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By TIMES WIRES
Published June 16, 2006
Environmental boss recalls 'testy' day in Washington
TALLAHASSEE - The state's top environmental official on Thursday summed up her encounter with prodrilling congressmen over legislation that would open Florida waters to offshore oil and gas exploration with one word: "Testy."
Environmental Protection Secretary Colleen Castille offered that response at a Cabinet meeting, when Gov. Jeb Bush asked about her trip Wednesday to Washington to testify before the House Resources Committee.
Castille was grilled by drilling advocates over Florida's objections to their efforts. Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., who is sponsoring a bill to permit gas wells as close as 20 miles from the state's beaches, dismissed Castille's argument that drilling would threaten beaches vital to the state's multibillion-dollar tourism economy.
"Your boss, Gov. Jeb Bush, has kept us from an adequate energy supply in this country," he said.
Bush was unfazed.
"Next time you see him, please encourage him to continue to criticize me for trying to protect Florida's coastline," Bush told Castille.
Bush signs bill to regulate Panhandle wetlands
TALLAHASSEE - Bills to regulate wetlands and stormwater in the Florida Panhandle and require motorists to offer aid after crashes on private property won Gov. Jeb Bush's approval Thursday.
Bush vetoed a bill that may have provided state money to cities and counties for 311 telephone systems to answer nonemergency calls because he thinks it's a local responsibility.
The Panhandle for the first time will get a state environmental resource permitting program, similar to those in other parts of Florida.
The new law extending the aid requirement for motorists on public roads to those on private property exempts drivers in motor sports such as the Daytona 500. The law also increases the maximum penalty from 15 to 30 years in prison for causing a crash that results in death.
Bush also vetoed a bill designed to increase the availability and cut the cost of sinkhole coverage, saying it duplicates provisions in a broader insurance law he signed May 16.
Justices reverse order of retrial in death row case
TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday reversed its 2003 decision to grant a new trial for a death row inmate convicted of murdering an Okeechobee couple after his lawyer admitted to the jury that he was guilty.
The new opinion was in response to an 8-0 ruling in 2004 by the U.S. Supreme Court that reversed a similar decision the Florida justices had made to vacate the conviction and death sentence of another inmate.
Thursday's reversal came in the case of Harold Harvey, 43, convicted of the 1986 murders of William and Ruby Boyd during a home robbery. The justices unanimously agreed to reinstate his conviction, but voted 5-2 to deny a new sentencing hearing.
The federal justices ruled that an admission of guilt does not necessarily mean a defense lawyer has been ineffective when they reinstated the conviction and death sentence of Joe Elton Nixon, 44, for the 1984 murder of a woman he kidnapped from a Tallahassee mall.
President disparaged in government aide's chats
BARTOW - A Homeland Security Department press aide allegedly called President Bush a liar in Internet and phone chats with undercover detectives posing as a 14-year-old girl, court records show.
Conversations between Brian Doyle, 56, of Silver Spring, Md., and his chat room pal - "Ashlynne" - are detailed in about 400 pages of records released this week. Doyle resigned from his job shortly after his April 4 arrest on charges of trying to solicit sex with the an underage child. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.
The transcripts say Doyle wrote to the fictitious girl: "hey it is illegal ... and it would be exciting and forbidden ... you are young - illegal - and gorgeous. and it would be great. fun. food, laughter, talk and yes sex."
They also show Doyle boasting about working for the Homeland Security Department and saying he met Bush, adding, "he is not a good president. nice guy but not a good president ... he is not very bright and it is evident ... bush is a liar ... there were NO weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. total lie to go to war."
[Last modified June 16, 2006, 04:22:30]
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