Keith_Landry's Blog

DCF admitted today they made mistakes in the death of a five month old boy in Lake County earlier this month.  The child welfare agency came clean today and made a top district manager available to discuss the tragic incident.

DCF issued a final report saying an investigator made mistakes in the death of Gabriel Golden.  His biological parents left the boy with a couple, who were caretakers.  Sheriff's deputies found the boy dead at the home of Ashley and Tammi Baker.  An autopsy ruled the boy had two skull fractures and died from blunt force trauma to the head.

The agency finds its investigator was supposed to do back ground checks on the Bakers within 72 hours but waited almost thirty days.  The check found after the fact that Mrs. Baker was investigated fourteen times on child abuse allegations, two were verified.  Mr. Baker had been arrested a few times.

So the agency says it's making changes to make sure the background checks are done on time and that supervisors are talking more with investigators.

Still, baby Gabriel is dead.  What are your thoughts on this situation?  Blog it here.

They were two brutal videos that went national on the internet.  The videotaped beatings of teenager Victoria Lindsay in a home in Polk County.  The defendants thought it would be cute to beat her up and then post it on the internet.  Now, it's time for them to pay the price for their deeds.

There will be a pretrial hearing Tuesday in Polk County.  Five young women are charged with kidnapping and battery in the beatings.  Now there's talk of possible plea arrangements for some of them.

Do you think prosecutors and the judge should allow these five teens to enter plea deals, or should they have to face the rigors of trials for what they did?  Blog it all here.

Some big retailers are offering big deals this weekends, sales well before Thanksgiving.  Retailers are worried they'll have an awful holiday season, so they're trying to lure shoppers in early.

Where will you shop this Christmas?  Do you have shopping tips for the rest of us?  Blog it all here.

I wish I didn't have to write this blog, because this is gonna be ugly.  More big budget cuts are on the way for our schools across Florida.

The Orange County Schools Superintendent Ron Blocker talked about how the district has saved 713 thousand dollars so far this year in transportation costs.  They did it by flip flopping starting times for high schools and middle schools, creating shorter bus routes.

The problem is that the steps school districts have already taken just won't be enough to keep up with Florida's plunging state revenues due to the slow economy.

Analysts say the state could force another round of school budget cuts for this school year and then much deeper budget cuts for next school year.  Teachers and school board members across the state say there's no fat left to trim in their budgets.

What do you think about the cuts that are on the horizon?  Will they hurt the quality of education in our area?  Blog it all here.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office has busted three meth labs in five days.  One was a mobile meth lab; one was in a home; and one was in a shed.  The sheriff's office says it usually ranks in the top ten counties in Florida for meth lab busts.  That's because of the rural areas with few people to spot operations.

What do you think about all this?  Blog it here.

How do you feel today?  Are you proud to be an American?  I am.  I think today's election is a great reminder for us and the world that Democracy really matters, and it's worth fighting for. 

I am proud to be an American. I started wearing an American Flag lapel pin after September 11th and I've never stopped wearing it.  I have a tattoo of an American eagle carrying an American flag in its claws on my shoulder blade.  I am not ashamed to say that I sometimes cry when I hear a patriotic song or a statesman's words stir my soul to consider the potential of our Democracy.

Maybe when you wake up tomorrow morning, you won't be happy with who will be our next President. Maybe you'll be delighted.  Either way, our nation heads in a new direction soon.  Either way, remember our system works; people fought and died for our system; and millions of people around the world would give anything to enjoy our freedoms. 

I hope today you feel proud to be an American.  Blog your thoughts here.

Are you confident your vote will really count in 2008?  I don't mean does your vote matter, I'm asking, do you believe it will actually be counted?  Elections Supervisors and canvassing boards across our state are working to make sure every legal vote counts.

This year there are new audits in place; a mandatory paper trail in case of a recount; and the paper ballots must be saved for 22 months.  The new voting machines scan your ballot as you feed the ballot into them, attempting to catch mistakes.  When the votes are brought in from polling stations, they are stored in secure locations.  Individual election workers are never left alone with the ballots- counting is always done in groups.

So will it work?  Will every vote be counted in 2008?  Blog it here.

It's Halloween and the political types are not taking the night off for Halloween.  The two sides are both working Friday night, trying to sway undecided  voters and to get them to the polls.

Some of Sen. Obama's campaign workers are dressing up for Halloween and going door to door to distribute campaign literature.  Republican leaders are also going door to door and making phone calls.  The Repubs decided not to dress for Halloween on the door to door visits.  They determined it might annoy people who want a break from the campaign for Halloween.

What do you think?  Would you be annoyed by campaign workers in costumes at your door or is it just a fun way for them to volunteer?  Blog it here.

Do you think political rallies really matter?  Central Florida has become the mecca for every politician with the highest ambitions.  We've really got the routine down.  Our photographers show up several hours early so Secret Service can sweep their gear.  Reporters show after that and then the ralliers file in, wearing their t-shirts, buttons and ball caps.  Some carry creative signs.  It's pretty exciting to attend and even cover them, because there's lots of energy.

In the end, do you think the rallies matter to undecided voters?  Do the rally crowd sizes matter?  I've seen both presidential campaigns squabbling with eachother over crowd size numbers, and accusing the others of inflating numbers.

What do you think?  Blog it all here.