Category Archives: Florida

Forget about South Florida corruption. Up north a ways, in Central Florida, they bring weirdness to new heights.

I mean, where else but Florida could you ever get this fact pattern:

Deputies: Man on crack when alligator attacked. LAKELAND — A man who was attacked by an alligator this morning was naked and smoking crack at the time, Polk County deputies who rescued him said today.

Lest you should be tempted to try this at home, I should add that the victim got chewed pretty bad:

Apgar, 45, of Polk City, suffered a broken arm, partially amputated left arm and trauma to his left leg. Doctors are trying to reattach the arm at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where [he] was listed in critical condition.

“We don’t know whether he’ll make it or not,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

It was pretty dark, but Sheriffs think they have identified the perp:

Democrats will control the House, with help from South Florida.

Republican Charlie Crist Christ won the state, but lost this region. It looks as if state turnout wasn’t all that high, which hurt Davis, as did Christ’s huge financial advantage, which allowed an incessant barrage of TV ads depicting Davis as pro-terrorist. [Update: I hear Crist ran 21,000 commercials — more than any other candidate in the nation.]

Democrat Alex Sink will be the first elected state CFO — and looks to have a great future in state politics.

Nelon beat Harris — without my vote. I didn’t want to vote for a supporter of the torture bill. And they both voted for it. So for the first time in my life, I voted for neither candidate in a contested election.

Ron Klein beat Clay Shaw in the much-watched Boca Raton congressional election. Mahoney narrowly beat “Mark Foley” (Joe Negron) in Palm Beach, but it was close.

Where I live, Democrat Dave Patlak was beaten by incumbent Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen by almost 2:1, pretty much tracking party registration in Florida’s 18th district. The Patlak campaign had a few tens of thousands of dollars; the incumbent had well over a million on hand before the campaign even began.

Broward voted down a mass transit tax by a 2:1 ratio.

But the local news is dominated by the shooting of a UM student, Bryan Pata, a football player with a possible NFL career, in the parking lot of his off-campus apartment building.

The secondfirst Florida gubenatorial debate is about to start at NOVA South Eastern University. Turns out that might not the best place to hold it, at least according to this email I received:

Two models for the future of South Florida will be debated on Tuesday, October 24th, at NOVA South Eastern University. The selection of the debate site is quite unfortunate, in my opinion, because NOVA is involved in a labor dispute that will, if nothing changes quickly, render some 350 janitors jobless. An institution that is toying with the future of so many workers, as though their lives and livelihoods were truly unimportant, should not be chosen as the locale for hosting a discussion about the future of all Floridians. This problem is even more egregious, considering that two institutions of higher learning in South Florida, FIU and UM, have recently committed their resources to respecting the rights of workers to both organize and have a decent standard of living. These institutions are more deserving of hosting such a momentous event, for they have secured the future of their workers.

What I am asking is that NOVA Southeastern University finally accept the rights of their janitors to have a decent life, or that the debate be moved to a different place.

Many people are mobilizing in the next few days and weeks to achieve this goal, a goal that will benefit South Florida in general, for a solid working class is the back bone of any healthy community. Please stay tuned!

Dr. Manuel J. Caro
Sociologist
North Miami

Poll says Davis has caught up with Crist:

A shift in the mind-set of independent voters has made Florida’s governor’s race a ”dead heat,” according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University.

The poll, released today, shows Democrat Jim Davis narrowing the gap with Republican Charlie Crist to two points — 46 percent to 44 — well within the poll’s 3.4 percent margin of error.

Actually, what happened is that Davis started his TV campaign; previously Christ had the airwaves to himself. (Money still counts.)

Nevertheless, I admit that just as I was surprised at the size of Crist’s lead, I’m also surprised that Davis caught up so fast.

The deadline to register to vote in Florida is October 10th, three days away. The deadline for a host of other states is one of the next seven days.

10/7: MS, NV, RI, SC
10/8: AK, TN, WA
10/9: AR, AZ, HI, LA, WY
10/10: CO, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MT, NM, OH, PA, TX, UT, VA, MO
10/13: ID, NC, NY, OK
10/14: DE
10/17: MD, ME, MN, NJ, OR, WV
10/18: MA
10/19: WI
10/20: NE
10/23: CA, KS, SD
10/24: CT
10/27: AL, IA, NH, VT
Election Day Registration: ID, ME, MN, ND, NH, WI, WY

You can use GoVote to register, or at least get help completing the form you need to mail in. In Florida, the rule is that,

If this is a new registration application, the date the completed application is postmarked or hand delivered to a driver’s license office, a voter registration agency, an armed forces recruitment office, the Division of Elections, or the office of any Supervisor of Elections in the state will be your registration date. If this is a new Florida application, you must be registered for at least 29 days before you can vote in an election. If your application is complete and you are qualified as a voter, a voter information card will be mailed to you.

Mydem.com offers you a chance to check online if you are already registered, but they make you sign into the site first.

It could be an historic election. If they count the votes right, of course.