Items filtered by date: March 2018

We the people, elected Donald Trump to be the Chief Executive Officer of the United States to “stop” the corruption” that has been Washington’s “Rule of Unlawfulness”. The people elected President Trump to drain the swamp and to make the tough decisions that go alone with the change that is necessary. These decisions take more than a strong President to face the onslaught that the red, commie, pinko, left will rain upon anyone who is willing to upset the corruption “cart”. The president should have known that Jeff Sessions is not a person who would make a strong Attorney General, even if he hadn’t recused himself. But the president is a loyal man and stuck with someone who stood alone, supporting the then candidate Trump. The president cannot allow his loyalty to Sessions to ruin his Presidency, which it will do “unless” the President either convinces Sessions to: unrecuse himself, fire Ron Rosenstein outright, suspend him for his “many” questionable…even criminal acts or…take control of his DOJ himself! I am saying… the president must use his Article 2 authority and in the very least suspend all the current DOJ (justice and FBI) employees who signed/participated in the FISA warrant process regarding Carter Page! Suspend them now and order FBI Wray to open Administrative Inquiries on all, as well as Criminal Cases on Strzok, Lisa Page, Rosenstein and Bruce Ohr…NOW! When the DOJ and FBI had the strict integrity they demanded, anyone who withheld discrediting information on a Title 3 Application or Affidavit, for a wiretap, would have been fired on the spot! Follow that with the appointment of a replacement for Rosenstein like Chris Christy or Trey Gowdy. Make whoever is appointed, the temporary, until approved by the Senate and place Mueller’s team, which is of out of control, illegal, and outside our Rule of Law, on temporary hold! In order for there to be a Special Prosecutor appointed, there must be a Crime specified, that he is tasked with investigating. There was none and there is none! Give me the Title and Section of US Code Mueller was directed to investigate! Collusion is not a Crime and Conspiracy cannot stand alone, there must be a substantive Crime associated to the Conspiracy, what is it? A sitting President cannot be charged with any crime, unless he is impeached first. A sitting president cannot be charged with Obstructing anything if he is carrying out his Article 2 Constitutional Authority, like firing an employee. Mueller is an employee!!! He may be criticized and, no matter who he fires, he probably will be critisized . That’s politics, just like exercising his Executive Power by pardoning someone…but you cannot make everybody happy…that’s why we all have a boss! Just ask your wife! Let the House and Senate take sides but there is nothing that the president would be doing that is not supported by Article 2, numerous presidents, and our Rule of Law. The President was given the authority to hire, fire and discipline to prevent unethical, as well as illegal acts from being perpetrated by his employees. That is what Rosenstein and Mueller… employees…are doing, unethical acts and operating by some imaginary premise…Russian Collusion. ..Enough is enough! Suspend what they are doing until the President can determine what happened in the FISA court and related matters…it’s the President’s responsibility and his Congressional duty!!! J. Gary DiLaura Retired FBI Agent

It's an experiment on a vast scale, with Florida's hydrological future on the line.

Florida's economic future depends heavily on the continued availability of fresh, clean, affordable drinking water. Any measure that could endanger the state's already-stressed water supply should be viewed with extreme skepticism. Florida legislators dance nervously around that concept, paying lip service to conservation while knocking down restrictions that could help the protect the Floridan aquifer, the vast network of underground caverns the state relies on for fresh water.

The apparent goal: Keep Florida development from being hampered by concerns about available water in the short term, even though it could mean serious trouble for the state in decades to come.

The state needs solutions. But it shouldn't rush into reckless experimentation. Gov. Rick Scott's veto Friday of a bill that would have allowed large-scale injection of treated wastewater into Florida's aquifer gives the state a chance to explore this option cautiously, with limited test sites and scientific evaluation. Scott made the right call.

Opponents of the bill relied heavily on the gross-out factor, calling it the "toilet to tap" bill and asking if Scott wants to be known as "Gov. Poopy Water."

It's not that difficult to clean reclaimed water of what are euphemistically described as "bio-solids" before the water is injected into the aquifer; some cities, including ones in the U.S., already mix reclaimed water into their drinking-water supply. It's a far trickier task to ensure that other contaminants, including prescription medications, petroleum-based pollution, radioactive material and heavy metals, are removed from the water before it's forced into the state's water supply.

What will happen to those contaminants once the wastewater mixes with drinking-water supplies? Will it stay where it's put, or migrate to other parts of the aquifer, potentially spreading contamination? What will the impact be on Florida's freshwater springs and water bodies, which are already showing signs of trouble in higher bacteria counts and other pollutants? And what will happen to the soft limestone lacework of underground caves that comprise the aquifer? If the water is injected with too much force, will they be damaged?
The answers to these questions could indicate that Florida's found an affordable, sustainable way to secure its water supply. But the state doen't have those answers yet. The process the bill would have permitted, known as "aquifer storage and recovery," is only active in three states: Oregon, Colorado and Texas, where ASR wells are serving the water-starved cities of San Antonio, El Paso and Kerrville. None share Florida's unusual underground geology. When Florida was considering experimenting with aquifer storage in South Florida, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers raised multiple concerns.

In the long run, aquifer storage and recovery might be the right answer for Florida. But diving headfirst into the practice -- in a state with multiple other options on the table, including capturing some of the billions of gallons of fresh rainwater that fall on the state every year -- should be approached with extreme caution. By wielding his veto pen, Scott hit the reset button, not the kill switch.

On Tuesday council members voted unanimously to move forward with plans to build a luxury resort on the north side of Fort Myers Beach. The council’s decision came after two days of discussion and sparked conversation from both sides of the debate. Council members said the decision will shape the future of Fort Myers Beach.

Council member Anita Cereceda said, “Everybody will be able to either get over being mad, or celebrate their happiness, but at least we move on, hopefully, 20 years from now people will be glad with the decision we made today.”

“This was a huge first step and now we’re excited to get on to the planning and building,” TPI consultant John Gucciardo said.

The TPI Development plan will add more than 250 hotel rooms, restaurants, shops and a water park near Crescent Street and Fifth Street.

The second and final public hearing on the project is set for May 21, 2018. Construction is scheduled to start in 2019.