Guest Author, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJanuary 21, 2014

With a wry grin and a big swoop of arms, urban forestry manager Karen DeMaria calls herself a tree hugger, Key West style. “So, I’m out there one day,” she tells the Key West Garden Club members, “with my arms all wrapped around one of those huge poincianas and I notice a couple of tourists […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 19, 2014

I have some questions about the quarterback’s wife and the assault rifle that slipped her mind. Allow me to recap what we know. On Saturday, Jan. 4, Lauren Ashley Tannehill, wife of Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill, rented a 2013 Nissan Rogue from E-Z Rent-A-Car at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. She kept it for […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 19, 2014

Supporters of a medical marijuana initiative had two big reasons to cheer last week. But the real good news might not be what you suspect. The group People United for Care, which is leading the drive to get the medical marijuana question on the November ballot, announced last week that it had collected more than […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 19, 2014

Let me make sure I have the facts straight. In 1989, Dennis McGuire raped, brutalized and stabbed to death Joy Stewart, a young and pregnant newlywed. He was tried, found guilty and sentenced to be executed. Now 25 years later, his last appeals ran out and the order of the court was carried out. The […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 16, 2014

I’m going to be upfront with you. In case you have not been religiously reading my columns for the last few years, I’m a stout, fair, common-sense political man. I’m a fiscal conservative, moderate on family values and immigration, and liberal (that dirty word) on some social issues like women’s rights, GLBT equality, etc. So […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 16, 2014

There is an old saying around Florida that if you don’t like the weather just wait a couple of hours and suddenly it will change. Likewise, there are Florida political suddenlies as well. One day nearly 30 years ago, I rolled out of bed, a satisfied member of the Florida House of Representatives cruising to […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 16, 2014

Though the firearm crime rate in America has steadily decreased since 1993, America remains awash in guns — legally purchased as well as illegally obtained. An estimated 6.6 million guns were transferred in 2012 without a federal background check. The Internet has opened up a vast marketplace of weapons — some from licensed dealers, many […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 15, 2014

As is usually the case in these incidents, the fatal shooting of a man at a movie theater in suburban Tampa this week involved way too many “shouldn’t haves.” Press reports based on police statements and witness interviews sketch the following scenario. Chad Oulson and his wife were sitting in a row in front of […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 15, 2014

A pair of creative, well-purposed bills have been drafted and filed for at least the fourth time this year. These bills, SB 466 and HB 361, would create a special State Lottery scratch-off ticket for funding breast cancer research. The “Ticket for a Cure” would be available for a limited period of five years, […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 15, 2014

The beginning of a new calendar year is always a good time to reflect on the previous 12 months and set some goals for the future. During this time of the year, I am often reminded of the poem “The Dash” by Linda Ellis. It refers to the dates on a person’s tombstone, the birth […]

Guest Author

Linda Cunningham: Tree hugger is Key West’s ‘keeper of the canopy’

Tom O’Hara: Lauren Tannehill’s tale about her missing AR-15 doesn’t add up

Andrew Skerritt: Good news for supporters of medical marijuana

John Grant: Death penalty is just; a pain-free execution is not guaranteed

Steve Kurlander: Crossing the bridge to moderation: The GOP, and some dinosaurs, need Christie to survive Bridgegate

John Grant: Florida’s best spectator sport, hands down

Ben Kirby: Illegal guns are not welcome in St. Pete

Cary McMullen: He shouldn’t have had a gun in a movie theater

Karen Cyphers: Don’t ‘scratch’ Lotto bills; work to make them better

Maritza Martinez: Become a volunteer and make this your best year yet