Kissimmee News

From Tallahassee, Florida, we've got here a couple of ironheads, a.k.a., Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, who have "both filed legislation that would subject a range of pipes often ...

used to smoke crack or marijuana

... to a 25 percent tax." They used their noggins to come up with a creative new tax but didn’t stop to consider that their great idea could make them into accomplices to the distribution of drug paraphernalia, a crime in Florida that carries a one-year sentence and/or $1,000 fine.

How could writer, Brandon Larrabee, get away with letting Rouson say that what he hoped to do was “get rid of the charade, the hypocrisy”? Is it obvious to no one that the charade is Rouson pretending that he doesn’t know what Americans are using these things for? If Rouson wants to tax a tangible product that can also land a fellow Floridian in jail, then he is determined to tax what is essentially an illegal product.

I could be wrong but isn’t this putting the cart before the horse? Aren't senators supposed to be more intelligent than this? Maybe Floridians could consider coming up with law against senators who waste public time on stupid ideas.

Tell writer, Brandon Larrabee, what you think at brandon.larrabee@jacksonville.com or call him at (678) 977-3709. To join the fight against facist leaders and end the Prohibition on Marijuana, to People United for Medical Marijuana.

Osceola County Sheriff's Office detectives Monday arrested five suspects, including a maid, for an armed robbery at the Econo Lodge in Kissimmee.

Nathaniah Fredericks, a 31-year-old Kissimmee man arrested in Operation Kissimmee Crackdown in December, last week was sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison for distributing crack cocaine.

The city of Kissimmeea s planning staff involved in the redevelopment on the Vine Street corridor met with several regional transportation agency heads last week to present the citya s vision for its portion of U.S. Highway 192 and garner their support.

Kissimmee police are looking for a man wanted for the strangulation and imprisonment of a 45-year-old Kissimmee woman after the man was let out of jail prematurely.

Kissimmee Utility Authority today announced the winners of its 16th annual student calendar art contest.

Open to Osceola County students in kindergarten through fifth grade, the contest is designed to promote energy conservation.

This year, a total of 1,327 entries were received from 21 Osceola County elementary schools, including public, private and charter schools. KUA also received entries from nearly three dozen homeschooled students.

KISSIMMEE, FLA | Following is an excerpt from a letter sent to John Quiñones, chair of the Osceola County board of commissioners, from the group named the Freedom from Religion Foundation on behalf of an Osceola County resident.

Our national organization, which works to keep state and church separate,

... has been contacted by taxpayers and residents of Osceola County who strenuously oppose the practice of prayers at Council meetings .... it is clear that these prayers are rarely, if ever, nonsectarian .... shows unconstitutional governmental preference not just for religion over nonreligion, but Christianity over other faiths.

Citizens of all religions or no religion are compelled to come before you on civic, secular matters. They should not be subjected to a religious show or test, or be expected to demonstrate religious obeisance at a city function. We fail to see why divine guidance is needed over such earthly matters anyway.

Christians who know their bible are familiar with the biblical injunction of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, condemning as hypocrisy public prayer. “Enter into thy closet and when though hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.” (Matthew 6:5-13). Observing a strict separation of church and state offends nobody, and honors not only the First Amendment, but also the very tenets being professed during the Board’s prayers.

On behalf of our Osceola County membership and our secular constitution, we urge the County Board of Commissioners to concentrate on county matters. The tone that should be set is one that respects and reveres the secular and entirely godless U.S. constitution, which County officials take an oath to uphold, and whose only references to religion are exclusionary."

KISSIMMEE, FLA | Florida is a Marijuana Prohibition state. So, how does it follow that a Floridian has set the first documented U.S. record on smoking pot? Something funny seems to be happening in Florida.

While record numbers of Hispanics and African-Americans have been arrested and disenfranchised in Florida for simple marijuana possession, this guy gets to light it up without fear of prosecution. Irvin Rosenfeld, a stockbroker who lives in Fort Lauderdale, has carte blanche permission by the U.S. government, who also happens to be his drug dealer, to toke it up.

Now he has set the first documented record for smoking marijuana, but no one is allowed to challenge him, lest they end up in prison. (Just for the record, Florida IS located in the United States.)

Osceola County - The Florida Highway Patrol is after the owner of a white van. They say the driver may face charges in a deadly hit and run.

We agree with most of the issues on the Osceola County Commission's legislative priority list.

FLORIDA | The latest leg of Cheech & Chong's reunion tour has a new name and focus. "It’s time to get it legal, before it’s too late," says Tommy Chong. "We want to promote change through laughter. The marijuana laws are so ridiculous, you've got to laugh at them."

Cheech & Chong's "Get it Legal" tour will be in Tampa on March 12 at the Performing Arts Center. Tickets went on sale 11/20 @ 4:20 p.m. For more information, go to:

http://celebstoner.com/200911173259/news/celebstoner-news/cheech-a-chongs-get-it-legal-tour-dates.html

As long as Florida governor Charlie Crist hasn't yet taken away your right to vote, get active! To get active with ending Marijuana Prohibition in Florida, go the People United for Medical Marijuana, a.k.a., PUFMM.

Ten people were arrested Friday afternoon in a drug sweep operation conducted by the Kissimmee Police Department.

Helping Others Make the Effort, or HOME, is sponsoring a homelessness awareness walk Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. at the Kissimmee lakefront.

The American Medical Association has changed its policy on marijuana. The association wants the U.S. government to remove pot's classification as a dangerous drug to one with possible benefits. Right now, the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled drug, which has no medical benefit. Thirteen states have approved the use of medical marijuana. The government has recently ordered its narcotics agents not to arrest medical pot users and sellers in these states, even though pot is still illegal on the federal level. In Florida, you can still be arrested for possessing, selling, and trafficking in pot.

A man and two women arrested with an ounce of heroin last week await trial on drug-related charges, according to records released Friday by the Osceola County Sheriff"s Office.

A 44-year-old Kissimmee man was killed and his 9-year-old son seriously injured after their car collided with a light pole and signpost on Pleasant Hill Road early Sunday morning.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers are investigating a fatal crash in Osceola County after a driver hit and killed a pedestrian Monday night.

A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed a lawsuit accusing television personality Elisabeth Hasselbeck of plagiarism.A federal lawsuit accused the co-host of ABC's "The View" of lifting content from a book written by self-published Cape Cod author Susan Hassett on the digestive disorder celiac disease.

Kissimmee Police detectives are investigating a suspicious death in the Siesta Key subdivision.

Some homeowners in a Kissimmee neighborhood say the city has cut off access to their neighborhood, and is forcing them to drive out of their way just to get to their homes.