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What You Missed This Week in La Gaceta

From As We Heard It, by Patrick Manteiga

► We are proud of former La Gaceta staff writer Emily Carney, who co-authored her first book “Star Bound.” It’s described as a “Beginner’s Guide to the American Space Program, from Goddard’s Rockets to Goldilocks Planets and Everything in Between.”
Carney has always had a love for space and the space program. She is the manager of public engagement and social media for the Space 3.0 Foundation, founder of the popular spaceflight group, Space Hipsters, and co-host of the “Space and Things” podcast.(to read more, buy a paper)

► While you’re ordering tickets, you might want to purchase one for the Florida Strawberry Festival Parade Day Luncheon. It is also a must for the political class. The luncheon is on Monday, March 3, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the John R. Trinkle Center of the HCC Plant City Campus at 1206 N. Park Rd. Cost is $25 per person.
You must RSVP by Feb. 3. Daniel M. Coton is chair of the event and Renita K. Boles is co-chair.
For more information or tickets, call 813-244-2680. TECO is the sponsor.(to read more, buy a paper)

► The Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, enrollment has grown substantially under the nurturing of the Biden Administration. Under Trump’s last four years, the enrollment was stagnant at around 11,000,000 enrollees. Under Biden, the number has grown to 24 million in 2024, the highest ever. With ACA, Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance and other programs, the number of Americans with health care coverage is 92 percent according to the U.S. Census.
That’s more than 300 million. That’s also a record. Pretty good for a four-year Biden presidency. …(to read more, buy a paper)

► The 22nd statewide grand jury that Governor Ronald DeSantis asked for in December of 2022 to investigate crimes and any and all wrongdoings to the people of Florida related to the COVID-19 vaccine has found no crime or wrongdoing. … The grand jury was just another waste of time and money that was more about the governor’s campaign for president than it was about truth, justice and good government.(to read more, buy a paper)

► Buddy MacKay, 91, Florida’s last Democratic governor, died on New Year’s Eve at his Ocala home, surrounded by family.
MacKay had a long political career. He was elected to the Florida House in 1968 and to the Florida Senate in 1975. He was elected to Congress in 1982 and served three terms. In 1988, he ran for U.S. Senate against Republican Connie Mack for an open seat.
We remember the race clearly. On election night, it looked like MacKay narrowly pulled ahead of Mack as the votes were counted, but the absentee votes, now called vote by mail, were counted last and by the morning, Mack pulled ahead. Back then, absentee votes were dominated by Republicans. Mack won the race 2,051,071 votes to 2,016,553. It was the closest Senate race in Florida history.
He joined with Lawton Chiles as his lieutenant governor running mate in 1990 and they defeated Republican Governor Bob Martinez. They then defeated Jeb Bush in 1994 for a second term.
MacKay ran for governor in 1998 but fell short to Jeb Bush.
Chiles died in office and MacKay was governor for just over three weeks.
We remember campaigning with MacKay during his run for governor at a fish fry at Mcfarlane Park in West Tampa. We stood on a tailgate with MacKay, Michael Scionti and Marvin Knight as local Democrats gave speeches of support for MacKay.
MacKay was a gentleman, statesman, smart and dapper. It was a far different day in politics than today and MacKay was a type of politician who has all but disappeared in Florida.
MacKay’s last political post was as envoy for the Americas. He was appointed to the position by President Bill Clinton. We attended his swearing in at the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. We are better to have known him.(to read more, buy a paper)

From Chairman of the Bored, by Gene Siudut

► … On our third night in Montreal, we ventured to the casino, which was similar to American casinos with the exception that the dealers speak French. When you play blackjack, it doesn’t matter much, as French numbers are pretty easy to remember, I imagine other games could be tougher.
Notable about that excursion was our Uber ride back to our hotel. The group was my wife and myself along with her sister and husband. The Uber driver was a grizzly native who disliked the Canadian government and told us all about it.
The Uber driver also let us know he knew where all the good spots were and he would take us to them, starting with “the best topless bar in Montreal.” He told us that he could get us a table at said nudie bar for just $2,500. I politely let him know we weren’t interested, which led him to let me know that when the ladies went to sleep he could come back and pick up my sister-in-law’s husband and I and take us there. Again, I declined. His final salvo about it was that the offer was open that whenever I felt like “being a man,” he would come get me. …(to read more, buy a paper)

From The Reasonable Standard, by Matt Newton

► Not long ago, the State Legislature unveiled the Live Local Act. It held great promise: an expeditated, administrative process to vest non-residential land (i.e. commercial and industrial) with residential entitlements.
Rather than have real estate developers navigate the lengthy, very expensive, and often-emotional public hearing process, the Legislature empowered them with a cheaper, expedited and administrative option to add residential units to communities.
Many local governments were appalled.
Because here’s the thing: local governments and their elected officials have historically depicted certain land as non-residential on their long-range planning maps for good reason.
For example, urban planners typically cluster commercial land at major intersections to manage traffic and avoid strip commercial development. Many communities encourage adding residential land to these commercial developments through vertical integration—i.e. adding floors of residential use on top of floors of commercial use. …(to read more, buy a paper)

From In Context, by Doris Weatherford

► Except for historians and really old-timers, few Floridians remember when everyone here was a Democrat – or claimed to be. It was a vestige of the Old South. Particularly in the Panhandle, Florida legislators took their cues from men such as Alabama’s notorious segregationist George Wallace and Georgia’s “Pickaxe” Lester Maddox, who called themselves Democrats. Most people in Tallahassee trembled in fear of supposed Democrat but ultra-conservative Dempsey Barron and his henchman, W.D. Childers. Like today’s Donald Trump, these guys got away with repeated investigations for corruption.
But a few people stood up to them and earned the designation of “Doghouse Democrats.” Because they adhered to democratic principles, they and their bills were assigned to the doghouse, never to see the light of day in Tallahassee. Tampa Representative Pat Frank and Senator Betty Castor were part of this new wave of resistance to the “Panhandle Porkchop Gang,” along with other progressives, especially Senator Jack Gordon and Representative Elaine Gordon. Both were from Miami, but they were not kin. …(to read more, buy a paper)

From Silhouettes, an interview with Ann Madsen, by Tiffany Razzano

► Nonprofit leader Ann Madsen grew up in a small town, Massena, in “the very northern part of New York.” While she enjoyed her childhood up north, growing up with a big family – a sister and five brothers – the area is also “the coldest place in the universe.”
So, decades later, when she had the chance to relocate to the Tampa Bay area, she jumped at it. “Life is better here; life is so much better,” she said.
Many of her siblings even followed her down to Florida, so she gets to enjoy the best of both worlds. “The gang’s all here,” she said.
Today, Madsen serves as executive director of The Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women in Tampa, though she began her professional career in journalism. …(to read more, buy a paper)

From Líneas de la memoria, por Gabriel Cartaya

► El sábado pasado tuvimos en Ybor City la visita del cineasta cubano Yimit Ramírez, quien radica actualmente en Madrid, España. Yimit es graduado de la Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro y de la Escuela de Cine de San Antonio de los Baños, en Cuba. El artista, director creativo en Next Reality Digital LLC, ha presentado su obra en festivales desarrollados en Cuba, Europa y Estados Unidos. Dirigió el filme independiente Quiero hacer una película y actualmente trabaja en la cinta Loading.
Nos reunimos en el patio de la Sociedad Martí-Maceo, de tanta significación en la historia de la ciudad. Allí nos atendió con exquisitez Jesús Puerto, miembro de la directiva de esa entidad que este año llega a su 125.° aniversario. El conversatorio, en el patio de esta institución, fue organizado por Alberto Sicilia, como apertura de un espacio de diálogo al que ha llamado Locus Fumus.
Como siempre que llegan visitantes de origen cubano a Ybor City, José Martí se hace inevitable en la conversación. Asimismo, caminar por las calles de ladrillos por donde pasó el héroe cubano, mirar el lugar donde pronunció sus hermosos discursos, el parque “Amigos de José Martí” –donde estuvo la casa de Paulina Pedroso–, la fábrica de tabacos de Vicente Martínez Ybor, el Club Cívico Cubano y otros lugares históricos de este pueblo, produce siempre una emotiva impresión que, esta vez, compartimos con el cineasta y sus familiares. … (to read more, buy a paper)

From Briznas culturales, por Leonardo Venta

► En su alcoba de la casa de su sobrino José Hurtado de Mendoza, en el número 7 de la madrileña calle Hilarión ¬Eslava, literalmente ciego, entre la soledad y la indolencia, muere Benito Pérez Galdós el 4 de enero de 1920, a los 76 años, casi sumido en la pobreza. Al día siguiente, decenas de miles de madrileños acompañaron el féretro en su recorrido desde el Ayuntamiento de Madrid, donde se emplazó la capilla ardiente, hasta el cementerio municipal de La Almudena.
Su delicado estado de salud se había agravado desde que el 13 de octubre de 1919 sufriera una grave crisis de uremia, que lo mantuvo postrado en cama hasta la madrugada del 4 de enero, cuando aquellos que le velaban escucharon un grito de pavor. Corrieron a su lado, y presenciaron la manera en que se llevaba las manos a la garganta, como si se ahogara, e intentara incorporarse. Poco después caía muerto sobre el lecho.
“Silencioso, recogido, en actitud modesta, caladas las oscuras gafas que protegen contra el rabioso sol de España sus ojos enfermos, pasa inadvertido de todo el mundo”, así retrata Amado Nervo a Benito Pérez Galdós, el novelista más fecundo y significativo de la España del siglo XIX. …(to read more, buy a paper)