Category: Media Watch

* “The problem is neither the Quran nor the Bible.” (The problem is the faithful who read the holy books) “like instructions for assembling Ikea shelves.”–Stephane Charbonnier, the Charlie Hebdo editor who was assassinated by Islamist gunmen in January, in his posthumously published book.

* A lot of times agencies operate in silos.”–Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

* “Florida is in play for Hillary no matter who the general election candidate is for Republicans. And if Hillary wins Florida, that’s it.”–U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

* “I’m going to have to show my heart, show my life experience. I can’t be about any kind of dynastic considerations.”–Jeb Bush.

* “A public health crisis.”–What the American Bar Association and the American Public Health Association declared gun violence in the U.S. to be.

* “The Supreme Court said that the states don’t have to accept Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act, but it never said rejection was a good idea. It ruled that states can opt out of the program–and the money that comes with it–leaving them to face the consequences.”–Miami Herald editorial.

* “The increasing creep of sea water into the coastal Everglades and South Florida’s aquifer show the clear and present danger of climate change. This is not a problem for another generation. … It has serious implications for the way we live right now.”–President Barack Obama, during his visit to the Everglades.

* “Today, we move on.”–Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts, in announcing that Comcast had ended its pursuit of a $4.5 billion merger with Time Warner Cable over regulatory concerns.

* “Teams want players to play with rage, utter rage, blind rage. So the players are socialized that way. We stoke these particular gladiators, and then we’re shocked when those passions go beyond the gridiron and then start to spill over into everyday social life.”–USC law professor Jody Armour, in the aftermath of the first-degree murder conviction of former New England Patriot tight end Aaron Hernandez.

* “Europe, California, New England–they all have cap and trade and nothing has been devastated. There is nothing about a generic cap and trade that is (economically) devastating.”–Duke University energy policy professor Billy Pizer.

* “The oil industry and their supporters are trying to get their foot in the door by doing seismic testing (off Florida’s Atlantic coast), showing that there’s some oil there, and then going back to Congress, maybe back to a new president, and saying ‘Okay, there’s oil there, let’s drill.'”–Frank Jackalone, staff director for Sierra Club Florida.

* “I am firmly in the camp of computerized testing.”–Senate Education Committee chairman John Legg, R-Trinity.

* “This damages our party. This makes us look like we cannot govern, that we cannot work out our differences, and the talk about a big tent is cheap.”–Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, on the tension between Florida’s Republican Senate and Republican House.

* “I’m thrilled my client can get divorced.”–Tampa attorney Ellen Ware, on the decision by Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal upholding the right of same-sex couples to get divorced.

* “But I’ve got to tell you, I feel it’s time to bring this thing in for a landing.”–Hillsborough County Commission Ken Hagan on a 2016 sales tax referendum for transportation projects.

* “Racial profiling is not just illegal, it is unjust and immoral. It is not–and has never been–tolerated in the Tampa Police Department or any city department or division.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “You have people looking at Florida that probably would not have if they hadn’t shoveled snow off their roofs all winter.”–Charles Richardson, regional senior vice president of Coldwell Banker, on reports that year-over-year sales of single family homes, condos and townhomes in Hillsborough County had increased 25 percent.

* “We’ve got to fix the streetcar.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “Obviously there are a lot of details to be worked out … . But I think the opportunity to be part of the transformation of what’s happening downtown would seem to be the opportunity of a lifetime.”–Hillsborough County Administrator Michael Merrill, on talks about relocating the struggling Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) to the downtown area being redeveloped by Jeff Vinik.

* “Maybe not the central business district, but in the urban core I think there are sites that will work.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn on possible Tampa venues for a Rays stadium.

There’s reporting the news. And there’s making the news. And then there’s reporting on the news that you helped make. Beyond commissioning a poll.

If you took Journalism 101 or just have an innate ethical sense, you recognize a slippery slope when you see one. Presumably the Tampa Bay Times did too. But its coverage of gyrocopter pilot Doug Hughes, the Icarus of Ruskin, begs further reflection–as well as future Journalism 101 inclusions.

We know that last year the Times was contacted by Hughes who said he had to tell somebody about his bizarre plan to fly through protected airspace to the Capitol to hijack the news cycle and galvanize national attention on campaign finance reform. Apparently the Secret Service actually interviewed him at some point. Then nothing–and Hughes moved along with his plan.

According to the Times, Hughes was in contact with the paper–reiterating his motivation–in the weeks before his flight. Ultimately, the Times published a piece about Hughes’ plans on its website (tampabay.com) shortly after Hughes took off from his Gettysburg address with his 535 air-mail protest letters. The Times reported about the flight on Twitter and Facebook as it was happening.

Then a Times reporter, according to the Times, called the Secret Service in Washington about a half hour before Hughes landed on the Capitol’s west lawn. Public information officers of the Secret Service and the Capitol Police were less than confirmative–or informative.

Here’s what we do know. A Times reporter and photographer were on hand to chronicle the conclusion–whether a landing, a crowd crash or a last-minute shoot-down. The Times had knowledge of a crime–operating an unregistered aircraft and violating restricted airspace–not a mere stunt. Moreover, it was a crime that could have gone so wrong so easily. No scoop, exclusive interview or laudable Citizens United screed–even in an era of print journalism anxiety–is worthy of the risk.

This story abounds with irony. Doug Hughes will not be known as the Paul Revere of campaign finance reform. He will not be mentioned in the same civil-disobedience breath as Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi or M.L. King. He’ll remain well under the radar as an activist patriot.

But he will be remembered for an aerial stunt that underscored, yet again, how unconscionably awful security is around the Capitol and the White House.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, addressed the overriding issue after discussing the incident with Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy. “I think that there’s … a very dangerous gap with regard to our airspace,” said Cummings. “I don’t want people to get a message that they can just land anywhere. Suppose there was a bomb or an explosive device on that air vehicle? That could have been a major catastrophe.”

And the Times and everybody else would have been reporting–and still rehashing–an eminently preventable tragedy.

* “We should not be surprised if Tehran is caught cheating. While the Obama administration has emphasized the emerging agreement’s highly intrusive verification measures, the trick will be not only to catch cheating in a timely manner, but also to react with a clear plan.”–Robert L. Gallucci, professor of diplomacy at Georgetown University and chief negotiator for the 1994 nuclear deal with North Korea.

* “He’s independent and doesn’t kowtow to anybody. It makes me feel good to know he’s going to be one of the people having a close look at the Iran deal.”–Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, on Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

* “It was done in the spirit of good will in order to encourage progress in the talks.”–Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Russia’s plans to deliver a sophisticated air defense missile system to Iran.

* “This bipartisan bill will protect health coverage for millions of Americans, and I will be proud to sign it into law.”–President Barack Obama, after the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation rewriting how Medicare reimburses physicians.

* “He (Barack Obama) needs her (Hillary Clinton) to win this election so that the things he wants history to remember as his most consequential accomplishments aren’t undone in the first 100 days of a Republican administration.”–Robert Gibbs, former Obama White House press secretary.

* “Instead of a chilly, scripted, entitled policy wonk, as in 2008, Hillary plans to be a warm, spontaneous, scrappy fighter for average Americans. Instead of a woman campaigning like a man, as in 2008, she will try to stir crowds with the idea of being the first woman president.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “I think a governor is going to be the nominee, a governor or a former governor, because I believe that our party and our country need someone who’s actually run something.”–New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

* “It is a contradiction somewhat that he’s projecting himself as the candidate of the future but some of his positions are not in tune at all with people in his age group and younger.”–Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, on the presidential candidacy of Marco Rubio.

* “‘Gun control’ is when you hit at what you aim at.”–Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

* “Never forget. It’s not how far you’ve traveled; it’s what you’ve brought back.”–The late Italian writer Tiziano Terzani.

* “Development has to be part of conflict prevention.”–Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank.

* “(Gov.) Scott is treating cost as the only priority for companies. If that were the case, we’d all be living in Mississippi.”–Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Area Economic Council.

* “It’s always high risk, whenever you’re dealing with anything in Florida relating to change.”–Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, in voicing his concerns about online voter registration.

* “Perhaps we should consider going back to electing the secretary of state so he would be more in tune with the voters than with the individual who appointed him.”–Former Florida Republican legislator Paula Dockery.

* “The feds and the executive branch and representatives from the (Florida) House and Senate ought to get together and try to forge a compromise.”–Jeb Bush on how funding hospital care and expanding Medicaid should be handled in Florida.

* “It’s the same old story. (Job creation) has been looking pretty good, but wages have not been keeping up.”–Chris McCarty of the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic Research on the report that Florida’s jobless rate remain unchanged at 5.7 percent in March.

* “I see this as my life’s work. Assuming the flight doesn’t kill me and I don’t get a lengthy prison term.”–Ruskin gyrocopter pilot Douglas Hughes, explaining his campaign-financial-law protest before heading for the U.S. Capitol.

* “This will be a whole new reality show for the community. Most people have no idea what officers deal with on a daily basis.”–Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor on officers’ use of body cameras.

* “Old Hyde Park reflects what was good about Tampa when I was growing up. And with the development of downtown, I’m envisioning that they’ll bring the trolley up there and do a complete loop. It’s like Tampa’s growing up and taking a step back in time.”–Richard Gonzmart, in announcing the location of the soon-to-be resurrected Goody Goody restaurant.

That was quite the call-out by the Tampa Bay Times of the Florida House for its refusal to accept Medicaid expansion money. Its Sunday Perspective front page was dedicated to the “immoral minority” and featured mug-shot-like photos–along with phone numbers and email addresses–of the 13 Republican obstructionists who represent Tampa Bay districts, including Dana Young and Shawn Harrison of Tampa. The former is the House majority leader as well as a South Tampa embarrassment.

Polls show the majority of Floridians support taking federal dollars to extend health care coverage to the working poor. The medical community wants it. So do many businesses. So does–overwhelmingly–the Florida Senate.

As the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce has put it: “The bottom line is that health care expansion would lower business costs, increase competitiveness and create a healthier workforce and community.”

This shouldn’t be partisan, polarizing politics as usual. This shouldn’t be about a visceral dislike of President Obama or an inherent distrust of all things Washington.

This should be about us. About the 800,000 low-income, working Floridians who could gain health care coverage at no cost to taxpayers.

Is the House remotely responsible? Does it even care?

* “The United States will not be imprisoned by the past–we’re looking to the future. I’m not interested in having battles that frankly started before I was born. The Cold War has been over for a long time.”–President Barack Obama on relations with Cuba.

* “We are willing to discuss everything, but we need to be patient–very patient. … I have told President Obama that I get very emotional talking about the revolution. I apologize to him because President Obama had no responsibility for this.”–Cuban President Raul Castro.

* “Part of what has always made the U.S.-Israeli relationship so special is that it has transcended party, and I think that has to be preserved. There has to be the ability for me to disagree with a policy on settlements, for example, without being viewed as … opposing Israel.”–President Barack Obama.

* “We’ve earned the right to be able to try and complete this without interference and certainly without partisan politics.”–Secretary of State John Kerry, in urging congressional opponents of an emerging nuclear deal with Iran to “hold their fire” until they see a final agreement later this year.

* “Everyday Americans need a champion. I want to be that champion. … I’m hitting the road to earn your vote. Because it’s your time.”–Hillary Clinton, in announcing her presidential candidacy.

* “Yesterday’s over.”–Sen. Marco Rubio, playing the generational card in his announcement of his presidential run.

* “I always knew, despite my hopes to the contrary, that he would do real well in this business. Marco has a televangelical ability to communicate, and he is extremely disciplined. He could catch fire and he’s shown he’s able to do that.”–Former Florida Democratic Rep. Dan Gelber.

* “Under the watch of both parties, the poor seem to get poorer and the rich get richer.”–Sen. Rand Paul, Republican presidential candidate.

* “What unites the Republican Party, on the 150th anniversary of the murder of Lincoln, is that they are against the type of progressive legislation that gave rise to their party. Lincoln is an oil painting in the parlor, to be dusted off while Republican leaders plot new ways to kill things that he would have approved of.”–Timothy Egan, New York Times.

* “There’s no telling how far President Obama will go to dismantle our freedoms and reshape America into an America that you and I will not even recognize. And when he’s finished, he intends to go out with a coronation of Hillary Rodham Clinton.”–NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre.

* “This whole system is a joke. We’re in a world where you can give a candidate, say, $2,000. But you can spend $1 million on a Super PAC and that’s not corrupting? It’s ridiculous on its face.”–Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center.

* “That is how war robs you of your humanity–by putting you in a situation where you must either kill perfect strangers or be killed by them.”–Kaname Harada, 98, Japan’s “last Zero fighter.”

* “I don’t believe I should be out running for another office instead of running my office.”–Attorney General Pam Bondi, in formally announcing that she would not run for the U.S. Senate in 2016.

* “We are focused on tax cuts and not expanding Medicaid, so that’s where we are and that’s the posture we’re in. It was hard for me to say no (to $690 million in tax cuts) as a Republican. I’m sure it was hard for them (Senate) to say yes to Medicaid expansion.”–House Speaker Steve Crisafulli.

* “These new bed tax numbers show how well Tampa Bay’s story resonates with travelers across the country and the world. We truly have something for everyone, whether they love art, roller coasters, craft beer or our sparkling waterfront.”–Santiago  Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, on the news that Hillsborough County set a record in tourism development taxes in March.

* “If necessary … we’ll go into the grocery business ourselves.”–Jeff Vinik, on his back-up plan if a big grocery store chain doesn’t commit to building a store in the Channel District.

These are not the best of times for much of print media. The scenario is an all-too-familiar one for well-chronicled reasons.

So what the print world didn’t need right now is the Rolling Stone magazine mess.

In attempting to remain relevant and score a high-profile exposé, it published an explosive, 9,000-word article, “A Rape on Campus,” last November. In its rush to bad judgment, it paid lip service to the possibility that its story of a gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at the University of Virginia wasn’t, well, true. Instead of ratcheting up scrutiny for a purported crime that hadn’t been reported to authorities, it lowered the fact-check bar.

In so doing, it violated journalistic norms well known to high school reporters, editors and faculty advisors.

It starts, fundamentally, with a source. Almost always, that primary source will be identified. But on rare occasions–think “whistle-blower” retaliation, national security implications or sexual-assault sensitivity–that’s not the case. But when such sources remain anonymous (via pseudonyms), their reliability has to be cross-checked and corroborated via multiple, independent secondary sources. Especially if such sources had been quoted in the story.

None of that, unconscionably, was done here. Nor were any perpetrators named. This all came to light in a devastating report recently released by the Columbia Journalism Review, which in a blistering critique castigated the magazine for “reckless research” in a piece rife with “bad journalism.”

In fact, when they were contacted after the fact by the Washington Post, the secondary sources denied quotes attributed to them by Rolling Stone. Moreover, according to CJR, the magazine didn’t provide the fraternity with enough information to respond adequately to questions. As a result, the magazine never learned, for example, that there were no fraternity functions on the weekend specified in the story.

The Rolling Stone managing editor has since issued a retraction and apologized for the discredited article.  Inexplicably, no one is being fired for negligently ignoring the principles of Journalism 101.

The bottom line here remains basic. Even if you’re doubling down on a story that will yield mega publicity while addressing a growing societal scourge, the rules don’t change.

In looking out for sexual assault victims, both now and future, remember “victim” can be an inclusive term. In this case, it includes the University of Virginia, Phi Kappa Psi and the truth.

There’s a local connection to the touted, faux sitcom Halal in the Family that made its debut this week on the humor website funnyordie.com. The four episodes star Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi, who attended USF and Chamberlain High. It’s being promoted as a satiric forum for addressing issues such as cyberbullying, media bias, hate groups and FBI surveillance of Muslims. An advisory council of Muslim, interfaith and civil rights organizations has been instrumental brainstorming themes to help combat anti-Muslim prejudice.

One piece of unsolicited advice: It often helps to leaven serious, talking-points satire with self-deprecating humor. It’s even more universally appealing and inclusive than satire itself.

It was certainly noteworthy enough when the notorious, undefeated University of Kentucky basketball team lost to Wisconsin in the NCAA semifinals. The post-game press conference, however, turned tawdry in its newsworthiness. UK guard Andrew Harrison muttered a nasty slur into a microphone about Wisconsin’s AP “Player of the Year” Frank Kaminsky.

He called him a f-bomb-adjective/ n-word. Incongruously enough, Harrison is black, Kaminsky is white. Regardless, it was blatantly offensive to anyone within earshot.

Later Harrison tweeted that it was a “poor choice of words” and called Kaminsky to apologize. “Nothing needs to be made out of it,” responded Kaminsky.

It’s likely that’s the last we’ll hear of that beyond-bizarre utterance. But imagine the high-decibel clamor we’d still be in the midst of if Kaminsky had said it.

* “If Iran cheats, the world will know it.”–President Barack Obama, in announcing the framework for an agreement that limits Iran’s nuclear program.

* “We don’t cheat. We are not two-faced.”–Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

* “A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel.”–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reaction.

* “I am cautiously optimistic this framework for an agreement just might work.”–Sen. Bill Nelson.

* “I cannot stand behind such a flawed agreement.”–Jeb Bush.

* “…This deal is a colossal mistake.”–Sen. Marco Rubio.

* “The presidency of the United States is not some crown to be passed between two families.”–Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is weighing whether to challenge likely contender Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

* “Be yourself. You’re going to be under a lot of scrutiny and you don’t want to have to defend yourself that you have gone through a Damascus Road conversion on the way to the presidency, that you are the same person as a candidate as you have been in your previous personal and political life.”–Bob Graham, former Florida governor and senator, in advice to Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

* “I just want to do my job, and part of my job for the president is to be his friend.”–Valerie Jarrett, assistant to President Barack Obama.

* “It’s a very different culture in the U.S. In the U.K., we get lots of access to the companies we invest in. In fact, I’ve wondered why a director wouldn’t want to know directly what a thoughtful shareholder thinks.”–Deborah Graham, corporate government counsel at British pension fund RPMI Railpen Investments.

* “We see our taxes as a way of paying back the state that has given us so much. State taxes pay for state services. There’s just no way around it.”–Author Stephen King, who paid $1.4 million in taxes to the state of Maine in 2013.

* “I’m a passionate centrist, which means half the time I disagree with myself.”–Larry Wilmore, host of “The Nightly Show.”

* “Things are fairly and fully priced. Don’t go chasing returns now. Don’t chase yield.”–Financial advice from Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg.

* “The hotel issue is certainly here; Cuba really hasn’t built new hotels. There’s already a shift–people are starting to invest in turning their homes into rental properties, because they see the government not moving fast enough.”–Collin Laverty, owner of Cuba Educational Travel, in the aftermath of Airbnb’s announcement that it will be adding Cuban private homes to its international listings.

* “A part of the problem is that you don’t see college presidents willing to speak out on this issue … because then people will say, oh, that must be ‘the rape campus.”–Kirby Dick, director of the campus rape documentary The Hunting Ground.

* “Innovative investments in solar energy will provide customers with more options to use this resource, while diversifying our energy mix and continuing to meet the needs of Florida’s growing economy and population.”–Alex Glenn, state president of Duke Energy Florida.

* “We’re very much in the posture to meet the House on tax cuts if, in fact, we have a resolution on health care.”–Florida Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon.

* “Money plays a huge role in what goes on up here.”–House Democratic leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach.

* “The days of nonpartisan races being truly nonpartisan are gone.”–USF political scientist Susan MacManus.

* “We need more (transportation) choices. We need walkable streets, more bike lanes. Rail to the airport, to our job centers and eventually to St. Petersburg.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “This is fundamentally a different way of looking at Tampa going forward. Forever more, Tampa will be a city that people will view from the vantage point of the waterfront. And the Riverwalk has made that possible.”–Former Mayor Pam Iorio.

* “Every event has its own pros to it. The benefits (of the Women’s Final Four) is that it’s an event that brings strong female role models to our community and the media exposure we get when the games are on TV, every time they mention Tampa Bay.”–Visit Tampa Bay CEO Santiago Corrada.

* “People are afraid to death to come forward because they’re afraid they’re going to be retaliated against. Young folks want to take matters into their own hands instead of dealing with law enforcement.”–Tampa City Council member Frank Reddick.

* “They just put $9 million into the Riverwalk. And the inner city is in chaos.”–Clarence Jones (aka Ali Muhammad), chairman of Tampa’s New Black Panther Party.

* “Whenever that day comes when the Tampa Bay Rays stage their Old-Timer’s event, I want to be invited. Absolutely.”–Joe Maddon.

* “The overwhelming majority of Afghans continue to see partnership with the United States as foundational to our future.”–Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani.

* “Cuba is in very dire economic straits. They need the United States. Venezuela’s economy could collapse, and then what are they going to do?”–Carmelo Mesa-Lago, University of Pittsburgh economist.

* “You can engineer all the safeguards you want, but the deliberate act of a deranged individual is going to cause major harm, because society has to trust certain people to do high-risk jobs.”–John Cox, retired airline pilot and aviation safety expert.

* “Today I am announcing that I am running for president of the United States. It is a time for truth, it is a time for liberty, it is a time to reclaim the Constitution of the United States.”–Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

* “I’m not going to fake anger to placate people’s angst.”–Jeb Bush.

* “Voting for president is a political act, but it’s also a relational one. … Right now in (Scott) Walker and Marco Rubio, (Jeb) Bush faces two opponents whose backgrounds and identities–the working-class slayer of unions, the self-made immigrant’s son–match the way Republican voters want to think about their party in a way that a silver-spoon politician, whatever his record, never will.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “Though Jeb is more apt to do his homework, he’s unformed on foreign policy, like his brother–except that his brother was elected before 9/11. Now the neocons who treated W. like a host body for their own agenda are swirling around Jeb, ready to inhabit another President Bush.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “Word’s gotten out and people are communicating that they want to go before Cuba changes.”–Tom Popper, president of New York-based InsightCuba, on the notable hike in monthly tour bookings to Cuba.

* “Conservatives see the environmental left as people who want to eat bugs, walk and destroy the economy.”–Bob Inglis, executive director of the Energy and Enterprise Initiative.

* Honest to God, if you start to engage me in a race conversation before I’ve had my morning coffee, it will not end well.”–Gwen Ifill, the African-American co-anchor of “PBS NewsHour,” in a Twitter post, after Starbucks announced the “Race Together” initiative that encourages baristas to talk about race-related issues with customers.

* “If you made it less easy for employers to fire union organizers, you would meaningfully impact the amount of collective bargaining.”–Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.

* “The average Floridian pays about $1,800 a year in state taxes. That’s the lowest in the country. But we can do even better. And we will.”–Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, chairman of the Florida House finance and taxation committee.

* “We’re very much in the posture to meet the House on tax cuts if, in fact, we have a resolution on health care.”–Florida Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon.

* “The Legislature greatly exceeded my expectations for mischief. There’s no question about what the emphasis was. It was Florida Forever. We were clear about that.”–Clay Henderson, former president of the Florida Audubon Society, on how the Senate and House are interpreting Amendment 1.

* “The days of nonpartisan races being truly nonpartisan are gone.”–USF political scientist Susan MacManus.

* “This is fundamentally a different way of looking at Tampa going forward. Forever more, Tampa will be a city that people will view from the vantage point of the waterfront. And the Riverwalk has made that possible.”–Former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

* “He doesn’t just want a great district, a great setting for the Lightning to play, a great place to hang out on Thursday night, but a really great place to make Tampa a more competitive city and region.”–David Dixon of Stantec engineering, who’s advising Jeff Vinik on “new urbanism” applications.

* “It’s been a long time coming. I couldn’t be happier to be the mayor in office when we bring back the Tampa Pride Parade.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “There’s elections and there’s politics. In my office, we do elections; we don’t do politics.”–Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer.

* “From our perspective, it is very difficult to get a new stadium done without cooperation, help, assistance from local government. We’re hoping–we’re hoping–that Stuart (Steinberg) gets that kind of help so that they can get a facility that will keep the Rays and keep them competitive for the long term.”–MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.