Ahhhh, it's only 1/3 of one-percent of the state's licensed concealed-weapon
people, but, still, WTF? Experts told the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel for its stories yesterday and today that probably no one
in authority in the whole state realizes how many of these guys were
slipping through the cracks. The main culprit seems to be the "adjudication
withheld" cases, where if you jump through the hoops of sentencing, the
judge will wipe off the conviction, and then, by a loophole in the licensing
law, three yrs later, you can get a permit. But there's also just the
overload of 67 counties reporting convictions to exactly four people in
Tallahassee. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel Sunday] [South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Monday] [South Florida Sun-Sentinel bios of some of the licensed bad guys]

State, Local Governments Whoring After Big Business The St. Petersburg Times (biding its time until it has the next
Charlie Crist fatherhood story ready) turned in an investigation of the
state and east coast counties' crawling on their knees with tongues extended
after Office Depot threatened to close stores and move its headquarters out
of state. "Office Depot could be Exhibit A for some of the flaws in Florida's
incentives policies. Since the mid 1990s, state and local governments in
Florida have showered hundreds of millions of dollars a year in tax breaks,
cash, and other incentives on a select few companies that promise to create
or retain jobs here. Sometimes the new jobs don't materialize or stay for
long, however. Some firms getting incentives pay so little that some of
their new employees qualify for government [assistance]. Some firms add jobs
in one Florida city while laying off workers in another. And some probably
would have boosted employment without incentives." [St. Petersburg Times]

More Things To Worry About Today Arrested in Tampa on felony marijuana possession, Mr. Steve Innocent (and,
actually, he might turn out to be) [Tampa Tribune] . . . . . "Of all the
people, I mean, 'damn'" (the words of Emmnueo Cibrin, 18, after he
accidentally hit an Escalade that belongs to Shaquille O'Neal and then had
to try and outrun Shaq and his bodyguards) (unsuccessfully) [Miami Herald] .
. . . . Jesse "The Human Bomb" Aviles, whose "talent" is lying across two
bar stools in a helmet and protective clothing and letting someone set off
explosives under him (to achieve liftoff, as they say), was axed from a
performance in Crystal City Friday night for lack of a permit (Er, they have
a permit for that?) [St. Petersburg Times] . . . . . Two Jacksonville
undercover cops are in trouble for gunning down an 80-yr-old man who just
wanted the ragged-looking strangers off his lawn [Florida Times-Union] . . .
. . Maybe Robert Moore, 37, really, seriously, believes in the sanctity of
life, and that's why he allegedly tried to kill his wife for having an
abortion [St. Petersburg Times] . . . . . Update: That Tallahassee duck Ñ
that ridiculous duck [The F State, 1-22-2007] Ñ came back from the dead
again on Saturday during an operation on her wing [Tallahassee
Democrat] . . . . . Update: That $263,500 necklace swiped from Sam's Club on
Tuesday was re-appraised, to $330,000 [WFTS-TV (Tampa) (scroll down to video stories)] . . . . . Jonathas Mendonca, 22, is in critical condition in Fort
Lauderdale, and all he did was, er, "ghost ride" on the top of his car on
I-95 at 65 mph [WPLG-TV (Miami)] . . . . . The saga of Christopher Gay ended
Friday in Daytona Beach at the Speedway, where he had arrived circuitously
via South Carolina, where he stole a truck, then a trailer cab, then a
Wal-Mart 18-wheeler, then Crystal Gayle's tour bus (which he parked in
Lakeland for a few minutes), and he never did get to see his terminally ill
mom, which was ostensibly the reason he escaped from the South Carolina
prison transport [Associated Press via Florida Today]

This article appears in Jan 24-30, 2007.