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S. Rep. Robert Wexler is Florida’s only member of Congress who does not own a home in his congressional district. The Democratic congressman ostensibly from Boca Raton or Delray Beach is under fire this week after he admitted on national TV that the only house he owns is in Maryland, and that he uses his in-laws’ home in a senior-only community in Delray to meet residency requirements. Wexler said in a statement that such an arrangement was “common.” However, a South Florida Sun-Sentinel survey of Florida’s 25 members of the U.S. House and two in the Senate found that all...

For nearly two years, the South Florida middle school art teacher forced the boy to have sex in a classroom supply closet. Sometimes, Aaron Mohanlal would call in sick to work, take the boy to his home for sex and drop the seventh-grader back off at school at the end of the day. To keep the abuse secret, Mohanlal bought the 13-year-old a cell phone and created nicknames for their genitalia. When police arrested him, the teacher was caught on hidden video trying to destroy letters threatening the boy if he ever told. Last summer, a Broward County jury convicted...

It's pitiful to read the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. You are so pro-Obama that it is sickening. No such thing as an impartial paper.

The governor of Florida would consider going to court to guarantee his right to permit offshore oil exploration around Florida’s coasts. But Charlie Crist, who has been cited as a possible running mate for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain, told the Financial Times that in preference to court action it would be “more productive” for Congress to overturn its ban on offshore drilling. Oil exploration in all but a few sectors of US coastal waters has been prohibited since the 1980s by separate congressional and presidential bans. However, George W. Bush on Monday lifted the White House’s moratorium and called...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A controversial billboard in Orange County has a picture of the burning World Trade Center and the message, "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat." The man who paid for the ad says he's trying to help Republicans, but officials with both political parties are calling the billboard inappropriate. There are billboards up and down busy Orange Blossom Trail, but this at John Young Parkway (see map) one sticks out. "Just looking at it, I'm not thinking about Democrat or Republican, I'm thinking about the twin towers and all the people killed," resident Mary Anderson told Eyewitness...

WEB VOTE Should Disney be able to stop employees from bringing guns to work? Yes. No.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is on John McCain's vice-presidential short list. Talk-radio host Glenn Beck has predicted that Mr. McCain would tap Mr. Crist. Mr. McCain would be hard pressed to make a worse choice. True, Mr. McCain won Florida's primary on the wave of Mr. Crist's late endorsement, which Mr. McCain rode to shore as the Republican presidential candidate. The Florida governor is especially popular in the state's liberal precincts, and he likely would deliver the Sunshine State in November.

TAMPA - A Tampa woman bit off another woman's fingertip during an argument at a Tampa meat market. Police say two women were waiting to be served Monday when they began arguing about who was next in line. Customers take a number to order when they enter the market, but another customer who left before ordering had given Pamela Bumpers her number.

Walt Disney World fired a security guard on Monday after he protested the company's decision not to allow people with concealed weapons permits to keep guns in their cars on Disney property. Disney terminated Edwin Sotomayor, 36, of Orlando for violating three Disney employee policies, essentially for failing to cooperate with an internal investigation, said spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez. Sotomayor vowed to continue his fight. At issue is Florida's new law that allows people with concealed weapons permits to keep firearms in their vehicles in employee parking lots. Disney advised its employees late last month that the theme-park resort is exempt...

In response to Obama's claim that Republicans will use race to stoke fear, Lt. Col Allen West, candidate for Congress in Florida's 22 District (Broward County) said this: My advice to Senator Obama is to run as a Man and Leader, and the American people will evaluate you as such, not as a victim. This is a Presidential race, based solely on a capacity to lead the United States of America. It is not about skin tone...however, perhaps we should come to expect these immature statements. It also seems rather humorous that the Presidential candidate who was supposed to be...

Home > Post Your Opinion > Archives > 2008 > July > 07 > Entry Does Limbaugh deserve $50 million a year? By Post Staff | Monday, July 7, 2008, 03:13 PM

UF McKnight Brain Institute director honored by Italian scientists Dennis Steindler, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida. He recently was honored for his contributions to... Click here for more information. GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Dennis Steindler, executive director of the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida, was honored for his contributions to neuroscience at a ceremony with officials from the Catholic University in Rome, the university's teaching hospital — the Gemelli University Polyclinic — and the Italian government.  Steindler...

Daytona Beach is dying a slow death due to widespread corruption and abuses in City Hall. When will this stop? The State Attorney, who shares a lot of the same campaign contributors that have caused many of the abuses, refuses to instigate an investigation in spite of the overwhelming evidence and multiple criminal complaints from citizens. The Daytona Post

I read a story on the New York Post website the other day that first broke my heart and then filled me with rage. The story was about the funeral of a three year old boy named Kyle Smith who was beaten, tortured and killed by his guardians. What was done to this poor child was so horrible that I cannot even bring myself to describe it. Every time I read one of these stories, I have the same reaction. Not only do I want the perpetrators of these atrocities to die, I want them to die slowly and painfully....

Whoops forgot link...APALACHICOLA, Fla. (CBS) - A Florida Fish and Wildlife biologist pulled off a daring rescue Saturday in the Panhandle: He rescued a bear with his bare hands. Officials say a 375-pound male black bear was seen roaming a residential neighborhood near Alligator Point, a neighborhood of about 100 homes on a small peninsula about 40 miles south of Tallahassee. The bear was hit with a tranquilizer dart, but he managed to bolt.. http://boknowsonline.com/2008/07/02/bear-ly-saved/

A University of Central Florida student, upset religious groups hold church services on public campuses, is holding hostage the Eucharist, an object so sacred to Catholics they call it the Body of Christ. Church officials say UCF Student Senator Webster Cook was disruptive and disrespectful when he attended Mass held on campus Sunday June 29. It was during that Mass where Cook admits he obtained the Eucharist.... A church leader was watching, confronted Cook and tried to recover the sacred bread. Cook said she crossed the line and that's why he brought it home with him. "She came up behind...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A new state law went on the books Tuesday saying people could bring guns to work if they kept them locked in their car. Disney, though, said it was exempt from the new law and its 62,000 employees needed to keep their guns at home. Friday, a worker who protested the park’s decision told Channel 9 he was suspended. The worker was well aware that he could end up losing his job when he took the gun to work Friday morning, but said that the principle at stake means enough to him that he was willing...

An employee of a Baker County home for troubled youths has been arrested on a child abuse charge by deputies documenting evidence of sexual activity between teenage residents. Deputies also arrested an 18-year-old resident of Camp Tracey on a charge of fondling a younger resident, but said sexual acts between the younger teens weren't criminal because they were consensual. The children's home, located on farmland north of Glen St. Mary, is run by Harvest Baptist Church of Jacksonville. Since 2003, the church has settled a half-dozen lawsuits filed by former residents citing physical and sexual abuse by camp workers and...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist won't be sleeping alone in the governor's mansion much longer -- he is engaged (video: MyFoxOrlando) to a woman he met in New York City last September who quickly captured his heart. Crist, 51, asked Carole Rome to marry him Thursday morning at his St. Petersburg apartment, giving her a blue sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds. She immediately said yes. "I'm very happy and couldn't be more pleased. What a great way to celebrate America's birthday," said Crist, who has been mentioned as a potential running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain....

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will join presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain in Mexico City Thursday morning on the last day of McCain's three-day visit to Latin America. Gov. Bush was in Mexico City on business and wanted to spend time with the candidate. He will not spend the day with Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., who has several other events today, including a media availability this afternoon. Gov. Bush's name has been floated in Republican veepstakes chatter. On Good Morning America Wednesday, however, McCain pushed back on any talk of his vice presidential pick.

Sheriff's detectives conducted a proper search of the home of a youth pastor even without a warrant, a Manatee County judge ruled Thursday. The ruling shot down a defense challenge and now means prosecutors can use videotapes and hidden cameras seized in the voyeurism investigation last year. Authorities did not need a warrant to search the home of Bethel Baptist Church youth pastor Matthew C. Porter because a friend who had been house-sitting agreed to let detectives inspect Porter's home in Ellenton, Manatee County Judge George K. Brown Jr. determined. The detectives, the judge said, acted reasonably. Investigators say Porter,...

Therese DoanMultimillionairess Therese Doan, a well known political supporter and key campaign financer in Daytona Beach sold a 20-foot strip of land to the city for $320,955. The City Commission's unanimous approval of the purchase was not done at a public meeting; it was adopted quickly through the consent agenda on 5/7/08 without public discussion after Commissioner Dwayne Taylor made the Motion to Approve which Commissioner Rob Gilliland seconded. Items on the consent agenda are not discussed nor open for public comment and are regularly adopted in group. This method of effecting substantial expenditures by the City Commission has been...

. The Coke Zero 400 Saturday 8:00 pm Eastern on TNT SPEED Pre-race at 4:30pm, TNT Pre-race 6:30pm Green flag 8:19 from Daytona International Speedway Please visit the FR Canteen - Supporting our troops, veterans, and their families: The FR Canteen This thread is dedicated to the memory of Darlene Brennan,also known around these parts as SheLion. Rest in peace, our FRiend.

FORT PIERCE — A 41-year-old man who told police he was just “relaxing” with his pants undone at the Fort Pierce Community Center was arrested and charged Saturday with lewd or lascivious exhibition/masturbation. Fort Pierce Police officers saw Nicodeme Petion sitting in the driver’s seat with his pants open, belt unbuckled with a sock over his genital area, according to a police report. Before police contact with Petion, a family with young children walked past his 1994 green Chevy Caprice and the mother looked inside the car and quickly ran over and picked up her child to escort them pass...

The Sunshine State has about 3.8 million people without insurance, or about 21% of the population, the fourth-highest rate in the country. The "Cover Florida" plan hopes to improve those numbers by offering access to more affordable policies. As even Barack Obama says, the main reason people are uninsured isn't because they don't want to be; it's because coverage is too expensive. But the Florida reform, which both houses of the legislature approved unanimously, renounces Mr. Obama's favored remedy: It nudges the government out of the health-care marketplace. Insurance companies will be permitted to sell stripped-down, no-frills policies exempted from...

As pointed out by this representative of the Florida Attorney General's office, it is impossible to separate national security issues from illegal immigration, and one of the most important illegal immigration issues in Florida is the issue of human trafficking. And as Jake at Freedom Folks notes (thanks for the tip), this story doesn't appear to have been covered by the news wires. Here, a horrifying story is described of a little girl who, after being taken to the Florida panhandle from Mexico, resisted while being raped, and was subsequently made an example of by being beheaded in front of...

Study: Stem Cells Used To Fix Your Broken Heart It's Called The Marvel Study The Largest Clinical Trial Investigating Adult Stem Cells To Treat Congestive Heart Failure For More Info, Call Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Center At (954) 229-8400 MIAMI (CBS4) ― Doctors are discovering a new way to fix your broken heart. A study is underway in South Florida that could revolutionize the way heart attack patients help their damaged hearts by using their own stem cells. It's called The Marvel Study and under the direction of Dr. Alan Neiderman with the Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Research...

Lt. Col. Allen West and Michelle Obama By James Lewis I just sent my first political contribution to the Congressional campaign of former Army Lt. Colonel Allan West, who is running on the "R" ticket in Florida House District 22 --- that's in Broward County. Colonel West is a man who has proved himself, not just in the rigors of combat, not just in leadership, not just in the technical craft of military tactics and strategy, but in the most difficult life-and-death dilemma a human being can face. He made an agonizing moral decision to save his men from a...

Homeowners: 'Someone Is Going To Get Hurt'SANFORD, Fla. -- Families in a crime-ridden Central Florida neighborhood are arming themselves with shotguns and talking about adding electric barbed wire to stop thieves targeting their homes. "Somebody is going to end up getting hurt," resident Andrea Fine said. "The homeowners are tense. We are all on edge. For the first time in my life I'm really scared to live in my home."

A former Salvation Army pastor remains in the Volusia County Jail, facing charges of lewd or lascivious molestation on a 13-year-old girl. John Chastain, 41, was the Captain Officer of the Salvation Army Church in DeLand from 1999 to 2005, and as such was the church's pastor. He's accused of luring a teenager to perform sexual acts from the time she was 13 years old until she turned 16. Chastain left the church and Volusia County Sheriff's investigators caught up with him last week in Georgia. News 13 spoke with the sister of the victim, who said Chastain was the...

Florida banks say they are tired of playing cops, and some congressional leaders agree. The Florida Bankers Association (FBA) issued a statement Thursday in support of 18 members of Congress who signed a letter asking bank regulatory agencies to ease off on their enforcement of bank-related provisions of the Patriot Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. Parts of the two laws require banks to report the suspicious activity of their customers, especially when conducting international business. The FBA's letter said it has seen very little evidence that banks' reports on potential criminal behavior have deterred such activity or led to...

Allen West for Congress Blog In Response to Porter County Politics Blog Jun 30, 08:16 AM by Allen West In response to the question of how the Republican party can reach out to black Americans, here is my response: The Republican party first must define itself and get back to its fundamental values and principles rooted in conservatism. That message appeals to people of all groups. It must restore itself as “America’s Party”. Right now everyone else is defining the Republican party and the message is confused. A prime example of the success of that message comes from Utah’s 3d...

This speech will give you the opportunity to learn more about Allen and his vision for the future of America and the G.O.P. Please take a moment to learn more about Allen West and then take action to help Allen's campaign! GO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNcQD_vA-X8

Allen West is the newest star of the G.O.P.

Florida biologist saves drowning bear Last Updated: 12:14AM BST 30/06/2008 A biologist has dived into the Gulf of Mexico in Florida to rescue a stray black bear. Biologist Adam Warwick saves a 375-pound black bear from drowning in Gulf waters Warwick performed the daring rescue when the bear bolted for open Gulf waters after taking the tranquilizer dart The 375lb beast had been roaming a residential area at Alligator Point, near Tallahassee, when wildlife officers decided to trap it and move it away from houses. They shot the bear with a tranquiliser dart, spooking the animal, which raced toward the...

The "naked sushi" trend — you know, the one "Sex and the City" Samantha latched onto in the hit movie as a way of tantalizing her boyfriend — has been bait for geisha partygoers in Japan for centuries. Now, it's catching on in Florida, according to The St. Petersburg Times. A club in Clearwater has attracted open-mouthed patrons after adopting the tradition, which involves serving raw fish delicacies straight off the body of a barely clothed woman.

Tampa: Prohibition against firearms on USAA property remains in effect Published 6/27/2008 USAA's policy prohibiting firearms anywhere on USAA property remains in effect at all locations. The policy remains in effect despite a new Florida law limiting such policies. Background On July 1, a new law takes effect in Florida that restricts employers' ability to prohibit guns at the workplace. However, that law also includes an exemption for properties that include school facilities, such as our Child Development Center (CDC). As a result, USAA's policy prohibiting guns in the workplace will remain in effect even after the law takes effect...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A man watching TV and listening to music inside an Orange County apartment was struck by lightning while holding a cigarette out of a window. Adam Rice was struck on the hand Wednesday afternoon at the Whisper Lake apartments, located on state Road 436 south of University Boulevard. "All of sudden it sounded like fireworks go off, just loud pops, like, constantly," Rice said. "The whole house lit up blue, and I got zapped on my hand." Rice told Local 6 News that the current traveled through his body and exited between the two smallest toes...

In a highly controversial move, Daytona Beach Mayor Glenn Ritchey decided to promote Assistant City Attorney Marie Hartman to the position of City Attorney. The action was recommended by Mayor Ritchey at the end of a City Commission public meeting on May 7th, but the subject was not on the agenda nor was publicly noticed. The City Commission agreed in unison, and the surprise measure passed with no discussion nor consideration on whether to conduct a proper search or consider alternate candidates. Mayor Ritchey indicated that "It was legal". We can't help but remember some famous words: You know your...

During the June 4th Public Hearing, the Daytona Beach City Commission voted for a cost of living amendment to the police and fire pension plan (Ordinance No. 03-129). Commissioners Rick Shiver and Dwayne Taylor both have a vested interest but failed to abstain from voting on the amendment. Both Taylor and Shiver are retired firemen employees of the city and will obtain personal benefit from the measure they voted on. This conduct seems to be in violation of ethics rules and state-mandated open government laws.

The GMA (Florida Growth Management Act, Fla. Stat. ch. 163.3161) establishes procedures for any changes that affect land uses in our State. These procedures establish proper-noticed public hearings whether it’s for a Comprehensive Plan amendment or a change in the Land Development Regulations (LDR’s) such as zoning. During these hearings, affected parties present their arguments in favor or opposition to a given project in front of the public officials presiding over the hearing (County Council, City Commission, etc.) who then decide whether to approve or deny the requested amendment. Abuses occur when decisions are made on the basis of political...

The Dark Agenda Behind the Florida Outpouring The Florida outpouring that is racing around the globe at an unprecedented speed has an agenda. An agenda that is well hidden behind Christian sounding words and phrases to quell the fears of suspicions and discerning sheep. It is a dark agenda that has been planned for eternity and implemented with military precision. A plan to open you up to hidden wisdom, mystical experiences and spirit guides in preparation for the coming “paradigm shift.” It is a plan to raise up a New Breed who will discard the old and arise to violently...

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. -- Neighbors Jo Ellen Sharp and Kristin Jenkins stood beside each other after a day on the beach of this barrier island, divided by the thought that Florida's corner of the Gulf of Mexico could some day be dotted by gigantic oil rigs. This is such a big part of our economy and our lifestyle; nobody is going to come here if there is drilling," said Ms. Sharp, 39 years old, who runs a marketing firm with her husband. Ms. Jenkins quickly cut in. "Do what you've got to do," the 35-year-old schoolteacher said. "If it's...

John McCain is holding a town hall meeting tonight. Nothing unusual, right? Except that this time, he’s holding the meeting by telephone. And who’s on the line? Possibly 50,000 registered Democrats and political independents who live in Democratic-heavy Palm Beach and Broward counties. The call from the Arizona senator will go out at 6:45 p.m.

[snip] Florida will buy every bit of land now owned by the nation's largest sugar company and use it to restore the River of Grass. Although many details of the $1.75-billion deal still must be worked out before it closes in November, the bottom line is this: U.S. Sugar will continue farming its land — 187,000 acres, three times the size of Orlando — for six more years, then shut everything down and hand it over to the state. [snip] Company executives called the decision to sell bittersweet, since it will end more than 70 years of farming there. U.S....

In the hallowed halls of Florida’s government institutions, the untouchable relic of the Federal ban on offshore drilling has had homage paid to it by legislator after legislator. But Governor Charlie Crist is leading a rebellion, refusing to bow the knee to the envirolobby any longer. It used to be that any public servant in Florida who spoke on offshore drilling spoke against it. Governor Charlie Crist, an outspoken advocate of environmental conservation, has suddenly shifted the tables in the drilling debate, by advocating offshore drilling. Democrats and Republicans who still stand beholden to the envirolobby are opposing the measure,...

The state of Florida is pursuing a blockbuster buyout of the biggest chunk of Big Sugar, the powerful agricultural industry whose pollution of the Everglades has made it a target of environmentalists for decades.Gov. Charlie Crist has scheduled a press conference Tuesday in Palm Beach County, where he's expected to outline a state proposal to purchase the U.S. Sugar Corp.'s vast holdings between Lake Okeechobee and the marshes of the Everglades -- as much as 187,000 acres, including refineries, railroads and rock mines. The opening bid could be near $1.7 billion, though the figures could change during what promise to...

To deliver us our sacred oil, residents of the Niger Valley abide a landscape pitted with pools of toxic chemicals and a night sky perpetually lit by flames flaring from oil derrick smokestacks. Burn-off from oil wells adds 35 million tons of carbon dioxide and 12 million tons of methane a year to the air Nigerians breath. Income derived from the poisoned mess props up arguably the most corrupt government on Earth. We get their oil. Nigerians, at least most of them, get nothing but misery. I wonder what folks in the Niger Valley would make of the moral outrage...

A 24-year-old English teacher at Atlantic High School in Delray Beach resigned amid an investigation into a possible sexual relationship with a graduating senior, authorities said. Heather March submitted her resignation letter on May 28, 12 days after the school district opened an investigation based on information from another student, according to Palm Beach County School District documents. News of March's resignation follows a series of teacher-student sex scandals at Santaluces High School. Revelations emerged earlier this week that teacher Natalie Fraxedas, 23, was fired after admitting she had sex with an 18-year-old student.

Some columnist from the Sun Sentinel in South Florida …. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbmayocol0619sbjun19,0,830449.column … thought it would be really clever to exploit this oil situation in Florida. Yeah. He says, "If we control access to something the rest of the country wants, we should be darn sure we get something good in return." So his idea? Make the nation agree to national hurricane insurance. In other words, in order for Florida to become a part of the solution, we must agree to fork over some taxpayer dollars to people who have knowingly chosen to live in a hurricane area (like me, for...