Fix it now

New Yorker writer and author Malcolm Gladwell uses spaghetti sauce to explain the power and beauty of diversity in this worth-watching 17-minute clip. Take the time; you’ll thank me later:

This just in from the folks who want to solve our regional transportation problems, the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority:

TBARTA Now Offering Community Workshops Online -
Giving the Public Even More Opportunities to Participate

The Transportation Authority seeks public participation in the second phase of its master plan development

Tampa, Fla. - (July 17, 2008) - An online option for public participation in TBARTA’s Community Workshops will be available for this round of regional transportation master planning.

On Tuesday, July 22, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., and Wednesday, August 6, from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) will host Community Workshops online at www.tbarta.com.

(more…)

No big name in the grand marshall’s seat for the annual St. Pete Pride as parade organizers have chosen to make a political statement instead. This from the organization today:

St. Pete Pride is please to announce that Janice Langbehn has agreed to be our Grand Marshall this year. Janice is not a house hold name yet but her story is compelling especially in light of the current attempt to deny gay partners any rights.

A year ago Janice Langbehn’s partner of nearly 18 years was pronounced brain dead after being stricken with a brain aneurysm. While at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, she was met with prejudice and apathy. Janice and her family were consistently denied visitation and didn’t see Lisa until many hours after she was admitted.

Langbehn, a social worker, said officials Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami did not recognize her or their jointly adopted children as part of Pond’s family. They were not allowed to be with her . . . and Langbehn’s authority to make decisions for Pond was not recognized.

Even after a friend in Olympia faxed the legal documents that showed that Pond had authorized Langbehn to make medical decisions for her, Langbehn said she wasn’t invited to be with her partner or told anything about her condition. She said she wasn’t allowed to see Pond again until a priest arrived to give “Last Rites.”

It was only after passionate pleas that a doctor finally spoke to the family about Pond’s condition, informing them that there was zero chance for recovery. With the help of a Catholic priest assigned to perform last the family was granted a five-minute visit, eight long hours after Pond was first admitted.

The Board of St. Pete Pride believes that this story and ones like it are necessary to put a personal face on the consequences of Amendment 2. Please come out and support St. Pete Pride on Saturday June 28, 2008 at 10AM.

Cross-posted to PoHo blog:

By Ben Fry

Our buildings pretty much suck. Too many of them are monuments of energy inefficiency. They suck too much electricity off the power grid and water out of the ground. Construction materials often travel far to the work site, sucking fuel out of the tanks of big rigs. Many were built using harmful chemicals, which sucks.

The Pasco County school system has joined the small but growing ranks of those trying to do something about it.

Gulf Trace Elementary in Holiday became the first K-12 public school in Florida to be certified as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“We were requested (by Pasco County schools) to build green,” said Joshua Bomstein, vice president of business development for Creative Contractors, Inc., who built the school.

Creative Contractors made some minor changes to the original design to make the school greener. The overall cost of the school was only one percent higher than the budget for the original design.

“We delivered a school that was far greener than if we didn’t make those changes,” said Bomstein.

During construction, about 80 percent of the site’s construction waste was recycled and around one-quarter of the school was made from recycled materials. Workers used different bins to collect waste materials, like concrete, scrap metal and drywall, Bomstein said. The drywall was finely ground and mixed into the soil after testing revealed it was environmentally safe.

For long-term benefits, the school uses 40 percent less water than an average building by using dual flush toilets, low-flow sinks and showers, and landscaping with water-wise plants, Bomstein said. Even the school’s carpeting is (environmentally) green: it was made from recycled windshields.

“To build the first K-12 school in the state to reach LEEDs silver really means something,” Bomstein said.

Gulf Trace is one more building in Tampa Bay that is sucking up less. Now on to the rest of them.

Gay marriages can commence in Cali in 30 days after that state’s highest court strikes down two laws limiting marriage to being the union of one man and one woman. NYT coverage here.

The opponents of Amendment 2, aimed at discriminating against gay couples who want to share the same marrriage/partnership benefits as straight couples, have been saying it for a long time, and now the Michigan Supreme Court agrees: a law there aimed at gay marriage has been applied to strip domestic partnership benefits already granted to same-sex couples.

This from Florida Red and Blue, one of two main groups fighting the November ballot initiative:

Dear SayNo2 Supporter:

It’s not often acceptable to say, “We told you so.”
But on occasion, nothing quite says it better.
Just hours ago, the Supreme Court of Michigan ruled that that state’s amendment banning ‘gay marriage’ also prohibits offering benefits to unmarried employees.
This is the exact scenario we’ve been talking about from the start – Amendment 2 could be used to strip existing benefits from Floridians.
We’ve said it, the Florida Legislature’s independent analysis says it and, today, the Michigan Supreme Court confirmed it – broadly worded amendments sold to ban ‘gay-marriage’ will actually take away benefits from everyone.
When we’ve talked about what Amendment 2 can do, the sponsors have been quick to deny it.
In fact, right now, their website says: “our amendment will not invalidate benefits granted from domestic partnerships or any other source.”
Sure. Tell us another one.
Want to hear the kicker?
According to today’s Michigan ruling the Justices on the losing side, wrote, “circumstances surrounding the election suggest Michigan voters didn’t intend to take away people’s benefits.”
And the Associated Press reported today that legal arguments were made in which, “…the ballot committee that sponsored Proposal 2 “consistently and repeatedly” assured voters that the initiative was only about protecting marriage.”
Remember, our opponents – the sponsors of Amendment 2 – claim that their amendment “will not invalidate benefits granted from domestic partnerships or any other source.”
But there’s just no argument any more.

The court’s opinion came in National Pride at Work Inc. v. Governor of Michigan.

(An important aside: A reading of the opinion in the case finds the decision narrowly tailored to prohibit granting same-sex domestic partnership benefits for public employees. It is not clear from the case whether private company benefits would similarly be prohibited, or if domestic partnership benefits for straight non-married couples would similarly be banned, and, of course, the ruling is not binding on Florida courts.)

Florida Red and Blue is dead on point about the “reassurance” that Florida’s Amendment 2 supporters make about their amendment not taking away partnership benefits. Here is what the Michigan court said about that:

Plaintiffs and the dissent argue that Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, an organization responsible for placing the marriage amendment on the 2004 ballot and a primary supporter of this initiative during the ensuing campaign, published a brochure that indicated that the proposal would not preclude public employers from offering health-insurance benefits to their employees’ domestic partners. However, such extrinsic evidence can hardly be used to contradict the unambiguous language of the constitution.

In fact, the Yes2Marriage group’s language and tack is eerily similar to that used in Michigan anti-gay marriage brochures:

Marriage is a union between a husband and wife. Proposal 2 will keep it that way. This is not about rights or benefits or how people choose to live their life. This has to do with family, children and the way people are. It merely settles the question once and for all what marriage is—for families today and future generations.

When it comes to the law, it is about what the people vote on, not what supporters promise, as the Michigan court reinforced in a footnote to its decision:

 … [I]t should bear little repeating that the people ultimately did not cast their votes to approve or disapprove counsel’s, or any other person’s, statements concerning the amendment; they voted to approve or disapprove the language of the amendment itself.

(photo from 2007 St. Pete Pride Parade by Tom Stovall) 

In the latest green news, Tampa Congresswoman Kathy Castor is marking Earth Day by filing a bill long sought — and long denied — by the Florida delegation and most Democrats: a permanent ban on offshore drilling around the state’s Gulf coast.

Initial media reaction is that the bill has a tough road ahead of it, caught up in the Democratic leadership’s lack of desire to revisit the contentious issue after a 2006 compromise that resulted in a temporary ban for Florida until 2022. Caster has led the fight in recent days against an effort to open Florida offshore drilling grounds for natural gas exploration, a Republican-led effort that had hoped to take advantage of public dismay with rising energy prices.

From her office comes these quotes from the Democrat:

“It is ridiculous, not just ironic that they are trying to allow drilling as part of a beach water-quality bill. If they go as far as to introduce an oil drilling amendment in a beach water-quality bill, I don’t know what else they wouldn’t do,” said Castor.

“Drilling off of our beautiful beaches is the energy policy of the past,” said Castor. “If President Bush and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle truly wanted to address high oil prices, they should have voted with the Democratic majority to take the huge tax breaks away from the big oil companies at a time that they are making record profits. Instead of these huge tax breaks for big oil the New Democratic Congress wants to invest those dollars in alternative energy and transportation opportunities to break our addiction.”

“We are fighting for a new direction on energy policy and renewable sources of energy. We value our natural environment, and we value the public health of our communities,” Castor continued. “Tomorrow, we will celebrate the 38th Earth Day, which gives us an opportunity to focus on the key challenges facing us in preserving our planet.”

“This year’s Earth Day coincides with a deepening economic crisis in America. That’s why the New Direction Congress has begun to address the global warming crisis and to spur a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous economy for the American people,” said Castor. “We have begun to reverse the failed energy policies of the past, committing instead to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting renewable energy for the future. By focusing on rapidly expanding the production of clean, alternative energy and reducing our use of oil, we can both reduce global warming and create green jobs.”

“More can and must be done to deal with these challenges facing us in preserving our planet and strengthening our economy,” Castor concluded. “We shouldn’t be endangering Florida’s natural environment and vital tourism economy for 25 days worth of oil and 35 days worth of natural gas, which is all that is estimated to be produced by the area opened up under the compromise of 2006.”

Here’s a good piece by the League of Conservation voters on Dubya’s obsession with fouling our tourist beaches.

(Photo by Enrico Strocchi) 

The city of Tampa, which has a mixed record (at best) on going green, has named a “Green Officer” for the municipal government, according to a City Hall news release today:

Mayor Pam Iorio has designated Thom Snelling, the current Deputy Director for Growth Management and Development Services, as the City’s Green Officer.  Snelling will perform these new duties in addition to his duties as Deputy Director.

His primary responsibility in this role will be to ensure the City of Tampa reaches its goal to become a Certified Florida Green Local Government by October of 2010 and to coordinate programs that will help the City fulfill its commitment to the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.  As part of his duties, Snelling will work continually to advance the use of green building techniques and sustainable development practices.

Two Tampa Bay latina public relations pros have formed a new outlet to discuss Hispanic political influence. The Hispanic Vision Forum is now up and running with discussion forums and a blog. One sample post:

When we report “Hispanics” or “Latinos,” who are we really talking about? Roberto Suro, for one, thinks journalists may not have a clear idea. Suro, a professor at the University of Southern California and former director of the Pew Hispanic Center, says the first and foremost, remember the characteristic about this population: It is diverse, dispersed, and growing and changing all the same time.

The HVF is the brainchild of Evelyn Hale and Angelette Aviles, a Democrat and Republican, respectively, making it truly bipartisan. Their mission: “Inclusion: To bridge the gap between the Hispanic community and the mainstream public. To provide a form of communication for Hispanics to express themselves freely so that others have a better understanding of what make us tick.”

From Pushing Rope:

 Hillsborough County commissioner Brian Blair has picked up Ronda Storm’s gay-bashing mantle. The The Former Bubble Bee is venting mock outrage that Tampa high school students will protest violence against LGBT.

The April 25th Day of Silence was started in tribute to Lawrence King, whom was gay and murdered at age 15. Students will not speak and hand out cards explaining their silence. All this sounds rather harmless and hardly a disruption to schools. Blair is running for re-election against Kevin Beckner. The latter is openly gay and heavily-backed by the Democratic establishment. Blair is also being investigation for a possible ethics violation. Time for Blair to play the religious card.

This tactic is no surprise. The leading candidate against him, Kevin Beckner, is openly gay and running a tough campaign about Blair’s poor stewardship of the Environmental Protection Commission.

From Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell’s blog:

If I had to make a prediction, the folks pushing for a gay-marriage ban will either change their techniques or simply stop trying to make their case in person before this campaign is over — because their effort to do so today in Orlando fell pretty darn flat.

The affair was a lunch debate at Tiger Bay of Orlando between John Stemberger, who’s leading the “marriage protection amendment,” and Nadine Smith with Fairness for All Families, which is opposing the ban.

Stemberger can be personable and affable. But in today’s performance, he sounded more angry and ineffective. Rather than staying focused on the amendment he’s championing, he called Smith’s arguments “pathetic.” He tried to scare the crowd with the potential of gay-friendly decisions by “activist judges” and “Governor Live-and-let-live” (his name for Charlie Crist). And when looking for an anecdote of a gay person, Stemberger threw out comments from Rosie O’Donnell as a rationale for why Floridians should rally behind him.

Smith, on the other hand, kept her cool and focused on two things: 1) that gay marriage is already illegal in this state. (”The day before this election, same sex couples can’t marry,” she said. “The day after this election, same sex couples can’t marry.) 2) And the fact that this amendment could actually take away rights from unmarried couples (straight and gay) when it comes to things like healthcare and end-of-life decisions. (”You do not protect your marriage in any way by taking away other people’s rights.”)

Debating Florida’s November referendum that would ban gay marriages (and other civil union benefits, including possibly some for unmarried straight couples) seems a cottage industry these days. Two more debates are scheduled, and both should be good ones.

First, the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club also has a gay marriage debate on the books:

Friday, April 4, 2008 • 12:00 Noon - 1:15 p.m.
St. Petersburg Yacht Club • 11 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg

What’s at stake for all Floridians?
The proposed Marriage Protection Amendment is the subject of our debate. Speaking in favor of the amendment is John Stemberger, Orlando lawyer and head of the Florida Family Council, which spearheaded the amendment. Speaking against Amendment #2 is Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida and member of the Fairness for All Families campaign. Florida law already bans gay marriage, so what will this amendment actually do? Do Florida marriages need protection from “activist judges?” Is this an effort by social conservatives to stimulate the vote and help conservative candidates? Will this measure really harm Florida’s senior citizens? The sparks will fly at this debate; you won’t want to miss it. We’re hosting the Florida Association of Tiger Bay Clubs, so space will be limited.

RSVP deadline: Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Second, there is a gay marriage debate planned for USF St. Petersburg:

7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8 in the Campus Activities Center (corner of 2nd St. S and 6th Ave S.), John Corvino and Glenn T. Stanton, two of the nation’s leading and opposing voices on same-sex marriage, will debate each other and then take questions. The debate is free and open to the public. Complimentary parking is available in the campus parking garage.

Corvino (pictured at left) is a philosophy professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. and the editor of Same Sex: Debating the Ethics, Science and Culture of Homosexuality. His writing has appeared in national and regional print media, in scholarly anthologies and on the Web site Independent Gay Forum.

Stanton works with Focus on the Family as the Senior Analyst for Marriage and Sexuality and the Director of Social Research and Cultural Affairs. He has authored or contributed to nine books, including Why Marriage Matters: Reasons to Believe in Marriage in Postmodern Society and Marriage on Trial: The Case against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting.

Stanton (pictured at right) argues that same-sex marriages would erode our understanding of humanity by treating male or female as optional for the family. Corvino argues that recognizing same-sex unions would be good not only for gay people, but also for society at large, since society has an interest in promoting happy, stable and loving relationships.

Organizers on three continents are planning green events on April 1 as part of a “Fossil Fools Day” awareness campaign aimed at outing all the ways that fossil fuels are intertwined in our lives. From Rising Tide North America:

Anywhere you live, fossil fools are going to be engaging in destruction, poisoning of communities, and other filthy, climate changing business. Most of us live (sometimes ignorantly) in the shadow of toxic, combustion or extraction activities. Even if you don’t live near these points of destruction, unless your living off the grid, your utility company gets most of its energy from fossil fuels…and that’s despite any photos of wind turbines or solar panels on their website, or “green” options they are more then happy to charge you extra for on your bill.

If you’re not sure who they are, the first step to taking action on the fossil fools in your community is finding them!

From its list of Fossil Foolery you are encouraged to engage in:

1. Stop the pumps

As the main public face of the oil industry not to mention the fact that they are everywhere, gas stations are a great place to highlight the connection between car culture, climate change, and environmental justice. Aside from being one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases, there is not an oil company on this planet that has not been party to human rights atrocities. Whether it is Shell killing environmental activists in Nigeria or ChevronToxico dumping toxic waste on indigenous lands in the Amazon there are plenty of examples to make the connection between the destruction of the Earth and these companies’ assaults on human rights.

Consider such tactics as blockading the entrance to a gas station, locking down to gas pumps, or having a die-in in front of the gas station. It is quite easy to gain access to the roof for a banner drop with the use of a extension ladder. It should also be noted that all gas stations have safety shut off buttons that will shut off gas pumps in case of an emergency, which are generally located on the outside of the station. If a global climate meltdown isn’t an emergency, we don’t know what is!

…

4. Kick corporate research off your (or anybody’s) campus

Universities, in collaboration with corporations, are developing new technologies using fossil fuel extraction and burning. Many schools in coal states have research facilities dedicated to the perpetuation of this dirty fuel, while schools in oil states like Texas focus on petroleum. Chances are that any major university will be involved in some aspect of perpetuating our addiction to fossil fuels. Capitalizing on the need for alternative energy sources many universities are raking in big bucks setting up agrofuels research centers. Not only will agrofuels not create meaningful reductions in greenhouse gases, they create a host of new environmental and social problems. BP’s $500 million facility proposed for UC Berkeley is already meeting strong resistance. Do some research, get creative, and kick the fossil fools in the butt and then off your campus.

No word on whether any of the organized events are slated for Tampa Bay. More info about the planetwide Fossil Fools Day at this site.

Alex Pickett interviewed Taryn Sabia, the co-founder of Tampa’s Urban Charrette, for this week’s print edition.  Sabia, 29, and fellow architect Adam Fritz have held a series of workshops on how to improve Tampa’s urban design, transit systems and overall sustainability. These workshops, or “charrettes,” have brought together a broad range of stakeholders, including Tampa city councilmembers Linda Saul-Sena and John Dingfelder, the Hillsborough County Planning Commission, University of South Florida professors, Tampa Bay Builders Association members and developers like Daren Booth (of The Heights project) and Greg Minder (of SkyPoint). Read the entire interview here.

CL: How do you get the masses excited about sustainability and urban design?

Sabia: We try to show examples where great projects have been done in other places. Giving people a visual definition of what density is, because density is a very difficult concept to understand. … You want people to see that if you put density in particular places — and you do it purposely and if it’s designed well — then great things can happen. You can start to have vibrant centers for your neighborhood. Your neighborhood is actually protected, because you’re putting density where it belongs. You’re grouping density in areas to support retail, shops and restaurants. You need a certain amount of density in order to support a certain amount of retail. If it’s done well, it can be a really wonderful thing for neighborhoods. It’s something that attracts people from other places but also gives the neighborhood itself an area where people can meet, gather, do things and not have to drive a half hour outside of their neighborhood to get the things they need.

Does this mean you want to stack us all in little apartments downtown?

The idea is that we don’t make everyone do that, but that we provide choices. We’re not suggesting that everyone has to live in small apartments and not have their suburban homes. It’s not about one or the other; it’s about accommodating all of them and connecting all of them, so people aren’t so separated.

It’s also about managing our growth for the future. Because, inevitably, density is coming. People are coming, and large numbers of them. We need to think about how we’re going to deal with that.

What should we focus on first?

Transit is absolutely at the forefront. TBARTA [Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority] has just started doing public workshops. … It is so vital that people get out and speak, let their voice be heard and write letters to the TBARTA board and city council members. … People look and say, “Well, that is the 2050 plan.” But it’s not. We could have these things in 10 years if we push and fight for them. Let our elected officials know that we not only support it, that we support it now.

Read the entire interview here.

It’s SayNo2. It’s referring to Amendment 2, the November referendum that would place a prohibition against same-sex marriages and possibly even civil union benefits for heterosexual partners into the Florida Constitution. From announcement to supporters:

We hope SayNo2 will be easy to remember and reinforce how dangerous Amendment 2 is to all Floridians. With SayNo2, our message will be simple:

Say No 2 taking away existing benefits and legal protections.

Say No 2 hurting Florida’s seniors who are unmarried by choice.

Say No 2 eliminating shared health care and pension benefits.

Say No 2 someone else deciding who can visit you in the hospital.

Say No 2 more government intrusion into our private lives.

With a new name comes a new Internet home: www.SayNo2.com.

Visitors to www.SayNo2.com will find an expanding and welcoming resource on the “marriage protection” amendment, including facts and stats on the amendment and the campaign, the experience of other states, how to get involved, how to contribute, and media resources – including the nine major newspapers in Florida that have already opposed the amendment.

SayNo2’s strategy mirrors the strategy of the only effort that turned back the anti-gay marriage forces, in a Nov. 2006 vote in Arizona, by appealing to straights and gays alike with the dangers of a constitutional provision such as Amendment 2.

Florida Red and Blue is one of two major groups fighting against Amendment 2, with Fairness for All Families being the other. Its current logo is below.

The New York Times reports that key leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, representing the second-largest religious affiliation behind Roman Catholicism, are pushing for the group to change its myopic stance on climate change:

44 Southern Baptist leaders have decided to back a declaration calling for more action on climate change, saying its previous position on the issue was “too timid.” [CNN puts the number at 46]

Yet its current president, the Rev. Frank Page, signed the initiative, “A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change.” Two past presidents of the convention, the Rev. Jack Graham and the Rev. James Merritt, also signed.

“We believe our current denominational engagement with these issues has often been too timid, failing to produce a unified moral voice,” the church leaders wrote in their new declaration.

For a church as large (16 million members) and conservative as the Southern Baptists to put global warming as a priority and stop denying its existence is a major shift and even more repudiation of the Bush Administration’s eight years of sticking its head in the sand on carbon emissions and their impact.

The SBC’s current stance, adopted June 2007, hewed more closely to the Bush stance, with its criticism of the economic impacts of adopting Kyoto and its explanation of rising global temperatures as a function of recovering from the Little Ice Age. Its June 2006 resolution on the matter was even more strident, saying, “Some environmental activists are seeking to advance a political agenda based on disputed claims, which not only impacts public policy and in turn our economic well-being, but also seeks to indoctrinate the public, particularly students in public institutions …”

In contrast, here is the proposed declaration on the environment by the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative:

Though the claims of science are neither infallible nor unanimous, they are substantial and cannot be dismissed out of hand on either scientific or theological grounds. Therefore, in the face of intense concern and guided by the biblical principle of creation stewardship, we resolve to engage this issue without any further lingering over the basic reality of the problem or our responsibility to address it. Humans must be proactive and take responsibility for our contributions to climate change—however great or small.

Among the 46 signatories of the proposed declaration is the leader of Tampa Bay’s largest and most influential Southern Baptist congregation, Pastor Ken Whitten of the Idlewild Baptist Church.

Full text of declaration here.

You can e-mail your reaction and/or support to Pastor Whitten here.

(file photo of 2006 Southern Baptist Convention meeting: Matt and Cyndi Maxson)

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater lost more jobs from January 2007 to January 2008 than anywhere else in the state of Florida, according to stats released today by the state’s Agency for Workforce Innovation.

11, 700 jobs went bye-bye from greater Tampa Bay over the 12-month period.

(Waiting a few seconds for that to sink in.)

Hot on our tails were Bradenton-Sarasota (-11,100 jobs) and the Fort Myers area (-10,800 jobs). Not a good year for the gulf coast.

Download the numbers here (.pdf file)

The Tampa Chamber, for its part, counters with news of the creation of 410 aircraft maintenance jobs at Tampa International Airport.

The student-produced newspaper The Minaret is reporting a possible showdown looming between the University of Tampa faculty and UT President Ron Vaughn over domestic partner benefits:

In the strongest statement to date, the faculty senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution Monday in support of domestic partner benefits, threatening to take their grievances to UT’s board of trustees and writing that “any further delay is without warrant.”

The resolution, which was confrontational in tone, was delivered sometime Wednesday to President Ronald Vaughn and Provost Janet McNew.

…  The faculty, which voted 19 in favor of the resolution with one abstention and no one opposed, attached a DPB fact sheet to the resolution for the president and provost.

The fact sheet contained statistics and research findings in support of extending DPB. It said studies have shown that same-sex DPB coverage costs less on average than provisions for opposite sex couples.

It also said that a Human Rights Campaign study found not a single reported case of a DPB package being fraudulently used, that 88 percent of the top 50 ranked American universities offer DPB, and that the other three Tier One Regional Universities-UT being the fourth-all offer DPB.

The National Gay News in December reported that among state employees in Florida, “[c]urrently, the University of Florida, Florida International University, Broward Community College, Florida Keys Community College, Hillsborough Community College and Miami-Dade College are the only state employers offering the full range of domestic partner benefits. Those benefits include health insurance, as well as sick leave and bereavement leave.” According to its website, USF in 2005 considered offering domestic partnership benefits but there is no evidence it was ever adopted, and the status of USF’s same-sex benefits could not immediately be determined.

(UT President Ron Vaughn/credit: University of Tampa) 

As we await the end of a 2-year planning process at TBARTA to see if we will get a rail plan for Tampa Bay, Amtrak may move ahead on its own, according to a tbo.com story:

The rail agency hopes Florida will embrace intercity rail as roads become clogged and gas prices soar.

Amtrak would like to eventually see trains running back and forth between cities such as Tampa and Orlando, or Jacksonville and Miami.

Rail officials are in the midst of a weeklong swing through the state to meet local officials and tout the advantages of rail.

On Monday, Amtrak officials met with state Reps. Ed Homan, R-Temple Terrace, and Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, and state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland. Tuesday, they met in Tampa with Mayor Pam Iorio.

The catch? They ain’t giving it away:

Fourteen states have deals with Amtrak for intercity rail. The largest is California, which pays the rail agency $84 million a year to run 16 daily roundtrips between Oakland and Sacramento and 10 daily roundtrips from Los Angeles to San Diego.

On the low end is Vermont. It pays $4 million for a single daily roundtrip from New York to Montpelier, the state’s capital, and to St. Albans near Lake Champlain and the Canadian border.

Amtrak officials stress that no routes or station stops have been decided in Florida, though they hope their tour will drum up support for the idea.

Full story here. Info on current Amtrak travel deals within Florida here. Fact Sheet on Amtrak in Florida here (.pdf download). Want to weigh in with the quasigovernmental train company about this idea, one way or the other? Contact the Amtrak Customer Advisory Committee.

(file photo: John Mueller/some rights reserved)

Here’s the nice thing about effective and strong advocacy groups: they do the work so you don’t have to. Case in point is 1000 Friends of Florida, a group committed to responsible growth and conservation. They just put up a new page that will track growth management legislation in the current legislative session. You can even sign up for e-mail updates.