Patrons of Centennial Park Library on Tuesday were visited by a facsimile of Benjamin Franklin, one the nation's Founding Fathers and the person responsible for the first public lending library. The portrayal of Franklin was courtesy of Rich Davis of Charleston, S.C. Promoting reading, Davis asked questions throughout his presentation and gave out bookmarks for correct answers. He will bring his presentation to the New River Library on Thursday at 4 p.m. Davis will talk about the life and times of Franklin and his achievements, and will re-enact a science experiment. ...more

January 23, 2008

I read Terri Otterman's column on "A Change We Can Believe In," in Highlands Today and found it very interesting. With the primary elections at hand and all the candidates calling for change, your column was very timely. Without getting overly political, I am leaning toward a Mormon candidate. I wanted to know more about the Mormon church, their mission regarding Christianity and their view on politics. I was pleased to find out through the church's Web site that political neutrality is their position. The church's mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to elect politicians. Many Christians believe the Mormon church to be a cult; it is not. The Mormon church is as much Jesus Christ-centered as any other Christian denominational church. In short, at this time, when we have many voters who lack knowledge of the Mormon church, you could apply your views to your readership. You also must stay neutral in your writings regarding politics. ...more

January 19, 2008

Rob Bell backs James Hibbs op-ed page column against religious zealotry in American public life. ...more

January 8, 2008

Gazing through rose-colored lenses, we should be basking in the glow of American democracy in action during this election season. We should revel in the diversity of the men and women seeking the presidency and marvel at the incredible foresight our founding fathers had so many years ago. We can still do that, of course, but we also must add that a lot of racist baloney is going on by bigots who hate the thought of a black presidential nominee. ...more

January 6, 2008

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee issued a new videotape where he wished Americans a "Merry Christmas." ...more

December 20, 2007

More than 200 years after they were written, huge portions of the papers of America's founding fathers are still decades away from being published, prompting a distinguished group of scholars and federal officials to pressure Congress to speed the process along. ...more

December 15, 2007

The separation of church and state is not meant to expel God from our schools or government functions. Our founding fathers established that separation so that no particular branch of organized religion could force their way of worshipping God to be the only way. One of the reasons immigrants came to the United States was so that they could be free to worship as they pleased. Separation of church and state simply guarantees that no one branch of religion, be it Protestant, Catholic, Islam, Buddhist or any of the worlds many other religions, is sanctioned by the state. To include prayers or rites from one of these religions in our schools and not include similar prayers from all of them has the effect of the state promoting that one religion. ...more

December 1, 2007

Hometown Democracy is simply 'ballot box planning.' Its focus is neither your hometown nor improved democracy. ...more

October 23, 2007

The generosity of Pasco County businesses and residents as outlined in your editorial Monday ('Residents, Businesses Take County Under Wing') should come as no surprise. Why? Because we are residents of the most generous nation in the world. ...more

October 10, 2007