Emails & Opinions

Peter SchorschDecember 29, 2017

Closing the book on 2017, among the most notable political battles centered on Lake Okeechobee water issues. While lawmakers reached a compromise earlier in the year, this food fight may be far from over. Last Session, environmental activists, working with Senate President Joe Negron, hammered out a bill that (at one point) called for buying […]

Peter SchorschDecember 28, 2017

Florida and Airbnb are making an excellent pair, as a new report shows users of the global vacation rental website had a significant role in the state’s record-setting tourism year. In 2017, nearly 40,000 Florida Airbnb hosts earned a combined $450 million from approximately 2.7 million guests, according to company figures released Thursday. That is […]

Peter SchorschDecember 27, 2017

Few can disagree that Dr. Kiran Patel, Tampa’s prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist, deserves to be Florida Trend’s “Floridian of the Year.” The announcement came this week and will be featured in the magazine’s January issue. It should be noted that naming Patel as a man of the year, while well-earned, comes with no small degree of irony. […]

Peter SchorschDecember 27, 2017

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, that modern holiday classic featuring the Griswold family, does not really get going — even with Chevy Chase‘s Clark putting up 250 strands of lights — until Randy Quaid‘s Cousin Eddie shows up on the front lawn, dressed in a robe, his trailer in the driveway. Florida’s all-important gubernatorial race did […]

Florence SnyderDecember 26, 2017

It took a while, but John Heilemann‘s chickens came home to roost, as chickens always do. Political infotainment addicts know Heilemann as the bald half of the ubiquitous Beltway byline Mark Halperin & John Heilemann. H & H have a gift for glibness and a talent for spinning very small nuggets of news into very […]

Blake DowlingDecember 22, 2017

Our professional relationships — politics, sports, entertainment, and business — are all dominated by technology. Did you get my text? Did you get my email? Did you see my tweet? Personal relationships have taken a step backward because of technology. I am not saying that tech is not cool, however, there is nothing better than […]

Peter SchorschDecember 21, 2017

Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry and Jim Rosica. “A defiant Latvala resigns after release of 2 reports detailing sexual misconduct, sex harassment” via Matt Dixon, Alexandra Glorioso and Marc Caputo of POLITICO Florida: One of the accusers, Senate aide Rachel Perrin Rogers, soon […]

Peter SchorschDecember 20, 2017

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Another round of budget “chicken”? Florida farmers on verge of disaster relief With the GOP tax cut/reform bill rolling toward a pre-Christmas enactment, other issues remain to be addressed. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the disaster aid bill (panned by the Florida and Texas delegations) are just two must-pass items. Lest we forget, […]

Peter SchorschDecember 20, 2017

Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry and Jim Rosica. First up, before you read anything this morning, take a moment. Former House Speaker Will Weatherford and yours truly will be leading a fundraising charge for Metropolitan Ministries today. As you know, we did this two years […]

Peter SchorschDecember 19, 2017

So, let’s imagine an imaginary senator—we’ll call him Mack Trackvalla—who gets into a bit of a pickle for some allegedly inappropriate behavior. There’s an outcry, followed by calls for his resignation, which he laughs at. “I’ll see the place burn first!” this imaginary lawmaker tells news media. A complaint to the Rules Committee soon follows, […]

Emails & Opinions

Never satisfied, environmentalists should just take the win for Lake O reservoir

Airbnb a key player in record-setting year of Florida tourism

Tampa Bay Times’ Florida Trend names Times investor Kiran Patel the “Floridian of the Year”

Donald Trump plays ‘Cousin Eddie’ in Florida’s gubernatorial race

Florence Snyder: Just in time for Christmas, John Heilemann’s chickens come home to roost

Blake Dowling: A call for low(er) tech

Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics – 12.21.17

The Delegation for 12.20.17 — Insights from the Beltway to the Sunshine State

Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics – 12.19.17

A not-so-fun hypothetical for Joe Negron