Texas Oil Company Busted Fracking in the Everglades Faces DEP Lawsuit

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection yesterday announced it would take legal action against the Dan A. Hughes Co., the Texas oil prospectors busted late last year for unauthorized drilling in the Big Cypress Swamp watershed. Tough talk, but it could mean little more than locking the barn door after…

Fracking the Everglades: Enviros Claim State Deception on Water Quality

Citizen activists opposed to oil drilling in the Everglades claim the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has issued a “bogus” clean bill of health for Texas oil company Dan A. Hughes’ acid fracking operation in Collier County. See also: Dropping Acid in the Everglades: Fracking War Drags On in Collier…

Love the Everglades at FIU

The environmental keystone of the South Florida ecosystem, the Everglades, remains the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, and a landscape of almost mystical power. “Grassy Waters,” the Seminole first called it; “River of Grass,” the Anglos later said. See also: Dropping Acid in the Everglades: Fracking War Drags…

GOP Refusal to Expand Medicaid Costs Florida 68,000 Jobs (UPDATED)

We know that Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford’s stubborn, hypocritical decision not to expand Medicaid in Florida (aided and abetted by Governor-for-the-Moment Rick “Robot” Scott) is costing the state $50 billion in federal aid over the next ten years — and likely resulting in the deaths of an estimated six…

Scientologists Host Pam Bondi Fundraiser Tonight

So there’s a big party and fundraiser for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi tonight, in some swanky digs in Clearwater. If you’re in the neighborhood and have a spare grand, you might wanna drop by. Just be prepared to be audited at the door. Not IRS audited. Scientology audited. See…

Nan Rich Brings Grass-Roots Campaign for Governor to Lake Worth

Nan Rich’s relentless campaign for the Florida Democratic Party’s nomination for governor touches down in welcoming territory tomorrow, the gay-friendly, multi-ethnic confines of Lake Worth, AKA “South Florida’s Coolest City.” See also: – Can Nan Rich Lead Democrats to Victory Over Rick Scott ? The former state senator from Weston…

Sea Level Rise: Will Cities Be Held Liable for Failure to Plan?

“Apres moi le deluge,” Madame de Pompadour supposedly said, shortly before the people of France rose up and removed her head: “After me, the flood.” See also: – WPB Sea Level Rise Symposium Keynoter: “There Will Be Catastrophe” South Florida’s coastal cities are beginning to say the same. But one…

Scripps Project at Briger Forest: Enviros File Second Legal Challenge

Palm Beach Gardens city leaders greenlighted the bulldozers early this month, cheering on the clearing of Briger Forest, the last major tract of undeveloped land along I-95 in Palm Beach County. Jobs! Progress! Townhomes! But as night follows day, local environmental activists soon replied with a renewed assault on the…

Charlie Crist at Prayer in Temple, Wows Dems at Boynton Beach Rally

How grand was Charlie Crist’s arrival at yesterday’s Democratic Party rally in Boynton Beach? See also: – Is Charlie Crist Florida’s Next Governor? The silver-haired politico entered handshaking, working his way through the crowd as it rose to its feet; then he spotted, across the hall, the Rev. Edrena Houston…

DEP and Collier Commission Clash Over Everglades Oil Drilling

In an ominous public statement this week, regulators at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection told Collier County officials to back off a legal challenge to a controversial oil-drilling operation in the Big Cypress Swamp watershed. In effect, the DEP told the Collier Commission “Trust us; we got this.” See…

Voter Fraud Scaremonger Bill Skinner Trotted Out by Palm Beach GOP

The fall elections approach, and like clockwork, GOP operatives begin priming the faithful with horror stories of rampant Democratic Party voter fraud. How much substance is there to their tales of electoral chicanery, and how great is the need for stern measures to deter it? See also: Republican Voter Suppression…

Oil Well Near Florida Panther Habitat OK’d by State Judge

A state judge yesterday overruled legal challenges to an exploratory oil well in an area of the Big Cypress Swamp watershed adjoining the habitat of the Florida Panther, near the Naples residential neighborhood of Golden Gate Estates. See also: – DEP Bends to Oil Company Seeking to Drill in Everglades…

The Cravens: “We’re Feeling Like We’re 25 Again”

But for their personal warmth and goofy sense of humor, “grizzled” would be a good word for these veterans of rock and roll (and a wide range of other musical genres). Friends and off-and-on bandmates for more than 30 years now, the Cravens are the latest incarnation of the long…