SUNDAY FLORIDA EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

We begin our weekly tour here at home, with the Lakeland Ledger slamming the U.S. Senate for it's performance in failing to pass a bill containing major provisions that most members supported (raising the minimum wage, reducing the estate tax); it failed because the GOP leadership insisted it be considered as an all-or-nothing package instead of seperately. It calls the action a good demonstration of why many Americans hold the legislative body in such poor regard.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel holds the Orange County School Board in low regard this morning, calling it "outrageous" that the board is refusing to allow voters to decide on an elected or appointed superintendent.

There are troubling signs that President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" programme builds only the illusion of progress, according to today's Daytona Beach News Journal opinion, and creating a new matrix which would focus on multiple measures of progress should be the highest priority for Congress when the law comes up for renewal next year.

Melbourne-based Florida Today editorializes today that Florida's insurance crisis continues to worsen, accusing state officials of writing off average homeowners and everyday consumers who pleaded for action until businesses forced them to address a possible insurance meltdown which would severely threaten the state's economy.

On the other side of I-4, the Tampa Tribune notes that the maliginant force at work in the Middle East is being described by more observers as "Islamo-fascism", and addresses the bitter controveresy over use of the term. The editorial mentions that "Islamo-fascism" involves the hijacking of Islam --- a moderate, peaceful religion --- as a means to incite hatred and aggression, and says that better ways must be found to deprive it of the conditions it needs to flourish.

Across the bay, the St. Petersburg Times calls U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D - Orlando) as a "friend of the rich" as one of only four Democrats Thursday to vote in favour of the bill which would have reduced the estate tax (and the minimum wage), mentioning that he has been consistant as a supporter of the tax being reduced or repealled. The measure would have resulted in a loss to the federal Treasury of $268-billion over ten years.

Congress is also on the minds of the editorial writers at the Sarasota Herald Tribune. It's opinion today is that the longstanding practice of "earmarking", usually for projects in a congressional member's home state, should be reduced or eliminated altogether due to the potential for possible corruption in the wake of the Mitchell Wade scandal.

Heading north, the Gainesville Sun deals with the issue of medication errors and the possible deadly consequences such mistakes have. The editorial mentions several suggestions presented by a committee of the Institute of Medicine last month that people at all levels can do to reduce such errors, saying they provide plenty of support for changing the status quo.

The Ocala Star Banner focuses it's opinion on the issues that relative caregivers --- mainly grandparents --- experience in caring for neglected or abused children, and the significantly reduced help they receive when compared to regular foster parents. The editorial calls for the Legislature to provide more of a helping hand to relative caregivers, and compliments State Senator Evelyn Lynn (R - Ormond Beach) for her efforts on the issue.

Today's Naples Daily News opinion takes note of the result of a recent survey taken by the Collier County School District. While much of the responses were very positive, agreement to the statement "My child's school keeps me aware of how well my child is doing in school" diminishes from elementary to middle to high school. The editorial reminds parents and guardians that as many high school students don't talk about what's going on there, it always good to ask.

An uncle is still a meanace, according to today's Palm Beach Post. It mentions the story of a man who lent his vehicle to his twin nephews who, at the time, had only learners' permits. Last year, one of them was shot dead by police when he attempted to flee from a school dance. The other cooperated when pulled over recently, but the Post opinion is that the court should help the uncle face reality that he bears a greater responsibility in both situations.

Jacksonville's Florida Times-Union says it's about time that the city has resolved the issue of it's legal responsibility to providing more parking to The Jacksonville Landing, an issue which has been bounced around for over two decades, as agreements have been reached with a national developer and health care company Humana.

Growth in rural counties such as Gadsen and how to control it is the issue brought up in today's Tallahassee Democrat editorial. It says that tensions between the state and local governments have grown along the Panhandle as the housing market has become more robust, especially in smaller, more rural counties where housing costs are less, and that state-local cooperation is vital to insure that mistakes made in the past elsewhere are not repeated.

The Andrea Yates verdict in Texas of not guilty by reason of insanity in the murder of her five children is called "perhaps the fairest conclusion to the mind-boggling tragedy of this case", in the opinion of today's South Florida Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. It notes that more people have become aware of postpartum depression, but that more awareness is needed so that more mothers can come out of the shadows and get the help that Ms. Yates did not receive.

And the Miami Herald editorial calls on losing Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to abandon what it calls his reckless stunt of shutting down traffic with sit-ins and protests before things get out of hand, and not threaten with mob pressure the intregity of the federal tribunal which will make a decision on his appeal regarding the election results.

Make it a great day!