Robyn E. Blumner
Supreme Court's pro-choice ruling good for Republicans
Though they might not admit it publicly, Republicans narrowly averted disaster in the U.S. Supreme Court this term. By a vote of 5-to-4, the court struck down Nebraska's law banning so-called partial-birth abortion.

Bill Maxwell
Public school teachers rank low in rating
State officials in most parts of the nation are talking about teacher shortages, teacher accountability and teacher salaries.

Editorials
A stacked deck?
The governor wants to look at ways to overhaul growth management laws, but his study commission has too many builders and developers and too few environmentalists.

Hooked by Internet naughtiness
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission regulates fishing in state waters, so it is more than a little embarrassing that some commission employees find themselves hooked and displayed, slimy and wriggling, for all to see.

We need a strategy for cleaner air
It comes as no surprise that Pinellas and Hillsborough counties would flunk federal clean-air standards. State lawmakers and Gov. Jeb Bush have made things even worse. Rather than fight the pollutant ozone with all reasonable means, the state cut a sweetheart deal with a chief polluter, Tampa Electric Co., and halted the testing of auto emissions.

Letters
The feds give NRA reason to resist
I had to tell you how much I enjoyed the articles in the July 2 Perspective section. The two articles -- The changing face of NRA, by Osha Gray Davidson, and Government protecting us to death, by Robyn Blumner -- couldn't have been more ironic.

Martin Dyckman
Paying a fee for lottery numbers
TALLAHASSEE -- Nothing has evolved so much for the better here as the wealth of information the government makes directly available to citizens on the Internet. On the Legislature's Web site, for example, you can learn as much about a bill as the lawmakers know except, perhaps, for what the lobbyists are whispering in their ears.