School Board members on Tuesday said they are tired of watching teachers bail out a month or two into the school year for jobs in other districts, leaving Hernando with openings that may take weeks of valuable class time to fill.

So the district plans to fire back by asking the state Department of Education to consider suspending a teacher's license when contractual obligations are broken.

Carl Harner, the executive director of the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association, said it is unusual for school boards to challenge a teacher's license based on a breach of contract. But it isn't unheard of.

Still, Harner said, it makes no sense for the School Board to forcefully keep a teacher whose heart is not in the job.

"Why would you want . . . a teacher who doesn't want to be in the system? Sure, they will do their job. The question is: Will they do as good as they could do?"

St. Petersburg rejects curfew for juveniles

ST. PETERSBURG -- Kids on late-night adventures still have to avoid the cities of Tampa, Pinellas Park and Largo -- but St. Petersburg declined to join them in passing a juvenile curfew law.

More than 100 people packed City Council chambers Thursday, persuading the board to back off.

Opponents feared police would single out minority youths and that the curfew would make youths view government as an enemy.

And pro-curfew resident Paul Dickens angered many in the audience when he compared the curfew to the pet leash law, which he said promotes courtesy among city residents.

"We have some common-sense laws for pets," he said. "People should keep dogs on a leash. Why? because they bite people."

"I'd like to say I'm not a dog," teenager Mary Ernst said indignantly. "I've never stolen a car, and I do not need to be kept on a leash."

Citrus board to consider 'big box' law for architecture

LECANTO -- It's a common sight: a bare expanse of asphalt parking lot, treeless, surrounding a big square box of a retail store.

The Citrus County Commission will soon consider a proposed county ordinance that would hold large retail stores to higher design standards, but the measure already faces a formal challenge from the Citrus County Builders Association.

The "big box" ordinance is on its way to the County Commission, which will hold two public hearings before taking a final vote on the measure.

Patricia Cowen, president of the Citrus County Council, which represents nearly two dozen civic organizations and activist groups, said she was glad that the builders association's objections did not keep the ordinance from moving forward.

"There is widespread support for this ordinance," she said. "If you stopped someone on the street and asked them if they would like for the large buildings to be more attractive, they would say yes -- unless you stopped a builder, I guess."

Advocacy group urges caution over Bible course

BROOKSVILLE -- People for the American Way, a Washington-based foundation that's been involved in several legal battles over Bible classes in public schools, is telling the Hernando School Board to be careful as it considers adding a high school course on the Bible.

Instead, the group suggests the district consider a course on comparative religion as an alternative to School Board member Jerry Milby's suggestion that a course focus solely on the Bible.

Two weeks ago, Milby proposed elective Bible courses in Hernando County's high schools as a way to "raise the consciousness of God" in students. But it's an idea someone else will have to shepherd because Milby's term ends next month.

Board member Robert Wiggins, who has strongly supported Milby's proposal, saidthat he might have to compromise and accept what he refers to as his second choice: a course on comparative religion.

Hernando and Pasco to get a second HMO

BROOKSVILLE -- Once fearing they would be left without coverage, Hernando and Pasco County seniors now have some HMO prescription options.

Well Care Health Plan and federal officials announced that the Tampa company has been approved to offer two Medicare HMO plans in both counties starting Jan. 1.

The announcement comes one month after UnitedHealthcare won approval from federal officials to offer Medicare HMO coverage at the first of the year.

The panic felt by hundreds of Hernando County seniors who packed public meetings this summer in the wake of the announced departure of the county's last two HMOs highlighted a national problem within Medicare, which does not cover prescription drugs.

Some of the seniors said they could barely believe how their luck has turned.

"I mean, we start off with zero for 2001, and we were so happy that United is coming in, but now we have two more," said Marie Nielsen, vice president of Florida Citizens to Keep HMOs. "It's absolutely great. I spoke with some of the committee, and we are jumping up and down."

Pasco property has stubborn suitor: the government

LAND O'LAKES -- A massive planned housing project is sitting on acres of prime wetlands, water managers say, and they still hope to buy at least some of it.

Regional water officials say they hope to scrap some or all of the plans for Connerton New Town Development's proposed 15,000 homes and instead have a massive nature preserve in the heart of Pasco County.

Three months after Pasco County gave the go-ahead to Connerton, the Southwest Florida Water Management District continues to negotiate to buy at least part of the Conner family's 8,000-acre ranch southeast of State Road 52 and U.S. 41.

The water district considers the terrain some of the most environmentally sensitive in Pasco, with well fields that supply tens of millions of gallons of water every day to the Tampa Bay region.

The Conner family's 27 heirs turned down a Swiftmud bid last winter as much too low. Family spokesman Doug Conner has complained the water district wanted his family's inheritance "dirt cheap."

Coming up this week

The Pinellas School Board is set to vote Tuesday on the details of its controlled choice plan, the district's answer to ending busing for desegregation. The meeting will be in the district administration building at 301 Fourth St. SW in Largo, beginning at 5 p.m., but the choice presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to speak.

A statewide televised debate between Democrat Bill Nelson, Republican Bill McCollum and independent candidate Willie Logan, who are all running for U.S. Senate, will be Monday in Tampa at the WFLA news studios. The debate will be moderated by Tim Russert of NBC's Meet the Press and aired live from 7 to 9 p.m. on WFLA-Ch. 8 and WUSF-Ch. 16.

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