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The daily “don’t miss” column is on hiatus while I work on the process and format. Reading all the regional newspapers everyday for months was more taxing than you’d believe.

I want to find a better method to get the articles from the main stream media to your eyes.

I’m also working on a slight upgrade of this site’s design now that I have a better idea of what I want. Look for that in a week or so.

It should be noted, as elections approach, that County Commissioner Bob English, of Lakeland, supports the Winter Haven CSX hub, the Orlando-to-Polk freight train dump, and the creation of downtown Lakeland industrial freight corridor.

Unlike Commissioners Randy Wilkinson, Jean Reed, and even Sam Johnson, Bob English has never taken a single action designed to slow or mitigate the impacts of the Winter Haven hub. He has been a reliable ally, in his inaction, to Jack Myers and the rest of the small group of economic developers, politicians and government officials pushing this project. He voted against asking for a regional development review, and he voted for the project at Wednesday’s regional plannning counsel meeting.

Who knows if this is an issue that moves votes or not? I’m with Tom on that one. It’s hard to know.

But for those factoring this very important growth and development matter into your vote, consider that Bob, whatever he says at any campaign forum, has repeatedly sided with interests of the East Polk development elite and Orlando political establishment against the interests of the voters in his hometown and the residents of the area around the hub. Period. If Bob wants to dispute any of this, I encourage him to do it. We’ll publish it.

When you consider that on top of the fact that Bob was the driving force behind the largest tax and fee increase in Polk County history - after running as anti-tax businessman - well, there might be some reasons for pause, even for Republican voters.

At least Bob will be long gone when it comes time for the county to create new taxes to pay for the eventual CSX impacts.

Speaking of paying for impacts, the Winter Haven folks ought to think about this bit from Tom’s story a couple of days ago.

Earlier in the meeting, County Commissioner Jean Reed asked whether [DOT] would change road priorities to deal with the impact of the CSX project, which will generate about 1,000 trucks a day.

Lakeland City Commissioner Gow Fields said the bigger issue is the traffic impact of a later phase and how that would affect how much transportation funding would be available.

Stanley Cann, the District 1 Florida Department of Transportation secretary, said the development of regional impact process would require the developer, not DOT, to pay for road improvements. (Emphasis mine.)

Got that? That means whoever wants to develop phase two, where all the supposed jobs are, will have to pay for upgrading the transportation system, presumably before they get to develop. That won’t be CSX. They are going to build their hub and sell the rest of the land to somebody else. Ron Morrow has said as much publicly, with a few qualifiers.

What Winter Haven should understand is that no one at DOT, DCA or CSX gives a rat’s rear end about phase two of this project. They don’t care about Winter Haven’s economic development, just like they don’t care about Lakeland’s downtown or the the project’s neighbors. This is about building CSX a centralized distribution hub so it can dominate Florida shipping for years to come. The reason this has sailed through the way it has so far is that this hub is, as the guy once said in The Usual Suspects, protected from on high by the prince of darkness himself. Once CSX gets what it wants, the political element of this deal diminshes greatly, and you may well find that the technicians get to take over.

If that’s the case, they might indeed insist that the developer of phase two pay for all the transportation impacts. Who is going to do that? Now maybe Winter Haven thinks it could override the regional planning counsel and approve phase two without forcing the developer to pay. Or maybe DCA and the other bodies will allow developers to skirt the aggregation rules and grow individual warehouses like mushrooms to avoiding triggering a second DRI at all.

But with CSX and JD gone (from the senate) - and with the technicians back in charge of the growth management process in this case - I wonder if DCA wouldn’t step in. Who knows? Haven could end up with a no-job, no-tax-money CSX hub and an undevelopable field. If I were a Haven or county planner, I would be clarifying pretty specifically what Stan Cann meant when he said what he did.

Writer’s Note: Let me thank commenter Sean Wright for his extensive contributions. One point of clarification, though, in response to this line: “I believe this article highlight’s why you’re writing for a small town newspaper.” For the record, I don’t write for a newspaper, small or otherwise, which is why you are reading this on a blog. Most people could probably infer that on their own, but I’m here to help.

OK. I promise not to say anything too snarky or gratuitous today. It’s all business. I want to address a key line of rhetorical attack that Ms. Healy and some of our friends and neighbors in the Winter Haven government and chamber and Orlando area have used throughout this saga.

Here it is, distilled, in a quote from Ms. Healy’s most recent column:

“Instead of representing voters in Osceola, [Paula Dockery] seems far more concerned about pleasing trial attorneys and labor unions, and about the possibility of a few extra freight trains in her hometown of Lakeland.” (emphasis mine)

Put aside the dirty trial lawyers and awful working people for now, let’s consider this “just a few trains” line. Take a close look (you too, Bob) at the two property appraiser images pictures that accompany this post.

Those parallel lines you see running through the heart of downtown Lakeland represent the 100 feet of right of way that CSX owns. As you can see, CSX is not using anywhere near the full 100-feet right now. The rest of it extends into downtown parking areas and sidewalks - almost to Munn Park - and even into some existing buildings, including the one housing Crispers on Kentucky (Are you listening, Publix?) and the police station. It does pinch down a bit east of downtown, and I’m not sure what the ultimate consequence of that might be.

Some years ago, and I’ve seen the old photos from what I guess were the 60s and 70s, there were multiple rail lines - not one. They cut a much wider swath through downtown. I don’t know all the history behind their disappearance, but I suspect they went away at the time that freight rail nearly disappeared in the country as a whole, back in the 70s and early 80s. (That’s an entirely different, but very important story.) No one, including the rail companies, who wanted to get rid of lines for efficiency reasons, thought they were coming back. But they are, thanks to the cost of oil.

If DOT pays the $600 million-plus to merge the A and S-lines into the single JD Alexander/Bob Gernert Memorial Freight Superhighway and runs it through Lakeland’s core, does anyone think CSX won’t unleash bulldozers up to the edge of its full downtown right of way? Does anyone think those multiple tracks aren’t coming back? I don’t have timetables or copies of secret plans. But at $4 gas, freight rail owns the future of shipping.

In those pictures I’ve seen, the tracks and area around them looked ugly and industrial. A lot has happened in downtown Lakeland since those tracks reduced to one. Millions in public and private investment have created a walkable urban core that can rival any mid-sized city. We have grown smartly and responsibly - unlike our friends in Winter Haven and Orlando.

So this deal is not about “a few trains.” It’s not about numbers. It’s about setting patterns, forever. This has always been about reorganizing Florida’s shipping economy around CSX and a few other people. Passenger rail is an afterthought. For Lakeland, this means the long-term, irreversible creation of an industrial corridor through what has become the living room of our city. It is the squandering of huge public investment spent in good faith and under the principles of good growth in the service of a plan in which we were never included.

I’m not sure whay it’s so hard for the people behind this deal to acknowledge this and act in good faith to mitigate it. I welcome anyone to explain why I’m wrong. Tell me why what I’m describing won’t happen. And don’t just shout “misinformation,” make an argument.

Even if Jane Healy - or Buddy Dyer or Dean Cannon or Bob Gernert or Jacob Stuart - think I’m full of it, why not just humor us? If it’s really “just a few trains,” why not call on CSX and the state to write into the deal that CSX can’t use any more of the right-of-way in Lakeland than it already does and that any new line built on the existing line must be dedicated for passenger rail?

Again, if it’s just a few trains, that shouldn’t be a problem. Least of all for Ms. Healy, as a writer with no accountability. I have no idea if this would fly with anyone. But it would be one more concrete offer than anyone in any significant position has made to ease Lakeland’s concerns.

That’s what so amazing to me. Lakeland, and the many east Polk residents who don’t want State Road 60 and their neighborhoods turned into the mother of all truck stops, are less powerful than the Orlando political cabal. We have been reminded of that incessantly. The only leverage we have over our future in dealing with this deal is its lack of existence. The moment it does go through, CSX and the state will say Lakeland who? Polk how? Seth what? We will be at the mercy of whatever makes CSX money. That means there is zero incentive not to fight. CSX will punish Lakeland if it’s lucrative for it to do so. If it’s not lucrative, it won’t. So there’s nothing for Lakeland to lose. I promise you that CSX won’t spend one red cent more on any mitigation than someone in a position of power makes it spend. Why on earth wouldn’t the state offer Lakeland something to lose solely out of tactics? And no, rumblings about a quiet zone and meaningless legislative intent don’t count.

And for those people who say this is the first step in a Jacksonville to Tampa rail link, please explain how that will physically happen over a right of way CSX needs for its supersized freight ambitions. I still haven’t heard it. Bob Gernert said a while back that the state would double track all the way to Tampa eventually. Really? And how does it plan to get access to CSX’s property? Once the state commits itself in Orlando to using CSX land for its statewide rail links, CSX gets to name its price and its access rules for each new segment. We are already paying more than $400 million for 61 miles. According to deal proponents, that’s the true value of the corridor. How much will that per mile cost jump, and what concession will the state yield for the next chunk, whereever it may be. Think about that TBARTA.

Meanwhile, California just agreed to pay $14.3 million for 32 miles of active freight track. I’m a writer not a mathematician, but…I know, I know, somehow that’s apples and oranges.

Jane Healy would serve Orlando’s best interest if she pressured her people, the state and CSX to either move the Winter Haven hub or come up with a meaningful mitigation package. But that would require strategic, regional thinking, not verbal spitballs. It would require her to drop the ego and the attitude and look for solutions, not villains. She could provide a service by calling on the state to wait for the results of the DOT study of Polk impacts and rail future that should have been done at the beginning. She could call for a reasonable compromise on the liability issue, which frankly, is not my area of expertise.

The idea that we must hurry because federal money for rail transit is going to go away with $4-gallon gas, a Democratic congress, and most likely a Democratic president is laughable on its face. There is no urgency beyond the urgency of people who know they are pushing a destructive, anti-transit deal.

Just take another look at those maps.

Oh, and for good measure, the regional planning council should vote down the hub in Wednesday’s hearing. It’s a vote without consequence since everyone supposedly knows Winter Haven will ignore the council. It will be intriguing to see where Lakeland’s own County Commissioner Bob English, up for re-electioin, stands. Remember, he didn’t even want a DRI for the hub. Anyway, I say the council should make a mockery of a process that’s a mockery.

P.S. I would love for anyone involved in this deal, Jane Healy or otherwise, to respond to anything I’ve written. Chuck is more than willing to publish serious responses here on LL.

The last thing in the world I’d do is write a music review. (OK, maybe not the last thing.) However, I would link to a review if it is about a Lakeland band. Especially if it contains lines such as this:

“Hailing from that hotbed of indie rock that is Lakeland, The Dark Romantics have been floating around the state of Florida since 2006.”

Now, you knew in your heart that there was a hotbed somewhere in Lakeland. You just didn’t know someone had carved “indie rock” into the headboard.

If you haven’t heard the Dark Romantics, here’s a taste: Another Song for Another Night.

Back? Did you see Munn Park? What did you think of the music?

Did I mention the review is written by a guy named Paul POP! (including the all capital last name with the exclamation point)? I’m assuming the ! is a retroflex click constant and his last name is pronounced POP(click).

But I digress, POP!’s review included another line I loved:

“The Dark Romantics’ Heartbreaker is far from the feel good record of the summer and it should really come as no surprise that a band from Lakeland should write something so bleak.”

What is it that would make POP! think Lakeland brings out the bleak? Doesn’t he know we’ve been described as “a small mecca of cool” and “an endless archipelago of fast-food joints?”

Oh well, read POP!’s review in First Coast News.

The Dark Romantics are dropping an album September 9th. (I’m old enough to write “dropping an album” without irony.) Check out their artist page, Myspace page, official site, and Wikipedia page.

photo credit: msmail

Believe it or not, I actually have moments when I try to choose healthy alternatives to the foods I consume.

My husband and I love to drink sweet tea- black or green, it doesn’t matter. I don’t drink it as often as I’d like, simply because of the sugar we add to it. But I recently heard about stevia, a natural, no-calorie sweetener.

Stevia is a plant-based sweetener that’s 300 times sweeter than sugar. The plant is native to Paraguay, and the Japanese have been using it since the 1970s to sweeten soft drinks, candy and other foods. Stevia also can be used for cooking and baking.

We made a stop at Chamberlin’s, the natural grocery store in Lakeland’s Grove Park Shopping Center recently, in search of stevia and found it- along with more varieties of natural sweeteners than I ever knew existed.

Our first experiment was with iced green tea. It tasted great. That weekend, we used it in our coffee. Another success. The next week, we put it in black tea. Delicious.

What a great alternative to refined sugar and artificial sweeteners! I’ve used artificial sweeteners for years, but have always worried about their cancer-causing reputations. It’s awesome to have found a natural alternative.

My next test will be to replace sugar with stevia in a recipe. This is going to require some research, however, because stevia’s consistency resembles artificial sweeteners and using it instead of refined sugar will greatly reduce the bulk in say, a batch of cookie dough.

But for now at least, I can recommend stevia as an alternative to refined sugar in drinks. Try it. You’ll be amazed.

If you’d like to learn more about the perils of refined sugars, here’s a great article on the topic.

The Los Angeles City Council took a bold step July 22 when it voted to ban plastic shopping bags in grocery and retail stores by July 2010 if California fails to impose a 25-cent fee on every shopper who requests them. I support the ban- not the fee for shopping bags.

Here in Lakeland, the Publix Associates Political Action Committee opposes such a measure. Instead, they want consumers to have a choice. This is what they have to say on the issue:

“Publix supports efforts to protect our environment and reduce the number of plastic bags sent to landfills every year. We believe this is best done by encouraging recycling and the use of reusable bags, not by government-imposed bans or fees on bags.”

As much as I would love to believe that a full-blown marketing and public relations campaign would not only educate every Polk County citizen on the importance of using canvas or other types of reusable bags for shopping, but also spur in them a burning desire to actually do so, I can’t persuade myself to be that optimistic. Here’s why:

Even the store clerks don’t seem to buy into the notion that reusable is the way to go. Or that too many plastic bags make it into the landfill each year. I have a bazillion examples, but let me just share three:

• A couple of months ago, my husband and I bought a pair of leather flip flops from the Beall’s in the North Lakeland Best Buy shopping center. I had forgotten my reusable shopping bags in the car, so I told the sales clerk that I didn’t need a bag (it was just one pair of flip flops, after all). The girl told me “we have to give you a bag.” Perhaps, but I don’t have to accept it. I repeated that I didn’t want a bag and grabbed the shoes as my husband paid. The girl acted positively pissed.
• On Sunday, my husband and I rode our bikes to Walgreen’s to get some milk and some soup that was on sale. I told the girl as she was putting the milk in a plastic bag that she didn’t need to double-bag it. After all, we were going to put it in our backpacks. She pulled the milk out of the bag altogether. I thought, that’s fine, I really don’t need the bag. Then she took the unused bag and threw it in the garbage. I made her pull it back out and put my soup in it. I didn’t want the bag. But I quickly did the math and decided I’d rather her give me the bag because at least I would recycle it, rather than throw it in the trash.
• On the occasions when I’ve forgotten my reusable bags while grocery shopping at Publix, I get so disgusted at how many plastic bags I come home with. I’ll have bags with two items in them. I’ll have 10 bags of groceries, and I know I could have fit all those groceries into 4 reusable bags.

I am not one who believes that the government typically does a great job at solving problems. But when I look at the alternatives, I don’t see how anything but a hard-line approach from government is going to break our habits of carelessness and apathy when it comes to the environment.

If we don’t impose an outright ban on plastic bags, what incentive is there for EVERYONE to quit using them? There’s always going to be a core group of concerned citizens who attempt to do their part, no matter how inconvenient it might be. But what about those who have an “I don’t give a crap” attitude?

Desperate times call for not desperate, but responsible measures. It’s responsible for us to quit using non-renewable resources to make throw-away items.

I hope the Publix Associates PAC will change its stance on this issue. But if not, why don’t we, the citizens and the stewards of our environment, take action and work to persuade our elected officials to ban plastic bags?

ABC NEWS / This Week with George Stephanopoulos: A discussion of the campaign and the economy with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D - CA) and former governor and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge (R - PA). Then, the political roundtable featuring David Gergen of Harvard University, Democratic consultant Donna Brazile, Jake Tapper of ABC News, and conservative columnist George Will of the Washington Post Writers Group.

BAY NEWS 9 / Political Connections: Bay News 9 does not provide advance notice of the guests or topics for Political Connections.

CBS NEWS / Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: As of late Saturday morning, the guest(s) and topic(s) for this weekend’s programme had not been announced. Please check back for updates.

CABLE NEWS NETWORK / Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer: This week, former Bush administration Economic Adviser Rob Portman and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D - MO) will discuss race and the economy in the presidential race. Also, Israeli Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will appear to talk about the threat from Iran. Also appearing: Economic advisers Nancy Pfotenhauer for McCain and Laura Tyson for Obama, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy James K. Glassman, Major General Mark Hertling, Commander of the Multi-National Division - North, Former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (R) and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk (D).

FOX NEWS / Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: Did anyone come out of this week’s attack ads a winner? Chris will ask U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R - SC / McCain supporter) and former Senator Thomas Daschle (D - SD / Obama national co-chair). Then comes the panel discussing various issues of the day, including Bill Kristol, co-founder of The Weekly Standard, along with Juan Williams and Mara Liasson of National Public Radio.

NBC NEWS / Meet the Press: U.S. Senators John Kerry (D - MA / Obama supporter / 2004 Democratic presidential nominee) and Joe Lieberman (I - CT / McCain supporter / 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee) will appear to discuss the campaign, the vice presidential search process, and Iraq. Then the political roundtable featuring NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd, Republican strategist Mike Murphy, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, and Judy Woodruff of PBS’ The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.

SYNDICATED / The Chris Matthews Show: The questions for discussion: What could Barack Obama get done if he is elected president? And could congressional Democrats work with a president McCain? The panelists: Columnists Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and Joe Klein of Time, Gloria Borger of U.S. News & World Report and CNN, and New York Times Correspondent Elizabeth Bumiller.

WEDU-TV 3 / Florida This Week with Rob Lorei: WEDU does not provide advance notice of the panelists and topics to be presented.

WFTS-TV 28 / Flashpoint with Brendan McLaughlin: As of late Saturday morning, Brendan had not posted the topic or his guest(s) for this weekend’s programme. Please check back for updates.

A few Barack Obama supporters enjoying a bite outside one of the eateries alongside Munn Park, hoping that the Illinois senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will visit as rumours had been circulating all day.

Another Polk For Obama member, manning the group’s voter registration table.

Surprisingly, there were few local candidates present. County Commission candidate Ricky Shirah had a unique way of getting his name out there among the masses.

A few of the growing crowd gathering into Munn Park during First Friday. Many of them had heard or read the rumours that Barack Obama would make an appearance. Sadly, they would be disappointed. While the U.S. Senator did not make it downtown, he was in Polk County for awhile following his late morning town hall meeting in St. Petersburg. Obama made a quick stop at a manafactured home sales centre on U.S. 92 to talk with sales people and other small businesspeople in an effort to spotlight the mortgage crisis.

Obama’s plan is for another town hall meeting in Brevard County tomorrow before a speech before the National Urban League convention in Orlando.

There are rumors afoot that Barack Obama is coming to Lakeland on Friday, perhaps for the First Friday gathering downtown. (I know what you’re thinking, but the source for this is not the woman I’m married to, who happens to organize First Friday. I’ve asked her, and she’s heard nothing official or unofficial from the campaign.) I first heard these rumors this afternoon, before I saw this post from the St. Pete Times Buzz blog, which notes that Obama is likely to be in the Bay area Friday prior to a speaking engagement in Orlando on Saturday. That adds an awful lot of credence to the Lakeland scuttlebut, I would say.

(Update: My former colleague William March with The Tribune is reporting that Obama will be in St. Pete on Friday for a rally. The venue is as yet undetermined. But it hardens up the Times report.)

So, if Obama shows up Friday, you read it here first. And hey, Obama campaign, how about a little something for the effort, if I’m right. 5 minutes for a washed up reporter? I have a question about rail policy I want to ask.

If Obama doesn’t come, well, it’s always fun to print rumors…

One thing that is not rumor is the strength of the Obama organization in Polk County. I attended an organizing meeting headed on Saturday morning. (I can do that now in good conscience.) About 75 people showed up. But more impressively, the campaign plans to deploy at least 10 field organizers in Polk and East Hillsborough. Six are earmarked for Polk County. By contrast, local Democratic party officials told me that the Kerry campaign deployed exactly one field organizer to Polk in 2004, just weeks before election day.

This adds on to the grassroots PolkforObama group that already exists, with about 100 members. Local businessman and activist Frank Kendrick is one of that group’s leaders.

The campaign is looking to build five regional grassroots teams for the Lakeland area. Its offering training in phonebanking, organization, canvassing, data manipulation and all the unglamorous dirty work that makes campaigns go. It’s also looking for someone to host an Obama house party next week. If you find any of this exciting, email field organizer Laki Eassey at leasssey@floridaforchange.com

(Story Updated: July 30, 2008)

ABC NEWS / This Week with George Stephanopoulos: This week’s guest: Republican presidential nominee-apparant and U.S. Senator John McCain (R - AZ). Then, the political roundtable featuring ABC News correspondents Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, ABC News political contributor Matthew Dowd, and conservative columnist George Will of the Washington Post Writers Group.

BAY NEWS 9 / Political Connections: Bay News 9 does not provide advance notice of the guests or topics for Political Connections.

CBS NEWS / Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: As of Friday evening, CBS News has not released the topic(s) and/or guest(s) for this weekend’s programme. Please check back for updates.

CABLE NEWS NETWORK / Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer: Both major party presidential candidates will appear, with John McCain sitting down with Wolf and Barack Obama answering questions from reporters in a live forum.

FOX NEWS / Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: Appearing to assess the presidential candidates this week: U.S. Senators John Thune (R - SD / McCain supporter) and Claire McCaskill (D - MO / Obama supporter). Plus, a state of the race to date with former presidential chief of staff Karl Rove. Then comes the panel discussing various issues of the day, including Bill Kristol, co-founder of The Weekly Standard, along with Juan Williams and Mara Liasson of National Public Radio.

NBC NEWS / Meet the Press: This weekend’s guest for the hour: Democratic nominee-apparant and U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D - IL). The programme will originate from London, where Obama is concluding a nine-day overseas trip.

SYNDICATED / The Chris Matthews Show: The questions for discussion: With Obama riding high, do Americans see him as too risky in the Oval Office? And can he win over Jewish voters before November? The panelists: Columnists Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and Joe Klein of Time, Gloria Borger of U.S. News & World Report and CNN, and New York Times Correspondent Elizabeth Bumiller.

WEDU-TV 3 / Florida This Week with Rob Lorei: WEDU does not provide advance notice of the panelists and topics to be presented.

WFTS-TV 28 / Flashpoint with Brendan McLaughlin: Embattled Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson will be on to answer what promises to be some unpleasant questions about his alleged lapses in judgement.

I found an article that might be of interest to local home owners. It seems Texas Phoenix palm decline (TPPD) has been confirmed in Lakeland:

The first clue is an excessive amount of dead lower leaves; more than what is normally seen with aging (senescence) or nutrient deficiencies. The second clue is death of the spear leaf, prior to death of all other leaves in the canopy. Eventually, the palm canopy will collapse around the trunk as the bud decays. — Naples Daily News

Officials believe the phytoplasma pathogen that caused problems with the Texas Phoenix palm may be affecting cabbage palms. They feel it will be easier to detect the problem in natural areas, or palms with “relatively large canopy.”

For an extensive account of the disease’s process and how you can check your palms see the article at naplesnews.com

Remember that cabbage palms die or appear unhealthy from a variety of problems: lightning, nutrient deficiencies, over-trimming, deep planting, insects, other diseases such as ganoderma butt rot, herbicides (roadside vegetation management) and fires (natural or prescribed burns). Only palms with the symptoms described above should be sampled for lab analysis of this new pathogen.

In case you haven’t been inside Bent’s Cycling and Fitness in a couple of weeks, the owner took advantage beign closed during the recent Fourth of July holiday to do some sprucing up in the store.

The discolored plexiglass windows in front were replaced, which makes a huge difference as you drive by. Inside, they replaced the carpet, added new two-tier display racks along a wall, replaced lighting and moved all of the clothing and children’s bicycles into the back room.

The result is a more spacious floor plan.

On a side note, we see the price of everything going up these days- gasoline, food, electric bills, etc. Well, add bicycles to the list of products that are increasing in price. It could be the increased price of materials, increased demand for alternative transportation, or a combination of the two, but some bikes are increasing by about $50 as the new model years hit the sales floor.

So if you’ve been contemplating whether to buy a bicycle for your errand-running or workday commute, you’d better act soon if you don’t want the purchase to hit your checkbook harder.

ABC NEWS / This Week with George Stephanopoulos: PROGRAMME NOTE: This Week will not air this weekend due to ABC Sports’ coverage of the British Open golf tournament.

BAY NEWS 9 / Political Connections: Bay News 9 does not provide advance notice of the guests or topics for Political Connections.

CBS NEWS / Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: As of Friday evening, the topic(s) and guests had not been announced for this weekend’s programme. Please check back for possible updates.

CABLE NEWS NETWORK / Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer: Two Cabinet-level officials will be appearing: Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice will be discussing Iraq, Iran, and presidential politics with Wolf, and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. will appear to talk about the energy crisis. Also, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D - CA) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R - MO).

FOX NEWS / Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen will be on to answer questions about what’s happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then, a look at presidential politics with U.S. Senators Joe Lieberman (I - CT / supporting John McCain) and Evan Bayh (D - IN / supporting Barack Obama). Then comes the panel discussing various issues of the day, including Bill Kristol, co-founder of The Weekly Standard, along with Juan Williams and Mara Liasson of National Public Radio.

NBC NEWS / Meet the Press: Former Vice President Al Gore will discuss his plan to address global warming and the energy crisis…and Interim Moderator Tom Brokaw will surely ask about his thoughts on the presidential campaign. Then, a political roundtable with NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd and NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory.

SYNDICATED / The Chris Matthews Show: The questions for discussion this weekend and the panelists have not been announced as of Friday evening. Please check back for possible updates.

WEDU-TV 3 / Florida This Week with Rob Lorei: WEDU does not provide advance notice of the panelists and topics to be presented.

WFTS-TV 28 / Flashpoint with Brendan McLaughlin: As of Friday evening, the guest(s) and topics were not announced for this weekend’s programme. Please check back for possible updates.

I’m not making this up.

State highway safety officials are asking bikers to dress brightly, paint their motorcycles in brighter colors and add more lights to the machines.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles have unveiled a new campaign called - get this - Ride Proud, Dress Loud.  The idea is to convince motorcycle riders to help themselves be seen easier by other drivers.

Can you imagine watching a half dozen motorcycles pass you, with their riders all dolled up like Elton John?

But what the hell do I know - I’m no biker.  It just might work!

I mean, if Easy Rider heads out to the poker run with rainbow stickers all over his bike, while wearing a plume of bright green peacock feathers, or maybe a big sequined shiny vest, I can imagine that lots of folks wouldn’t get too close.

At least one rider thinks it’s a good idea.  But I don’t think they will all be convinced.  Even the gay motorcycle clubs stick to denim and leather, as did that biker from the Village People.

Another rider is outraged at the promotion.  For some reason, instead of suggesting he dress like Elton John, he expected the state to insist that us car drivers take some responsibility.

To be sure, all drivers should ALWAYS look out for motorcycles.  But at the same time, all riders should RIDE TO LIVE, and help convince those idiots who don’t to ride with some damn sense (and patience).

Chuck’s note: This post is Billy Townsend’s first post after leaving the Tribune. If you read this site through a feed, you may not see the bylines. I’m sure you’ll quickly learn to tell us apart. The style, commentary, and concerns are Billy’s very own. See A New Author at Lakeland Local for my thoughts on opening this site to an additional voice.

So I was noodling around TheLedger.com a few days ago and ran across a Tom Palmer blog post dismissively dubbing as “predictable” my intrepid former colleague Lindsay Peterson’s recent story about Amtrak. Not sure how many straightforward news features are ever surprising, but no matter… I can rest easier in my post-journalism grave knowing that Tom is still willing to act as The Tribune’s exclamation point on its CSX rail deal-related coverage.

As Lindsay and I worked through this stuff over the last year, a pattern emerged: We would post or report something original on the blog or the A-front, and Tom would quickly hock a digital loogie on it from his blog. This happened over and over again, with Tom making varying arguments at varying times. They seemed to break down into three rough categories of objection.

1) This is totally unimportant, and the people who care about it are unimportant and unhinged. And it’s bizarre to spend this much time and effort on it when it’s a done deal. And they should really stop their whining.

2) This is very important, and Lindsay and Billy are hopeless shills for the sinister Dockery/”downtown merchant” axis.

3) Lindsay and Billy are breathing air I might be breathing.

But my favorite Tomism came back on Halloween of last year, in response to something no one had ever written. Here’s the link.

http://county.theledger.com/default.asp?item=694786&mode=blog

It makes me smile. Short version: Tom opens his post with this line: “Several months ago we read horror stories about how trucks from the CSX terminal might overwhelm downtown Lakeland, but the reality so far is turning out to be different.”

Ouch. Gotcha.

Except, to my knowledge, truck impact on downtown Lakeland has never been a concern. There was some concern about 98 and the Polk Parkway, but that’s about 7 miles from downtown as Tom would surely know. Anyway, a commenter called Tom on this, asking him to cite where he had heard or read such horror stories. He couldn’t do it.

But, indefatigable as always, Tom not only didn’t correct his error, he went on to tell his commenter that his “larger point” was that everyone should “let the debate be judged by verified impacts, not imagined impacts.”

It’s a small thing, of course. But it gives you a glimpse into the mind and ego of the man charged with separating the verified from the imagined in Polk county government. Lying in print, getting caught, and then playing it off as not germane to “the larger point” seems like bad form, even in this new media landscape.

On the other hand, it’s hard to work up too much righteous dudgeon over a guy with such detailed knowledge of exotic birds. Though maybe we should question some of those warbler sightings he’s reported over the years. Anyway, you can’t really hold this against Tom. We all have our intractable pathologies to bear. His are intellectual vanity and misanthropy. It’s like telling a giraffe not to have a long neck.

And it worked to The Tribune’s advantage. Lindsay and I came to rely on Tom’s curmudgeonliness as a barometer of how well we were doing our jobs. The quicker and the nastier Tom’s comment, the better the story. It was like a Nielson rating.

While this was good for us, it wasn’t so good for The Ledger. There’s no reason Polk County’s paper of record should have had its butt kicked on the biggest local growth/development/regional politics story in a generation. If Tom had spent a little more time reporting and asking critical questions about the issue and a little less time acting like a James Brown call-back chorus, The Ledger might not have needed to pay Dave Schultz to come out of retirement this spring to write the same story Lindsay and I wrote six months before. (He did a good job, by the way. It was a smart investment.)

But there’s no point in what-ifs, I guess. After all, to paraphrase that great American Donald Rumsfeld, you go to press with the county government reporter you’ve got, not the one you wish you had.