It was typical Charlie Crist. The 51-year-old first-year governor prefers cajolery to confrontation, a sunny smile to sweeping condemnations. His centrist policies and corny aphorisms -- calling Floridians "the boss," and himself "the people's governor" -- are delivered with warm sincerity. But as Crist enters his second year in office, he's finding that sincerity may not be enough -- and his personal warmth is being met by increasingly icy responses......hereThere Are Rumblings On The Republican Right Wing
Loxahatchee rock miner Enrique Tomeu looks more comfortable in a hard hat than a tuxedo. "All I am is a hardworking guy who has busted his butt all his life," he says humbly. But in 2005, he schmoozed at the highest levels of the Republican elite - at George W. Bush's second inauguration, a $42 million cavalcade of power brunches, candlelight dinners and nine inaugural balls. To attend the four-day fete, Tomeu contributed $50,000 to Bush's inaugural committee, more than most Palm Beach County families earn in a year......more
It was a year that strode boldly into the stall of human events and took a wide stance astride the porcelain bowl of history. In short, 2007 was a year of deep gloom, pierced occasionally by rays of even deeper gloom. Oh, sure, there were a few bright spots.......more
When Bill Clinton appeared in Winter Park recently to raise money for his wife's presidential campaign, he slipped into town behind the tinted windows of a sport utility vehicle. When he left two hours later, he pulled out with a quick wave to onlookers, leaving reporters cooling their heels on the curb........here
The Lower Florida Keys is a roughly 36-mile stretch of Florida islands between Marathon and Key West......here
Florida strawberry growers, almost all within 30 miles of Plant City, planted a record 8,320 acres this year after a sixth consecutive record sales year of $273 million. Those figures represent a 14 percent increase from $239 million in sales in the 2005-06 season and an 11 percent increase in the 7,500 acres planted last season, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture......here
House members spent $20.3 million in tax money last year to send constituents what's often the government equivalent of junk mail - meeting announcements, tips on car care and job interviews, surveys on public policy and just plain bragging..........here
Less than a month ago, Pakistanis living in Central Florida were protesting President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule. Now, they're wondering what the latest turn of events -- the assassination of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto -- means for their homeland, and the United States........here
