Happy Birthday to the St. Petersburg Times‘ Michael Van Sickler, who was the answer last year to a birthday wish of mine: that the newspaper assign a capable, curious reporter to a very difficult beat.  Best wishes, Mike!

It’s the largest newspaper The St. Petersburg Times has ever delivered to subscribers door steps. “Last year it was a record sized paper, it’s even bigger this year,” said Bruce Faulmann, VP of sales and marketing. The paper will be over three inches thick and weigh more than four pounds. “We call it thud factor. A lot [...]

When I lead the effort to move St. Petersburg’s last call for alcohol to 3 a.m. from 2 a.m., I suggested that the city collect a surtax from or require a special license of the bars which would stay open later in order to offset any strains on infrastructure or the police. When the St. [...]

At this point, I blame Neil Brickfield. Since the moment Neil Brickfield was elected to the Pinellas County Commission, he has aspired to be the unofficial Boss of Pinellas County politics. Having served as a paid or unpaid political consultant/adviser to several municipal candidates, such as Tarpon Springs’Mayor David Archie, Clearwater City Commissioner Bill Jonson [...]

St. Petersburg Times - Marco Rubio needs to commit to solving immigration problem  Finally, from Florida’s junior U.S. senator comes some common sense advice to fellow Republicans about toning down the hostile rhetoric over immigration. But Marco Rubio’s admonishments to the GOP in recent weeks would be even more impressive if it was matched by action. [...]

In the first Senate hearing on a proposal to allow up to three luxury casinos in South Florida, executives from some of the biggest casino companies in the world told lawmakers their proposals would bring thousands of jobs and better regulation to the gambling industry in Florida. But executives from the pari-mutuel industry say they [...]

A Bloomberg News poll “of likely caucus participants shows Cain at 20 percent, Paul at 19 percent, Romney at 18 percent and Gingrich at 17 percent in a contest that remains wide open. The poll reflects the race’s fluidity, with 60 percent of likely caucus-goers saying they still could be persuaded to pick someone other [...]

This is only the third, or is it the fourth, negative editorial on gambling since ‘destination resorts’ legislation was announced. – NY Times’ Bill Carter: “NBC is to announce on Monday morning that it has hired Chelsea Clinton to become a full-time special correspondent for NBC News. Ms. Clinton will show up at the news [...]

St. Petersburg Times - Don’t make gambling’s damage to Florida worse International casino companies would have Floridians believe there would be no downside to building up to three mega-casinos in South Florida. But statistics tell a different story. • New data from the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling — a group underwritten, until this year, by [...]

Palm Beach Post - Applications for U.S. citizenship usually surge in presidential election years Garry Palmer, born in Great Britain, stands with his hand over his heart and takes the oath of allegiance to the United States. Palmer, who became a citizen along with 89 other people from 21 countries at a ceremony here Thursday, plans [...]