In the matter of Falcon Heene, the 6-year-old boy who stashed himself - or was stashed by his parents - in the attic while a frantic world thought he was adrift in a homemade balloon, let us stipulate a few things: ...more

October 23, 2009

Military personnel deployed overseas would get an additional tax break on their primary homes under a ballot proposal the Florida House has unanimously passed. ...more

April 23, 2009

The Republican-controlled Florida House has voted largely on a party line basis, with most Democrats opposed, for a 2010 ballot proposal to loosen class size limits. ...more

April 17, 2009

Taken Baby I fail to see why an illegal alien who was stupid enough to give her baby to someone she didn't know because she was "afraid of deportation" should be front-page news. If she wasn't an illegal alien living off the USA's largess to begin with, she wouldn't be worried about being deported. ...more

March 27, 2009

Secret elections are imperfect expressions of the public will, but nothing else is better. They work well in a number of democratic contexts, especially in selecting government representatives and in whether a company's workers want to unionize. ...more

March 24, 2009

In the face of state budgets cuts and a faltering economy, the School Board of Highlands County is boosting its usual annual presence at the legislative session in Tallahassee. ...more

March 20, 2009

For the next three weeks, the NCAA Tournament — the original "American Idol" — will transform even nonsports fans into beasts. But, as much as it pains columnist Martin Fennelly to say so, he doesn't care whom you have in your brackets. You shouldn't care how he's doing, either. ...more

March 16, 2009

In 2002, when 52 percent of Florida voters cast ballots in favor of a constitutional amendment to reduce class size, they gave Florida schools a mandate to teach students in smaller classes. Since then, the Legislature has honored the will of voters by dedicating $13 billion needed for new classroom construction and hiring new teachers. ...more

March 11, 2009

In this economy, downsizing is the norm. When it comes to education, downsizing often means upsizing classes, and that's the strategy the Hernando County school district is taking to help meet a $25 million budget shortfall. ...more

March 8, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist wants more property tax cuts. ...more

February 20, 2009