Dateline Florida

By Times Wires
Published January 22, 2008

UF chief lets everyone know he's for McCain

So maybe not everyone in academia is liberal after all. University of Florida President Bernie Machen told the local paper's editorial board he will endorse a presidential candidate for the Jan. 29 Florida primary - but not Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. He's supporting Republican Sen. John McCain, in part because he supports McCain's push for reforms in immigration and government spending. University leaders typically don't give such endorsements, but luckily for McCain, it comes just in time for his visit this week to Florida. Among his planned stops: Gainesville.

Weather keeps cranes grounded

Mother Nature has not been kind to the ultralight-led team helping 17 whooping cranes migrate to Florida from Wisconsin. High winds grounded the cranes for the sixth day Monday, when officials with Operation Migration had hoped to fly from Hamilton County to Gilchrist County. This year's trip, which started Oct. 13 at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin, has stretched later into the winter than any other migration. The last six migrations landed in December at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, along the coast on the Citrus-Hernando county border.

This beauty pageant turned just a little bit ugly

Can beauty pageant contestants really be so mean? On Saturday night in West Palm Beach, smack in the middle of the Miss South Florida Fair pageant, someone ruined a $3,400 dress belonging to Jessica Wittenbrink, 21, with red lipstick. Insiders suspect a fellow contestant, though the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said there wasn't enough evidence to prove that, the Palm Beach Post reports. "I'm fairly comfortable in saying there was no public back there," South Florida Fair president Rick Vymlatil told the newspaper. In any event, Wittenbrink ended up winning and will go on to compete in the Miss Florida pageant. Despite her happy ending, many feel the fair's showcase event has been forever marred - by four red streaks of lipstick.

[Last modified January 22, 2008, 00:03:23]