Editorials
Nearing the deadline
We finally are about to reach the deadline for recounts of the presidential vote in Florida -- and the limits of the public's patience.

A legislative giant
One in a series

Robyn E. Blumner
Adoptive parents in the wrong with Baby Sam
It should be required reading for every couple seeking to adopt a baby. The Baby Sam saga is an object lesson in how desperation for a glowing newborn can lead otherwise rational couples into tragic choices worthy of a Euripides play.

Bill Maxwell
One woman's inspiring effort to vote is a lesson in voter responsibility
PORT CHARLOTTE -- Doubtless, the 2000 presidential election will go down as a low point in American political history.

Martin Dyckman
A change in electoral law would have decided president today
TALLAHASSEE -- Forget about Katherine Harris. If George W. Bush becomes president, he'll really owe it to W.D. Childers.

Letters
It's time for Al Gore to concede
Al Gore must concede as soon as possible. The people of the United States have remained calm and orderly, even in their demonstrations and arguments, but they will not accept a subversive overthrow of the democratic system. They know fraud when they see it. They will not stay quiet if Gore refuses to back down in the face of obvious defeat.

Books
Ex Libris Florida
A MESSAGE OF LOVE AND PEACE: Upon his return from an inspiring excursion to the "Four Corners" region of the United States, St. Petersburg's Michael Sterns wrote his book, Kokopelli and the Butterfly.

Novella collection hits the mark
Jim Harrison's later novels, notably the interrelated Dalva and The Road Home, are complex works that sprawl across several generations of richly detailed characters.

Church hats take on a regal glory
CROWNS: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats, by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. Foreword by Maya Angelou (Doubleday, $27.95)

Cyberia
GOLDIE OLDIES: Alibris may not replace the joy of sifting through shelves and tables for rare and used books at hole-in-the-wall bookstores, but it may make finding the books easier.