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BREVARD WATCHLIST

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Follow the paper trail behind the latest news and hold local leaders and businesses accountable.

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12/17/2009 03:00 AM | Click to Comment

Listen for Matt Reed on "Bill Mick Live"

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Tune in from 7-8 a.m. Thursday as FLORIDA TODAY columnist Matt Reed tackles local issues on \"Bill Mick Live,\" on WMMB 1240 AM (1350 in northern Brevard).

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12/17/2009 03:00 AM Listen for Matt Reed on "Bill Mick Live"

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12/11/2009 04:06 AM | Click to Comment

Ring-a-ding ka-ching! Scanners work fine, state tests show

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BY JEFF SCHWEERS

Worried about spending too much this holiday season? Well, you won\'t have to worry about spending more than you meant.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson practically guarantees it.

A pre-holiday scanner survey of 54 stores in 27 cities produced a 98 accuracy rate, Bronson said in a news release. Only 32 errors were detected at checkout lines out of 2,975 items scanned, Bronson said. And most of those errors were in the customer\'s favor.

\"Our retailers do a good job keeping up with prices, including sales prices which frequently change, and inputting accurate information into their scanners to reflect the actual price of the merchandise that they\'re selling,\" Bronson said.

Two stores -- a Ross and a Winn-Dixie in Miami -- didn\'t meet a 98 percent accuracy rate required during inspection, but those were due to excessive undercharges, the news release said. They\'ll be getting a follow-up inspection.

A Kmart in Milton overcharged by $10 a men\'s pajama set, but the store manager corrected the error as soon as he was told about it, Bronson said.

The Division of Standards checks out scanners and other devices used in retail sales. Consumers who believe that they have been overcharged, or who detect problems with a store\'s scales, are encouraged to call the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at 1-800-HELPFLA (1-800-435-7352).

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12/11/2009 04:06 AM Ring-a-ding ka-ching! Scanners work fine, state tests show

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12/10/2009 11:29 AM | Click to Comment

U.S. court ruling offers insight on \'birthers,\' adds context to Rep. Posey\'s bill

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By Matt Reed

While U.S Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, solicits donations and support from \"birthers\" who believe Barack Obama isn\'t a U.S. citizen -- and therefore unqualified to serve as president -- a federal court ruling sheds lights on the merits of their case, including their grasp of the U.S. Constitution and what they really want.

This one\'s worth reading, regardless of your take on Posey or his bill that would require presidential candidates to prove their age and citizenship with birth certificates. The Oct. 29 decision by a U.S. district judge in Southern California shows he seriously analyzed the arguments and briefs -- then dismissed every count in the birthers\' lawsuit. He also scolded plaintiff\'s attorney Orlana Taitz for showboating, incompetence and possible perjury. Key excerpts from the 30-page ruling:

\"Plaintiffs allege that the President has not shown that he is a “natural born citizen” of the United States and assert that he should have to establish his citizenship by “clear-and-convincing evidence.” Plaintiffs argue that despite the fact that President Obama has produced a birth certificate from the state of Hawaii, there is evidence to show that the President was actually born in Kenya, thus making him ineligible to be President. Plaintiffs also argue that, even if the President was a natural born citizen, he abandoned his citizenship while living in Indonesia and has not gone through the proper immigration procedures to regain his United States citizenship.\"

\"Plaintiffs are third-party candidates from the American Independent Party for president and vice president in the 2008 presidential election, inactive and active military personnel, and state representatives. The third party candidate plaintiffs are Alan Keyes, Gail Lightfoot, and Reverend Wiley Drake.\"

\"Plaintiffs seek \'injunctive relief against all four office-holding defendants -- the President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President -- to limit their powers to order new deployments or assignments of any armed forces of the United States outside of the territorial limits of the United States without express Congressional approval, and further to limit the execution of certain orders of the President of the United States relating to the conduct of foreign policy ... as well as the appointment of judges or justices and the ratification or modification of treaties during the pendency of this lawsuit until and unless Defendant Barack Hussein Obama’s constitutional qualifications are established in this court by clear-and-convincing evidence.\' ”

\"Plaintiffs have inappropriately requested that this Court interfere with internal military affairs ... The duty to defend is not dependent upon a political or personal view regarding the individual who serves as President and Commander-in-Chief. It is an unequivocal duty to defend our country.\"

\"Plaintiffs would have the Court reverse the election of President Obama by the American people through a declaratory judgment or injunction that would result in the removal of the President from office. The Supreme Court has stated ... that in general ‘this court has no jurisdiction of a bill to enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties’ ... The separation of powers concerns implicated by this request are grave... The Constitution grants to Congress the sole power of impeachment of the President.\"

\"Plaintiffs argue that they have been ignored by several government agencies in their quest to receive Obama’s long-form Hawaiian birth certificate and other information such as his passport records. Plaintiffs have indicated that they plan to seek extensive discovery in this case, including the deposition and appearance in court of President Obama and the request through a letter rogatory to the government of Kenya for the birth certificate that they allege proves he was born in Kenya. Plaintiffs appear to assume that ... the Court would give credence to this document over the American birth records of the President and the case would be resolved ... The Court would still engage in a comparative exercise in which the records of America, which has historically maintained some of the most credible recordkeeping practices in the world, would be contrasted with the credibility of the records obtained from Kenya. Such an analysis would seemingly favor the records of the United States.\"

\"Even ignoring the fact that Plaintiffs appear to admit that they have not complied with FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requirements in their requests for information, Plaintiffs’ claim fails because FOIA does not apply to Defendants. FOIA only applies to entities qualifying as an \'agency.\' The Executive Office of the President is an agency within the Executive branch and is a body separate from the President himself. All of the Defendants – President Obama, Michelle Obama, Secretary Clinton, Vice President Biden, and Secretary Gates – are individuals, not agencies.\"

\"The hearings have been interesting to say the least. Plaintiffs’ counsel has favored rhetoric seeking to arouse the emotions and prejudices of her followers rather than the language of a lawyer seeking to present arguments through cogent legal reasoning. This Court exercised extreme patience when Taitz endangered this case being heard at all by failing to properly file and serve the complaint upon Defendants and held multiple hearings to ensure that the case would not be dismissed on the technicality of failure to effect service. Taitz encouraged her supporters to contact this Court, both via letters and phone calls. It was improper and unethical for her as an attorney to encourage her supporters to attempt to influence this Court\'s decision. Additionally, the Court has received several sworn affidavits that Taitz asked potential witnesses that she planned to call before this Court to perjure themselves.\"

\"Plaintiffs have expressed frustration with the notion that this case could be dismissed on separation of powers, political question, or standing grounds, asserting that these are mere \'technicalities\' obstructing Plaintiffs from being able to resolve the case on the merits of President Obama’s birth and constitutional qualifications ... However, that very same Constitution puts limits on the ... processes through which the President can be removed from office. Plaintiffs have encouraged the Court to ignore these mandates of the Constitution; to disregard the limits on its power put in place by the Constitution; and to effectively overthrow a sitting president who was popularly elected by “We the People” – over sixty-nine million of the people.\"

\"Plaintiffs have attacked the judiciary, including every prior court that has dismissed their claim, as unpatriotic and even treasonous for refusing to grant their requests ... Quite the contrary, this Court considers commitment to that constitutional role to be the ultimate reflection of patriotism.\"

Posey\'s bill, meanwhile, would require Obama to provide the Hawaiian birth certificate referred to by the judge to qualify for reelection. Conceivably, if the document proved to be false, it could give Congress reason to try to impeach him over the misrepresentation, based on exclusive powers the judge described.

Posey has taken political heat for the bill, and has begun assembling e-mail contacts of potential supporters who follow the birther conspiracy theories on right-wing website WorldNetDaily.

What do you make of the decision and the controversy? Click \"comment,\" above.

Earlier Posts

12/10/2009 11:29 AM U.S. court ruling offers insight on \'birthers,\' adds context to Rep. Posey\'s bill

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12/10/2009 02:00 AM | Click to Comment

\'Climategate\' raises scientific trust issues

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Florida Tech professor Rob Van Woesik is a biologist who has built his own climate record from core samples taken from reefs in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. (Photo courtesy Florida Tech)

By Matt Reed

A political scandal involving a handful of global-warming experts has cast a pall over some very good climate research by university scientists in Florida and beyond.

Even as a Florida Tech biologist documented the \"bleaching\" and changing makeup of coral reefs around the world, scientists building a climate model in England wrote of boycotting a journal that published dissenting views, a batch of recently hacked e-mail show.

While a University of Florida professor measured carbon-dioxide on Alaskan tundra, the same climate modelers debated with U.S. partners whether to delete a \"medieval warm period\" in Europe that might have been toastier than today, the e-mail show.

And while researchers from the University of Arizona chronicled fatter tree rings caused by warmer temperatures in U.S. mountains, NASA fueled bloggers\' rumors of a cover-up by refusing to release raw climate data under the Freedom of Information Act.

On Monday, talk of \"Climategate\" -- referring to the hundreds of e-mails posted last month to a Russian server -- threatened to overshadow discussion at an international summit on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Locally, the controversy raises some serious questions:

-- How would potential problems with the British global-warming model affect research by scientists here in Florida?

-- Whom can we trust on the issue of climate change?

\"Climate change is happening -- the real issue is, we need to think about adapting to that change,\" said professor Rob van Woesik, a Florida Tech biologist who has built his own climate record from core samples taken from reefs in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. \"We can track temperatures through time for thousands of years. . . . The rate of change today is 1,000 times faster than before in terms of temperatures and carbon dioxide that has caused acidification of our oceans.\"

CLICK HERE for the full report ...

Earlier Posts

12/10/2009 02:00 AM \'Climategate\' raises scientific trust issues

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12/08/2009 04:46 PM | Click to Comment

REPORT: Crammed animal shelters need fast improvement to staffing, intake, adoptions

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By Matt Reed

A team from the University of Florida has delivered its analysis of conditions and management of Brevard County Animal Services shelters. Among its recommendations: Build more dog runs, appoint a population-management czar, dramatically improve \"intake\" procedures, and begin daily staff rounds to more carefully monitor the status of animals.

Animal Services first must make a \"unified commitment to strategic, decisive, and collaborative action\" to improve shelter processes and control crowding before a \"No-Kill\" policy can succeed in Brevard County, the group says in an introductory letter.

The consultants from the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program visited the North and South Animal Care and Adoption Centers on Oct. 12-15. They inspected the sites and interviewed managers, veterinarians and staff members.

Excerpts:

\"Overall, the SACC facility has experienced chronic problems with housing more dogs than the housing capacity can sustain, and the dogs have extended lengths of stay of more than 2 weeks. There are backlogs at all critical flow- through points for movement of dogs from intake to final disposition, whether it is live release or euthanasia. ... Crowding leads to stress, ineffective sanitation, increased contact rates between dogs, and decreased capacity for staff to provide adequate care.\"

\"Once moved to adoption, dogs are staying longer compared to previous years, further delaying the movement of more dogs to adoption. This cycle has created a backlog in animal flow through and the decreased live release rate for 2009.\"

\" \'Daily Rounds\' is the most important tool for effective population management. Daily Rounds improves flow-through efficiency, decreases length of stay in stray holding or adoption, decreases wasted animal care days, prevents crowding, and provides early recognition of individual animal needs.\"

\"A program to transfer dogs from SACC to nonprofit shelters and rescue groups (Pet Placement Partners) increases the opportunity for live release .. Currently only a small number of dogs are transferred. A climate of mutual distrust exists between some shelter staff and some potential Pet Placement Partners ... Transfers were frequently encouraged only after the shelter had invested vast amounts of resources in caring for the dogs.\"

\"The main outlet for live release of dogs from NACC is transfer to pet placement partners in the community. Based on the low adoption driven capacity, the number of housing units currently allotted to adoption (18) far exceeds that required if the dogs stayed an average of 2 weeks.\"

\"The primary goal is to work within the physical capacity of the shelter to provide humane care ... Hoarding of animals in the shelter results in wastage of resources and decreased life-saving capacity. Improving the efficiency of flow-through to disposition minimizes length of stay, resulting in less euthanasia and more live release of dogs.\"

What do you make of the report? Click \"comment,\" above.

Earlier Posts

12/08/2009 04:46 PM REPORT: Crammed animal shelters need fast improvement to staffing, intake, adoptions

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12/07/2009 11:17 AM | Click to Comment

Mango Tree will honor certificates, deposits

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BY JEFF SCHWEERS

The Mango Tree Restaurant may have shut its doors for good, but its owner plans to honor any outstanding gift certificates and return deposits made on dinner party reservations.

So says Kent Cooper of Capstone Properties, the man managing the sale of the restaurant for owner Eric Jacboy.

\"If somebody presents something to (Jacoby), he will pay it back,\" Cooper said. \"He\'s not trying to get out of anything.\"

That ought to please Fred Schwecke, who put down a $250 deposit to reserve a room at Mango Tree for his company\'s party Dec. 12. He learned of the restaurant closing from a story in FLORIDA TODAY.

\"I never received a call from the Mango Tree letting me know that the restaurant was closed,\" Schwecke wrote FLORIDA TODAY.

Cooper said anyone who put down a deposit or bought a gift certificate can call him at (321) 784-4222.

\"Anyone can call me, there’s no problem,\" he said.

Jacoby said he thought he had contacted all the customers who\'d made deposits, and would get in touch with Schwecke personally. \"I\'ll handle it immediately,\" Jacoby said.

Cooper claims to have sold more restaurants than anyone in the county, including Bernard\'s Surf. Cooper says it\'s a standard part of a sales contract that the new owners will honor outstanding gift certificates, which the previous owner would reimburse the new owner for.

\"The sales contract will have how to handle that liability,\" he said.

Jacoby said the new owner would assume any outstanding gift certificates.

That should relieve a lot of customers given the number of restaurants that have closed their doors this past year.

\"It’s been a tough market,\" Cooper said. \"Revenues are down 30-40 percent across the board.\"

Earlier Posts

12/07/2009 11:17 AM Mango Tree will honor certificates, deposits

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12/04/2009 09:40 AM | Click to Comment

Florida Congress members beg EPA to move slowly on water regs

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Red algae in Palm Shores

BY JEFF SCHWEERS

Florida\'s Congressional delegates, led by Sen. Bill Nelson, have fired a letter over the EPA\'s bow about mandatory rules proposed for Florida\'s waterways.

Signed by 25 Republicans and Democrats alike, the bipartisan letter to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson urges that \"all concerned parties should be heard.\"

The EPA is considering rules that would make Florida the first state under mandatory water rules. A federal judge last month upheld a concsent agreement between the EPA and environmental groups to set limits for nutrients blamed for algae blooms.

That agreement settles a lawsuit filed by environmentalists in 2008 over the EPA not enforcing existing pollution regulations.

While not going as far as State Agriculture Chief Charlie Bronson would have liked, the congressional letter does ask the EPA to listen to those most affected by the regulations -- agriculture and business interests.

\"While we all value the health of our waterways, this regulatory change will also have economic impacts on the state, and thus it is important that the standards are based on the best available science,\" the letter said.

The Florida Water Environment Association Utility Council estimated the cost of upgrading the state\'s water systems to meet the proposed EPA levels would cost between $24.4 billion to $50.7 billion.

Florida TaxWatch said it would harm the economy, and State Agriculture Chief Charlie Bronson is against the regulations.

But the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has ranked more than half of Florida\'s waterways as poor.

To read the letter, click here.

Earlier Posts

12/04/2009 09:40 AM Florida Congress members beg EPA to move slowly on water regs

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12/03/2009 11:18 AM | Click to Comment

Website: Posey again appeals to \'birthers\'

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By Matt Reed

WorldNetDaily, the tabloidy, right-wing political website, has this report today on U.S. Rep. Bill Posey\'s newest effort to reach its readers for support:

While much of the media and political establishment relegate presidential eligibility issues to the \"fringe,\" a congressman is trying to make his bill requiring future presidential candidates prove \'natural born citizenship\' a major campaign issue.

Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., recently dispatched a message to constituents and supporters asking for help in an effort to defeat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the 2010 election.

He introduced the proposal saying, \"I wrote to you not long ago asking that you stand behind me in defending our nation\'s constitution. … My bill (H.R. 1503) that would require all candidates for president in the future to provide documentation (such as a birth certificate) to prove they are natural born citizens of the United States, has resulted in the national liberal left making me Target #1 for defeat in the 2010 congressional elections.\"

But today, he noted, there\'s a \"much larger cause\" at stake.

\"My campaign has contributed upwards of $35,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee to help its efforts in retiring Nancy Pelosi in the upcoming elections,\" he said. \"I made this decision as I believe ousting Pelosi\'s super liberal and strong handed ways is just as – if not more – important than my own personal re-election.\"

Click HERE to read the full \"WorldNetDaily Exclusive\" and its entertaining accoutrements. Embedded in the Posey story today is an animated advertisement proclaiming, \"STOP LIBERAL MEDIA BIAS!\" Below that, an editor\'s link invites WND readers to click and \"Demand the truth by joining the petition campaign to make President Obama reveal his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate!\"

The report also quotes Posey, speaking on the local Andrea Shea King radio show:

\"I don\'t think a Supreme Court would remove a president from office if they heard the case. But ... we should make a good faith effort to make sure that things in the future are as they should be.\"

What do you make of Posey\'s bill and appeal? Click \"comment\" above.

Earlier Posts

12/03/2009 11:18 AM Website: Posey again appeals to \'birthers\'

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12/03/2009 04:43 AM | Click to Comment

Brevard attorney weighs in on Supreme Court beach renourishment case

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Beach renourishment in Satellite Beach

By Jeff Schweers

Brevard County has a potential stake in a property rights case being argued now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

County Attorney Scott Knox has filed an amicus brief in the case, which pits five Panhandle property owners against a state government beach renourishment project.

The property owners argued that by putting sand between their homes and the Gulf of Mexico the government basically took away their ability to enjoy their property rights, and want to be compensated for that taking.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled otherwise, saying the new 75-foot strip of beach is public land and could be used by the public.

Now the U.S. Supreme Court must decide whether the state high court illegally took the private owners\' land.

If the U.S. Supreme court invalidates the taking, it could lead to higher costs, making state and federal governments think twice about funding any future beach renourishment projects.

\"We want to avoid a precedent where the state would be reluctant to participate in a (beach renourishment) program,\" Knox said by way of explaining the county commission\'s decision. \"We don\'t want those funds to dry up.\"

Brevard County has benefitted greatly from federal and state beach renourishment projects, with millions of dollars spent to restore miles of shoreline and dunes.

An unfavorable decision from the Supreme Court could stop the flow of those dollars, Knox warned.

To read the brief Knox filed, click here.

Earlier Posts

12/03/2009 04:43 AM Brevard attorney weighs in on Supreme Court beach renourishment case

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12/02/2009 02:09 PM | Click to Comment

Grand Jury to investigate Fla. corruption

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By Matt Reed

If you\'re ready to blow the whistle on public corruption somewhere in Brevard -- not just dumb decisions or conflicts of interest, but real criminal activity -- the state appears ready to listen.

A special grand jury to be headed by a Broward judge was approved today to investigate official corruption and organized crime in Florida. The Florida Supreme Court issued an order at Gov. Charlie Crist\'s request.

Among the crimes the grand jury will be empowered to investigate: unlawful compensation for official behavior, corruption by threat against a public servant, official misconduct, bid tampering, falsifying records, misuse of confidential information and money laundering.

Crist called for the grand jury following a rash of alleged corruption by local officials in South Florida. There\'s a catch: The state panel and statewide prosecutors could act only on crimes committed across two or more judicial districts. Our judicial district includes Brevard and Seminole counties.

However, the Supreme Court order appears to give the grand jury the power to continue to investigate and return indictments in alleged crimes even if a local state attorney drops a case.

Crist issued the following statement today:

“The Statewide Grand Jury will add to the great work already being done by Florida’s 20 State Attorneys to target criminal activity among elected officials. I am confident the Statewide Grand Jury will help give these fine public servants the tools they need to rid our state of corruption and restore the public trust.

“I encourage the Statewide Grand Jury to swiftly make recommendations so that limitations in current law can be addressed during next year’s legislative session.”

Earlier Posts

12/02/2009 02:09 PM Grand Jury to investigate Fla. corruption

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