FLORIDA'S SUNDAY EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Starting down south, the Miami Herald is concerned with safety and security in the food chain, advocating mandatory testing for mad cow disease.

In Jacksonville, the Florida Times Union gives Mayor John Peyton a thumbs-up for changes he has made to the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission.

The Orange County School District is on the minds of the Orlando Sentinel editorial board today, suggesting that tightening the district's loose student transfer policy and a systemwide rezoning would help boost student performance and save money.

At the St. Petersburg Times, their concern is religious intolerance and overt proselytizing at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and the need to rectify what has become what it considers to be a serious problem.

Meanwhile across the bay, Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms is once again in the crosshairs of the Tampa Tribune for what it calls "...the Jerry Springer-like atmosphere that this name-calling commissioner has brought to our community's public life."

The Sarasota Herald Tribune suggests that everyone should tone down the angry rhetoric surrounding the Karl Rove controversy until Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald concludes his investigation, and that Rove might be only a small part of the story in the end.

On the east coast, the Daytona Beach News-Journal is concerned about the changing scenery, noting that urban style growth is pushing into the countryside and changing it's character. It believes that controls on such growth can help preserve the landscape.

Back at home, the Lakeland Ledger editorial says that Florida should not throw money Scripps-style to lure bio-tech research here from other states, but that adequetely funding home grown research via it's Centers for Excellence initiative is the way to go.

Florida Today gives kudos to Congressman Dave Weldon (R - Indiatlantic) for his work for shoreline renourishment, and call for the U.S. Senate to pass the Water Resources and Development Act (which the House passed) which includes funds to help repair beach erosion.

The Gainesville Sun laments the Bush Administration's love for keeping things secret from the citizenry, as this will be noted as the most secretive administration in American history and that those agencies responsible for prevent overclassification are simply toothless watchdogs with no real power.

At the Naples News, the editorial looks at "flipping", the practice of purchasing real estate only to "flip", or resell, the property at a profit. It doesn't offer a specific opinion, but notes that such practices have helped --- for good or bad --- to boost taxable property values over the past year to up to 20 percent in Collier County and 26 percent in Lee County.

Those annoying cell phones actually can do good, according to the editorial in today's Ocala Star-Banner. In December, Marion County 911 dispachers noted that for the first time, emergency calls from cellular phones outnumbered those from landlines. That means reports are made quicker, and that improves response times.

Hurricane Dennis brought one important need to the attention of the editorial board at the Pensacola News Journal: The need to move an important wastewater treatment plant from downtown Pensacola before a hurricane heads right-on to the city and causes potentially catastrophic circumstances.

At the Palm Beach Post, the local school district's new grading system of 1-2-3 instead of A-B-C-D-F is of concern as the district, which has approved the system for elementary schools this coming year, wants to expand it to middle schools.

Fort Lauderdale's South Florida Sun Sentinel is supportive of a bill introduced by Congresswoman Katherine Harris (R - Sarasota) and supported by 18 of her Florida congressional collegues --- Republicans and Democrats --- to impose a permanant ban on drilling off our state's coast.

And the Tallahassee Democrat says that the languishing Fallschase development, which has been tied up in delays and legal maneuvers for three decades, deserves to be completed.