Times Recommends
Yes to Pinellas school districts
Three years ago, Pinellas voters changed the way they elect county commissioners, deciding four should run in individual districts and three countywide. In one election cycle, the change brought fresh new membership to the courthouse club.

No on Amendment 9
Amendment 9 was born of a genuine frustration with Florida's assembly-line public education system. Only five states put more students in each classroom, and not a single state packs more into each school. Talk to most any parent and you'll hear the concern: How can my kindergartner pay attention with 26 others in the same room?

Letters
Graham relies on simplistic reasoning
Re: Graham's opposition to the resolution to wage war, Oct. 20.

Bill Maxwell
Mayor is heck of a drinking buddy
LAJITAS, Texas -- Until a few days ago, I had never drunk beer with the mayor of a town of any size. Well, I just had the pleasure of swilling a few cold longneck Coronas (no lime) with The Mayor of Lajitas (his official name).

Martin Dyckman
The Golden Age of the Florida Legislature
LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Brooklyn had the Boys of Summer, Notre Dame the Four Horsemen. Ancient Britain, so the legends go, had Camelot. The Florida Legislature had its Golden Age.

Philip Gailey
The governor's race comes down to whom you trust
If Democrat Bill McBride evicts Jeb Bush from the Florida Governor's mansion on Nov. 5, it will be in spite of his wobbly performance in their three debates. McBride is asking voters to trust him to keep his promises, an appeal that has been complicated by his reluctance to trust the voters with the truth. That truth is that there is no way he can fund his education agenda and other state needs without serious tax reform.

Robyn E. Blumner
How can U.S. force others to follow rules when it doesn't
The United States is rightly livid over the duplicity of North Korea, which admitted earlier this month that it has maintained a viable nuclear weapons program in violation of a 1994 arms control accord. The agreement had given North Korea funding for energy supplies in exchange for abandoning its nukes research. We now know it took our largess and kept its weapons program humming.