Finding Christmas on Bald Point beach

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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Finding Christmas on Bald Point beach

Posted 12/21/2009 8:43 AM EST on tallahassee.com

It’s been hard for me to get into the mood for Christmas this year, which I will forever remember as a year of losses and sad news.

Jobs were lost. Joblessness in Florida is at 11.5 percent, with more than a million people out of work, some my former colleagues in an industry particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. The Florida joblessness rate is the highest since May 1975 and less than half a point lower than the state’s record. Beyond the numbers are the people and families so devastated in this economy.

Sadly, we watched for the past few weeks live on Tallahassee.com as a jury considered whether a young man, Deneilo Bradshaw, would be sentenced to death for his role in the murder of Rachel Hoffman. Bradshaw’s two children will grow up with their daddy in prison without the possibility of parole, pending appeal. And Hoffman’s parents will be deprived of seeing their daughter’s wedding or getting to hold their grandchildren.

Lives were lost. We’ll not forget easily the death of 26-year-old Curtis Brown, a bystander gunned down as violence erupted at 4 a.m. in the Circle K/McDonald's parking lot on Lake Bradford Road.

Nor will we easily overcome the loss of another good man, Tallahassee Police Officer Michael Saunders, who was cruelly killed by a hit-and-run driver while the veteran officer was off-duty.

And, as all families mourn their own losses, at the Tallahassee Democrat, we continue to grieve the sudden death of our friend and co-worker, Steve Ellis, and the stories he will no longer tell us.

It has been a tough year all around.

Yet, walking with my son along the white sandy beach at Bald Point State Park during low tide this weekend, I was reminded of the ebb and flow that is life’s natural process.

I thought about the joy of quiet moments like that one with my children, those already grown and those who soon will be. I thought about the birth of a co-worker’s grandbaby, the marriage of two others and the planned weddings of others and of my daughter.

Watching the birds hunt for food in the shallow pools along the beach, it was a reminder that for every Bobby Bowden and T.K. Wetherell who blesses us with their presence and then moves on, there is a Jimbo Fisher and an Eric Barron ready for a chance at greatness.

I began to think about the dozens of readers who have written about our partnership with the Christmas Connection, the joy they find in helping other families and about the good people at the Democrat and in other businesses throughout the region who work tirelessly for good causes.

I thought about my daughter Jessica and the love so many readers and others – some complete strangers – shared earlier this year when she was badly injured after falling at school.

Somehow, walking along that nearly empty beach, it began to feel a lot like Christmas.

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It is time to release public documents in Hoffman case

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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It is time to release public documents in Hoffman case

Posted 12/15/2009 8:25 AM EST on tallahassee.com

With the exception of defending your country in battle, I cannot think of a higher calling for a citizen than to serve on a jury. So I awoke this morning thinking of those on the jury in the Deneilo Bradshaw murder trial, the awesome task they face in this most extraordinary democratic process.

Sometime today, it will fall to those ordinary citizens to decide guilt or innocence, a decision that could ultimately lead to Bradshaw’s execution.

Bradshaw is one of two young men accused of killing police confidential informant Rachel Hoffman. In what might be a first for this region, Tallahassee.com – using footage from a pool camera provided by WCTV – has provided gavel-to-gavel coverage and will do so again when the closing arguments are made this morning. Click this link to watch video.

Bradshaw’s entire defense may come down to this one statement by his attorney, Chuck Hobbs:

“The defense's case is going to be short and sweet: that Andrea Green shot and killed Rachel Hoffman and that Andrea Green threatened to kill Deneilo Bradshaw if he did not cooperate.”

In other words, he seems to be saying, Bradshaw does not deserve to die, that he was an unwilling accomplice.

Green faces trial in October. His attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have Bradshaw’s trial closed to the public. They also had argued media coverage of the brutal killing would make the seating of a jury impossible in Leon County. That has proven to be untrue as the court and the respective attorneys had no trouble quickly doing so.

The Tallahassee Democrat and Hoffman’s parents have been fighting for the release of public documents in Hoffman’s murder for more than a year, battling defense and prosecuting attorneys. The court had allowed only a limited release of documents until the jury is sequestered.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Dekker ordered on Aug. 15, 2008, that “as soon as a jury is sequestered, all sealed discovery, regardless of admissibility, will be released for full public and media use.”

The Democrat, through our attorneys, has notified the State Attorney’s Office, of our intention to seek compliance with the court’s order.

No one will know exactly what goes on in that jury room, only the results of whatever discussions occur. But no one can argue the process has been unfair.

It does no one any good to withhold the release of public records any longer.

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Print Exclusive examines new multimillion-dollar dispatch system

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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Print Exclusive examines new multimillion-dollar dispatch system

Posted 12/10/2009 8:50 AM EST on tallahassee.com

I’m sitting at my desk writing as I listen in the background to emergency services in Washington, D.C., dispatch police to an incident in the northeast section of the district.

With little effort, I can switch to New Orleans, San Diego or Fort Myers. Occasionally, I’ll listen in to what is happening in a small town in eastern Connecticut where I began my daily newspaper reporting career 30 years ago.

Emergency-service radio traffic in all of these places and dozens more around the country is live on the Internet in real time. In some places, there are options available to get scanner traffic sent to a cell phone or Blackberry, in addition to being able to hear it the old-fashioned way over a relatively cheap scanner radio.

In Leon County, however, local governments have just invested millions of dollars in shutting the public out.

Our Sunday Print Exclusive story this week by reporter David Saez will address how the digital and encrypted radio system is different than the old system, where the money to pay for it came from and how it improves communications among local agencies and serves the public.

It will also address the decline in public access to information from its government and whether communications could be improved without shutting the public out.

To be clear: No one is violating any Florida laws by taking scanner traffic out of the public space. Such communication is not covered by the state’s progressive Sunshine Laws. Media lawyers and government-access advocates say that this is an issue that might have to be resolved at the legislative level.

And to be fair, efforts are being made to quickly provide much of the same information in text format to the media. In reality, some officials are going above and beyond what is required by the law, which is nothing at all. Frankly, I think it is just one of those things no one expected to come up when the laws were passed.

Still, my question is why shut out the public?

We always oppose it when government reduces citizens’ access to what their government is doing, and this is a very significant step in the wrong direction for citizen access. This is not a matter of citizens being voyeuristic, but having a legitimate interest in public safety in their community.

It seems to me that the security issues some have raised about open-air or Internet scanner traffic are no higher in Tallahassee than in Washington, D.C. It just seems ironic to me that we are spending taxpayers’ money to reduce taxpayers’ access to their government’s activities. Although I’ve asked, I have yet to hear a single good reason that explains why the public must be shut out to accomplish better communications.

We think this week’s Print Exclusive raises important questions but also shines a light on the very positive aspects of the new dispatch system, as well. We hope you’ll pick up a copy of the Sunday Tallahassee Democrat and then go to Tallahassee.com to debate the issues raised on the summary of the print story. You will also be able to purchase a single-copy e-edition of the Tallahassee Democrat on this link Sunday.

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TMI for me in Tiger's sex scandal

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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TMI for me in Tiger's sex scandal

Posted 12/7/2009 8:22 AM EST on tallahassee.com

Once again, we see the price of worshipping the wrong kinds of heroes in our society.

Tiger Woods is simply the best golfer on the planet – or was. And because of that, we placed him high on the mountaintop and made him one of the richest men in the world.

Now he is publicly acknowledging “transgressions” that he says have harmed his marriage and family, and he's apologizing for hurting the people he cares most about.

As for the rest of us, he says, he should not have to apologize or admit his sins at a press conference. I agree. We shouldn't care that much.

But his comments set off a media-feeding frenzy, which, frankly, I find embarrassing. It’s ridiculous the way we are chasing down every detail – except that the public, by and large, demands the dirt. The more dirt, the better the public likes it. Admit it. You know it's true.

So the media is digging and the whole thing is spiraling out of control.

That’s what we do to superstars these days; we knock them off their pedestals.

A blogger for the San Francisco Chronicle says the media actually have lost track of the exact number of women now linked sexually to Tiger Woods.

Many counts are now up to six different women who I suspect have at least six different lawyers. Some are having press conferences. Photos of the women, in various stages of dress, are all over the Internet, along with their bios and ambitions. One of their moms is busy telling the world her daughter is a "good girl."

We haven’t had a sex scandal this big or juicy since Bill Clinton. The Florida Highway Patrol called a press conference just to announce they were writing a $194 ticket in Tiger’s one-car accident that set off this speculation.

Tiger is bigger than the president, affair-wise, when you think about it. Financially, at least, he has more at stake.

As leader of the free world and head of the world’s most powerful military and economy, Clinton made about $200,000, although the president’s pay was doubled to $400,000 in 2001.

Tiger, on the other hand, earned $110 million in the last year, according to Forbes magazine’s annual report on the world’s highest paid athletes. Tiger was No. 1 in the world.

Almost all of that money came from sources other than the professional tour, Forbes said. Golf earnings were about $5 million. Remember that Tiger was out last year for eight months after surgery to repair a torn knee ligament.

Much of the rest came from Pepsi, Nike, AT&T and other endorsements, meaning golf is now a side job and that these companies believe that Tiger can convince us to buy their products.

Apparently, Tiger took Nike’s “Just do it” slogan to heart.

Faced with his affair with an intern, the president lied. Tiger simply said it was none of our business, which, of course, it’s not, except that he is making so much money because his partners believe the public believes in him.

They aren't paying him for his great golf swing.

Tiger was made by the media to be something beyond a great golfer. And now the media seems intent on bringing him down.

If you want to find them, details of his prenuptial agreements with his distressed wife Elin are on the Web, too. The staid Associated Press, the chronicler of all important news, tells us she has renegotiated her prenuptial with Tiger so that she is entitled to $80 million. That’s $75 million for his transgressions – hopefully that’s all inclusive, and not a per affair charge – plus a $5 million one-time lump sum. I use the word lump advisedly in this case.

Every detail of this sordid affair is out there, somewhere, on the Web and in mainstream media.

Now that’s just great reporting.

But we've missed the real story: Turns out, Tiger was nobody special, after all; he’s just a great golfer.

Oh, and P.S., please stop sending me photo-shopped pictures and videos of Tiger and Elin. I’ve got the whole family album.

You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn or Blogger.com

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No one wanted to see the Bowden years end this way

Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177


No one wanted to see the Bowden years end this way
Posted 12/3/2009 10:40 AM EST on tallahassee.com

I’ve listened as the national commentators have berated Florida State University for how it has handled Bobby Bowden’s retirement, and I've grown more angry each day. One of my favorite guys, ESPN’s Dick Vitale, who I think of as almost like being my Italian uncle, was the worst.

“It’s embarrassing,” he said in his typical high-pitched voice. “What they did to him is embarrassing.”

Then he went off on Jimbo Fisher, saying he has been right there with Coach Bowden as the program declined.

“What makes him the answer to their problems?” Vitale asked.

I have watched as an outsider who has a front-row seat to what has happened with the FSU football program for the past five years. Just factually, the decline was well under way before Fisher got here. But that is beside the point. In fact, I was totally lost on his point, unless someone was suggesting Coach Bowden’s retirement was Fisher’s fault. But who would say that?

The people who live and work here, who know and love FSU, who depend on it in one way or another for how they earn their livings, educate their children or just for being so important to the fabric of daily life, are brokenhearted about how Bowden’s career ended.

No one has been more affected than FSU President T.K. Wetherell, a former player under Coach Bowden when Bowden coached receivers in the 1960s. Wetherell, who has already announced his own retirement, is the man who had to tell Coach it was over.

People close to Wetherell told me they were concerned about how the stress of dealing with this was affecting his health. No one wants to tell Dad or Mom they can’t drive anymore, but sometimes you just have to. It sure doesn’t mean you’ve stopped loving them.

People here do love Coach, not just for what he has done on the field, but for who he is and what he has meant to our community.

Here is a story that illustrates my point, based on an e-mail today from Mike Olivella, who moved into his home two doors down from the Bowdens in 1995.

“Our son was 14 years old at the time, and very early the next morning (Sunday), as my wife and I slept, our son crawled out of bed, put on his rollerblades and skated over to Bowden's house.

“He knocked on the door holding a baseball cap and Coach opened the door, barefoot, dressed in boxer shorts and a white T-shirt. He looked down and said, ‘Can I help you, son?’

“Mikey replied that we had just moved in a couple of doors down. ‘Those things you're wearing look fast,’ Bowden said. Mikey told him they were.

“ ‘You want that hat signed?’ asked Coach.

“ ‘Yes, sir. It's for my girlfriend back home. Her name is Kate,' said Mikey.

“ ‘Well, let's see if we can't do that for her,’ as he took the hat, signed it and then handed it back. ‘Now you be careful on those things,' said Coach as he shook Mikey's hand and smiled. “He turned, went back inside his home.”

Make no mistake that this episode of FSU history has been gut-wrenching for many thousands of us who have simply watched it being played out.

It really didn’t have to end this way, but I think a comment made last night during the FSU men’s basketball game by announcer John Saunders – another of my favorites – provides some insight.

“I know Coach Bowden wanted one more year, and I know that because I know his son, Terry, pretty well,” Saunders said.

Bingo, I said. That explains a lot.

In recent months, another group of people who feel they have done a lot for FSU over the years, the alumni who have contributed huge amounts of money, have grown more and more restless and vocal about how they have been portrayed as “ungrateful” by members of the Bowden family and their friends.

Along with empty seats in a stadium that simply rocked with excitement a few years ago and what appeared to be a growingly dysfunctional coaching staff, the alumni and boosters were simply tired of the whispers and the very public accusations of disloyalty.

No one who gives hundreds of dollars, let alone thousands and millions, wants to be called ungrateful.

And they were starting to speak up about it.

One such meeting with Wetherell and alumni and supporters occurred last weekend. I’m sure Wetherell knew what he was going to say to Coach before that meeting, but the message – I’m told – was clear: The end had come.

And so it has, and as with most public breakups of a family, it has been terribly sad for this community.

Maybe it has been embarrassing, too, Dickey V., but not for the reasons you suggest.

You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn, Blogger.com or on my blog on Friendster.

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Saying goodbye to Steve Ellis

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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Saying goodbye to Steve Ellis

Posted 11/23/2009 9:31 AM EST on tallahassee.com

When journalists don’t know what else to do, we write. That’s what I’m doing now: writing to help cope with the loss of our senior sports writer Steve Ellis, who died Thursday after suffering a heart attack.

It's my way of saying goodbye.

Don’t worry; I’m not going to get all gooey. That would not be fitting. Steve was as genuine a guy as you get. A classic sports writer in the Oscar Madison sense. It was his job, but it was also his passion.

But I thought I’d tell you my view on the man behind the byline, the person you have been reading for close to 30 years.

On a freezing day, Steve was the type of guy who’d insist you take his jacket.

I was not surprised to learn he was an Eagle Scout or that he counted that among his most important achievements.

One day soon after I got to town, Steve called me up and said to meet him down at Doak Campbell Stadium. He wanted to make sure I got properly indoctrinated. I soon found myself sitting across a desk from the legendary Bobby Bowden, just chatting and sharing stories about mutual friends from Huntington, W.Va.

Steve took me – and my baseball fanatic son, who was then 11 – for a tour of the baseball facilities, where we met Mike Martin and most of the players.

Coaches like Bobby Bowden and Mike Martin weren’t always happy with Steve because of what he would write, but they sure did respect him.

Bowden, when he learned of Steve’s death, said he was kind of like a son to him. The more I thought about that, the more right it seems. Steve was like the son who grows up with a mind of his own, and – while always respecting the old man – sometimes has to tell him things he doesn’t want to hear.

Like when he wrote that he thought it was time for Bowden to step down. It hurt Steve to write that. But he did because he felt it was the right thing to say, not because he wanted to, but because he believed it had to be said by him, the guy who has covered the program for nearly 30 years.

When Steve finally had to miss work because of his heart attack, he wanted us to put that in the newspaper so that the people who criticized him for writing that column on Bowden didn't think he had gotten fired for it. I told him someone would have to fire me before anyone could fire him.

The strangest thing now is picking up a copy of the newspaper and not seeing his byline. A colleague reminded me the other day that I once remarked that Steve had 57 bylined stories in a month in which FSU had only one game.

Anytime I asked him a question about something, he’d write a story on it. He figured if the boss had a question, readers might, too. He just couldn’t stop himself.

He was simply amazing. The story about him making his wife send in his last story via e-mail when he had the heart attack before he’d go the emergency room is true.

When I announced his death to our newsroom staff, I called everyone together. I couldn’t look at their faces. I said: “Steve didn’t make it.” Then after a long pause I said: “I’m sorry, I have no other words.”

That his powerful voice on FSU athletics is now silenced is the most stunning part of all.

He simply loved what he did and appreciated that a million guys would trade jobs with him in a second.

We’ll hire someone to cover his beat.

No one will ever take his place.

…

It seems so appropriate to announce – with deep gratitude to Florida State and the FSU Foundation – that a scholarship fund in Steve Ellis' name for the benefit of prospective sports journalists is being established at the FSU Foundation. The address for making contributions is:

Steve Ellis Memorial Scholarship Fund

Florida State University Foundation

2010 Levy Avenue

Tallahassee, Florida 32306-2739

You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn, Blogger.com or on my blog on Friendster.

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Boyd stuck in the middle with no one

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

Report item as: (required) X Obscenity/vulgarity Hate speech Personal attack Advertising/Spam Copyright/Plagiarism Other Comment: (optional) Boyd stuck in the middle with no one Posted 11/16/2009 6:45 AM EST on tallahassee.com Congressman Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, likes to take his electronic voting card out of his wallet in situations like this and say it belongs to the people of the 2nd District. He did that at a meeting of the Tallahassee Democrat’s editorial board recently and again last week at a public forum he hosted on health-care reform. “It's your card,” he said. “You asked me to take it to Washington and use it in your interests.” But which “you” is he talking to? Not a simple question. The problem is that his district is huge and diverse. In approximate terms, it stretches from Live Oak in the east to Bay County in the west, from Cross City in the south to Marianna in the north. The largest population center is Tallahassee, arguably one of the most liberal Democrat communities in the state. Yet much of the rest of the district is a mix of conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans. The net result is Boyd tries to portray himself as a pragmatic middle-of-the-roader, a proud Blue Dog, a fiscally conservative Democrat. He’s not opposed to social programs, as long as he knows how we’re paying for it. The problem is the middle is nowhere anymore, not in politically polarized America. Politics is becoming more like football: You are either on the team, or you're the enemy. There is no middle. This is not to say he won’t win re-election, incumbency is still very powerful. But he’s a target for zealots on both sides. For some in his own party, Boyd is too conservative and hasn’t stood with President Obama enough. State Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, who is running against Boyd in the primary, says it is time to put a “real” Democrat in Congress from this area. Lawson has been running a quiet campaign, almost as if he’s allowing Boyd to wallow in his “middleness.”And he’s been doing just that, running around the district – he’s conducted 14 or so of these public hearings – only to get jeered, taunted and attacked. That’s in part because he’s not conservative enough for people like Diane Berryhill. She was at his last public forum in Tallahassee and taunted him for voting with his party on other initiatives of President Obama. “We gave you that card,” she said. “Are you going to represent us (on health care), or are you going to vote on the basis of some lobbyists, or your party or what Nancy Pelosi is twisting your arm to do?” But which “us” is she talking about? Berryhill certainly doesn’t speak for much of Leon County, where the forum was held. Leon voted 91,747 to 55,705 for Obama. Democrats far outnumber Republicans here. Florida overall voted for Obama, too. Boyd’s district was typically divided – the rural areas voting for McCain. So – again – who is the “us” that Berryhill was speaking for, that she demands that Boyd represent? Berryhill and those at the forum who interrupted Boyd while he answered questions, jeering and hooting at the congressman, represent the politics of the loudest voice, hoping to sound larger than they actually are. But that’s where Boyd has placed himself, trying to ride that middle rail between conservatives and liberals. Unfortunately for him, there are trains coming down the track his way from both directions. You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn, Blogger.com or on my blog on Friendster. You can also find links to my blogs on Facebook.com, but you have to request to be my friend.