Metro I-4 News

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The best headlines tell the story well enough to lead you to want the details. Let’s see how well these work:

Homes:
Programs to prevent foreclosure don’t guarantee success
Regulators Expected To Tighten Mortgages

Homes can be rated for energy efficiency

Food:
That shrinking feeling: Instead of raising prices, manufacturers reduce package sizes
Tricks tame family’s wild food bill

Politics:

Orange unanimously OKs ethics, finance reforms
Public-Private Divide OK, that one gives you no clue the editorial is about the handing of e-mail under Florida’s Sunshine Laws. Public officials are using e-mail as a way to bypass the standards of the law. It is easier and cheaper to get e-mails than any form of public record. But too many departments use the public’s lack of knowledge of the software to hide e-mails and charge the public too much to get e-mail records.

Bonus:

How about some free bus tickets? Hey There, Want Some Free Gas?

Follow-up:
Deseret Ranch withdraws proposal for development near Orlando airport

You’re doing your part by washing and recycling all those glass bottles. What part is the county doing? Not all glass makes the cut in Orlando-area recycling I wonder how well it works in the rest of the region?

Lakeland commissioners take a different tack in the long battle with CSX and FDOT: Lakeland to Hire Lawyer To Argue Train Issues

USF has a program for 1st generation college students: Program A Bridge To College Success

Trib editorial writers take on the gambling crisis: Gambling Governor Loses His Deal In High-Stakes Game Over Casinos

Bonus articles for today:

Freelance workers get together in Orlando’s coworking spot aiming to open in September

It seems that county mayor isn’t popular with everyone: Hillsborough County Mayor Ballot Initiative Challenged

Get ready for a rough-and-tumble few months In Florida, Multiple Political Battlegrounds Take Shape

A pair of home programs for the poor are having mixed results: For area homebuyers, ’sweat equity’ pays off and Building for Poor Has Stopped with Lack of Mortgages

Others might turn in another direction: Buying Renter-Occupied Home: How to Get Good Deal

Finally, explaining traffic jams and tips after that next crash: No wrecks, so why am I in this traffic jam? and Clueless after a crash?

Do your best to not think Exxon Valdez as you read Clearing up Florida oil-rig rhetoric: What does drilling mean for you? OK, that was a cheap shot. Instead, try not to think Charlie Crist as Dan Quayle.

If people can’t afford to own their home then of course: Brokers, lenders like prospects for Orlando apartment market

(1) Cameras really aren’t smart. (2) People keep communities safe. Not technology. Yet, the Sentinel headline might lead you to think otherwise: ‘Smart’ cameras will help keep new Parramore community safe

Library’s big move kicks off at campus This might be a good idea for Lakeland USF Polytechnic. Lakeland doesn’t need a branch library in the 1-4/Polk Parkway area yet, but it will sooner than you think. Build a joint use building, with separate check out stations. Make it where you can close off the public area when they close earlier than the campus library. Just off the top of my head.

Tampa is looking into a different approach to growth: Tampa Contemplates Transit-Oriented Development Concept

Does the two-party stranglehold on power help or hurt local politics? This Tribune editorial has a problem with one aspect of it. Strip Write-In Candidates Of Power To Close Any One-Party Race

It’s a slow Friday in the region ppers. Sex, drugs, and titillation all lead. Of course, we link to none of that. Instead we have Florida’s Gulf, Florida’s Teachers, and Florida’s Supreme Court Chief Justice.

Report: Florida Treats Gulf As a ‘Toilet’

Newest Teachers Hit Hard By Layoffs

New Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince makes history

Today’s hodgepodge of articles reflect the news on a sleepy, rainy, Saturday morning. There’s jobs, development, jobs, driving, jobs, and crime. Yes, that’s a lot of jobs, and the I4 region could use those. The first article discusses Tampa’s hope to attract employers to the I4 corridor. The next jobs article discusses those who’ve [...]

Sure, you can read the Ledger or the Tribune to get your Florida Primary coverage, but did you know the Epoch Times also covered the Florida primary? You’ve never heard of the Times?

The Epoch Times is a privately owned, general-interest newspaper, originally published in Chinese. According to their own statement the founding Epoch Times started publishing to provide what they see as uncensored coverage of events in China and has been in continuous publication since May 2000. Headquartered in New York, the newspaper has local bureau and a wide network of local reporters throughout the world. Currently distributed free-of-charge in roughly 30 countries worldwide, The Epoch Times maintains editions in English and Chinese as well as nine other languages in print, and 17 languages on the web. It is often associated with the Falun Gong spiritual discipline. — Wikipedia

The Epoch Times had a reporter in Winter Haven doing exit poll interviews:

An Epoch Times reporter interviewed exiting voters outside a polling site in the small town of Winter Haven, where most voters seemed to support Republicans, and for reasons more varied than in other regions. — Epoch Times

The Epoch Times reporter, James Fish, photographed and quoted Winter Haven residents Ruby Parker, Melvin Parker, Todd Weihmeir, Caroline Hamm, Bruce Hughart, and Kevin Kibbee. Oddly, each person quoted in the story voted Republican. Looking for the results in Precinct 337 (assuming the pictured precinct sign was where Fish was stationed) there were 593 Republican votes compared to 371 for the Democrats. You would think at least one Democrat would have given a good quote.

Sometimes all it takes is a national election to catch the eye of out-of-town media:

Terisa Glover runs a grocery and gift shop on Kentucky Street.

“I’m worried about the working class, people like us,” said Glover, 40, who tends this shop each day “from dark to dark” but is unable to purchase a home and cannot afford health insurance.

“I’m looking for someone who will put their money where their mouth is, and not just talk about it,” said Glover, leaning toward McCain with her vote. “I’d rather have someone be straight up and say, ‘I don’t have all the answers.’” — Chicago Tribune

At a McCain rally at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, voters who were thrilled to see Giuliani here recently didn’t even discuss him as a contender.

“I think he’s done,” said Chris McLaughlin, a Realtor from Lakeland who is now deciding between McCain and Mitt Romney.

The Giuliani camp dismisses that prediction, saying their emphasis on early voting could turn the race in their favor. Some 400,000 early votes are already cast, but the results of that balloting won’t be known until tomorrow. — Newsday

Thanks to The Ledger for keeping their archives free.