Welcome to the first full week in October, always the best time of year, especially for political junkies and sports fans.
First things first: Today is the deadline to register for the November 4 general election. And tonight we get our first televised debate among statewide candidates for attorney general, Pam Bondi and George Sheldon — that is, if you subscribe to Bright House in Tampa and/or Orlando. You can see it locally on Bay News 9, and unfortunately, nowhere else. And it's the only scheduled debate between the two candidates. Later this week we'll get the first televised debate between Charlie Crist and Rick Scott.
Speaking of the election, how about the Tampa Bay Times coming out yesterday against Amendment 2, the medical marijuana initiative? The paper says that the amendment plays "too fast and loose" with the conditions a patient must have to get a doctor's approval for the herb. The editorial also claims the measure fails to set "strict limits on caregivers' qualifications." This, the paper warns, opens the door for abuse by caregivers with "dishonest intentions."
In many other states, tweaks have been made on a local or state basis after medical marijuana became state policy. But that's not good enough for the Times board, which concludes that "writing such broad language into the Florida Constitution makes it too difficult to control the use of medical marijuana and to make adjustments along the way."
In other news this weekend, there was another shooting in Ybor City. As many of the merchants will tell you, all it takes is one such incident annually to cement the perception that the historic entertainment district isn't safe. Generally such incidents only happen after midnight, though this shooting apparently happened around 11 p.m. on Saturday night.
In college football, there was a stunning series of upsets and great games on Saturday, though what happened in Tallahassee would not fall into those categories. The Seminoles' destruction of Wake Forest puts them alone as the number one team in the nation, though Auburn and Mississippi State are hot on their heels.
And in baseball, what a difference a few months makes. When David Price was traded by the Rays to the Detroit Tigers, it looked like that would help Detroit go deeper into the post-season. Instead, Price was only average in the second half of the season, and was the losing pitcher as the Tigers were swept by the Baltimore Orioles last night. And how 'about those San Francisco Giants? They could sweep the vaunted Washington Nationals tonight in San Francisco. .
In other news....
The Ebola crisis is going to remain in the news for days and perhaps weeks in America. Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, a leading health official tried to calm host Chris Wallace's fears.
And though the Democrats aren't putting up a challenger against Senator Jack Latvala in his SD20 race, he does have an opponent in Tony Caso, a Tea Party adherent who thinks Latvala (and Rick Scott) has lost his way.
