Three juvenile males and one eighteen year old girl identified as Adrianna Elmore of Marianna have been detained and charged in regards to a spree of vandalism and burglary which took place in the Indian Springs subdivision Sunday night. Several residents awoke Monday morning to find their homes defaced with spray painted graffiti. Also three vehicles were burglarized, and one car was spray painted.

In a possibly related incident, on Friday or Saturday night someone crushed, spray painted or otherwise damaged around thirty mail boxes and some stop signs in an area south of Marianna on State Road 73 and Pooser Road.

In my opinion, America has been spoiled by continued growth and affluence over the past hundred years. In the process of experiencing a century of growth in infrastructure, industry, government, and population we have all become conditioned to almost always having everything we need and being able to get almost everything we want.

This is true of our politicians, our bureaucracies, and our population. As a result, many poor management practices have become the accepted norm, and we have become conditioned to casually accepting wasteful, unnecessary, and exorbitant spending practices in our governments as well as in our personal lives. As a population we have become a debtor society, frequently living from pay day to pay day off of loans and credit card balances. The private debt in our nation has reached an astounding $36,000,000,000,000.

With the Primaries of August and the Final Elections of November looming into the not too distant future, it is increasingly becoming the "Political Season". This is evidenced by the eager emergence of political candidates for all scheduled functions which promise to draw a crowd. This phenomenon will undoubtedly continue until the votes have been cast and winners and losers determined.

Leading this political parade last week were U.S. Representative Steve Southerland, and State Senator Don Gaetz who were both in town shaking hands and sympathetically listening to citizen problems and opinions.

On Thursday Senator Gaetz had a busy day in Jackson County as he participated in a special presentation at Riverside Elementary School where he presented a framed certificate which recognized the school for its "A" School Rating. State Representative Marti Coley was also at the presentation and she noted that this was the ninth "A" rating the school has achieved since the rating system began.

Then Gaetz set up office in at the Russ House where he listened to several hours of conversation with local citizens who had scheduled interviews with the Senator. He also engaged in a meeting with the Government Affairs Committee of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. At noon Gaetz spoke at the local Kiwanis Club, where he gave a review of the accomplishments of the last session of the Florida legislature. During the afternoon he returned to the Russ House and enjoyed several more hours of interchange with local citizens.

Then on Friday, U.S. Representative Steve Southerland was in Marianna. Southerland set up shop in the Agricultural Conference Center on Penn Avenue for a town hall meeting with local citizens. The conservative congressman stressed the dangers America faces with the presence of an overwhelming national dept.

Southerland lauded his 96% conservative rating for his votes in Washington. He stated the problem is that we need to increase the total number of conservatives which have been elected to the House and the Senate. He also mentioned the growing movement to pass increased authority to the United Nations, especially in matters related to water resources and environment. "In many instances these changes would allow the United Nations authority to supersede the rights granted to us in our Constitution," Southerland stated.

(See the accompanying story about Southerland's talk.)

State School Systems Are In a State of Uproar and Rebellion Jackson County Schools are no exception.....

In what some people would consider to be typical bureaucratic fashion, the Florida Department of Education has drastically changed procedures relating to the state testing and evaluation program, FCAT, and in the process has apparently destroyed the meaning and effectiveness of the system. This is unfortunate, because indications were present that over the past few years as a result of the continuing focus on the system, combined with incentives based on results, school and student performances were improving. The DOE may have now destroyed those gains by demoralizing the entire state school system.

Sneads City Government Vs. State Criminal Justice

Just as a constant battle is waged at the national level over jurisdiction and control between the Federal Government and States Rights, a similar battle is currently being waged in the City of Sneads over the rights of the Municipal Government against State Authority. At the center of this ongoing conflict is Sneads Police Chief Burt McAlpin.

Last week the bureaucracy within the Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission in Tallahassee mandated that the law enforcement certification of Sneads Police Chief Burt McAlpin be suspended for eighteen months. The edict rules that the city must begin the suspension within 180 days, with a thirty day opportunity for appeal.

Remembrances of an Old Friend

As we age we seem to become more accustomed to death. As the years pass the list of people we knew, appreciated, cared for, and in many instances, loved, who have passed away becomes longer and longer. The memories of those people are usually enduring and the recollection of our experiences with them evokes a feeling of sadness and regret, mixed with fondness.

Our legislators came home from the last session in Tallahassee proclaiming that the dreaded septic tank law had been repealed. However, it now appears that this costly measure remains as a ghost in the closet for County Commissions to deal with. This raises the question, "Has the legislature merely 'passed the buck' on this issue, with enough strings still attached to make the net result to rural property owners be the same?"

In his promised ongoing effort to reduce the costs of delivering state services, Governor Scott continues to convert selected state jobs and services back to the private sector. This Monday Hospital Administrator Diane James, of the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, met with impacted employees to discuss the upcoming transition. Some 226 state jobs in Maintenance and Housekeeping will be privatized, effective June 30.

Last week Wednesday afternoon warehouse fire at the Port of Panama City shipping docks caused Green Circle Bio Energy to temporarily cease operations at their plant in Steel City. The fire was apparently caused by accumulated dust residue from the wood pellet storage and shipping which took place there. The Green Circle plant in Jackson County is the largest wood pellet plant in the world. The plant began operations at this site around four years ago.

Current District 2 School Board member Kenneth (Kenny) Griffin has officially announced his intentions to seek Re-Election. He is seeking once again to represent the Citizens of Jackson County with a voice of experience, dedication and concern. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the citizens of Jackson County.