In Paving Paradise (Florida, $27), Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite uncover what ought to rank among Florida's most notorious development scandals -- and that's something in a state infamous for swampland scams and sub-prime sprawl.

It's the sham that environmental regulators protect swamps, marshes and springs from disappearing under strip malls and suburbs.

The prize-winning St. Petersburg Times journalists, who will appear at 8 p.m. Monday at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, expose the ''no net loss'' policy famously laid out in 1988 by the first President Bush as a rubber-stamp for the bulldozers. ''No idea of loss'' would have been a more fitting name.

Between 1999 and 2003, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied one permit to develop Florida wetlands. It approved 12,000, typically in exchange for a pledge from builders for ''mitigation,'' the dubious practice of creating artificial wetlands or buying into a wetlands ''bank'' elsewhere.

When the Corps couldn't come up with a loss figure, Waite, who provided data to back Pittman's dogged reporting, devised a method to calculate one from satellite images: 84,000 acres in 13 years.

Pittman and Waite spent four years to research an award-winning series they've expanded into an infuriating, all-too-familiar tale of how powerful developers, shrewd lobbyists and callow politicians shape public policy for private profit.

Rising water bills, the billions to restore the Everglades -- the book argues persuasively that everything goes back to paving over wetlands. Unfortunately, state lawmakers must have somehow avoided picking up what ought to be required reading. Faced with a glut of empty homes that have derailed the economy, the 2009 Legislature somehow decided to weaken growth laws so developers could build more.

''The people who contribute the most to political campaigns almost never want their elected representatives to tighten regulations,'' Pittman says. ``They want regulations loosened, because they believe that frees up business to thrive. Of course, . . . experience shows that the cost of cleaning up after private profit-making operations tends to fall on the taxpaying public.''

-- CURTIS MORGAN

Violin superstar Joshua Bell, The Houston Symphony's presentation of The Planets -- An HD Odyssey, and the return of conductor James Judd, who will lead the Master Chorale of South Florida, are among the Broward Center for the Performing Arts' classical-music highlights for 2009-2010.

The eight-concert season launches Oct. 8 with a performance by German violinist David Garrett in his South Florida debut, followed by Handel's Messiah performed by the Master Chorale and Judd.

The Houston Symphony's presentation of Gustav Holst's The Planets, scheduled for Jan. 31, 2010, will incorporate state-of-the-art images from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's exploration of the solar system. Bell will perform in recital accompanied by Jeremy Denk on Feb. 15.

The Broward Center, which plans to add master classes and lectures to several concerts, also has launched a philanthropic society, Classical Entourage. Membership starts at $1,000, and benefits include private, pre-show receptions; opportunities to meet the artists and priority seating.

Single tickets for Garrett's performance go on sale July 26, followed by the remaining events in the season on Oct. 8. Tickets and subscription packages will be available through the Broward Center's box office at 954-462-0222 or online at BrowardCenter.org.

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