In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: A crabby savoir for the parimutuels

Old (slightly crabby) Jim Morgan, who races more animals on a weekend than most trainers run over a lifetime, could be the last, best hope for Florida’s faltering parimutuel industry.

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: Florida oxy pills have long, deadly reach

Oceana is a misnomer, a small town at the confluence of the Clear Fork and Laurel Fork rivers in the mountains of southern West Virginia, some 400 miles from the nearest ocean. Lately, locals have given it a more accurate appellation. They call it Oxyana.

Fred Grimm: As other states ban executions, Florida says kill ’em faster

On Thursday, Maryland became the sixth state in the past six years to abolish capital punishment. Eighteen states have now done away with the death penalty. Florida, of course, is not among them.

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: Tallahassee sticks it to the locals

Our good ol’ boys in Tallahassee surely do resent those meddlers from Washington sticking their big government noses in Florida’s business. “We know what’s best for Florida,” they’re fond of saying.

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: Journalism’s bright side: few rattlesnakes

So a soldier, a lumberjack and a newspaper guy walked into a bar. Which might have had the makings of a joke, except they couldn’t afford a punch line.

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: Pro teams get sweet deal for spring training stadiums

It’s as if when they sold naming rights to South Florida’s sports stadiums, the winning bid went to “controversial.”

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: Boston bombing has FAU’s nutball prof blathering again

The likes of James Tracy wouldn’t have thrived before the digital age.

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: The error was small, the damage immense

Andrew Flaherty, new to Florida, could not escape the feeling he had moved to a unwelcoming place. He was often treated with a dismissive brusqueness, particularly at businesses where he was asked to produce an ID.

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: These days, the news comes fast and furious in our pockets

“Ping!” goes my pocket. And Pavlov’s neurotic dog goes for the cellphone like Wild Bill Hickok going for his holstered Colt. Like it was urgent. Like I was expecting Lebron to phone. Or the president. As if Eva Mendes was finally returning my call.

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: Rural senators’ clout mis-represents America

We don’t count for much down here in Florida. Not in this particular democracy.

In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: At least Jay-Z paid his own way to Cuba

Marco Rubio, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Mario Diaz-Balart have been complaining all week that the Havana travel agenda of Beyoncé and Jay-Z was too light on the “schedule of educational exchange activities” required to circumvent the Cuban travel embargo.

Fred Grimm | In My Opinion

Fred Grimm: Lobbying around those pesky regulations

On a thirsty tract up in Clay County, some savvy businessmen pulled off a nearly magical act of hydraulic engineering. They converted hundreds of acres of dry piney woods into an extremely profitable wetlands mitigation bank. And they did it without water.

Fred Grimm: Thuggin’ rep may hurt tow firm in court

Don’t know much about civil suits or liability law or wrongful death claims. I do know something about the public’s estimation of tow truck operators.

In My Opinion

State Republicans find fraud close to home

For the better part of two years now, Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Republican Party have been scouring the state like a sheriff and his posse, hot on the trail of election bandits.

OPINION

While tuition soars, dirt gets a break

College students may think of themselves as dirt poor, but in Florida they're regarded as less than dirt.

Blessed are the poor, but do we care?

I look at the House of Lies scandals, I see sleazy deals and political patronage and well-connected insiders who regard affordable housing as just another way to game the system.