Category — Florida
Passing the Plate
May 27, 2007 4 Comments
Passing the Plate
May 20, 2007 2 Comments
More Wildfires
This time to my west in Escambia county on the Perdido River [the border between Florida and Alabama] near the town of Beulah, south of I-10. Smoke advisories are in effect around Pensacola.
They expect to have the fire contained tomorrow, but aren’t sure why it started.
Pensacola had a record high of 93° today, so it looks like a it’s going to be a long summer. We may get to the point that we would welcome a tropical storm to cool things off and wet things down.
UPDATE: National Weather Service Statement as of 10:36 AM CDT on May 14, 2007
… Smoke from the south Georgia… North Florida wildfires is spreading gradually to the west across the Florida Panhandle… South Alabama and into southeast Mississippi…
May 13, 2007 2 Comments
Passing the Plate
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Passing the Plate
May 6, 2007 4 Comments
With A Wimper
The St. Petersburg Times article about the regular session of the Florida legislature is aptly titled: It’s over, but incomplete.
They already have a special session scheduled for June 12th, focusing on screwing up the property tax system. They are Republans, they can’t leave taxes alone until they only affect the poor.
May 5, 2007 2 Comments
Changes to the Florida Election Law
The St. Petersburg Times article, State seizes primary position, covers some election law changes that were just passed by the Florida legislature and sent to Governor Crist for his signature [it’s his bill, so he will sign it]:
The State primary is moved to January 29th which is a problem –
The national parties are promising to punish any state that breaks the party rules, as Florida has, by scheduling a primary before Feb. 5, 2008. Both parties will lose half the delegates to the national convention, and the Democratic Party has said any candidate who campaigns in a state violating the schedule will forfeit all delegates won in that state.
Florida will require paper ballots throughout the state [because everything else has just been embarrassing].
The bill contained a number of other provisions. Among them:
- Outside groups registering voters would face fines for failing to quickly turn in forms to elections offices.
- Filing complaints with the Florida Elections Commission will be harder because only people with firsthand knowledge of a problem may file a complaint.
- People who sign petitions will have 120 days after the signatures are submitted to an elections office to remove their names.
- Elected officials will no longer have to resign from office to run for federal office. In other words, a presidential candidate could tap Gov. Crist as his vice presidential candidate and Crist would not have to resign as governor.
If you wander over to the SPT Home Page be sure to take their poll:
May 4, 2007 4 Comments
Passing the Plate
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Passing the Plate
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Passing the Plate
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Passing the Plate
April 8, 2007 7 Comments
About Time
From CBS – Florida Ex-Cons To Regain Voting Rights:
Florida was one of three U.S. states along with Kentucky and Virginia that require ex-felons to take action to restore their civil rights no matter how long they’ve been out of prison. Other states have waiting periods before restoration; most restore rights automatically when felons complete their sentence.
Under the change, which takes effect immediately, Florida officials will automatically begin the rights-restoration process for felons when they finish their sentences. People who previously completed sentences but are still awaiting restoration of their rights will still have to apply on their own because most are not tracked by the state after their release.
The change was urged by Gov. Charlie Crist, who was elected last November. His predecessor, Jeb Bush, had long opposed changing the ban.
“I believe in simple human justice and that when somebody has paid their debt to society, it is paid in full,” Crist said Thursday. “There’s a time to move on, a time to give them an opportunity to have redemption, to have a chance to become productive citizens again.”
If Eliot Abrams can get a government job, some guy who has finished his sentence for kiting checks ought to be able to cut hair or drive a dump truck, as well as voting.
April 5, 2007 4 Comments
Passing the Plate
April 1, 2007 3 Comments
Passing the Plate
March 25, 2007 5 Comments