FLORIDA SUNDAY EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

This will be an abbreviated roundup this morning. This is my weekend at work, so I'm having to leave earlier than normal.

Beginning here at home, the Lakeland Ledger urges new County Commissioner Jean Reed (D) to ask some hard questions and convince her brethern to go on record when it comes to their support of forgiving a $600,000 loan provided to the Commerce Centre Community Redevelopment Agency --- plus half that amount in interest --- left unpaid for a decade, not to mention over half a million dollars in legal fees that the CRA couldn't pay for.

The Daytona Beach News Journal takes note of the new Leadership Florida Sunshine State Survey sponsored by Kaplan University, in which Floridians rank education their top priority, followed by insurance rates. The editorial encourages legislative and governmential leaders to pay attention to what the citizenery said in the poll, and that both major political parties should be challenged by the results.

Today's editorial in the Orlando Sentinel laments the the lost opportunity for the Christian Coalition of America to expand it's vision to include caring for the enviroment and poverty. The vision, championed by the organization's president-elect Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood, was not shared by the group, and Hunter has since stepped aside.

The Sarasota Herald Tribune opinion encourages the Sarasota County School Board and Superintendent Dr. Gary Norris to identify the "roadblocks" he describes as a major reason for his announced resignation and to work together in identifying ways to change the approach to the top job. It also suggests several ideas it says are vital to making any changes effective and lasting.

The recent election mess in Sarasota County over the 13th Congressional District race has undoubtly cause some voters to question their confidence in the process. Today's Tampa Tribune calls for Congress to require a voter-verified paper trail to restore confidence that everyone's choice will be counted.

Across Tampa Bay, the St. Petersburg Times editorial page advises that in 34 years Florida's population has doubled, but only one new university, Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, has opened, and Chancellor Mark Rosenberg has warned that serious consequences will result from such neglect. Governor-elect Charlie Crist has also said that Florida needs more four year institutions, and the Times asks the question, "Who in the Legislature is willing to back him up?"

The Martin County Commission and Port St. Lucie City Council disagree about the need for and construction of a 5.6 mile road which would connect western Palm City to Port St. Lucie Boulevard and has a price tag of approximately $30 million. The two bodies or their representatives have not met in some time, and the Fort Pierce Tribune and sister Scripps Treasure Coast newspapers urge them to come together and resolve their differences regarding the project.

Up in Jacksonville, the Florida Times Union uses it's editorial space to gush over the new 43 acre passive Cradle Creek Park along the Intercoastal Waterway in Jacksonville Beach. Words such as "pristine" and "spectacular" are used to describe the park.

The Melbourne-based Florida Today opinion agrees with that of Melbourne City Council member Richard Contreas, who says that the Space Coast city should suspend new annexation until it can fill vacancies in the police department. Since 2003, the city area has grown more than 14 percent, but there are 11 openings for police officers which has resulted in detectives, sergeants, and others to fill in the gaps.