SUNDAY FLORIDA EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Starting in the 'oft neglected Panhandle, the Pensacola News Journal is of the opinion that veterans should be allowed to replace the helicopter mounted atop the Wall South, the replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in Pensacola. The chopper was damaged last year during Hurricane Ivan.

In the Capitol City, this morning's Tallahassee Democrat believes that the city owned utility should diversify it's energy sources, knowing that any decision for the city to enter into a partnership to build a coal-fired electricity plant in North Florida will be complicated, not to mention controversial.

Ongoing problems with the construction of a new downtown public library has the editorial board at the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville slightly annoyed.

The Gainesville Sun notes that tomorrow --- the Fourth of July --- also happens to be the 39th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act, but that the right to know what your government is doing with your tax dollars is under attack as never before.

Nearby, the Ocala Star-Banner is hoping that the Marion County Commission would talk as tough about making newcomers pay for their fair share in infastructure and road costs as they do about threatening to place a moratorium on new building permits for one new development.

The Orlando Sentinel editorial today laments the apparant lax attendance policy for Orange County schools, which it suggests is a major factor in Jones High School's failing grade on state tests.

In the Daytona Beach News-Journal editorial slams the Bush Administration for it's apparantl willingness to bend scientific research to serve political needs, a charge leveled by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Tampa Tribune salutes retiring U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but mentioning that while President Bush "...will nominate a conservative; he need not nominate an ideologue." Across Tampa Bay, the St. Petersburg Times calls for the president to consult in good faith with senators from both parties prior to appointing O'Connor's replacement.

This morning's Sarasota Herald-Tribune uses the recent case of malfunctioning heart defibrillators resulting in a major recall to opine that the federal Food and Drug Administration is in need of an overhaul as well as making consumer safety the agency's top priority.

The Naples Daily News favours school vouchers, and says in it's editorial today that the Florida Supreme Court to study the facts on competition, noting it's belief that school choice and competition help public schools. It does make one critical error, though: When it says that "...public education is not 'free'...", the idea is that while taxpayers do foot the bill, parents do not have to pay tuition to have their children educated. Public education is a neccessity for the betterment of the community as a whole; therefore, we pay for the service through our taxes.

Cooperation and teamwork is what's necessary to insure for Palm Beach County to deliver on bringing the Scripps Research Institute to Mecca Farms, and is the best means to lure spinoffs to the area. So says today's editorial in the Palm Beach Post.

Meanwhile, down I-95, the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes that the Internet provides a new, more pervasive platform for bullying, and that vigilance and strict laws can go a long way in controlling the growing problem.

And the Miami Herald keeps it's editorial on a local subject today. It calls on the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority to improve it's rapport and connectivity with those who use the five toll roads it oversees, while saying that the authority deserves the respect and support of area residents. This in the wake of toll increases recently.

Finally, back at home, the Lakeland Ledger editorial writers have apparantly been reading the Washington Post recently. The opinion laments questionable charges by or on behalf of the Homeland Security Administration brought out in a recent audit obtained by the Post.

And the Winter Haven News Chief noted that the city's police department did the right thing in forcing the resignation of a 17 year veteran officer who was found sleeping in his car after failing to respond to an emergency incident.