Archive : Observer Columnists

by Dick Morris In the lunch alert videos on DickMorris.com last week and this week, Herman Cain, and then Michele Bachmann was interviewed to discuss their candidacies and perspectives. What emerged is a fascinating portrait of these two people and what...

More dollars won’t do it. Taking tenure away from teachers (or even giving it back) won’t do it. Adding another layer of testing certainly won’t do it. The key to turning poor student achievement around rests on one word: Attitude. Specifically,...

“To be the Northeast Florida leader in providing effective, coordinated and integrated multimodal transportation solutions.” Mission Statement, JTA I had a great job when I lived out west in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Traveling between Denver, my home...

  Well, that was fun. Back about six months or so ago, I announced that I had chosen so seek a seat on the Jacksonville City Council.  And I chose an enormous mountain to climb in the process… challenging a well-known incumbent in a county-wide race. We now...

This editorial by Darcy G. Richardson appeared in the March print edition of the Jacksonville Observer. If the first televised debate was any indication, Jacksonville voters still have few clues as to how the city’s next mayor will deal with the city’s...

Editorial by Jeff Hunt In the past, when I have argued the case for the decriminalization of prostitution, “morality” has always been the greatest hurdle. This is a good thing! If people were not moral I would be afraid to leave my home, so it is...

Dear Jacksonville Observer Readers: As an observer of the political scene I’ve come to appreciate the many unique personalities that inhabit Washington , D.C. Some are known for their eccentric behavior, some for the causes they champion, some for the...

LOSER: Scott Hughes, Chief Investigator at the State Attorney’s Office, who has gotten himself into trouble by using a driver’s license database to investigate the residency status of the parent of a football player at Yulee High School. Soon...

Today we’re going to feature a few losers who’ve crossed onto the wrong side of the law in recent weeks… LOSER: Kristopher Marlowe, the famed Cheez-It Bandit who stole an autographed Jaguars hat, has finally been apprehended. Couch potatoes...

Several years ago I was asked to speak to a group of teenagers at a local middle school on the topic of living an ethical life. As I faced the class that day, filled with 30 teenagers who had no interest in why I was there or what I had to say, I realized...