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Dateline Florida

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 25, 2007

2 pay price for voting against insurance bill

Sometimes it doesn't pay to be different. The only two lawmakers who voted against the property insurance bill this week are paying the price for stepping out of line. Reps. Don Brown and Dennis Ross, both Republicans who felt that the bill wrongly expanded the state's role in insurance, were demoted from leadership positions Wednesday. Brown of DeFuniak Springs will no longer serve as chairman of the Jobs and Entrepreneurship Council. Ross of Lakeland will no longer serve as chairman of the Safety and Security Council. "It's not often talked about, but there's a price you pay when you join a leadership team," said Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, who played a key role in shaping the insurance legislation. "You're expected to follow the leadership."

UF president touts academics, too

Lest his university become known as just a college that produces national championship football and basketball teams, University of Florida president Bernie Machen wants to set the record straight. In a letter to Florida newspaper editors this week, Machen thanks Floridians for their support of the football team that recently won the national championship - making UF the only Division I university ever to simultaneously hold national titles in football and men's basketball. But he also stresses that UF strives to be "as competitive in the classroom and the laboratory as we are on the playing field." Floridians, he says, "deserve a university that is a national powerhouse in both athletics and academics."

Local doctor joins education board

The state board that oversees public schools just got a more Tampa Bay tilt. Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Dr. Akshay Desai of St. Petersburg to the seven-member board on Wednesday. Desai replaces Phil Handy of Winter Park and joins Kathleen Shanahan of Tampa as another face from west central Florida. Desai is president of Universal Health Care and a member of the Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system. He lives on Snell Isle. Crist also reappointed T. Willard Fair, who is president of the Urban League of Greater Miami and a close ally of former Gov. Jeb Bush.

What's better than a hole in one? Two

Jean-Guy Crepeau thought he was having a memorable round when he made a hole-in-one last week on the 10th hole at Atlantis Country Club in Palm Beach County. Then his wife, Pierrette, matched his feat on the 17th hole in the same group, the Palm Beach Post reports "We were going crazy," Crepeau said. "We kept thinking, 'What a day! We should go out and buy some lottery tickets.' " The odds of winning the Lotto, by the way, are 1 in 23-million, which may be lower than the odds the Crepeaus beat.

[Last modified January 25, 2007, 00:39:19]