FLORIDA DIGEST - March 31, 2009

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


~~FLORIDA GLBT NEWS~~

Sunshine Cathedral - Ft. Lauderdale
The Future of Peace in the Middle East
This exciting series concludes on Wednesday, April 1. The previous speakers will gather on a panel to discuss together the various topics they have spoken on individually. They will interact with one another and take questions from the audience. The panel discussion will be moderated by Pastor Durrell Watkins. There is no charge for this event. It begins at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, April 1 in the Graham/Fasana Chapel. - 1480 SW Ninth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
http://www.sunshinecathedral.org/

-Do you watch Sharing the Light online? Sharing the Light is a webcast that we record 2-4 times each month and post to www.sunshinecathedral.org, Youtube.com, Facebook.com, and Myspace.com. I hope you'll watch the webcasts and feel free to pass along to any of your friends who might appreciate it. Click Sharing the Light to view the program.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=SunshineCathedral&view=videos


=
Arts United and Stonewall Library & Archives
Ft. Lauderdale: Nationally Prominent Authors Headline Gay Literary Festival Andrew Holleran, Karin Kallmaker and Felice Picano are featured among the dozens of gay and lesbian authors who will be participating in the first annual Gay and Lesbian Literary Arts (GALLA) Festival, April 24 and 25, 2009, in Fort Lauderdale. The two-day festival will include free workshops, seminars, panels, presentations and a book fair at the new Stonewall Library & Archives and ArtServe facilities.
Andrew Holleran is one of the most preeminent writers of post-Stonewall gay literature, who along with Felice Picano and Edmond White, founded the influential Violet Quill, a gay writers' group that first met in 1980. Holleran is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking novel Dancer from the Dance. Picano founded two publishing companies, the Seahorse Press and Gay Presses of New York, and is the author of numerous short stories, memoirs, non-fiction works and novels, including the award-winning Like People in History. Karin Kallmaker, a renowned author of lesbian romance novels, has published over two dozen books, including the Lammy and Goldie Award winning 18th & Castro. Additional gay and lesbian authors include Jeffery Beam, Johnny Diaz, E. Robert Dunn, G. Winston James, Paul Lisicky, KG MacGregor, Philip Smith, and Linda Villarosa just to name a few. Festival goers will also have two opportunities to socialize with their favorite authors. The GALLA Festival Committee will host a Cocktail Reception with the Authors on Friday, April 25th at the Embassy Suites host hotel in Fort Lauderdale. An exclusive Dinner with the Authors will be held Saturday night at the Embassy Suites. Space is limited, and tickets are required. The GALLA Festival is not just for fans of non-fiction and poetry. The schedule includes presentations on a wide variety of topics such as writing memoirs, writing for teens, and writing for the stage and screen. Editor and Publisher of Alyson Books, Don Weise will discuss the current state of gay and lesbian publishing and will offer tips on how to edit your book. John Cloud, staff writer of Time magazine will be featured on a panel about gay journalism. Chris Whitesell, winner of four daytime Emmy Awards, will discuss his work on "General Hospital" and as Head Writer on "Days of Our Lives" and reality television writer/editor Keith Hoffman will discuss his work in that emergent genre. The GALLA Festival is produced by ArtsUnited and Stonewall Library & Archives. Funding for the festival has been provided in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council, the John C. Graves Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation of Broward, and the Broward County Library Division with support from the Broward Library Foundation. The Festival is also sponsored by the South Florida Blade and 411 Magazine. The Embassy Suites is the Host Hotel. Room reservations may be made by calling (954) 527-2700. The GALLA Festival workshops, presentations and book fair are free and open to the public. Seating is limited and pre-registration is recommended. Tickets for the Cocktail Reception with the Authors on Friday, April 24 at the Embassy Suites Hotel, are $25. An Unabridged Festival Pass, which includes priority registration, the Cocktail Reception, and Dinner with the Authors, is $125. Registration and tickets are available at www.GALLAfestival.org or by calling Stonewall Library at 954-763-8565.
PRESS CONTACT FOR PHOTOS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Keith Clark - Executive Director, ArtsUnited, Inc.
1350 East Sunrise Blvd. #145
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
954 568-1154 P
954 551-5273 C
keithclark@aol.com


=
Sol Theatre Project
The Vagina Monologues - April 11-26
http://www.SolTheatre.com


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

-Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber mixer on April 15 to celebrate Miami Beach Gay Pride
From the Miami Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15th - An evening of Art, Networking and...PRIDE! Join MDGLCC, artist extraordinaire Noel, Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and the City of Miami Beach Commissioners, on Wednesday, April 15th, at SkyBar at the Shore Club Hotel, for an evening celebrating the first Miami Beach Gay Pride event. Doors open at 7 PM...

-Broward attorney discusses estate planning for same-sex couples
Plantation attorney Nicole Molder, who specializes in estate planning, has a blog called Florida Parents' Page. This weekend, she posted an item important to gay families, Same-sex couples: special considerations for estate planning.

-Helmsley Hotel tax-free promotion not just for 'the little people'
What were they thinking?

-Gay group sues Jackson Memorial
STEVE ROTHAUS
Janice Langbehn became a national gay-rights symbol two years ago when a worker at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital wouldn't allow her to be with her dying partner of 18 years, Lisa Pond. Lambda Legal, a national gay group, has sued JMH on behalf of Langbehn and the couple's children. At a Lambda Legal sponsors' reception Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Langbehn met the Jacksonville man whose life was saved as a result of Pond's sudden death from a brain aneurysm: Jerry Lawrence who received Pond's heart two days after she died. ''This is the best outcome I could hope for,'' Langbehn said Saturday upon meeting Lawrence and his wife, Maxine. ``Lisa is inside of him.'' Langbehn, who lives in Seattle with her children, Danielle, 15, David, 13, and Katelyn, 12, also attended a Lambda Legal fundraiser Sunday at Bonnet House Museum and Gardens in Fort Lauderdale. The group honored Tony Timiraos, who is the chief financial officer of Broward Community Foundation and a Lambda Legal national leadership council member.
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/people/story/976204.html


~~FLORIDA GENERAL NEWS~~

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

-Congresswoman's fight against cancer commendable
THE ISSUE: Debbie Wasserman Schultz confronts breast cancer.
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is no pushover. That was evident long before she revealed that she had seven cancer-related surgeries last year, while never missing a day of work. But now that Wasserman Schultz has made public her successful battle against breast cancer - which included a double mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and the removal of two ovaries - she deserves to be commended for her courage and determination. That she endured such a herculean feat while also raising three young children, and serving her district in Congress, is nothing less than incredible.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editajjschultzpnmar25,0,4655887.story


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

-Lawmakers consider new taxes on tobacco
Senators announced a bipartisan push to hike the price of all tobacco products $1 to cover Florida's costs for smoking-relating illness.
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
Tobacco-related illnesses cost Florida taxpayers $1.25 billion a year and to offset the cost, two lawmakers are proposing a new state tax on every form of tobacco, from cigarettes to cigars and snuff.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/976122.html


=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-One-dollar tax hike would only make smokers better at dodging it, study says
By JANE MUSGRAVE
Cigarette smokers have long been pariahs. Soon, if some state lawmakers get their way, they will be poor pariahs or, possibly, tax-dodging pariahs.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/29/0329cigtax.html

-GOP leaders balk at censuring Crist as critic questions his party loyalty
By GEORGE BENNETT
Republican leaders are frowning at a Boynton Beach activist's effort to get the Palm Beach County GOP to censure Gov. Charlie Crist for embracing President Obama's stimulus plan and showing insufficient partisan zeal in campaigns and appointments. County Republican Executive Committeeman Steven Ledewitz, who drew applause but was ruled out of order when he raised the censure idea at February's GOP powwow, plans to offer another censure resolution at this week's party parley.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/29/a1b_palmbeachpolitics_0330.html


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

-Group attempts to roll marijuana into state constitution
by Michael C. Bender
An Orlando woman announced today that she's launching an effort to let voters to decide whether to include medical marijuana laws in the state constitution. She's planning to put the question on the 2010 ballot.
http://www.postonpolitics.com/2009/03/group-attempts-to-roll-marijuana-into-state-constitution/

-How to Teach the Teachers
Many Urban Schools Turning to Mentors To Give New Teachers a Better Shot of Success
By AMANDA PAULSON
Johanna Klinsky remembers her teacher training ruefully. She loved the theory she learned, but her only classroom experience was 10 weeks of student teaching, which did nothing to prepare her for the chaos she would encounter as a teacher in an inner-city Chicago school.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7190542&page=1

-Florida Legislature questions Gov. Charlie Crist's hands-off approach
By Steve Bousquet
Gov. Charlie Crist's policy of disengagement is testing the limits of lawmakers' patience and raising questions about his leadership. As the legislative session nears the midway point, Crist keeps at a safe distance from the politically turbulent talk of painful budget cuts and higher taxes swirling about him.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/gubernatorial/article987897.ece


=

[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####