Columns

When it comes to government investigations, this isn't the first time at the dance for AshBritt Environmental, one of the nation's largest disaster cleanup companies and certainly the largest in Florida under contract to clean up after Irma. AshBritt has seen its share of negative headlines since the company's first storm cleanup in 1992.

Amazon, which has made this city the epicenter of a retailing revolution, is not the Northwest's only commercial disrupter. In the nearby city of Everett, Liberty Ziska and some other bikini baristas, giving new meaning to coffee as a stimulant, have provoked the City Council to pass, unanimously, ordinances requiring baristas to be less nearly naked when they work. The baristas, in turn, have hired a lawyer and made an argument that is germane to current disputes about freedom of speech. Their argument, they might be surprised to learn, is Aristotelian. Sort of.

Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico have recently experienced complete devastation in some areas of the state due to severe hurricane damage and flooding. We are unfortunately all too familiar with Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Each state continues to rightfully focus on safety, rebuilding and economic recovery efforts in order to get back on their feet.

The opioid crisis in America is real, it is lethal and it may be killing the nice family that lives next door to you.

Call me too ignorant, too cynical or too old, but online voter registration, which went into effect in Florida Oct. 1, feels like Big Trouble.

Defeated presidential and gubernatorial candidates can often throw their running mates under the bus. But it’s strange to see a Florida politician who has built a reputation for tossing principles and allies overboard stand with his former understudy. 

Not many people who witness the death of something as personal and iconic as Caulkins' orange grove was during the last century, actually get to see it reborn in a profoundly significant way during the next century.

On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged President Donald Trump to put the Department of Defense (DOD) in charge of handling the logistics of distributing recovery aid in Puerto Rico as the island grapples with the crisis caused by Hurricane Maria. 

As many of you know, I worked as former Mayor Rick Baker’s deputy mayor for Midtown economic development. Baker is currently seeking the job again and as a member of his campaign team, I am deeply disappointed by what appears to be a divisive, win-at-any-cost strategy by the Kriseman campaign.

Probably we're not going to stop singing the National Anthem every time somebody gathers a crowd and produces a bouncing ball. But I can dream.

In the wake of Hurricane Irma’s march through Florida, one of the most tragic and incendiary events was a nursing home in Hollywood where some 11 patients died from heat exposure. Following the loss of its power residents inside The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills suffered from rising temperatures, and the actions of the facility administrators are under scrutiny.

Hurricane Irma touched nearly all parts of Florida, but now that the sun is shining once again, our state’s tourism industry stands together as we recover and rebuild. The entire industry has come together to support those that were impacted.

On Friday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sent a letter to U.S. Navy Sec. Richard Spencer calling him to expand the review announced in the wake of two deadly collisions to include all ships, including those stationed at Naval Station Mayport on the First Coast. 

It was an epoch-defining decision to place in Westminster Abbey, among statues of monarchs, priests and poets, a large one of James Watt, inventor of the separate-condenser steam engine. The statue's inscription says Watt ranks among the world's benefactors because he "increased the power of man." The economist and historian Deirdre McCloskey believes this honor, conferred in 1834, signified society's endorsement of the dignity of practical people who apply science for human betterment.

Since Hillary Clinton has decided to come out of the woods, having gone through the five stages of grief, and go all-scorched-earth mode with her "look at me, America" book tour, let's look at her.