Win some, lose some.
After hearing from, oh, pretty much everybody in town in a public hearing, the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to keep TBX on track to ruin some great neighborhoods and likely be looked back upon as a huge mistake due to underestimated costs, overinflated usage projections and the probability that in a few years, fewer people than ever will be in a financial position to basically bribe a road on a daily basis in order to get somewhere seven minutes faster.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided not to have another Florida black bear hunt this year. Because when viewed in hindsight, last year's hunt reveals itself clearly as a total balls-up that created far more problems than the specious ones it was intended to solve — and it will never be clear whether or not it actually solved anything. Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization, take note.
And finally, in Obvious Symbolism from Abroad, Brazilian authorities shot and killed a jaguar that was trotted out for photo ops as a mascot for the 2016 summer Olympics, then escaped an enclosure when returned to the zoo. Look, guys. You can overlook that the water is unsafe for swimming. You can overlook that construction is hopelessly behind schedule. You can even overlook the Zika. But when SOMEBODY SHOOTS DEAD THE LIVING METAPHOR FOR YOUR COUNTRY, it's time to hang it up, call Tokyo and ask if they can cover.
This article appears in Jun 23-30, 2016.