Published November 28, 2011, in The Gainesville Sun

1,500 rally for Ten Commandments

CROSS CITY, Fla. — Joe Anderson stood on the steps of the Dixie County courthouse Sunday, bewildered by what is going on in “little, backwoods Cross City.”

Five years ago, Anderson paid to have a monument of the Ten Commandments — which states at the bottom, “LOVE GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS” — installed in front of the building, sparking a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union and continuing the dialogue about the separation of church and state.

To Anderson, who lives in Old Town, there is no debate: The country, he said, was founded on Christian principles, and the county has a right to display a monument to the commandments Christians observe.

He was preaching to the choir Sunday.

About 1,500 people gathered in this town with a population of 1,728 for an event that was part tent revival and part tea party meeting, as a pastor and attorneys talked about religious freedom with quotations from the Bible and America’s founding fathers, such as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

In July, a federal judge ordered the monument removed from the courthouse in 30 days.

The county — which is being represented by Liberty Counsel, an Orlando-based Christian nonprofit organization that defends groups in cases of “religious liberty, the sanctity of human life and the family” — was awarded a stay while it appeals the ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

One woman held a sign that read, “If you don’t like what our USA was built on ‘GET OUT.’”

Read the full article on The Gainesville Sun’s website.

Published November 16, 2011, in The Gainesville Sun

Chandler executed for 1989 triple murder

RAIFORD, Fla. — Oba Chandler was executed by lethal injection Tuesday, his fate seemingly in stark contrast with how he ended the lives of an Ohio woman and her two teenage daughters more than 22 years ago.

Chandler, 65, was pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m. in the death chamber at Florida State Prison after a lethal dose of drugs was sent through his veins.

In the summer of 1989, Joan “Jo” Rogers, 36, and her daughters, Michelle, 17, and Christe, 14, were visiting Florida for their first family vacation. On June 1, prosecutors said, they met Chandler, who invited them onto his boat for a cruise around Tampa Bay.

Three days later, their half-nude bodies were found in the water. They had been tied with rope and weighted down with concrete blocks. They had apparently been sexually assaulted before they were thrown overboard still alive.

On Tuesday, at 4:08 p.m. at Florida State Prison, a prison official asked, “Inmate Chandler, do you have any last statement that you would like to make?”

“No,” Chandler said, uttering his last word.

Read the full article on The Gainesville Sun’s website.

Published May 3, 2011, in The Gainesville Sun

For families of fallen, uneasy comfort in bin Laden’s death

Max McGahan opened a beer — a Yuengling, from “America’s oldest brewery” — Sunday night and offered a toast to his fallen brother.

A friend earlier had sent him a text message saying Osama bin Laden had been killed. He immediately called his parents in Orlando.

“As soon as I saw that, I had to call, especially after everything we’ve been through,” said McGahan, a University of Florida senior whose older brother, 2nd Lt. Mike McGahan, was killed in Afghanistan on June 6. “I guess you get a little solace out of (bin Laden’s) death, but you still have mixed emotions. It’s a thing to celebrate, but you realize all the sacrifices that have been made, not just by my brother, but by the thousands of service members who have been killed — and their relatives.”

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Published November 26, 2010, in The Gainesville Sun

Usually capped at 130, shelter feeds 300

James Whitfield munched on a buttered biscuit after helpings of turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans.

His girlfriend, Diane James, said it looked like he was enjoying it.

“It’s the best thing on the whole plate,” he said.

“Be thankful,” she shot back.

“I am thankful.”

Whitfield and James, both 50, were among the more than 300 people — either homeless or hungry — who got a Thanksgiving meal at the St. Francis House soup kitchen and shelter on South Main Street on Thursday.

For 362 days a year, though, the doors close after the 130th person grabs a tray.

Per St. Francis House’s permit with the city of Gainesville, it can only serve 130 meals in a day, a point of contention with advocates for the homeless.

Whitfield said he has shown up right after No. 130.

“Right at the door,” he said. “Now that hurts, man.”

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Published August 26, 2010, in The Gainesville Sun

Quran burning raises fear of violence

As he took the pulpit to deliver his sermon Sunday, Terry Jones acknowledged the potentially violent firestorm that has erupted in response to his church’s plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11.

“Anybody bring a gun to shoot us?” Jones asked, eliciting a smattering of laughs.

But some posting comments on jihadist websites are not laughing, vowing revenge against his church, the Dove World Outreach Center, which had about 30 attendees at its worship service Sunday.

“Now, I wish to bomb myself in this church as revenge for the sake of Allah’s talk,” wrote one person who identified himself as Abu Dujanah, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

As area law enforcement form their response, the reporting of Jones’ plans has gone international – from Mumbai to Melbourne, with some media outlets, including the Journal, describing Dove World as a Gainesville “mega-church.”

While city officials are concerned about the effect on Gainesville’s image, they say the more pressing matter is the potential for trouble.

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Published July 19, 2010, in The Gainesville Sun

The end of ladies night? Not quite

One by one, young women sidled up to the bar Wednesday night at the Grog House, a student haunt across from campus on University Avenue, and put down their white plastic cups that indicated to the bartenders they were drinking for free.

Three months ago, the city of Gainesville sent letters to the 115 alcohol-serving establishments in the city limits informing owners that so-called ladies night drink specials would, from that point on, be considered a violation of the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance.

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights reached a similar conclusion last month, declaring that five bars in the Minneapolis area violated the state’s discrimination law, The Star Tribune reported.

In a case in 1994, the practice had also been ruled illegal, but establishments continued anyway.

As was the case in Minnesota, a number of bars in Gainesville have carried on catering to women. Sort of.

At the Grog House and owner Rob Zeller’s other bars around town, Wednesday night is no longer ladies night – it’s shaved leg night.

At the Rue Bar downtown, Friday is high heel night.

Theoretically, men who have smooth legs or are wearing pumps can drink free, too.

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