of Fort Lauderdale, managed to raise a little bit of cash in the few days before the state legislative session. Looks like a lot of attorneys and lobbyists in Tallahassee are interested in the Fort Lauderdale mayor's race. Seiler is a Democratic state representative. He got the maximum donation from a cadre of Panhandle attorneys, and some of their spouses. Fort Lauderdale limits contributions to $250; for that reason, Seiler had to refund lobbyist Ron and Patricia Book, who each gave $500 to Seiler's campaign. He also drew in checks from folks like political consultant Judith Stern, consultant Russ Klenet (husband of County Commissioner Stacy Ritter), former state Rep. Ron Greenstein, quite a few "goverrnment affairs'' employees, and Damon Smith, a Tallahassee consultant who specializes in privatization of government services and previously worked for the late Lawton Chiles, a U.S. Senator and governor.
Checks also came from former Republican state Rep. Ken Sorenson, and Robert Wolfe Jr., the Fort Lauderdale property appraiser employee who is involved in Republican politics.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2008/05/seilers_run_f
or_fort_lauderdal.html

-CRIST ON THE TICKET? Look at complete record
All across Florida, even some of Gov. Crist's strongest supporters must be asking themselves, "Charlie for vice president?" To imagine that the governor could progress in 13 years from "Chain Gang Charlie" to second in line for the White House is astonishing and somewhat terrifying. Only John McCain knows whether that political equivalent of The Bachelor last weekend in Arizona meant that Gov. Crist is getting serious consideration for the second spot on the ticket. If it did, you have to wonder whether Sen. McCain's people know the governor's complete record in Florida.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2008/05/29/a16a_lead
edit_crist_0529.html

-Wexler wants McClellan to testify
Calling the revelations in Scott McClellan's book "earth-shattering," Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) has called on the former White House press secretary to testify under oath before the House Judiciary Committee. In a statement released Wednesday, Wexler said McClellan's admissions "allege facts to establish that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby - and possibly Vice President Cheney - conspired to obstruct justice by lying about their role in the Plame Wilson matter and that the Bush Administration deliberately lied to the American people in order to take us to war in Iraq."
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0508/Wexler_wants_McClellan_to_testify.ht
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