FLORIDA DIGEST - September 14, 2008

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~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

Scott Newton for Wilton Manors Mayor
You are Invited to A Fundraiser for the Re-Election
Of Wilton Manors Mayor Scott Newton
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008 - 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
At Georgie's Alibi - Manchester Room
2266 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors


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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Helping the Everglades, or Big Sugar?
Florida's plan to buy one of the state's two large sugar enterprises may be a boon to the remaining sugar giant. One of the country's wealthiest families, the Fanjuls of Palm Beach, controls Florida Crystals and today touches virtually every aspect of the sugar trade in the United States.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/business/14fanjul.html?hp

-States Restore Voting Rights for Ex-Convicts
Striding across a sweltering strip-mall parking lot with her clipboard in hand, Monica Bell, a community field organizer in Orlando, Fla., was looking for former convicts to add to the state's voter rolls.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14felony.html?hp


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

-Smart to lower Lake O's levels
Predictably, grousing greeted the decision earlier this month to dump water from Lake Okeechobee.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editaflakeosbsep14,0,2005575.story

-This morning: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, is scheduled to appear as a surrogate for Barack Obama today on CBS's Face the Nation. Wasserman Schultz, was a national co-chairwoman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign during the Democratic primary season. She's now supporting Obama with gusto, and his campaign doesn't hesitate to use her help. On Friday, when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palinsaid on ABC News that Obama regretted not picking Clinton as his running mate, the Obama campaign response came from Wasserman Schultz: "Sarah Palinshould spare us the phony sentiment and respect." Face the Nation airs at 10:30 a.m. on WFOR-Ch. 4.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/browardsfl-lbdebbie0914sbsep14,0,3840444.story

-Fort Lauderdale beating victim lives life in shadows Michael Mayo | News Columnist He spends most of his time sitting in a white plastic lawn chair, keeping to himself, in a Fort Lauderdale park. "I don't bother anybody," Jacques Pierre said. This is his life, 32 months after getting international attention as the homeless man in a surveillance video pummeled by bat-wielding youths on Las Olas Boulevard. For the past couple years, the park has been home. Pierre, 60, stays in a well-lighted area where the homeless congregate. I won't get more specific, because he has been targeted enough.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbmayocol0914sbsep14,0,6995422.column

-Jeb's legacy: Supreme Court deals blow to Bush puppets
Stephen Goldstein | Columnist
On Wednesday, Sept.3, I was deliriously happy - finally. What turned out to be "Sock It to Jeb Bush Day" came after nine long, frustrating, disillusioning years. I still can't believe what happened. My long years of discontent began in September, 1999. Just months after Jeb became governor, I began writing op-ed columns for this newspaper. Immediately, I saw that he wasn't satisfied just being Florida's chief executive; he was a man on a messianic mission. On the Christian equivalent of a hadj, he was hell-bent on imposing a religious agenda on our secular state and everyone in it. In part it was payback to the Religious Right that helped elect him; in part, it was because of his relatively recent conversion to Catholicism. In all, his drift was state-sponsored religion.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/sfl-sgcol14sbsep14,0,1929689.column

-Mental illness: Disgraceful treatment needs basic changes
By Karen Kallen-Zury
Do you know someone with a mental illness? You probably do, whether you realize it or not. There is terrible stigma that still causes many people to try to hide mental illnesses and not seek out the treatment they need,while many look the other way, so you might be surprised some expertsestimate one in four of us will have a mental illness at some time in our lives, and about one in ten suffer from long-term mental illness. Here in Florida, we're among the worst offenders for turning our backs on the mentally ill. If you are physically ill, your health insurance or Medicare coverage will cover your treatment. But for mental health, the rules aredifferent.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum14mentalsbsep14,0,2924238.story


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

-Carvalho's biggest challenge is uniting School Board
As the new Miami-Dade schools superintendent, Alberto Carvalho will face a
multitude of challenges -- among them, boosting morale among teachers and navigating a financial crisis.
http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/685617.html


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

-Hope for housing: Inventory shrinks
What was once a three-year supply of homes has dwindled to a two-year supply as builders stop building and frustrated sellers take down the for-sale signs in their yards. "That's a really positive indicator for the future of this market. We've said all along that until the inventory comes down, there's no reason for buyers to buy," said Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach-based analyst who for several years has predicted doom for the housing market. "We've got a little light at the end of the tunnel now. Before, it was just a tiny hole."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2008/09/13/a1a_inventory_0914.html

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