A gushing crowd gathered to see Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist at Miami's Versailles restaurant Thursday. Members of the local Christian Coalition chapter presented him with a petition calling for a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages and civil unions.

Crist cheerfully signed. His office released petitions for the ballot initiative to the state Supreme Court for review on the same day.

Gov. Bush named Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty to a panel charged with shaping Florida's growth. It ranks among his worst decisions.

During her nearly 15 years in office, Commissioner McCarty consistently has opposed reasonable growth management. She fought a proposal to tie school construction to home building, commenting caustically that parents disliked school crowding only because it meant that their children might be going "to brunch and not to lunch." She routinely expresses disdain for planning, complaining that taxpayers have preserved too much land. Commissioner McCarty championed the decision to put The Scripps Research Institute on the rural Mecca Farms site. She dismissed alternative locations and put together a delicate coalition to deliver the site the governor wanted.

Then there are Commissioner McCarty's ethics problems. After the 2000 election, she became involved in a short-lived, unsuccessful campaign to oust three Florida Supreme Court justices who had issued some rulings against candidate George Bush. Her role led to an election law violation, which she escaped with a $2,000 fine, down from a recommended $450,000. To cover her legal bills, she violated ethics laws by accepting illegal contributions from developers with business before the commission. A yearlong ethics probe is ongoing. ...

But given the first 10 appointments to the 15-member Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, Commissioner McCarty will fit right in. There's a former aide to Gov. Bush, a lobbyist, a representative of the state's largest landowner and a Brooksville real estate agent named Gary Schraut. Of Mr. Schraut, a political opponent told The St. Petersburg Times, "If you take one person who has been most responsible for (pushing) uncontrolled growth and manipulating growth management, the name that comes to mind is Gary Schraut." In Palm Beach County, the name is Mary McCarty.

How far are Katherine Harris and Bill Nelson from the "A" list celebrities who usually populate New York Post gossip queen Cindy Adams' column? Apparently so far down the list that she struggled in a recent commentary to get just about anything right about the U.S. Senate opponents.

OK, OK, we know gossip columnists don't have fact-checkers. That would defeat the purpose of their existence. But Adams identified the incumbent as a former astronaut named Bill Wilson. We'd like to know who that is, where he stashed Sen. Bill Nelson and what's his stand on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Adams also misspelled Harris' name and said Gov. Jeb Bush was her boss during the 2000 recount, when Harris was Florida's elected secretary of state. About the only thing Adams got right was that Republicans aren't crazy about Harris' bid.

Less than 24 hours after urging Floridians to turn up thermostats and curtail gasoline use in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Jeb Bush rode Friday in a white Ford Escape Hybrid, one of the first SUV models to combine electric and gas power. The vehicle, secured from the state Department of Environmental Protection fleet, replaces the tan Ford Expedition his security detail has used for years to ferry him about Tallahassee.

Florida scores on the SAT college entrance exam show an alarming drop. ...

Floridians should be especially concerned. Florida continues to lag behind most other states in per-pupil school spending, and its recently released college entrance exam scores show an alarming decline that ranks the state near rock bottom nationally.

Understanding this does not mean accepting it. Florida, the fourth-largest state in the nation and one of the wealthiest, should have top-quality education at all levels. It must work aggressively to ensure a better secondary education not only for those who will arrive later, but for those who are there now.

A computer system that replaced the state's old way of handling contracts has such poor controls, vendors could have been paid more than once for the same work, a state audit has found.

MyFloridaMarketPlace, a $92million state privatization contract with technology giant Accenture, is a kind of Internet bazaar for companies wanting to do business with the state and some local governments. Companies must register there and agree to pay 1 percent of their contract to Accenture; in return, they're notified of new opportunities.

Another top advisor to Gov. Jeb Bush is exiting for the private sector. Deputy Chief of Staff William Large is leaving to run the Florida Justice Reform Institute, a group that will try to create new momentum for more business-friendly changes to the civil justice system in the 2006 Legislature. His departure is a harbinger of sorts. There are 16 months left in Bush's term, and Republicans are clearly divided over who should succeed him. In this unsettled political environment, a growing number of state officials are expected to walk through Tallahassee's revolving door.

Next week, Buddy Horace turns 21. For most kids, the milestone brings celebratory shots at midnight and legal access to bars.

For Horace, who has muscular dystrophy, it could mean moving into a nursing home.

At least, that has been the state's plan for Horace and other almost-21-year-olds with complex medical needs who are on the verge of becoming too old to qualify for the nursing care that allows them to live at home.

Florida has a better option, known as the Aging Out program, to continue at-home health assistance for these young adults. But Agency for Health Care Administration officials say there isn't enough money to enroll all those who need it.

"This is a young man who got his high school diploma," Fasano said. "His reward shouldn't be (getting) sent to a nursing home for the rest of his life. That is wrong."

A week after a Cuban civilian airliner was blown out of the sky in 1976, George H.W. Bush's CIA was hearing from informants that two right-wing Cuban extremists were implicated in that terrorist attack - as well as in an earlier assassination in Washington - but the Bush Family has continued to protect these operatives for the three decades since. ...

When Posada illegally sneaked into the United States earlier this year and hid out in Miami for several weeks, neither President Bush nor Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took any known action to catch the fugitive terrorist. Only after Posada called a news conference was the U.S. government shamed into arresting him. ...

By the late 1980s, Orlando Bosch also was out of Venezuela's jails and back in Miami. But Bosch, who had been implicated in about 30 violent attacks, was facing possible deportation by U.S. officials who warned that Washington couldn't credibly lecture other countries about terrorism while protecting a terrorist like Bosch.

But Bosch got lucky. Jeb Bush, then an aspiring Florida politician, led a lobbying drive to prevent the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service from expelling Bosch. In 1990, the lobbying paid dividends when Jeb's dad, President George H.W. Bush, pardoned Bosch, allowing the unapologetic terrorist to remain in the United States. ...

During court hearings that began on Monday before immigration judge William Abbott, Bush administration lawyers were noncommittal about what they would do if the judge orders Posada sent to Venezuela. But the administration had suggested earlier that it would not extradite Posada to any country "believed to be acting on Cuba's behalf," an apparent reference to Venezuela.

If Posada does go to Venezuela and if he ever tells all he knows about the shadowy world of Cold War operations, he may end up sharing many tales about how the Bush Family helped protect him and his violent cohorts.

A plan to shift thousands of Medicaid patients into managed care in an experiment the state says will provide better care at less cost is ready to go to Washington for approval.

However, the plan may be in danger of being delayed by a disagreement over how much money would go to hospitals to treat the uninsured.

The federal government so far has bungled the job of quickly helping the multitudes of hungry, thirsty and desperate victims of Hurricane Katrina, former top federal, state and local disaster chiefs said Wednesday.

The experts, including a former Bush administration disaster response manager, told Knight Ridder that the government wasn't prepared, scrimped on storm spending and shifted its attention from dealing with natural disasters to fighting the global war on terrorism.

Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher are statistically even in their bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination [39 percent backed Gallagher compared to 36 percent for Crist] while U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson would defeat U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris in 2006 if that election were held today, a new poll shows.

In a survey of 1,187 registered Florida voters taken between Aug. 23-29 by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, 57 percent said they favored Democrat Nelson in the Senate race to 33 percent for Harris, who is the only declared Republican in that race. The sample included a margin of error of plus and/or minus 2.8 percentage points. ...

U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa received the backing of 19 percent, compared to 16 percent for former state Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox of Tallahassee and 11 percent for state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua. [Half of the Democrats surveyed said they leaned to "don't know" in their party's gubernatorial contest.

The first company to run the prison — Premier Behavioral Solutions — lost its contract in 2004 when a Palm Beach County grand jury found it had scrimped on staff to save money, locking girls in their rooms and forcing them to miss school and activities because there weren't enough guards to watch them.

The state made 83 of 84 improvements recommended by the grand jury and the next company to run the prison — Lighthouse Care Centers — made improvements. But state monitors later found the company wasn't providing counseling and mental health programs required in its contract. Legislators agreed this year to close the program.

Other privately run Juvenile Justice programs also have failed in Palm Beach County.

"I was asked by Governor Bush," Yecke said Monday. "What an honor to be asked to serve under Jeb Bush. Everything Florida is doing is right. You've got strong accountability, and you're closing the achievement gap."

A former Minnesota commissioner of education who was forced out in 2004 was chosen Monday to be Florida's chancellor of K-12 education.

Cheri Yecke, 50, now works for a conservative Minnesota think tank and, until Monday, was a candidate for Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. ...

After being in office for more than a year, however, she lost her confirmation hearing after nine hours of testimony, The Associated Press reported.

That report described Yecke as a controversial figure, painted by critics as a "divisive ideologue who is taking education down the wrong path." ...

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported in April 2004 that detractors said Yecke pushed for social studies standards that were overtly conservative. In June 2003, The Associated Press reported that Yecke believes in creationism but didn't want the subject to be part of new science standards.

A Minnesota Public Radio report said Yecke was campaigning for the congressional seat on educational issues, restrained government spending, retooling Social Security and enacting a ban on same- sex marriages.

In the past academic year, the K-12 public school system of Minnesota survived an attempted hijacking of the statewide social studies curriculum by an alliance of radically right-wing and evangelical Christian activists who were empowered, startlingly, by the state's own acting Commissioner of Education. This effort was defeated over the course of several months by a remarkable collaboration between an energized group of K-12 teachers and parents and members of the University of Minnesota's Department of History. We describe this struggle, which has counterparts in a number of other states, and then assess some of its ramifications both for the place of history in K-12 curricula and for the public relevance of academic history.

[t]he Legislature won't meet to override Gov. Jeb Bush's veto of a bill that would have increased government privatization oversight.

Democrats sought to force an override session by turning in enough signatures to require a poll of lawmakers. But the poll found support far short of what would have been needed to force the Republican-dominated Legislature to override their fellow Republican Bush.

If 72 House members and 24 Senators had responded with a yes on the poll by Secretary of State Glenda Hood, a veto override session would have been called. But only four senators and 30 House members responded with a "yes," Hood spokeswoman Jenny Nash said Monday.

The bill (SB 1146) Bush vetoed would have created a commission to approve state contracts worth more than $10 million and to adopt contracting standards for state agencies.

Senate President Tom Lee fancies himself an ardent crusader on behalf of the little guy, publicly condemning the influence that lobbyists wield over government decision-makers.

At the same time, though, Mr. Lee's other hand is jammed deep into the very pockets of those he so decries. In the past two years, he's accepted nearly $1.2 million from lobbyists and special-interest groups, including utility companies, home builders, gaming proponents and others with a keen interest in legislative affairs.

Whom does Mr. Lee think he's kidding?

A Palm Beach County-based group promoting Florida funding for embryonic stem cell research is courting Republican backers in this red state.

The bipartisan imprimatur is pivotal to gaining momentum in the bid to amend Florida's constitution, say the group's leaders. Floridians for Stem Cell Research and Cures' primary pitch to loyal Republicans; the potential medical benefits trump politics.

Tampa-area political figures are expected to make news this week in the race for one of Florida's top political jobs: chief financial officer.

State Sen. Tom Lee of Brandon, a Republican who has built a strong reputation statewide as Senate president, will open his campaign for the post with an announcement in his hometown on Wednesday.

Democrat Alex Sink, a retired banker with a statewide reputation in politics and with husband Bill McBride is half of Tampa's leading Democratic power couple, also will make her plans to run official.

Both may have primary opposition. But both are likely to start as front-runners in their primaries, setting up a potential general election battle between two Hillsborough County political leaders.

As state college students begin another fall term, many schools are reporting a decline in the percentage of black students admitted to one of Florida's 11 public universities. ...

When Bush announced his "One Florida" initiative in 1999, blacks accounted for 18.1 percent of the admitted university students. That dropped to 16.6 percent last year and could dip as far as 14.7 percent this fall, according to preliminary data given to the state board of governors last month. Blacks comprise 16.2 percent of the state's population. ...

[P]articularly at the larger, more selective state schools, university officials are reporting a decline in black student admissions this year.

utility regulators accused of ethics violations for partying at conference events paid by telephone companies are looking to have the charges thrown out, saying that a new law clears them of any wrongdoing.

But consumer advocates and an assistant Florida attorney general are urging that violations be upheld against four Public Service Commission members who attended industry-sponsored events at a 2002 conference in Miami Beach.

They say the state ethics panel, when it meets Thursday, should not accept the commissioners' argument: that a new standard concerning gifts to regulators -- signed into law in June by Gov. Jeb Bush -- can be applied to the three-year-old case.

Katherine Harris has wrestled with her political position on abortion for the past decade. At one point she campaigned to win over abortion rights supporters; later, she said she supported the laws of the land but was personally opposed to abortion.

Now, the Republican congresswoman from Longboat Key declares herself firmly against abortion rights and is using the issue to attack incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat.

Nelson supports women's abortion rights, but also supports parental-notification laws and opposes late-term abortions unless a woman's life or health In the past, Nelson and Harris have seemed to be fairly close in their stances on abortion, both at times declaring the government should not be involved in a woman's decision. But now with Harris' declaration that she's anti-abortion, the candidates' positions are vastly different.

Would you like to see the United States Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade?
Yes 38%
No 56%
Undecided 6%

Nationally, it's a raging debate. President Bush weighed in this month. Time magazine devoted its cover story to the subject two weeks ago.

But in Florida, the teaching of intelligent design - the newest, faith-based counterpoint to Darwin's theory of evolution - is not an issue.

At least, not yet.

Some observers expect the other shoe to drop next year, when Florida education officials revisit state science standards as part of a routine review of what should be taught in Florida schools.

If only one word was available to describe the power structure of higher education in Florida, that word would be "Jeb."

Gov. Jeb Bush is the alpha and the omega of higher ed. He has more power over it than any other governor in state history to decide what institutions and areas of the state get the goods: branch campuses, graduate programs, money in their budgets; and which are punished. ...

Today's population of higher ed appointees has been unkindly described as lackeys.

"greenbelt" law is an egregious example of greed and irresponsibility. The greed is from developers who take advantage of loopholes in the law to get agriculture tax breaks on property planned for development. But the irresponsibility of state lawmakers is far more galling. Their refusal to revoke or change the law shows that they care more for developers' lobbyists than taxpayers' money. The practice is outrageous and wrong. The governor and lawmakers should make closing the loophole a top priority.

Commissioner McCarty met the allegations with atypical aplomb last year, vowing to return the illegal gifts that she had received to repay legal bills related to an elections law violation. When it came time to strike a deal on the ethics charge, though, Commmissioner McCarty relied on the state's shoddy investigation, copped a lesser plea and thought she was done. By reopening the investigation and doing it right this time, the state can show that unethical behavior by an elected official will not be so casually dismissed.

longtime Republican activist. She was once mentioned as a potential running mate for Gov. Jeb Bush, and her brother, lobbyist Brian Ballard, was former Gov. Bob Martinez's chief of staff.