FLORIDA SUNDAY EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Where do I begin? Let's start here at home, where the Lakeland Ledger reminds us of the hard lessons learned by Hurricane Katrina's devestation in New Orleans: Politics is no substitute for science. The opinion is that the McCain-Feingold amendment to establish an independent review panel which would look over U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects of $40 million and above is needed, and calls on the House to approve as the Senate did last week.

The Gainesville Sun wonders who will be the broker for peace in the current violent situation in the Middle East. Certainly not President Bush, who mistakenly believed that democracy would bring stability to the region. It notes the best that can be hoped for is a cease fire which would allow Israel some sense of security while rebuilding Lebanon.

Up in Jacksonville, the Florida Times-Union takes note of RALLY Jacksonville, the early literacy programme started by Mayor John Peyton's administration, ending it's second year as it's book club continues to blossom and 16,000 four-year-olds having received backpacks filled with books and other learning tools...and even a book series set in Jacksonville in which the mayor becomes a character.

Hooray for Hollywood...movie downloads! That's the opinion of the Fort Lauderdale-based South Florida Sun Sentinel as the Movielink service, formed by the large motion picture companies, gets ready to enter the next level in 2007. It will allow people, for a fee, download movies from the Internet and burn them onto their CDs. It already allows folks to download movies for viewing. It does note that many people are either still uncomfortable with the idea or (like yours truly) don't have fast enough connections...so don't expect Blockbuster to fade into the past for awhile.

Some people just don't listen or understand, so at times they have to be reminded. The Sarasota Herald Tribune does just that this morning, letting readers know that it's actually harmful to feed wildlife...not to mention being possibly dangerous. In addition, it's illegal, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has begun a new campaign to remind folks of the downside of feeding animals. The editorial lists several reasons why it's not good...a couple I didn't even realize.

Heading into the Panhandle, the Pensacola News Journal hopes that the Legislature reverses itself and repeals a law which has put a chill into independent voter registration efforts. The reason is because groups and volunteers can be slapped with what the PNJ calls "draconian" fines if voter registration forms are lost or destroyed, regardless of the reason. And it calls the law an unequal treatment, as political party efforts are exempt. The case is currently before a Miami federal court.

The Orlando Sentinel says that the Orange County School Board has historically shown little leadership in resolving it's problems. It certainly does not want the electorate to decide who it's chairman would be, as a proposal calls for. The problem is that it would require the board, or a petition drive, to get the idea on the ballot...and the Sentinel says a board workshop scheduled for August 2 is simply a delaying tactic. It calls on the OCSB to vote quickly so the proposal can be placed on the November ballot.

Property taxes are the subject of today's editorial in the Tampa Tribune. It notes that the gubernatorial candidates are generally offering flawed fixes to the issue, a growing problem for many families across Florida. The opinion does, however, praise Democratic candidates Congressman Jim Davis and State Senator Rod Smith for being cautious in realizing the problem but wary of hasty changes which could result in new and unpleasant side effects. It also reminds us that any plan should result in equity, predictibility, simplicity, and flexibility for all Florida property owners.

The Tallahassee Democrat is saluting local government efforts to maintain and expand the city's trees and green spaces, which it considers a major value in it's quality of life. There are several additional opportunities for government leaders to continue that effort, and the editorial makes note of how readers can play a part.

We've all heard about the skyrocketing property insurance rate issue, but residents aren't the only ones being affected. The Palm Beach Post editorial spotlights the St. Lucie County School District, part of an consortium of several districts which share a private insurance policy. The district financial officer says the combination of higher rates and lower benefits "creates an inequity in resources we can provide our students". He also says that between resident's own rising rates and the higher taxes to be paid to help government agencies pay theirs, it's "double taxation", an opinion the Post agrees with.

The St. Petersburg Times editorial today says that real victims of the rare lung disease silicosis are being obscured by what it calls "a slick legal machine oiled by unethical trial lawyers and their lapdog doctors who have fabricated whole populations of victims to extort fortunes from companies that dealt with these materials". The opinion is that attornys and doctors involved in what it describes as "This kind of epic fraud" should lose their licences to practice, forfit any gains received, and jailed.

Adults up to the age of 30 playing high school soccer? It apparantly happened at Immokalee High School this past year as five student athletes from Haiti did just that. The Naples Daily News opinion is that while proposed rule changes by the Florida High School Activities Association will help toward eliminating such situations, the idea of overage student-athletes should be seriously reviewed. My question is...with five adults up to the age of 30, they still didn't win even a district championship in soccer???

Brevard County commissioners will soon begin a new fiscal year with a one billion dollar budget, up from $552 million six years ago. The Melbourne-based Florida Today says that while higher budgets are to be expected for a fast growing area, commissioners should make the effort to wisely plan for the area's long term growth.

The Florida Department of Education is demanding that the Miami-Dade School District replace principals at three of it's lowest performing schools which have been graded "F". The Miami Herald makes note that the schools in question have made significant progress under new leadership and direction, and that the idea to do so at this stage could end up being counterproductive. The opinion also suggests that it would help if DOE would stop micromanaging from Tallahassee.

Today's editorial in the Daytona Beach News-Journal is concerned about Smithsonial Institution Secretary Lawrence Small's deals with several corporate partners which would in some cases limit public access to Smithsonian archives, and noted that what happens there also has an effect on Daytona Beach because it's Museum of Arts and Sciences is an affiliate of the Smithsonian, one of only four in Florida.

And the Ocala Star Banner deals with the issue of one Marion County Commissioner, Randy Harris, trying to "find a way" to support a local option one cent sales tax for road improvement...and apparantly did so by what it called "blackmailing" fellow commissioners for his support.

Hey, friends: Make it a great Sunday. Since I worked last weekend, I've had a nice four day weekend...but all things have to come to an end, so tomorrow it's back to the job.