FLORIDA DIGEST - September 05, 2008

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~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Help Keep Miami-Dade County Schools Safe- Save Our TRUST Counselors!
Our students cannot afford to lose their TRUST!
Miami-Dade County School Board is under pressure to make significant budgetcuts and have set their sights on our student's first line of defenseagainst bullying and harassment. For years now, TRUST (To Reach UltimateSuccess Together) Counselors in Miami-Dade have worked tirelessly to keepall students safe. At an August 28th budgetary committee meeting, Miami-DadeCounty School Board members placed the elimination of the TRUST Counselorprogram on the list of considered abudget cuts. While this item has beentaken off the official agenda for next week's School Board meeting, theprogram is still in jeopardy and needs your support. Tell the School Boardto keep our TRUST counselors! http://ga4.org/campaign/TRUSTcounselorsWe know that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender youth are among thosewho are most often the targets of bullying and harassment. The TRUSTCounselor Program provides award-winning peer counseling programs that thathave proven effective in changing the culture of entire schools. Combinedwith their serving as sponsors of GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances), the TRUSTprogram has become essential in the effort to keep Miami-Dade Public Schoolssafe for all students. Write your school board members TODAY
http://ga4.org/campaign/TRUSTcounselors and ask them to support our TRUST
counselors and keep our schools safe!
Sincerely,
Safe Schools South Florida
http://safeschoolssouthflorida.org/


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Stonewall Library & Archives, ArtsUnited and Fort Lauderdale InternationalFilm Festival (FLIFF) are pleased to announce this month's selection fortheir monthly first-run feature films series, F4U (Films for Us). Thesefirst-run LGBT films are shown at Cinema Paradiso, at 7:00 pm on the secondWednesday of every month. Cinema Paradiso is located in Fort Lauderdale at503 SE 6 Street, a block east of Broward County Courthouse on the south bankof New River. This month's selection, to be shown on Wednesday, September10, is "Fashion Victims," a sexy German farce with a deliciously dislikeable(but untimately redeemed) main character. The twisted buddy picture pits amiddle-aged women's clothing salesman against his adventurous son and setsthem off on a hysterically unfortunate road trip. A male Thelma and Louise?Not exactly. The film won Berlin & Beyond Fest's first-feature prize aswell as an audience award at the Max Ophuls Festival. General admission:$9; Senior and students: $7.00; Members of Stonewall or ArtsUnited: $5.00.Stonewall is located at 1717 North Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.
For further information, please contact:
Jack Rutland, Executive Director
Stonewall Library & Archives
954-763-8565
Jack-rutland@stonewall-library.org


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From Mark LaFontaine / Broward County Veterans Council
BROWARD COUNTY VETERANS COUNCIL
ANNUAL AWARDS LUNCHEON
COLONY WEST - 6800 NW 88TH AVENUE, TAMARAC, FL
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2008 11:30AM - 1:00PM
I am requesting that those who wish to attend, or take out an ad in our"Souvenir Journal" please contact me at this email address (MJL@AVER-FGC.us)or call me at 954-258-5896 to reserve your seat. Take the opportunity toshow your support for the veterans in our community and for the VeteransService Organizations that are an integral part of the fabric here inBroward County. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Mark LaFontaine


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

South Florida Blade
http://www.floridablade.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

Scott Newton re-enters race for Wilton Manors Mayor
After loss of State Legislature primaries, mayor runs for re-electionScott Netwon has announced he will run for re-election as Mayor of WiltonManors, Fla. He had previously not entered the mayoral race because he ranfor election in the State House of Representatives, in District 92, whichincludes Wilton Manors, as well as areas of other such cities as FortLauderdale and Pompano Beach. However, he did not win the Democratic Primaryin his district, coming in behind Gwendolyn Clark-Reed.
http://www.floridablade.com/blog/index.cfm#20819New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/

-A Bad Experiment in Voting
Florida's Oskaloosa County should not allow military members to vote overthe Internet until a reliable system is developed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/opinion/05fri2.html?ref=opinion


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-It's time to take Hurricane Ike very seriously
As Hurricane Ike churns in our direction, forecasters continue to insistthey still aren't sure where the system will ultimately go.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/blog/

-Tropical Storm Five Day Forecast Map
http://weather.sun-sentinel.com/tropical/tracking/at200809_5day.html

-Hurricane Ike shifts south, but remains a threat
The National Hurricane Center is urging South Florida today to stay vigilanteven though Hurricane Ike has weakened, but some folks apparently don't needa reminder. At the Coral Springs Home Depot, the madness started Thursdaynight, said Chris Pryor, an assistant store manager at the business onUniversity Drive and West Atlantic Boulevard.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/sfl-hurricane-ike-11am,0,5226022.story

-Hurricane Ike spurs concern about Lake Okeechobee dike
Tropical Storm Fay gave Lake Okeechobee a welcome boost, but a repeatdrenching from a parade of storms churning toward Florida threatens to pushthe lake's aging dike past its limits. For the first time since April 2006,the Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday started lowering newly swollen LakeOkeechobee to ease the strain on its 70-year-old earthen dike - named one ofthe six most at risk of failing in the country.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flplakeo0905pnsep05,0,4764945.story

-Hunt for missing ballots widens in Palm Beach County
A hunt will launch at daybreak today for roughly 2,500 missing Palm Beach County ballots from the Aug. 26 primary, the latest turn in an election plagued by counting problems. The search for ballots will involve what Assistant County Administrator Brad Merriman describes as an armada of county workers, including off-duty firefighters and sheriff's deputies, who will go to voting locations in hopes of finding missing ballots.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flprecount0905pnsep05,0,4647658.story

-South Florida Medicare officials seek help fighting phony blood infusion billings
A medical fraud scheme prevalent at HIV/AIDS clinics in Miami is migrating northward into Broward and Palm Beach counties, enough so that federal officials are asking the public for help. Unscrupulous clinics have collected hundreds of millions billing Medicare for phony treatments with costly intravenous drugs for HIV/AIDS and cancer. On Wednesday, Medicare unveiled a new hot line for reporting suspected "infusion fraud," as the scheme is called.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flrxinfuse0904sbsep04,0,3167827.story


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Fine Art Clearance Event
Saturday, September 6, 2008 1:30-4:00 pm
at ArtServe Auditorium, 1350 East Sunrise Blvd, FortLauderdale
Original paintings, photographs, prints and more, all for $200 and less!
Free admission


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Clinton visits Florida Monday
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton will return to Florida for the second time inthree weeks with campaign stops in Central Florida on Monday, Democratsannounced Thursday. It would be the first public appearance for Clintonsince Republican John McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his runningmate.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/state/epaper/2008/09/04/clinton0905.html

-Missing ballots case may go to court
Just when Palm Beach County election officials thought they had solved themystery of the missing ballots it blew up in their faces again. A welcomereport that 2,700 of the 3,478 missing ballots had been found on Thursdaywas replaced with the grim news that workers had recovered only 957 ballots.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/local_news/epaper/2008/09/04/0904ballots.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=76

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