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A Pinellas-Pasco judge ruled last week that dogs are considered property.
That ruling - far from landmark, but accepted legal doctrine for centuries - may come as a surprise to pet owners, who spend heavily on their pets and consider pooches family members.
So what do you have to say about the fact that pets are the legal equivalent of a toaster, at least in courts?
Bosses have good reason to keep track of how much time employees spend goofing off online. The average employee wastes 1.86 hours a day according to a survey.
Are you goofing off right now? If so, remember that the Windows button and D minimizes all open windows in XP. Pressing them both again brings the windows back so you can finish your post.
To those who oppose the death penalty on religious grounds, neither God nor Jesus nor the Bible sanctions executions. To them, the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” means just that: no killing, by anyone, for any reason.
Many other Christians read the same Bible but, drawing on the guidance of their faith, come to the opposite conclusion: that, at the very least, God allows capital punishment and, at most, he mandates it.
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio wants a local ordinance banning bars from offering drink specials that encourage drunkenness. Should the government regulate how businesses price or market a legal product or should the bar community step up and rein in their promotions? Tell us what you think.
Read the entire editorial.
Republican congressional hopeful Gus Bilirakis, left, laughs as President Bush delivers remarks today in Tampa. AP photo
From The Associated Press
ORLANDO - For months, Republican leaders tried pushing Katherine Harris out of the U.S. Senate race in hopes of finding a candidate that could win, and she responded by talking about “the party elite” with disdain at just about every campaign stop.
But now that the party is stuck with her as its candidate to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Republican leaders will welcome Harris as President Bush visits Tampa and Orlando Thursday to raise money to help the party maintain the governor’s office, its hold on the Cabinet, and its dominance in the Legislature and U.S. House delegation.
Bush briefly acknowledged Harris at his first fundraising event for Republican congressional hopeful Gus Bilirakis in Tampa.
“I’m proud to be here with Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who is running for Senate,” he told a crowd of about 400 people.
The star of the evening will be Attorney General Charlie Crist, the Republican nominee to replace Gov. Jeb Bush, but Harris will join party leaders at the Orlando event expected to raise at least $2 million for the November election.
“The party invited her and we’re glad she’s able to attend,” said state Republican Party spokesman Jeff Sadosky. “The governor and Chairman (Carole Jean) Jordan both immediately supported her when she won the primary.”
But before she won the primary with less than half the vote in a four-way race, Jordan and the governor refused to back her. For months, Republican leaders in Tallahassee and Washington tried to find a candidate to defeat Harris. Gov. Bush openly said she couldn’t win, and Jordan wrote to her saying the same.
Even after the primary, she was snubbed when Jordan, Gov. Bush, Crist and every statewide Republican candidate except Harris flew around Florida for unity rallies. The party said the events were to highlight state races, not federal campaigns.
Whether she continues to talk about the party elite, Harris welcomes the opportunity to finally join them.
“She looks forward to being with the president and Charlie Crist and Gov. Jeb Bush,” said campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Marks. “We look forward to heading into November with unity.”
Once the darling of Republicans when as Florida secretary of state she oversaw the 2000 recount that handed President Bush the White House, her popularity has been in a tailspin. She’s been tied to a corrupt defense contractor, given embarrassing television interviews, endured former staffers detailing bizarre behavior and been caught at fibs that call her credibility into question.
But she is the nominee and the party plans to show support where it can even if she trails Nelson by more than 30 points in the polls and by millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
Jordan has offered to appear at events with Harris and the party plans to include her on get-out-the-vote mailings and fliers asking Republicans to vote for the entire ticket. She will also be among the candidates the party plans to showcase at events Friday and Saturday during its quarterly meetings.
Most of the money raised at Thursday’s dinner will go to state races, with the priority being to help Crist defeat Democrat Jim Davis as Jeb Bush leaves office due to term limits.
While President Bush’s poll numbers have suffered, Crist said he will be proud to receive the president’s support.
U.S. Rep. Davis’ campaign, though, is using the visit to criticize Crist.
“Nobody more clearly illustrates the need for change in our state and our nation’s leadership than George W. Bush,” said Davis spokesman Josh Earnest. “He’s going to need all the money that he can get to convince the people of Florida that the status quo is the best for Florida.”
Bilirakis’s campaign raised about $500,000 from the Tampa event, a spokeswoman said. Bush lavished praise on the Republican who is trying to win the U.S. House seat his father, Republican Rep. Mike Bilirakis, is vacating after 24 years.
“There is nothing wrong with a son following in his father’s footsteps,” Bush said, laughing.
TAMPA - Just as many Florida homeowners were opening some pretty scary proposed property tax notices, the Governor’s Property Tax Reform Committee’s Web site opened for business.
The e-mail, hundreds of messages, couldn’t get there fast enough.
Have you started using grocery coupons? Are you adding store-brand products to your shopping list?
Started using a store loyalty card? Just switched to a lower grade of gasoline? Gone to a discount club for the first time?
Tell us the ways you’re adjusting your daily lives to save a few cents here and there as you face higher costs for insurance, gas and property taxes.
The day after a 6-year-old North Port girl was found dead in a wooded area near her home, the state took custody of her four brothers and sisters.
At city halls and county courthouses across the Tampa Bay area, the message from residents is clear: We’re fed up with rising property taxes.
Grace Greco Giunta, an heiress to the Kash n’ Karry supermarket fortune, has prevailed in an ugly three-year court fight with one of her two sons over the family’s real estate empire.
Mayor Pam Iorio recently unveiled an extensive rail plan that potentially could link downtown Tampa with Lakeland, Brooksville, Bradenton and St. Petersburg. She proposes using existing CSX rail lines and building new tracks. Good idea? Tell us what you think.
The most active roadblocks in the Tampa Bay area are for the Interstate 4 and I-275 project. The $81 million project is improving I-275 from the Hillsborough River north to Floribraska Avenue and on I-4 from the interchange to near 15th Street.
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