Bush continually pushed against an officer for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission as the officer attempted to handcuff him. ...

while Bush was being arrested, he suffered a cut on his chin and was taken to Brackenridge Hospital, treated and released. He was then taken to the Travis County Jail.

"He was observed to be a danger to himself and others," Ferrero said.

Public intoxication is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500. Resisting arrest is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

Sometimes the Florida Legislature moves too slowly, or not at all.

That leaves people no option but to use the only instrument of change left - the ballot initiative - because competitive legislative races are virtually extinct in this state.

Sometimes the Legislature moves too fast. That can be just as bad.

Workers who want work can find it in Florida, but most of them have to be willing to work for low pay, forget about health insurance and worry about staying alive. While the state has a large quantity of jobs, the quality of them remains poor. Pay and benefits fall well below the national averages ....

Workers who want work can find it in Florida, but most of them have to be willing to work for low pay, forget about health insurance and worry about staying alive. While the state has a large quantity of jobs, the quality of them remains poor. Pay and benefits fall well below the national averages ....

Among Gov. Bush's appointees are Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty, a growth advocate; and Kathleen Shanahan, chief executive of an engineering firm and ex-chief of staff to both the governor and Vice President Dick Cheney. He also named Steve Uhlfelder, who left the Board of Governors this year amid criticism from Sen. Lee. Speaker Bense added three developers ....

For a major government agency with a long record of dealing with some of Florida's most heart-rending human tragedies, the Department of Children & Families has paid a disproportionate amount of attention to the symptoms of child abuse rather than the causes - to the detriment of children and families.

For two weeks, Republicans in Congress have hemmed and hawed about the need to get to the bottom of what went wrong with the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. But today [9/15/05], Katherine Harris and her colleagues showed that they were spewing a lot of hot air by voting against establishing an independent, objective panel of experts to get to the bottom of what happened. [H Res 439, Vote #471, 9/15/05; H Res 437, Vote #475, 9/15/05]

[D]rivers should welcome a proposal that licenses be renewed every eight years instead of the current four- or six-year intervals. But the proposal by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is a palliative, not a solution. Florida drivers, and the department, deserve more.

Unfortunately, in recent years the Legislature has been responsible for much of the damage the department has suffered. Thanks to lawmakers, the department lost about 200 positions between 1995 and 2004. This year, in a welcome change, state lawmakers approved 134 new positions for the agency. No doubt, the positions are needed. But the goal should be to get more people to use email, telephones and mail for renewals.

Florida's population is growing at a faster pace than most states, with no sign of abating. Indeed, our official state policy encourages unrestrained growth. Many thousands of drivers will continue to renew their licenses at the state offices.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Florida ranks 47th in percentage of residents with health coverage, 40th in the number of workers eligible for unemployment benefits and 49th in pension coverage. The state trails only California in the number of workers who died on the job last year, and the number of employees without workers compensation insurance is shamefully high.

The group, which was put together in large part by the Florida School Boards Association, found Florida ranked in the bottom half of all states in nine of 10 categories, ranging from median pupil/teacher ratios to various test scores and high school graduation rates.

Albert Fox, the anti-Cuban embargo activist, has long promised to join the crowded Democratic field running for Jim Davis' overwhelmingly Democratic Congressional Tampa Bay Congressional seat. Turns out the delay was because Republicans in Hillsborough and the White House, were talking to him about running as a Republican.

"The thinking was, 'let the Democrats battle it out,' said the 61-year-old Fox, who liked the idea of being in the majority party and said locals were plenty receptive. "But at the end of the day there was was no way I could tell the national Republican party what they wanted to hear on Cuba."

In an overwhelmingly Democratic congressional district that includes parts of Hillsborough and South Pinellas, Fox faces a tough primary. No Republican is running yet, but Democrats include Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor; Tampa lawyer Scott Farrell; Tampa lawyer Michael Steinberg; and state Sen. Les Miller.

the state may not be living up to its constitutional obligation to provide a "high quality" education, suggesting that more money be spent on schools and urging the creation of a system comparing Florida to other states.

The group, which was put together in large part by the Florida School Boards Association, found Florida ranked in the bottom half of all states in nine of 10 education categories, ranging from median pupil/teacher ratios to various test scores and high school graduation rates.

"The last thing we want to have happen is for the educational system of this state to be put under court order or declared unconstitutional as it has in some other states," former Attorney General Bob Butterworth said.

Butterworth, a Democrat, and former Comptroller Bob Milligan, a Republican, headed the commission.

seemed to surprise the governor and other assembled dignitaries - including House Democrats - who filled the House chamber for what is usually a fast, festive formality. Rubio pledged continued adherence to Gov. Jeb Bush's policies of avoiding tax increases and requiring accountability in education, but he asked his hushed audience to look at state government through the eyes of a young, single mother with no education or job prospects.

"She has no power. There will be no glory and no fame in taking up her cause," said Rubio. "No lobbyists will ever register on her behalf. She will never contribute one dollar to any campaign or political party. No elections will ever be decided, based on what we do or fail to do for her."

Veterans meeting with officials from Palm Beach County's veterans health-care system Tuesday said they sometimes have to wait more than a year for routine eye or hearing exams. Sometimes, the veterans said, they arrive at the center only to discover their doctor has called in sick, and that it will take months to get a new appointment.

and the Palm Beach County Commission have been staunch allies in promoting Scripps Florida.

But on Tuesday, commissioners broke with Bush on a science-themed issue that bubbled up as a result of the institute's Palm Beach County campus: embryonic stem cell research.

Three of Florida's top Republicans, all conservative supporters of profit motive and the free market, have found a market they agree needs state intervention: gasoline prices during hurricanes.

Gov. Jeb Bush said recently that a service station should not raise the price of gas it had bought at a significantly lower price. An appropriate profit per gallon would be "2 or 3 cents," a profit margin that works out to about 1 percent, he said.

Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson is encouraging Floridians to use his toll-free hot line to report high gas prices, and Attorney General Charlie Crist last week sued a Tallahassee station owner for raising prices 70 cents a gallon in a single day.

The positions puzzle free-market economists, including one on Bush's Council of Economic Advisors.

Private reinsurance rates are expected to increase 10 to 15 percent for Florida insurers due to Hurricane Katrina and other storms this year, but not all of that cost is expected to be passed on to consumers, state and industry officials said Tuesday.

The debate over whether computerized voting machines should have a paper trail to ensure accuracy has largely been a partisan one, with Democrats urging the paper trail and Republicans opposing the idea.

But, when State Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Osprey, was put on the spot recently be the Sarasota League of Women Voters, she didn't hesitate in answering.

"I do support that," Carlton said.

Carlton said better poll worker training and paper trails "would go a long way to make sure we have integrity in elections."

Carlton is the chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, making her one of the most powerful members of the Florida Legislature.

"Jeb Bush's storm-related e-mails [were] initially requested by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Oct. 13," well before the November election; and

"Jeb!" stonewalled, and "finally released the documents Friday [March 18, 2005], after threat of a lawsuit by the newspaper", well after the November election.

Homeland Security sources told the [Washington] Post that after the hurricanes that Brown "and his allies [recommended] him to succeed Tom Ridge as Homeland Security secretary because of their claim that he helped deliver Florida to President Bush by efficiently responding to the Florida hurricanes."

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel uncovered emails from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that confirmed those allegations and directly implicated Brown as playing politics at the expense of hurricane victims.

"As the second hurricane in less than a month bore down on Florida last fall, a federal [FEMA] consultant predicted a "huge mess" that could reflect poorly on President Bush and suggested that his re-election staff be brought in to minimize any political liability, records show," the Sentinel reported in a March 23 story.

Brown's replacement, Paulison, has led the U.S. Fire Administration, a division of FEMA, since December 2001, according to FEMA's Web site. He is a career firefighter from Miami.

The president's hurricane-seasoned brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said he recommended Paulison as head of FEMA's emergency preparedness force but did not take part in the vetting for the appointment of an acting FEMA director.

Paulison's credentials are in sharp contrast to those of Brown and some others running FEMA. The Chicago Tribune reported last week that top FEMA officials had strong political connections but little or no emergency experience before getting their jobs.

Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Deena Reppen as his press secretary, his office announced Monday. ...

Bush also named Carol Gormley, 54, as his deputy chief of staff. She previously was the governor's policy coordinator for health and human services.

Carol Bracy, 38, was named chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings.

So farmworkers are in a bind. They can't stay in substandard housing. They can't afford proper housing. ...

Pierson isn't the first place in the country to face a housing dilemma for its farmworkers. For now, however, it seems to be the only one not to recognize that there is a problem. That would be the necessary first step toward a solution. It would open several opportunities. The Town Council could apply for grants to subsidize farmworkers' housing. It could press the County Council to do so from its end, through its housing authority (as did Collier County, which applied, and won, $4 million in federal grants to house its farmworkers, in exchange for $7 per day for those getting subsidized housing). The Town Council could also enter into partnerships with nonprofit or private organizations to achieve similar ends. It's done elsewhere. Why not in Pierson?

Because the Pierson Town Council is the problem. It does not recognize that there is a housing problem in town. Town Council Chairman Samuel Bennett, a fernery owner, is responsible for abolishing the town's housing code, a move that made it easier for landlords to avoid keeping up their properties decently -- until the county Health Department got involved. Bennett is himself a landlord for farmworkers. He's been cited for health code violations. He decided to evict tenants rather than make repairs.

Isn't anyone on the council embarrassed for the town's indifference? Isn't anyone willing to try something other communities have tried and pulled off on behalf of their farmworkers? Ninety-seven percent of the nation's leatherleaf fern production takes place between Palatka and Pierson. As crops go, it's ornamental gold. As a state industry goes, it's a dependable boon. As a local industry goes, it's indispensable. If the industry is to stay put (when it could easily migrate to South America), the council and the fern industry should treat their workers as the indispensable adjuncts of that industry, rather than as disposable, replaceable slaves.

Two South Florida attorneys will play prominent fundraising roles for Florida Republicans as they aim to defend the governor's mansion in 2006 and challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson for reelection.

Jim Blosser, a founding shareholder of Blosser & Sayfie, has been named a finance co-chairman for Florida Victory 2006. As a co-chair, he and Jim MacDougald, president of St. Petersburg-based MacDougald Management, will assist Republican Party of Florida finance chairman Al Austin in the party's fundraising efforts to support general election campaigns for state and federal party nominees.

Blosser's law partner, Justin Sayfie, will also help out, focusing on identifying and recruiting contributors and fundraisers age 40 and under.

If Katherine Harris has any hope of beating Sen. Bill Nelson, she may need an extreme makeover.

The Republican congresswoman's poll numbers are poor, her appearance continues to be a distracting issue and a large number of voters already have a set image in their minds about her. Those are some of the reasons Republican leaders in Washington tried to find someone to run against her.

So is it true that she can't beat Nelson, a noncontroversial Democrat who has enjoyed a reputation as a moderate?

Never say never. But many political experts believe the only way she could win is if voters see her as a successful congresswoman with something substantive to say on issues - rather than the caricature her critics see: a flirty, vacant, beauty-queen wannabe who used her role in the 2000 presidential recount to get to Capitol Hill.

Basically, you get much lower premiums in a health savings account and the state chips in a defined amount. You can put in more, up to specified pre-tax limits for single or family coverage, and the pot grows while you and your dependents stay healthy.

But your deductibles are a lot higher when you have claims. They are $1,250 a year for single people and $2,500 for families.

[Y]ou might be surprised how many savvy Republicans are worried.

Even before the federal response to Hurricane Katrina prompted a torrent of criticism directed at President Bush, some of Florida's most prominent elected Republicans and strategists privately fretted about the environment for the next election. ...

Republicans are setting the table for Democrats to shift Florida's political landscape dramatically. Anything but certain, though, is whether Democrats can take advantage.

"The stars are aligned," said Democratic consultant Robin Rorapaugh. "But Democrats need a candidate with a message."

a blog is any thought posted on a Web site that is not good enough to be printed in a newspaper.

At a time when there's been an outpouring of generosity to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, is this the right moment to also ask people to give money to political campaigns?

In Tallahassee, the answer is yes.

The Florida House is holding committee meetings in the coming week, providing ample opportunity for legislators to hit up lobbyists for contributions to campaigns for the 2006 elections.

Democrats and Republicans have scheduled more than a dozen fundraisers at trade group offices and restaurants just a few hundred yards away from the Capitol.

Six of the state's 11 public universities reported a drop, and the percentage of blacks in this year's freshman class is at its lowest since Bush became governor. The decline comes despite continued growth in the overall student population - a 3.1 percent increase to nearly 282,000 students, according to Friday's figures.

A good thing happened last week for Florida consumers. A lousy member of the Public Service Commission, which regulates power and phone rates, learned that he won't get another term. Oddly, though, his anti-consumer record didn't seem to be the main problem.

Gov. Bush put former state legislator Rudy Bradley on the commission three years ago, in return for political favors that the former Democrat did for the governor and the Republican Party. He has a been a faithful servant of the private utilities, approving every rate increase while enjoying the $128,825 annual salary and the perks of the office. Most ingloriously, he read into the record a statement written by Verizon as if the words were his own. Verizon then used Mr. Bradley's "comment" to justify its position. ...

It's always encouraging when incompetence costs a public official his job, but incompetence didn't seem to be the deciding factor.

State leaders should try something different, something effective.

Perhaps they could help municipalities implement effective mass transit routes, or help them synchronize traffic signals to keep commuters from senselessly burning fuel at stoplights. Or how about a state tax break for people who swap guzzling vehicles for hybrids?

Anything, please, except the same old, same old.

I am sure that our Florida Legislature will get right on those suggestions, just as soon as it quits taking campaign money.

And maybe our ever-crusading Attorney General Charlie Crist and state agriculture and consumer chief Charles Bronson can include this in their efforts.

The poorest among us are lucky to scrape up a few dollars to buy gas in cash. The more fortunate among us might not sweat over a brief $75 hold, although even then it's still galling on principle.

But there are plenty of people every single day trying to figure out the best use of the couple of hundred bucks they have. Freezing their grocery money for the benefit of merchants and banks is unconscionable. It needs to be a crime.

It was December 1997 and the departing chancellor [Charles Reed ], widely known for his forthrightness, said he was "embarrassed" by the lottery-funded program that lawmakers created earlier that year. Poor people, who buy lottery tickets in disproportionate percentages, would be subsidizing affluent families that could afford Florida's already low tuition rates, Mr. Reed said.

In 2005, such tough talk could easily be dismissed as hyperbole: Bright Futures quickly became one of the most popular government programs in Florida, and for good reason.

But Mr. Reed's criticism wasn't without merit eight years ago, and it isn't baseless today.

The program undeniably achieves what it set out to accomplish. It provides incentives for all Florida high school students, regardless of their family's income, to win 75 to 100 percent of their college tuition and fees by succeeding academically. Florida's universities today have an easier time attracting Florida's best and brightest young scholars as a result.

Smith was trolling for campaign dollars in the home territory of a couple of gubernatorial rivals, Democrat Jim Davis of Tampa and Republican Charlie Crist of St. Petersburg. Among those helping Smith raise money: Tampa lawyer Stacy Frank, daughter of Clerk of Court Pat Frank; and St. Petersburg lawyer Ken Blackwell, a registered Republican who also has given $500 to Crist's campaign.

About 60 people, including lawyers and teachers, attended the fundraiser at Blackwell's St. Petersburg home. While Blackwell is friends with Crist and acknowledged raising money for a little known candidate in Crist's home county is tough, he said he sees Smith as a force to be reckoned with.

"If he gets past the primary, I think Rod Smith can beat Charlie or Tom Gallagher," Blackwell said. "The guy kind of reminds me on a state level what Bill Clinton was in 1992 on a national level."

Tampa lawyer Barry Cohen, one of Smith's most vocal advocates, predicted he'll wind up with lots of Tampa Bay support: "The money is not locked up at all. People are perfunctorily nice to Jim because he's a nice guy, but they know he can't win. As people get to know Rod Smith, they see he can win."

Known as Contra-Flow, the plan is similar to that used to evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. It would take the threat of an approaching Category 4 or 5 hurricane and a direct order from the governor to reroute turnpike traffic from Fort Pierce to Orlando. Tow trucks and emergency vehicles would be stationed along the way to help motorists. ...

The state actually developed the Contra-Flow plan after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 but did not release the details to the public. Last year's quartet of hurricanes made the case for educating people about how a major evacuation might work. The issue has come into sharper focus with the examination into whether New Orleans could have gotten more people out of the city. Exactly how well mass evacuation would work here remains less of a certainty than an open question the state hopes it never has to answer.