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Today's Opinions

  • Adventures with chickens, Part II

    I arrived home late Friday afternoon and started my usual routine of making sure everyone on my small farm had plenty of food and water. And by small and farm, I mean one acre in the middle of farm country – one wild acre I share with a few cats, a dog and a coop full of hens.

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  • Our View: Jim Crow of another form

    It was just a short time ago that an appeals court in Florida ruled that the Sunshine clause in the state Constitution did not require councils and commissions of counties and municipalities to take public comment during meetings that were required to be open to the public.

    The Legislature stepped in and in 2013 told local governing bodies they had to take public comment and to formulate a policy to address the issue.

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  • "Man Fear" riles the roost

    I admit it. I can stir up trouble. The particular variety I have been engaging in is “Man Fear.”

    It begins when I say things like:

    “We need a weed trimmer.”

    “We need a riding lawn mower and I want one with a Z-turn.”

    “I need a hedge trimmer so the azalea bushes can be cut by July.”

    “I would like to have one of those small handheld cordless drill/screwdrivers to hang things around the house.”

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  • Letters to the Editor for January 29

    Let's outsmart the state

    In a report by the University of Florida, the white-tailed deer is identified as the most economically important big game mammal in North America and Florida.

    In 2011, over $50 billion was spent on deer hunting in the United States. That is a lot of money.

    In an effort to keep increasing the one spent on hunting, the state of Florida continues to increase the number of days doe deer can be killed.

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  • Our View: Off the table ... finally

    Readers rejoice: you’ll no longer to have read about the ongoing controversy over which newspaper in this county should be running the county’s legal notices and Delinquent Tax Notices.

    Go ahead, take your time, rejoice. I’ll be here when you’re finished.

    Done? Good. Now you can read on to find out why.

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  • Bag ban to face hurdles in The Sunshine State

    By Bruce Ritchie

    ContextFlorida

    Florida won’t follow California on bag ban because of a 2008 law requiring a study.

    California became the first state in the nation recently to ban disposable single-use plastic shopping bags.

    The ban is needed, supporters said, to reduce litter and protect birds and sea life from becoming entangled in bags. The ban also prevents bags from clogging storm drains or winding up in landfills.

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  • Don’t let seasonal spikes become the new normal for utility bills

    Dr. J. Robert McClure

    ContextFlorida

    Floridians aren’t surprised when they see seasonal spikes on their utility bills. A lengthy cold snap in January or lingering summer heat can send their energy bills soaring like fireworks on the Fourth of July.

    Fortunately, in a state blessed by ocean breezes and a climate ranging from temperate to subtropical, there’s welcome relief in the months when temperatures — and utility bills — remain in the moderate range.

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  • How the First District Court of Appeal ignored Florida voters

    Martin Dyckman

    ContexTFlorida

    Voters across Florida cast ballots in November 2000 to say whether they wanted to continue electing most of their circuit and county court judges or would let the governor appoint them.

    Election was the overwhelming favorite everywhere. In Duval, Nassau and Clay counties, which comprise the Fourth Circuit, it was the choice of 69.3 percent of the voters.

    This week, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal had a message for them:

    Drop dead.

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