Contaminating Ground Water Forever

City of Rockledge One Step Away from Aquifer Storage & Recovery Well

by Mark Jacobs, President, Save Our Aquifer Inc.

Bill making it easier to pave over Florida's wetlands called 'recipe for fraud'

By PAUL QUINLAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 23, 2009

...environmentalists say this and other proposals - including one to eliminate the state agency that manages growth - will do nothing to fix the state's frigid real estate market, noting that the recent bubble left 300,000 homes sitting empty in Florida.

Audubon of Florida said Rep. Patronis is "borrowing a page from the subprime mortgage industry playbook" by effectively allowing developers to use their own paid consultants to review their permit applications. The group called it a "recipe for fraud" that "invites developers to avoid the costs of providing wetlands mitigation and stormwater treatment" and sticks "tomorrow's taxpayer with the costs of floods, water shortages and pollution."

"Worst case scenario, you've got a conflict of interest and an abuse of power," said Audubon's Charles Lee. "Best case scenario, you've got someone who wants to do the right thing, but doesn't have the skill sets to truly assess whether something is in the public interest."...

New Fla. Web site offers training on open government

The Florida Attorney General's Office has announced a new Web site to educate local governments, law enforcement agencies and residents about state laws regarding public records and open meetings.

The Web site, which includes instructional videos, is at www.myflsunshine.com.

"It is vitally important that Florida's citizens have access to their government and can hold government accountable. Our Sunshine laws were created to provide that transparency and accountability, and our public entities should strive for nothing less than full compliance," Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a prepared statement. "MyFLSunshine.com will be the guidebook for operating in the Sunshine, and I urge our public entities to make use of this resource."...

Stop The Cuts!

an action of Progress Florida:

Sign Our Letter to Senate President Jeff Atwater: Stop the Cuts!
We don't have to balance Florida's budget on the backs of our children, the elderly, the needy, or the environment.

Fill out the quick form below to sign our letter to Senate President Atwater urging him to raise new revenue to balance our budget this year.

http://progressflorida.org/page/s/stopthecuts

A Victory for Florida's Green Swamp

Florida's Department of Environmental Protection recently denied a permit request to build a landfill near the Green Swamp on the Southern edge of Florida's Nature Coast. GRN and other conservation groups opposed to the landfill are thrilled that it will no longer threaten the Floridian Aquifer that runs beneath it or the four major rivers that flow out of the Green Swamp (and provide much of Central Florida's drinking water). This battle was particularly hard-fought, and GRN congratulates all involved in the fight, particularly the Protectors of Florida's Legacy, a group out of Dade City, where the landfill was planned. You can read a great article with lots of links about it here.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/feb/12/121711/state-agency-denies-request-pasco-landfill/

Diane Roberts: Floridians seem content in a state of ignorance

Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859; it wasn't until this February that Florida's state Board of Education voted to allow teachers to utter the word "evolution." But Sen. Ronda Storms, ever a vigilant foe of egghead secularism, has filed a bill to strike a blow for biblical science...

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article434132.ece

THE WINDOVER STORY An exhibition of Archaic Man

THE WINDOVER CULTURE

Interpretive consideration of the Archaic culture of these early Native Americans of 7,000 years ago has revealed exciting information that may help us reevaluate our own culture. These people demonstrated their ability to adapt to a changing environment. They survived both climactic changes and salt intrusion of their water supply. And as the population of the group increased and the food supply decreased, they managed to surmount these obstacles as well.

The study of these people continues to change our view of Native Americans of that period. We have learned that they cared for and supported non-productive members of their community. This was confirmed by the discovery of the body of a young man badly crippled from birth, who suffered from spina bifida. For such a child to have survived to adulthood, he had to have received special attention. He obviously had been carried as the group moved about and was fed and clothed even though he was unable to contribute to the physical welfare of the society...

http://www.nbbd.com/godo/BrevardMuseum/WindoverPeople/index.html