Can you imagine what fear a trip to a state park struck in a physically disabled person in Florida 25 years ago? 

What was a kick for most people was dread and hassle for those confined to a wheelchair. In most state parks there were few amenities that gave them a sense of safety or ease of access to the natural joys Florida parks invariably offer. 

The former mayor of Pahokee has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against the litigation arm of perhaps the largest environmental group on Florida's Treasure Coast.

James "J.P." Sasser claims the Stuart-based Rivers Coalition Defense Fund, organized as a 501(c)3 corporation, has violated seven of the nine criteria for maintaining its tax-exempt status. He believes the corporation's officials should answer for what he calls "a deceptive and nontransparent fundraising scheme."

Just when you thought nobody could make Chris Christie look tea party, who comes strolling into the room but Ohio Gov. John Kasich -- the 16th (and let's hope final) major Republican candidate in the 2016 presidential election. 

I'll bet you knew Kasich leaned a little left of the GOP party line, but did you know what a cheerleader he's become for Obamacare and Medicaid expansion? All he needs is the pompoms, the megaphone and the uniform.

Here's a good example why I wish lawmakers would pause for a minute and think before they gouge out another exemption from Florida's Sunshine Law.

If any one of them had tried, as an average citizen, to attend Tuesday's strategic planning day at the Palm Beach County Health Care District, they would have been out of luck. Goodbye, go home. "The meeting is closed to the public."

Oh, they would have been indignant, mad as a hornet, but District General Counsel Nicholas Romanello apparently had every right. 

Thanks to lawmakers. 

Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, told Sunshine State News Tuesday he is sorry to see Patricia Nelson leave the new Office of Compassionate Use, but he isn't worried her departure will delay or confuse the process of selecting which of 30 nurseries will receive the five licenses to grow and dispense cannabis in Florida.

Florida should think twice about following California's machiavelian anti-carbon regulation of petroleum products. The fact is, the rising cost of gasoline in the Golden State is straining an already choking economy, laying a world of hurt on families, businesses and individual quality of living. And it is directly related to the state's anti-global warming policies.

Get thee behind me, Satan! When socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said that in so many words, he was referring to billionaires. He was campaigning to ban their influence from politics. 

It's a time-honored political tradition -- officeholders flying around the country and farther than that even -- on the taxpayers' dime.

It's also one of my pet peeves.

There are two women running on the Democratic ticket for Patrick Murphy's open District 18 seat. Both are Palm Beach County commissioners. The only real difference between them? Their experience and their color.