SUNDAY FLORIDA EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

We begin our weekly tour of the Sunshine State's editorial pages in Fort Lauderdale, where the South Florida Sun Sentinel touts new projects in Sunrise and other towns around the region as part of an emerging trend toward "smart growth", and urges Broward County voters to approve a one-cent sales tax increase to fund expanded mass transit and other transportation improvements.

Rivera Beach has planned a huge, multibillion dollar redevelopment of it's downtown waterfront and Ocean Mall on Singer Island. Plans are to construct an aquarium, several hotels, condos, and expanded affordable housing there as well as moving a stretch of U.S. Highway 1, and officials have hired former Rebuild L.A. chief Bernard Kinsey to cut the best deal possible for taxpayers. The Palm Beach Post suggests that the City Council protect citizens when it comes to Kinsey's contract --- yet to be finalized --- in travel and other expenses, and set up a "chain of command" where Kinsey will report only to the Council and other consultants on the project report only to him.

The more lanes the better, and the sooner the cheaper. That's the opinion of the Naples Daily News on adding new toll lanes to Interstate 75 through Collier and Lee counties after the new Southwest Florida Expressway Authority discovered that the estimated price for four toll lanes plus the "free" lane each way scheduled to be build by 2010 would be more than $1 billion...nearly 25 percent more than originally predicted. The NDN says do it all now, and save up to $200 million in the process.

The Fort Myers News-Press editorial page touches on immigration and the fact that it is a significant issue in today's America. It does remind us that today's newcomers are of the same raw material as the millions who preceeded them, and that they can make the same contributions and commitment to the nation.

Up in Melbourne, Florida Today decries a new law passed during the recent legislative session that discourages groups such as the League of Women Voters from running voter registration drives by slapping harsh penalties for missing state-imposed deadlines. The editorial says that the fines included in the law are "a wrongheaded solution to potential fraud".

Today's subject of the editorial in the Sarasota Herald Tribune is a little fishy: A charter boat captain recently caught a 14.5 foot long, 1,262 pound hammerhead shark off Boca Grande which had pulled his boat 12 miles before being captured. He donated the shark to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, but said he would like to catch a larger one and sell it at auction on e-Bay. The Herald Tribune suggests that the captain maintain the longtime ethic practiced by many sportfishermen of catch-and-release to help preserve the species as well as their careers.

Just another reminder that hurricane season begins Thursday: The St. Petersburg Times notes that counties throughout the Tampa Bay area have made substantial progress in upgrading preperations for the coming season, but that more is needed in the areas of shelter space, transportation for those who need it, and getting the private sector more involved in a coordinated recovery. The biggest challenge, according to the opinion, is in overcoming complacency.

Across the bay, the Tampa Tribune editorial focuses on the situation facing the detainees being held by the U.S. at it's base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It's opinion is that the suspected terrorists cannot be held indefinately without a clear determination of guilt, and the Naval Station is not the appropriate place to hold those who are guilty. The Tribune calls on trials to be held and the detention facility Guantanamo Bay closed as soon as possible.

This morning's Orlando Sentinel opinion space rates members of the Central Florida area's delegation in the Florida House of Representatives on their effectiveness. One really notable fall to the "Bottom of the Barrel" catagory: 17. Randy Johnson, R-Celebration. Top-tier last year, but his meteoric fall came after he put his personal ambitions ahead of the public's business. His unseemly campaigning for the Chief Financial Officer during his floor speeches drew a rare public rebuke from House Speaker (Allan) Bense. Failed to pass a single bill.

Here at home, the Lakeland Ledger editorial page highlights another of it's occasional "Gigs and Garlands" series, in which it give paragraphs of praise or criticism to a number of different individuals or groups.

The Daytona Beach News Journal laments that in the past Florida's quest for tourists was seemingly more important than enviromential and other quality-of-life concerns, but is pleased that the path West Volusia County entities are taking in spotlighting the area's ecosystems and heritage. This not only is helping bring in needed tourist dollars but saving key parts of the area from being overwhelmed by it's fast-paced growth.

Heading northwest slightly, the Ocala Star Banner notes that while prospects of a special legislative session are dim, hopefully Floridians will be able to weather this hurricane season and that lawmakers will be able to reach a long-term solution next term for Citizens Property Insurance, the state's "provider of last resort". The opinion is that a good place to begin would be a plan presented by Democratic legislators last Wednesday where private insurers would underwrite traditional homeowner's policies with varying deductibles and deposit the premiums specifically for hurricane damage into a special fund. The fund would cover 90 percent of the first $100,000 in damages, with the other 10 percent paid by insurers, coupled with Attorney General Charlie Crist's proposal to stop insurers from cherry-picking customers by not writing property insurance policies.

Just up the road, the Gainesville Sun focuses on the Hogtown Creek watershed, and features a photo essay from pictures submitted by the local Rails-to-Trails Convervancy showing that recreational greenways and urban waterways can be compatable, and calls on local government to revisit a 1998 City Charter amendment which prevents the city to build a paved greenway along the watershed.

In Jacksonville, the Florida Times Union reminds readers that the rainy season is nearly here, but that of Jacksonville's nearly 3,800 mass transit stops, only 280 shelter riders from the elements, and notes that more can be done without putting pressure on bus fares. As is the case in many other cities, private companies would build and maintain the shelters, which would be funded through selling advertising.

The Tallahassee Democrat has been remembering the city's bus boycott which ended segregated bus seating 50 years ago, and in today's editorial page touts the thriving black middle class as well as the fact that several key leaders in the area's political life are people of colour. It also praises the young people who are taking the baton of leadership from their elders, especially noting the students who protested following the tragic death of Martin Lee Anderson at the hands of guards at the Bay County Juvenile Boot Camp.

And the Pensacola News Journal reminds readers of the upcoming hurricane season, and that with the predictions of how many storms will form, their strength, and where they will strike, the only thing to remember is that the only hurricane to be ready for is the one with Pensacola Bay's name on it.
It's time to make the family some pancakes this morning...Make it a great day!