Free Republic

TALLAHASSEE — The top Democrat in the Florida House considered the amount of money lawmakers gave to the state Democratic Party and their willingness to contribute in the future before he recommended who should sit on some of the state's most powerful legislative panels. "There may be three or four people that raised money that had (top) ranking positions, but that was not really a major consideration," Minority Leader Franklin Sands said Monday. Ben Wilcox, director of Florida Common Cause, said the possibility of a "quid pro quo" raises ethical and legal questions. "We all know that some committees are...

PORT ST. LUCIE — If you think the back-and-forth between the candidates is getting ugly, presidential politics got downright physical here Thursday evening, according to a report released Friday by the Port St. Lucie Police Department. The report states that about 7:20 p.m. Thursday two diners in back-to-back booths of a restaurant in the 2000 block of Courtyard Circle in St. Lucie West were arguing about the upcoming presidential election when one turned away and said he “didn’t need to hear it anymore.” At that point one of the arguers, Johnny Morales, 26, of the 1300 block of Nancy Lane...

Along with link sausages, condoms were served to the Florida delegation for breakfast on Tuesday. On a bright pink background, the covers read, “Protect Yourself From John McCain (In This Election). Inside were instructions, along with a “Basic: Proper Attire Required for Entry” latex condom distributed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund. The condoms, along with napkins and silverware, were on the white tablecloths when the delegates came in from the breakfast buffet at the Red Lion Inn

It's still hard to say which will do more damage to the nation over the long term: the politicization of religion, or the religionization of politics. I shouldn't have to type this sentence because it's so obvious and well-established, but the whole idea of America is supposed to be about keeping religion and government separate so that both will remain strong and protected. The Founders would be astonished to see how far we've drifted from that brilliant principle. They certainly wouldn't have understood what went on at the Saddleback Church last weekend, when John McCain and Barack Obama sat down...

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Despite President Bush's less-than-subtle jab this week, Florida is not the reason why gas prices are more than $4 per gallon. On Monday, Mr. Bush indulged his passion for empty symbolism by lifting a presidential ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, a ban his father established. The gesture is symbolic because Congress would have to go along, and Congress won't, primarily because Democrats won't.

Growing suspicion that speculators are driving up the cost of oil has done at least one good thing: given federal regulators second thoughts about loopholes that can be exploited by the sort of financial geniuses who brought us the subprime debacle. If $4-per-gallon gas is the result of a speculation-inflated bubble, consumers obviously want it to burst as quickly as possible. But those with pension funds and certain other investments could be shocked to find that savings at the pump could come out of their retirement incomes. The existing loopholes - the product of Bush administration disdain for any limits...

Seeking a balance between outreach and enforcement, Miami is launching a nearly $1 million crime-fighting initiative in Overtown that will mix police patrols, video cameras -- and suit-and-tie wearing Muslims. The stepped-up policing seeks to deter would-be lawbreakers without making Overtown residents feel ''invaded,'' in the words of Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones. Which is where the Muslims come in. Along with budgeting hundreds of thousands of dollars for increased police patrols and the installation of surveillance cameras, Miami is spending $150,000 on a ''Peacemakers'' pilot program run by a nonprofit with ties to the Nation of Islam.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Tiffany Shepherd, a biology teacher at Port St. Lucie High School, learned last week that she will not be asked to return when school starts next year, nor will she finish this school year. Shepherd doesn't think it's her teaching skills that the St. Lucie County School District found objectionable but, rather, her after-school job as a bikini mate aboard Smokin' Em Charters fishing tours.

JUPITER — Former police officer John Banister is already suing the town, but now some of his grievances have gone digital. A 1 1/2-minute video posted on the Web site YouTube shows Banister in front of the El Sol day labor center complaining that his former bosses didn't want him to contact immigration officials when he arrested suspects who could have been undocumented. Banister recounts that during his tenure with the Jupiter force, he helped deport "probably at least 10 dozen people." When his supervisors learned he was reporting suspected undocumented immigrants to immigration officials, they told him his actions...

Palm Beach County School District Superintendent Art Johnson will encourage the school board to hire additional attorneys to deflect a potential American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit over low graduation rates among black students. The move would be the first proactive step by the district since the ACLU announced early last year it was considering legal action. The suit would be the first of its kind against a school district for not achieving equal results among its students. About 72 percent of students across the county graduated on time last year, up from 66 percent in 2003 but slightly below the...

WEST PALM BEACH — The star of The Fugitive wants a reprieve from the region's watering limits. And the South Florida Water Management District is prepared to give Tommy Lee Jones what he wants - as long as the actor promises to meet its conservation goals for his Wellington polo field.

The initial negative reception to "Lions for Lambs" - the first movie to come out under Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner's resurrected United Artists label - could harm parent studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's own attempts to raise money for film productions.

WEST PALM BEACH — Florida Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller called Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina "terrorist rogue states" and said he's exploring a lawsuit against them for pressuring Democratic presidential candidates to boycott Florida. Geller made the remarks today to a Democratic Professionals Council luncheon audience of about 50. He was the group's replacement speaker after the originally scheduled headliner, New Mexico Gov. and presidential hopeful Bill Richardson, canceled because of the pledge not to campaign in Florida

RIVIERA BEACH — In September 2001, a very lucky ex-con named David Lee Edwards arrived in Palm Beach County with $27 million and a history of drug abuse. The $27 million was his take, after taxes, from Kentucky's Powerball lottery. Edwards, 46, had been laid off shortly before he bought the winning ticket at Clark's Pump N Shop in Ashland, Ky., a blue-collar town on the Ohio River where he grew up. He became a convict in the early 1980s after a gas station hold-up, followed by parole violations and arrests for drug possession. He was in and out of...

The investigation was complicated, Sink said, because many of those charged were also using fictitious names. Of the 16 people arrested in St. Lucie County, 12 worked at Bates Plants, a nursery and landscaping business at 15001 W. Angle Road in Fort Pierce. Most of them told investigators they were in the country illegally. Several said they bought the Social Security cards in West Palm Beach and paid between $40 to $150 for them, according to the reports. Owner Chad Bates said he was shocked when most of his 17-person crew was arrested earlier this week. "I've got work lined...

Right-wing Jew fooled no one this time. Wednesday, August 09, 2006 -- Voters in Connecticut reject three-term Sen. Lieberman for a political newcomer in the nation's first major test of the depth of anger over the Iraq war. Americans who are sick of this lying right-wing punk in the White House and his damn supporters gased Bush's Jew at the polls. God in heaven, it is my prayer that You will punish these ungrateful, omnipotent fools so harshly that even those like myself, who despise the ground they walk on, will feel sorry for them. I pray that You will...

WEST PALM BEACH — A journalist arrested outside elections headquarters last November after taking pictures of long waiting lines must face criminal charges, a judge ruled Tuesday. James S. Henry violated the state law when he entered a 50-foot buffer zone and began taking photographs, County Judge Peter Evans decided

LANTANA, Fla. -- She's in and out of the hospital, and he just returned from serving his country in Afghanistan, yet the town of Lantana wants the couple's top priority to be fixing their yard. The clock is ticking for a soldier and his family to follow orders -- or else. When Army Sgt. Mike Neal returned from the war over the weekend, he went to bed, got up the next day, and started seeding his yard. Code enforcement told them seeding wasn't enough.

WPB shop owner Nicolas Jacobsen says he wishes the Trumps well. Still, he's going to sue them. Unlike vendors who provided food, transportation, the entertainment, the dress and the rings for the wedding, Jacobsen wanted to be paid — in full. But Jacobsen, who owns Classic Chandeliers on Southern Boulevard, says he has been waiting for nearly two months for The Donald to finish paying the $33,997 for three fancy chandeliers installed in the new Mar-a-Lago ballroom