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Editorial
More debates would benefit all
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Janet Reno has grudgingly agreed to participate in one -- and only one -- debate prior to the Sept. 10 party primary. One debate is better than nothing, but it won't offer Democratic voters, along with curious independents and Republicans, the full opportunity they deserve to judge which candidate is best qualified to challenge Gov. Jeb Bush in November.

Editorial
Doctors in politics
In an effort to defend their interests in malpractice insurance, doctors say they need political campaign contributions to make themselves heard to lawmakers.

Letters
State, governor share blame in DCF tragedies
Following all of the press coverage having to do with shortfalls in the Department of Children and Families, I am not surprised by the discoveries being made. Tragically, some professionals have not been following through on their duties to their clients. This is evident in the recent terrible murder of a child who was to have been visited that very day by his DCF worker. That worker then falsified records. There is no excuse for that, and prosecuting that person is an appropriate response for not following up on cases and then falsifying documentation.

Bill Maxwell
How little Florida pays its teachers
If we measure teacher salaries against comparable positions in other fields, we learn that teachers will never get rich by plying their trade. Some states pay teachers relatively well, while others that pay poorly have trouble recruiting and retaining teachers, according to the American Federation of Teachers' most recent state-by-state teacher salary survey released Tuesday.

 

Columns today
Howard Troxler
Once again, politicians are meddling busybodies
It is unfair for the government of Florida to try to thwart citizen petitions by making up its own "price tag" for what the idea would cost, and putting it on the ballot.

Robert Trigaux
Boost credibility, not inflated profits
How did a sleepy Florida grocery store chain suddenly become one of the new icons of corporate responsibility?

Bill Maxwell
How little Florida pays its teachers
If we measure teacher salaries against comparable positions in other fields, we learn that teachers will never get rich by plying their trade. Some states pay teachers relatively well, while others that pay poorly have trouble recruiting and retaining teachers, according to the American Federation of Teachers' most recent state-by-state teacher salary survey released Tuesday.

John Romano
Old wounds
ST. PETERSBURG -- It began in jest, as these things often do. A bunch of Rays on a bus, drinking beer, razzing the younger guys. Cory Lidle would have been laughing with the rest if he did not fear what was about to come.

 

Perspective
Taking jobs, alienating customers
For weeks Americans have been told that the outsourcing of high-tech jobs is good for our economy. So said Greg Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a recent report signed by President Bush. So, too, writes Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in articles praising the rise of call centers in India used for everything from making airline reservations and reading medical X-ray films to providing tech support for American computer firms.

Philip Gailey: Democrats fall off campaign finance reform wagon
Well, what do you know. Soft money is back, and it's making hypocrites of all those Democrats who fervently championed the McCain-Feingold campaign reform law, not to mention those Republicans who objected to the law's restrictions on issue advocacy.

Bill Maxwell: Who is for the farm worker?
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is touting legislation to improve the lives of Florida's 300,000-plus farm workers, who endure institutional and systemic injustices each day in our fields and groves and their personal lives.

Robyn E. Blumner: For some defendants, an American gulag
In Bernard Malamud's masterpiece The Fixer, inmate Yakov Bok was subjected to psychological torture in a Soviet gulag through the humiliations of constant shackling and repeated strip searches.