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Republican presidential hopefuls will face off in a debate Wednesday night featuring the YouTube website, which didn’t exist until two years ago.  And every major presidential candidate has a Facebook or MySpace page.  The sites have more than 160 million users combined.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, some college students are skeptical, but others are using the pages to learn more about the candidates.

Does Social Networking = Effective Presidential Campaigning?

110 million users log on to MySpace.  Another 56 million use Facebook, which until earlier this year, was only open to college students.

In 2004, voters under 30 cast 20 million ballots for president, a 9 percent increase over 2000.  Every major presidential candidate has a presence on Facebook or MySpace.  Students are taking note.

“I definitely haven’t made up my mind,” said Wes Schaffer, a Florida State student from Lee County.  “I guess if one of them were to message me, I’d take a closer look at them.”

But others aren’t impressed.

“I just wasn’t really interested,” said one FSU student.

One sure way to reach the younger crowd is to send them a text message.  In 2006, a study found that 4 percent of younger voters were more likely to vote if they received a text reminder.

But experts say the audience on social networking sites wants more than slogans and pretty pictures.  Lance Dehaven-Smith teaches political science at Florida State.

“If you spin and just put a surface site up that’s not credible, that can backfire on you,” Dehaven-Smith said.

Political scientists say it’s too early to tell which candidatees are effectively using social networking to campaign.  The proof will come next November.

Facebook was launched in 2004.  MySpace went online in August 2003.

A coalition of groups ranging from the League of Women Voters to the NAACP are behind a national bus tour nick named Sicko..after a movie critical of the heath care system. The groups are pushing a bill in the U-S House of Representatives that would create Universal Heath Care for all Americans. Wilson Barnes of the NAACP says heath care is the next civil rights fight in this country.

“We don’t, today, worry about sitting in the back of the bus, if you happen to be an African American as I am, but there are may of us, poor and minorities that have to worry about health care.”

The legislation would create a publically funded, privately delivered heath care system modeled after the Medicare.

A top former U.S. counterterrorism official gave a speech at Florida State University.  Richard Clarke served on the National Security Council under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush until 2003.  He wrote a book in 2004, “Against All Enemies:  Inside America’s War on Terror.”  Since leaving the government, Clarke has been highly critical of the Bush administration.  Clarke says the invasion of Iraq opened the door to Iran as a major threat to stability in the Middle East.  Clarke says bombing Iran is not the answer.

“I spent a lot of time negotiating with the Soviet Union when they were our enemy,” Clark said.  “So I have the prejudice that we ought to talk to our enemies.  And I think we ought to talk to Iran.  You never know what could happen when you sit across the table from someone and negotiate.

Clarke currently is an adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Thousands of pets will end up as Christmas presents this year. To make sure pet stores are giving consumers a fair shake, inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will be visiting pet stores to make sure they are following the so-called pet lemon law. As Chris Casquejo tells us, the law will protect you if you end up with an unhealthy animal.

Hear it here: Pet Lemon Law Could Protect You This Holiday Season

A pug puppy may seem like the perfect gift for a loved one. But store owner Carol Hoover has a suggestion for those thinking about buying pets.

“You might want to think about getting the supplies for the animals,” she said. “And actually wait until after the holiday season to buy the animal.”

Under Florida law, cats and dogs can’t be sold until they are at least 8 weeks old.

When buying a cat or dog in Florida, look for the official veterinarian’s certificate. It tells you how old your pet is and exactly what shots it’s had.

If the pet gets sick or dies within two weeks, the seller has to pay the vet bills. Buyers can also exchange sick animals or ask for a refund. The Department of Agriculture says choose wisely.

“If you have small children, there are certain breeds of aggressive dogs you don’t want to have,” said Terence McElroy, with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “If you have a small dwelling, say a one-bedroom or studio apartment, you probably don’t want a large animal.”

Pet store owners like Carol Hoover also want to remind people to consider that pets require a lot of care and a lot of time.

“You need to take the animal’s welfare into consideration before you make this life, lifelong commitment,” she said. “It’s a very long commitment. It’s like taking on a new child.”

Parrot lovers beware. Florida’s so-called pet lemon law only applies to cats and dogs. For more information about the pet law or to make a complaint, call the Department of Agriculture at 1-800-HELP-FLA.

Summer tourism numbers show that more travelers visited Florida in 2007 over the same period last year.  From the first of July through the end of September, 21.1 million people came to the sunshine state.  That’s a 4.8 percent increase over the same time frame in 2006.  State tourism officials at VISIT FLORIDA say rising gas prices did not seem to have the effect many thought they would.

“The summer vacation is an American tradition,” said VISIT FLORIDA’s Karen Kirksey.  “So even though gas prices might be rising, they’re going to take the trip.  But they might cut corners in some other ways, maybe stay at hotel that’s less expensive or something like that.”

In 2006, tourist related spending brought in $65 billion to the Florida economy.

The 11 state institutions of the State University System of Florida received a record number of graduate school applications for the fall semester.  54,065 applied to graduate programs this fall.  That compares with 47,674 who applied in fall 2006, an increase of 13.4 percent.  53 percent were accepted in 2007.  In 2006, the acceptance rate was 56 percent.  State leaders believe the economic downturn is partly responsible.

“We have more prepared students competing for the same or fewer number of seats, said Chancellor Mark Rosenberg of the State University System of Florida.  “So we’re spending a lot of time to figure out here at the Board of Governors how we can grow our access to our students without diminishing the quality.  They need quality because they need to be competitive, not only on I-95 and on I-10, but globally.”

For the fall semester, overall enrollment in the state’s 11 public universities went up 2 percent, to 299,570 students.

Thinking about buying an animal for Christmas? The state says think again.

Here’s the audio from this mornings interview with Terry McElroy at the Department of Agriculture. We’ll have more later today.

Hear the Interview Here

Zach Bonner started collecting water for the victims of Hurricane Charley when he was six. Today he walked the last mile of a 280 mile journey to shine a light on the problem of homeless children. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, you haven’t heard the last from this amazing youngster.

Here It Here

It is a journey that started 23 days ago in Tampa. Zach Bonner has walked all of the 280 miles to the capital for a cause. Finding help for the 20 to 40 thousand kids that are homeless on any given day in Florida. He says no children deserve to be homeless.

“It’s been really tiring and exhausting,” Bonner said.”But whenever I get really tired I just think of all the homeless kids that have to live through all the bad weather.”

Zach turned ten on the journey. His mother Laurie says keeping up with him is a full time job.

“He started when he was six, when Hurricane Charley hit,” Laurie Bonner said. “He wanted to collect water from the neighborhood and he kept going for four months.”

On stage, at the end of his journey, he speaks like a pro, glancing only briefly at prepared index cards.

“I do what I do because it makes me happy,” Zach Bonner said. “It makes me happier than any other thing that I do.”

Zach doesn’t lack for goals. Next thing on his list: dinner for a thousand families hurt by Katrina. And then next year, building a house for the homeless.

Some might call him amazing. Others committed. He is certainly an individual wise beyond his years…with a heart that knows no bounds.

Zach believes you can blame a lot of people for being homeless, but says you can’t blame children. As Mike Told us, Zach is planning to walk from Tallahassee to Atlanta next year to raise awareness for the homeless issue.

The high cost of apartment rental, fueled in part by a large student population, is one of the leading causes of homelessness in the area. Kay Freeman of the Big Bend Homeless Coalition says those making minimum wage have long workdays to make ends meet.

“In Tallahassee, in order to afford an apartment, you need to earn about $13.03 an hour because of the rental costs,” Freeman said. “That’s pretty tough. Let’s say you’re a single woman and you have two children, if you’re earning minimum wage, you’re working 97 hours a week to just pay for your apartment, let alone food and utilities and childcare and that kind of thing. And then what happens if you get sick?”

The lack of health insurance is also a leading contributor to becoming homeless .  When those living on the edge of solvency get sick because they have no health care, they lose their jobs and apartments and begin a spiral down.

For the last 23 days, Zach Bonner, his mother and sister, have been walking from Tampa to Tallahassee. Zach came up with the idea for the 280 mile journey because he wants to draw attention to homeless children. His mother Laurie says he has been an activist since he was six.

“He started when he was six, when Hurricane Charley hit. He wanted to collect water from the neighborhood and he kept going for four months,” Laurie Bonner said. “And then he worked with Extreme Home Makeover, collecting money for one of the families that they were building a house for and then after that is when he got the idea that he wanted to help homeless people, build houses for them. I said well, maybe scale it down a little bit and we came up with helping homeless kids.”

In addition to walking, Zach has been giving out backpacks to homeless children. The backpacks contain personal toiletry items and usually a book. On any given day in Florida, there are between 20 and 40 thosuand homeless children.

Ten year-old Zach Bonner walked 280 miles from Tampa to Tallahassee because one in five homeless in Florida are children. On any given day, there are 20 to 40 thousand homeless kids in the state. Two factors that lead to being homeless are the high cost of renting an apartment for a single mother and health care issues. Kay Freemen of the Big Bend Homeless Coalition says the quicker the coalition can intervene, the less likely someone is to remain homeless.

“Frequently, what happens is that someone in the family becomes ill or they lose their job or there’s a lay-off,” Freeman says. “Then they can’t pay their rent, they can’t pay their mortgage and the next thing you know, they’re homeless. The chances are it’s their first episode of homelessness in their lives. So what we know locally is the longer someone is homeless, the more likely they are to remain that way.”

Estimates on the number of homeless are hard to come up with, but various reports have pegged the number in Florida as low as 55 thousand to as high as 200 thousand.

Zack Bonner just completed a 280 mile walk from Tampa to Tallahassee to shine a light on the problem of homeless children. The state says there are anywhere from 20 to 40 thousand homeless kids in the state.

We have sound with him, as he was walking his last mile. Also, there is sound with his Mom, Laurie Bonner as well as Big Bend Homeless Coalition Director Kay Freeman. Sound is in that order.Hear it Here: Walking for the Homeless Kids

As you sit down to enjoy your Thanksgiving meal, you may notice that it cost more to put the food on your table. Rising energy costs are driving up food prices. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, those cost are also squeezing the farmers who produce the food.

It’s feed time for the beef cattle on the Spears-Wilkerson farm. The land has been in the same family for more than 100 years.

“This land has always been used for cows and pasture,” farmer Lovelle Wilkerson said.

The Wilkersons have 30 head of cattle here; another 100 on two other farms. A cow is usually ready to go to market in 7 to 9 months and it can fetch 575 dollars at auction.

Rising energy costs are driving up the cost of fertilizer and that means it costs more to feed the cattle. The fertilizer the family uses is nitrogen based. It’s price is expected to jump by a third next year.

“Is our food going up a third? If a farmer don’t get paid that third, there’s going to be less of them in business,” Bob Wilkerson said.

It’s not just beef. Government figures say it’s produce, it’s milk., it’s poultry. All up 23 percent in the last year. All because of higher fuel prices.

Despite the challenges, the Wilkersons love what they do.

“It’s harder physical work but you don’t notice it because you’re working for yourself,” Bob Wilkerson said. “ You don’t worry about the time too much, because like I said you’re working for yourself.”

And while family farms are dying out, Bob and Lovelle Wilkerson have hope for the future of their farm. One of their grandsons will likely take it over…but not until he finishes college.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services designated the Spears-Wilkerson farm a Century Pioneer Family Farm.

The holidays are often a time people who should know better end up behind the wheel after having too much to drink.  Don’t risk hurting yourself or someone else. Two to go is a program of the AAA motor clubs. Brenda Smith of triple A says  From now until New Years day, you can get a free ride home for both you and your car.

“If you’ve imbibed too much to drink, you can simply call the AAA, 1-800-888-HELP,” AAA Spokesperson Brenda Smith said. ” We will dispatch a driver and a wrecker to tow the driver and the vehicle home at no charge. That’s offered to the public as well as AAA members. ”

The number to call for a free tow is 1800.888.HELP

Florida A & M says it has asked the US Attorney to take over the investigation into grade changes. Here is the full release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   Contact:        Sharon Saunders
November 21, 2007                                       (850) 599-3413