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A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers: Tampa Bay Times — Justice for federal offenders The U.S. Justice Department is courageously moving forward with plans for the early release of prisoners who are serving sentences that don’t fit their crimes. In the coming weeks, the department plans to free 6,000 federal inmates. This action is long overdue and should be accompanied by robust efforts to ensure ex-offenders’ successful reintegration into society. Justice Department officials confirmed last week that…

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A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers: Tampa Bay Times — Brighter focus on treating drug abuse, mental health issues A surge in heroin use in Hillsborough County and throughout Florida underscores the need for increased state funding for substance abuse treatment and mental health services. Gov. Rick Scott has wisely recognized that Florida is not doing enough to help people addicted to drugs and living with mental illness, and the Legislature next year should follow his lead…

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A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers: Tampa Bay Times — Boehner’s resignation reflects fight for soul of GOP John Boehner has had enough. The U.S. House speaker’s stunning resignation Friday indicates he is as tired of the political infighting in Washington as most Americans. It reflects the deep ideological divisions in Washington and the nation, and it emboldens the most extreme conservatives in Congress and in the crowded field of Republican candidates for president. Expect more dysfunction…

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A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers: Tampa Bay Times — Republicans should not force government shutdown We have seen this bad movie before. Once again, the nation is days away from a federal government shutdown because some congressional Republicans would rather wage ideological warfare than act responsibly. And once again, it is a foolish power play that most Americans do not support, fuels further frustration with Washington’s dysfunction and is doomed to fail. There are just 10…

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A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers: Tampa Bay Times — St. Petersburg should nurture IndyCar race Imagine this. For a modest investment of $150,000, the city of St. Petersburg draws 160,000 race fans to its downtown waterfront. Tampa Bay gets tens of thousands of hotel nights, millions in economic impact and hours of worldwide television exposure for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Yet a City Council with a chip on its shoulder questions whether it is…

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A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers: Tampa Bay Times — Pinellas budget invests in smart priorities Pinellas County Administrator Mark Woodard sums up the county’s financial situation quite nicely: “The good old days aren’t here yet. But things are better.” The county’s proposed $2 billion budget for 2015-16, which will be the subject of two public hearings this month, makes worthy investments in areas ranging from law enforcement to the arts. But there remain issues from affordable…

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A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers: Tampa Bay Times — Reasonable standards needed for rideshare companies Hillsborough County and the rideshare companies Uber and Lyft have a common interest in ending a yearlong standoff on passenger service. Uber and Lyft are increasingly popular, and they aren’t going away —but they also cannot be allowed to thumb their noses at local regulations and operate at will in violation of reasonable safety standards. The ideal fix would be for…

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