FLORIDA DIGEST - January 31, 2009

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~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Steve Rothaus
www.MiamiHerald.com/gay
Go to this link for the following articles:

-South Florida, national gay activists feud with popular DJ Rauhofer
BY STEVE ROTHAUS, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
Popular DJ Peter Rauhofer enraged local gay activists last fall when he produced a South Beach "Main Event" dance party in direct competition with White Party Week's Noche Blanca AIDS fundraiser. Now, national gay activists are angry with Rauhofer: He is reprising his Main Event party at Mansion on March 1 opposite the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Winter Party Orbit fundraiser at Cameo. "It hurts the community. That's what it comes down to,'' said Chad Richter of Miami Beach, festival chairman of this year's Winter Party. "We have volunteers who are working hard all year long. To have someone who is also gay and is doing a competing event, it's almost hard for a lot of people to believe." Austrian-born Rauhofer, pictured above on his Sexy album, did not respond to several Miami Herald e-mails requests for comment. Winter Party began in Miami Beach in 1994 with a one-day beach dance event off Ocean Drive. It helped finance a new foundation to benefit local gay groups. The Task Force bought the event, as well as the foundation's annual autumn recognition dinner, after the fundraising group went under in 2004. The Task Force agreed to keep two-thirds of all net profits from the events in Miami-Dade County, giving the money to the Dade Community Foundation's GLBT Community Project Fund.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/

-Gay skate on Feb. 24 for teens and young adults
Call 305-571-9601
www.prideline.org


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Equality Florida
Not all important elections happen in November....on February 10th we have two huge opportunities to: Elect Fort Lauderdale's first LGBT Mayor - Dean Trantalis, Elect Fort Lauderdale's second LGBT Commissioner - Coleman Prewit. Please Join us for a Special Election Briefing Call With Dean and Coleman - This Monday, Feb. 2nd, 4:00 p.m. - Wherever you live in Florida, this election will have an enormous impact. The current mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Jim Naugle, is notoriously anti-LGBT, and electing two of our own in one of Florida's largest cities would signal a huge shift towards Equality. Both Dean and Coleman will join us for the call - to tell you about their campaigns, answer your questions, and ask for your support. Click to RSVP and Receive Dialing Instructions
http://ga4.org/Equalityflorida/events/meetcandidates09/details.tcl


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

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

-Kevorkian to speak at Nova Southeastern University
Dr. Death is coming to Davie.
Dr. Jack Kevorkian will speak at Nova Southeastern University on Thursday, advocating the decriminalization of assisted suicides and one's right to death when faced with a terminal illness. The free event will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m at the University Center, 3301 College Ave. Kevorkian's career studying terminal disease prompted him to decide that a doctor's choice to aid in a patient's suicide was ethical. He began assisting suicides in 1980, was arrested in 1998 and served eight years in prison. Tickets are available by calling 954-262-8236 or visiting
www.undergrad.nova.edu/articles/dss/jackkevorkian


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

-PROTECTING WOMEN
Don't poke holes in social safety net
BY KATHY HERSH
During the era of ''compassionate conservatism,'' many faith-based organizations and nonprofits providing social services heeded the call of a Republican government eager to reduce entitlements without appearing to abandon needy families. Much of the federal funding was channeled through state governments, which dispersed the money as grants to private agencies capable of demonstrating their capacity to serve the ``under-served.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/881218.html

-Hold off on Gulf aquaculture plan
OUR OPINION: Make sure wild fish are protected from risks of ocean farming
The nation's fisheries are overseen by regional management councils. Their record of creating sustainable fisheries for commercial and recreational purposes has improved over time as science has come to play a larger role in managing them. Still, the oceans are suffering. Temperatures are gradually rising while the oxygen content of oceans is dropping. Many fish species are so depleted that they are off-limits for harvest for long periods.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/875506.html

-TALLAHASSEE: New speaker a quiet conservative
Larry Cretul, the Florida House's new speaker, has been a steady right-hand man to Ray Sansom.
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
Florida's next House speaker is an unassuming real estate agent and Vietnam War vet from Ocala who is as little known in the halls of the Capitol as he is in the rest of the state.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/881288.html


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