Orlando Blogs

• SunRail andTri-Rail: A match made in the Legislature

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Dan Tracy, Orlando Sentinel MIAMI – Veronica Jackson pored over a training notebook as she sat in a Tri-Rail commuter train one day last week. Glancing over, she could see thousands of cars and trucks creeping along Interstate 95,...

  
  

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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 10:50am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Senators looking for answers on Medicaid, health care

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  Two of the most powerful men in the Florida Senate took a trip to Washington last week that could foretell the state's eventual response to the federal health-care debate. Sens. Mike Haridopolos, the Merritt Island Republican next in line to...

  
  

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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 10:41am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Blood Centers reform -- what do you think?

  —Taking Names

  Well, it took a while, but Florida's Blood Centers has started to clean up the way it does business. As you may have seen in Saturday's paper or today's column,FBC execs finally agreed that board members and their companies should...

  
  

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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:01am EST
  by ScottMaxwell

• Church sells Tiffany window to help the homeless

  —13th juror

  
  
  
  
  
  
  The stained glass window depicts St. John the Divine and was created by the Tiffany Studios. It was installed in the church in 1896.
  
  
  Proceeds from the sale of a Tiffany stained glass window will be used to [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 9:44pm EST
  

• Feds go after Orlando spyware company

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Amy L. Edwards, Orlando Sentinel It records everything you type: Your passwords. Your user names. Even the text you deleted. It logs the Web sites you've visited and stores screenshots of whatever you are viewing. You don't even know...

  
  

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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 8:39am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Facing Senate inquiry, Orlando blood bank changes its ways

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Dan Tracy, Sentinel Staff Writer With a state Senate investigation of its practices heating up, Metro Orlando's largest blood center said Friday that it will no longer do business with its board members, who now will be subject to...

  
  

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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 8:35am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• > Photos: Glenn Beck in Orlando

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  Glenn Beck, the conservative talk radio and Fox TV commentator, got a cheering reception as he arrived for a book-signing appearance at the Barnes & Noble store on East Colonial Drive in Orlando, Friday. Beck, who was promoting his bestseller...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:11pm EST
  by Joe Burbank

• Crist taps Sorenstam for physical fitness council

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Josh Hafenbrack, Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist today appointed golfing legend Annika Sorenstam to his council on physical fitness. Sorenstam, who retired from the game last year after notching 92 worldwide victories, has a foundation named after...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:39pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Productive. Frank. RPOF Unplugged

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By John Kennedy, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE -- Productive. Frank. An open discussion. That’s how Florida Republicans Friday described their huddle in remote Howey-in-the-Hills a day earlier. The party’s executive committee gathered in the Lake County town in...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:02pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Nelson, LeMieux split on healthcare vote

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  Enclosure: [download]

  WASHINGTON -- Much like the rest of the U.S. Senate, Florida’s two senators are split along party lines on whether to open debate Saturday on the Democrats’ massive healthcare package. In an interview Thursday, U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Florida, said...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 2:53pm EST
  by Mark Matthews

• The shifting Democratic argument for more stim bucks (Alternate headline: Getting the most mileage out of your message)

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- Earlier this week, a cadre of Democratic voices from Alex Sink to Kendrick Meek called for Florida legislators to revisit their decision last spring not to expand jobless benefits and draw down an additional $444 million in federal...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:32pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Orlando EDC job claims drawing negative scrutiny

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  Orlando Sentinel business columnist Beth Kassab followed up on the job claims of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission and found something troubling. While the taxpayer-supported agency boasted that it helped create 902 jobs in Seminole County in the last...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:43am EST
  by David Damron

• Orlando city council candidate arrested again

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Susan Jacobson, Sentinel Staff Writer Law-and-order Orlando City Council candidate Ezell "E-Z" Harris was arrested again Thursday on more prescription drug-trafficking charges after agents searched his home and office and said they found numerous drugs, guns and pill bottles....

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 10:38am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• NASA allies in Congress get tough over Constellation

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  Mark K. Matthews, Washington Bureau WASHINGTON – Two NASA allies in Congress dug in their heels Thursday and said that the agency should continue with its troubled Constellation program and not rely on global partners to access space after the...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 10:35am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Florida jobless rate hits 11.2 percent

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- Florida's jobless rate inched up to 11.2 percent in October, a slight gain over the previous month as the worst recession in more than three decades lumbered along. Florida's unemployment rate in September was 11.1 percent, and state...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 10:12am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Will Florida ever grow its way out of this revenue slump?

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE - For decades, Floridians have essentially bought government on the cheap, satisfying a swelling appetite for expanded services with taxes paid in large measure by visitors and newcomers. But the notion that the Sunshine State can keep buying happiness...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 7:03am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Coffee contract -- a distant cosolation prize

  —Taking Names

  So I got a press release this week announcing that Barnie's Coffee had been chosen as a the sole provider of coffee in the Amway arena. I like that. Because, as much as I enjoy Starbucks (and damn, I do...

  
  

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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 6:27am EST
  by ScottMaxwell

• House committee votes to audit Fed

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  WASHINGTON -- The House Financial Services committee agreed Thursday that the Federal Reserve should be audited by government watchdogs, a decision that would bring unprecedented transparency to the central bank if the measure jump through several more congressional hoops. The...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 7:48pm EST
  by Mark Matthews

• Crist doesn't care for Tallahassee Fridays

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Josh Hafenbrack, Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist’s Friday schedule just came out. And – surprise, surprise – the governor isn’t in Tallahassee and his day looks as sparse as usual. Here’s what is listed: 11:30am MEETING WITH...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:26pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Cretul: Special session 'a little closer,' but no support for raising taxes

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- House Speaker Larry Cretul said Thursday that legislative staffers were "probably a little closer than we have been" to hammering out an agreement over the $1.2 billion SunRail project that could bring lawmakers back for a special session...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:37pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Sink chief of staff shifts to campaign

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink's top helper is moving over to her gubernatorial campaign. Sink's campaign announced Thursday that Chief of Staff Jim Cassady, a Fort Lauderdale native, will be joining the campaign in January 2010, although the...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 2:24pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• McCollum: RGA should give up the Rothstein cash

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Josh Hafenbrack, Tallahassee Bureau Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum, is in Austin at the Republican Governors Association meeting – a group that received $200,000 from Scott Rothstein, the Broward lawyer accused of defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme. McCollum...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:58pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Meek may have made a Medicare campaign gaffe

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By William Gibson, Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Congressman and Senate candidate Kendrick Meek reportedly gathered $20,750 of campaign contributions from medical-equipment firms this year while pushing a bill to end a new competitive bidding program for buying medical supplies through...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:24pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Fineout: Lobbyists still doing just fine, thank you

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  From Gary Fineout's The Fine Print blog: Lobbyists in Tallahassee still don't appear to be all that affected by the Great Recession. The latest batch of lobbying compensation reports due last weekend show that the amount of money paid to...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:42am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Maddox picks up FOP primary endorsement

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox has been endorsed by the Florida lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police in his Democratic primary for Florida agriculture commissioner. Maddox, the former Florida Democratic Party boss who briefly ran for governor...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:32am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Lynum: No conspiracy to get my competitor busted for drugs

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Mark Schlueb, Sentinel Staff Writer Orlando City Commissioner Daisy Lynum on Wednesday denied there was a conspiracy to pursue drug charges against one of her opponents in the spring election. In response to a public records request from the...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 10:48am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Sheriff Eslinger endorses Sandy Adams for Congress

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  Veteran Seminole County Sheriff Donald Eslinger has endorsed Rep. Sandy Adams in her Republican primary bid for Congress. Adams is a former Orange County deputy sheriff who's focused on criminal justice issues during her seven years in the Florida Legislature....

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 10:31am EST
  by Orlando Sentinel

• Hometown Democracy - a respectful debate

  —Taking Names

  Yesterday's columnabout Hometown Democracy generated a decent amount of mail -- mostly atta-boys from readers with no dog in the hunt, folks who are sick of seeing both unchecked growth and cozy relationships between politicians and development interests. Still, I'm...

  
  

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 9:07am EST
  by ScottMaxwell

• Palin inspires Lake Co. "Domestic Engineer" to fight Grayson

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  The Sarah Palin book-tour buzz resulted in some decent right-wing press for Patricia Sullivan, a Lake County Tea Party activist and GOP congressional candidate vying to take on U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando. This article, which is making the rounds...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 6:25pm EST
  by David Damron

• Dockery to address Winter Park on SunRail

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  SunRail critic Sen. Paula Dockery is scheduled to discuss her opposition to the commuter rail project at a Winter Park city commission meeting Monday. The agenda item states that "no public comments will be taken." The SunRail commuter train that...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 6:12pm EST
  by Daphne Sashin

• Vendors better 'pucker up' this budget cycle

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By John Kennedy, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE -- One of the nation’s largest technology companies may be losing its grip on a handful of lucrative Florida contracts, as impatient lawmakers look to save money in a feeble economy....

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:53pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Tally think tank: Florida's tax system stinks

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Jim Stratton, Sentinel Staff Writer Florida's tax system is among the worst in the nation in terms of pushing the financial burden onto low and middle-income residents, according to a new study by a D.C.-based think tank. The Institute...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:39pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Unemployment comp tax hike on business triggers partisan outburst

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE - Florida's record unemployment rate will result in the largest-ever hike in unemployment compensation taxes next year, prompting a burst of partisan rancor over whether the state could have avoided the hike by accepting more federal stimulus dollars. Florida...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:34pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Be careful about burning bridges

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  This just in from the Department of Poor Timing: Orlando City Council candidate Ezell "E-Z" Harris issued a news release last Monday blasting Public Defender Bob Wesley for calling the man arrested in the Gateway Center shooting "mentally ill." Here's...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:19pm EST
  by Mark Schlueb

• Slade gives his backing to Dockery

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- State Sen. Paula Dockery picked up the endorsement of former state GOP chief Tom Slade, the once hard-charging Republican boss who helped push the party into the majority in the early 1990s. Dockery, a Lakeland Republican, recently announced...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:47pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Brown-Waite files a complaint with recovery.gov … about recovery.gov

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  WASHINGTON -- Bugs in a website meant to track stimulus funding prompted U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, to file a complaint today with recovery.gov about the website itself. As reported this week, the website lists projects in congressional districts that...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:16pm EST
  by Mark Matthews

• Crist promotes staffers

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  Josh Hafenbrack just filed this report: Former Fort Lauderdale policeman Chuck Drago has been promoted to Gov. Charlie Crist’s deputy chief of staff, the administration announced Wednesday. Drago, 57, started in the Fort Lauderdale PD as a detective and police...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:15pm EST
  by Orlando Sentinel

• Meek to speak to Young Democrats; attend Florida Classic

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  While most of the state (and national) media remain fixated on the increasingly nasty U.S. Senate primary fight between Gov. Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the Democrat who hopes to face the winner of that primary next...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 1:59pm EST
  by Orlando Sentinel

• Kosmas gets Democratic challenger

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, now has a Democratic challenger: former Winter Springs Mayor and real-estate investor Paul P. Partyka. Publicists for NAI Realvest in Maitland, where Partyka is a managing partner, said he will announce his candidacy...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 12:17pm EST
  by Daphne Sashin

• Meek on the unemployment comp tax: We left federal cash on the table

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Miami-Dade Democrat and U.S. Senate hopeful, is calling on state lawmakers to expand unemployment benefits in the wake of word that Florida will have to impose a huge increase in the unemployment compensation...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 11:46am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Reps. Corrine Brown, Mario Diaz-Balart, worried about re-districting amendments

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- Two Florida congressional members are raising red flags over proposed constitutional amendments proposed for next year's ballot that could place tighter control over politicians when they re-draw the lines of their legislative districts. U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville,...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:53am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Big unemployment tax coming to a company near you!

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE - (AP) -- Unemployment compensation taxes paid by Florida businesses will skyrocket next year due to the state's high jobless rate -- 11 percent in September. The minimum tax will jump from $8.40 per employee to $100.30 -- an...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:10am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Seminole college president joins ranks of the 'double-dippers'

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Luis Zaragoza, Sentinel Staff Writer Seminole State College President E. Ann McGee is retiring next month, but hang on to that congratulatory card. She'll be back — four weeks later. College trustees have approved McGee's request to retire for...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:38am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Crist backs ban on texting while driving

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By Josh Hafenbrack, Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday endorsed a statewide ban on texting while driving, joining a growing chorus trying to curb the risky practice popular among generations glued to their BlackBerrys and iPhones. "The...

  
  

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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:35am EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• WIll a commuter-rail bill be a new tax on motorists? Let the debate begin

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- Fresh off passing $2.2 billion in new taxes and fees, Florida policymakers are once again pondering the political question of when a tax is a tax. The latest context: SunRail, and the potential $2 rental car surcharge that...

  
  

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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 6:47pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• RPOF headed for the Hills

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  By John Kennedy, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE -- With state Republican leaders gathering for a closed-door meeting this week – that could include a few calls for Chairman Jim Greer’s ouster -- a maverick county chairman weighed in...

  
  

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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 6:34pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• RPOF is holding a secret meeting. Quiet! The secret might get out!

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  TALLAHASSEE -- Unless you are a Florida political operative living in an alternate universe, you probably know this: the Republican Party of Florida is holding a top-secret, closed-door, hush-hush meeting Thursday in Orlando to let some concerned GOP big-wigs chat...

  
  

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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:49pm EST
  by Aaron Deslatte

• Veteran from St. Cloud warns of online shenanigans

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  WASHINGTON -- A combat veteran from St. Cloud is scheduled to testify today before a U.S. Senate committee on the dangers of aggressive online marketing and how he unwittingly joined a service that cost him nearly $20 each month. The...

  
  

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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 2:30pm EST
  by Mark Matthews

• Diebel campaign tees off with a big-name fundraiser

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  What do Annika Sorenstam, the recently retired LPGA Hall-of-Famer, and Eddie Cheever, storied race-car driver/owner who once won the Indianapolis 500, have in common -- besides Orange County addresses? Turns out they both support Karen Diebel, the Winter Park city...

  
  

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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 1:50pm EST
  by Orlando Sentinel

• Today's Gutierrez endorsement is from...Fort Lauderdale

  —Central Florida Political Pulse

  Justin Sayfie, who was Gov. Jeb Bush's chief spokesman and speechwriter until 2001 when he resigned to found (among other things) the must-read aggregated political news site The Sayfie Review, has endorsed Armando Gutierrez for Congress. Gutierrez, a Miami real-estate...

  
  

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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 12:25pm EST
  by Orlando Sentinel