Republican Jeffrey Buongiorno subscribes to the fantasy that millions of immigrants are surging into the country illegally to vote Kamala Harris into the Oval Office. “Avoid a civil war by filing a civil complaint against the treasonous traitors who are conspiring to offset your vote,” he urged in a message on X.

There was a time when such conspiracy-wielding candidates were laughed off as unelectable. No more. After all, millions of Floridians will cast ballots for the biggest election conspiracy theorist of them all in November.

In 2020, there was just one election conspiracy. Now there are dozens, and across the state, election conspiracy theorists like Buongiorno are on the ballot or jostling to influence whose vote counts.

Take Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, who’s in charge of Florida elections.

Just as Mrs. Samuel Alito’s flags suggested what kind of political talk took place behind closed doors, Byrd’s wife Esther’s post-Jan. 6 Facebook posts warn of “coming civil wars.”

“There are only 2 teams,” she wrote. “With Us [or] Against Us.”

Conspiracy theories

A figure of speech, Cord Byrd said when asked about the posts, before he bowed to another conspiracy theory and withdrew the state from a multi-state compact ensuring the accuracy of voter rolls. The Electronic Information Registration Center (ERIC), can find voter fraud. But someone floated a George Soros conspiracy, Donald Trump chimed in, and Florida was left without a one-of-a-kind tool to find duplicate voter registrations.

Then there’s Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. Because nothing says election integrity like pressuring another state to ditch its votes, Moody joined 16 other states petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to jettison ballots in four swing states in 2020. It took all of 48 hours for the court to turn away the poor-loser arguments. Moody’s own lawyers had already derided the case as “bat-s–t insane” and, in an especially prescient description, “weird.”

The same adjective equally applies to Buongiorno’s 36-page lawsuit. He hints that House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced an election bill in part because of Buongiorno’s analysis, alleges a Haitian couple once guaranteed him a congressional primary win for $85,000, and says a new local voting tabulation center “defies the will of the people.”

Assigned to a Trump judge

Buongiorno’s fact-free claim of mass non-citizen voting has traction from Mar-a-Lago on down. Nor can you shrug off the suit. The judge assigned to his case is Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee known for her novel legal decisions.

Further, Buongiorno is just one of several conspiracy-minded supervisor of election candidates who hope to oversee Florida votes, the Tampa Bay Times found. In Charlotte County, David Kalin told reporters his radio frequency analyzer proved 99.9% of Florida’s ballot machines are connected to a modem. Lake County GOP candidate Tom Vail’s website declares that “Easy to Vote Means Easy to Cheat.”

Then there’s EagleAI, a software system backed by Cleta Mitchell, best known for being on the call when then-President Trump asked Georgia’s Secretary of State to find another 11,780 votes.

In May, EagleAI dumped the names of 10,000 Florida voters on Cord Byrd’s doorstep, alleging they might be illegally registered.

Such name dumps are cutting-edge voter suppression. A voter can only hope that their registration is not being challenged, and if it is, that underfunded and overworked supervisors of elections get around to combing through all 10,000 names before election day.

It’s the sort of thing ERIC would have accomplished, only with access to confidential detail that can distinguish between glitches and actual problems, such as a part-time Floridian registered in two states.

Solving actual problems is not the end goal of conspiracy theorists, though. Keeping people from voting is. Vail, for instance, believes that not everyone should be encouraged to register, the Orlando Sentinel reports. And one of Cord Byrd’s complaints about ERIC was its requirement that states send postcards urging people to register to vote. Floridians apparently don’t need extra nudges to participate in democracy, because the state is doing just fine, he said.

There really is an election fraud being perpetrated in Florida, one that voters need to pay attention to: It’s the clickbait fiction that the machinery of democracy is hopelessly rigged and is fixable only by limiting access to the ballot box. Plenty of people are lining up to do just that — if we let them.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

When I first ran for public office, I went door-to-door and told voters my number one priority was to make health care a right, not a privilege. That’s why my proudest moment in public service was the vote I cast for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which enabled tens of millions of Americans to get their health security.

And two years ago this Friday, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, which vastly expanded on that victory by lowering prescription drug costs, expanding ACA access, and making coverage more affordable.

Thanks to the new law, over 200,000 people in my district alone will buy ACA marketplace policies this year, a 104% increase from 2020. Four million Floridians will use the ACA, with average enrollees saving hundreds in premiums.

But in another critical way, this legislation is game-changing. After generations of failed efforts, the Inflation Reduction Act finally empowered Medicare to negotiate lower costs for some of the priciest prescription medications, including those that treat diabetes, heart failure and autoimmune disorders. Out-of-pocket Medicare savings to seniors will reach $1.6 billion in 2026, and taxpayers will save $6 billion, administration officials announced Thursday.

That’s not all. The law also caps monthly Medicare insulin costs for seniors at $35, provides free recommended vaccines, like for shingles, and ensures drug companies face penalties if prices climb faster than inflation. Also, starting next year, seniors will see their annual out-of-pocket drug costs capped at $2,000, bringing more financial relief to millions.

For too long, Floridians faced impossible choices, between paying for medicine or groceries. Now, because of this administration’s leadership, our families can breathe a little easier when it comes to health care costs.

This progress didn’t come without a fight. Republicans relentlessly attempted to repeal the ACA, and they will not stop trying to take it all away.

President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Democrats in Congress like me took on Big Pharma and we won. Now, we must fiercely defend these gains and continue our progress.

These achievements face real threats, as clearly laid out in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint, the playbook for a dangerous second Trump presidency.

Project 2025 would dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act and take Floridians and millions of Americans back to when health care costs were skyrocketing and millions were denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

Republicans like Sen. Rick Scott voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and he’s coming after Medicare as well.

If that Trump-Scott agenda wins this fall, here’s what it means to you: higher prescription drug prices, soaring premiums and a return to the days when health care was a privilege for only the few.

If Project 2025 becomes reality, 45 million Americans could lose their coverage. Nearly 20 million would see premiums rise. Seniors on Medicare would see an exponential rise in prescription drug costs, while Big Pharma and insurance companies make unseemly profits — and all so Republicans can give billionaires more tax breaks.

But there’s another way. Vice President Harris and my fellow Democrats will build on our progress and ensure everyone can access the care they need.

As your representative, I will not stand by as Republicans try to rip away the health care my fellow Floridians and millions of Americans rely on, and I’m asking you to join me in that fight.

Let’s make sure that come November, we stand united, protect our health care, and continue moving forward. We are not going back.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz represents Florida’s 25th Congressional District. 

Walz once spoke of “weapons of war that I carried in war” when talking about banning assault rifles (rightly so). The problem is he was never in war. (Walz said he “misspoke.”)

Walz said he retired two months before his unit was deployed to Iraq. Soldiers in his unit said he retired when he got word that his unit was going to Iraq.

Walz said he retired as a Command Sergeant Major, the highest non-commissioned rank, where in actuality he left as a Master Sergeant. (Walz retired before completing all of the requirements of a command sergeant major.)

Why won’t Mr. Walz answer questions about his military career?

Rob Berg, Boynton Beach

(Editor’s Note: Factcheck.org has thoroughly researched details of Walz’s military service.)

An attack hits home

Sen. JD Vance, as the mouthpiece of somebody who never met a deferment he didn’t like (Donald Trump), and Trump strategist Chris LaCivita, a Purple Heart recipient who should know better, set out to defame a decorated, long-serving veteran, Gov. Tim Walz.

As a Marine Reserve veteran, this hit home on many levels. I enlisted in 1970 during Vietnam. We trained on every weapon of war, from using our hands to everything in the Marine arsenal, to be able to kill in combat to defend our country. I dropped from helicopters, did beach landings and had desert training.

In a reserve unit, it’s luck of the draw, the grace of God, and Uncle Sam who decides when and where you are deployed, either in direct conflict or in support. You must be prepared.

When active duty ended, I returned home to civilian life as a history teacher and football coach and served for the next six years as required. Gov. Walz served with distinction for 24 years. Paperwork in service is not always precise so timing and dates get muddled and often delayed. Vance should know that.

You’re never a “former” Marine, but one for life. Two words a Marine should never say about another soldier are “lie” and “abandon.” I have two works for Sen. Vance: hurtful and shameful.

Jim Infantino, Delray Beach

Full of hot air

The other day I read a letter to the editor from Steven Genack on the opinion page, speaking about how Trump is a better choice than Kamala Harris and how Trump’s policies are sound.

If Trump’s policies are so sound, why didn’t he directly answer questions during his debate with Biden on June 27? Any candidate who has sound policies knows it and shouts it from the rooftops. Trump does not. He knows he’s full of hot air and lies and unsound policies. I don’t trust anything he says or promises.

His legal difficulties and felony conviction point to his future behavior as president and his horrific failures as a past president. Nothing Trump says inspires trust, hope or goodwill. Everything he says is destructive and divisive and laced with lies and untruths.

Nina Leonard, St. Augustine

Like ‘The Caine Mutiny’

Am I the only one who sees a paranoid Humphrey Bogart on the witness stand in The Caine Mutiny, rolling the three ball bearings in his hand over and over, when I see the latest bizarre actions of Donald J. Trump?

I’m no psychiatrist, but this man seems to be losing it.

W. Rick Garr, Fort Lauderdale

You can submit a letter to the editor by sending it to letters@sun-sentinel.com or by filling out the form below. Letters should be no more than 150 words and must be signed (no pseudonyms or initials).You must include your email address, address with city and daytime phone for verification. Letters are subject to editing for clarity and length. 

I have basically become a mother again as I tend to my granddaughter’s needs all the time. I’m her main caregiver and I’m her “person”. She prefers me over her mother in every and any situation.

While my granddaughter is my pride and joy, I can’t help but be angry most of the time because (1) my life is no longer my own and is certainly not what I envisioned at this age; (2) I pay for everything because my daughter can’t land a meaningful job and, if she does, it’s not for long; and (3) I’d rather be doing anything else but playing with a toddler and watching toddler shows as I find it extremely boring.

I would rather do this on my own with my granddaughter and have mom just go live her life because I’m giving my daughter the best of both worlds — she’s here with her daughter, but I’m doing all the heavy-lifting.

How do I overcome my resentment for my daughter? And please don’t suggest I sit her down and tell her how I feel. Been there, done that. No amount of talking or motivation gets through to my daughter. She is who she is, and she will never change.

— Grandmother Turned Mother

Dear Grandmother: I’m sorry to say that if she’s not going to change, then you have to be the one to shift. Your resentment is rooted in an expectation that she’ll step up and take responsibility. That’s not an unrealistic expectation in the grand scheme, but with respect to your daughter, it is.

That resentment may never fully go away because this burden isn’t fair to you. But it’ll decrease if you remind yourself “this is who she is and I love all of who she is, even the parts I don’t like.”

You’re still parenting your daughter. If she were flying solo, you could let her make her own mistakes and learn the hard way. But those mistakes would also hurt your granddaughter. So, this is the hard reality.

The choices are either: (1) set a hard boundary for your daughter and refuse to budge or (2) frame everything about this situation as an active choice you’re making out of love for your granddaughter and your daughter.

Even if you opt for the latter, please find small ways to take some of your time back. Keep pushing her, even if she fails. Your granddaughter deserves a parent, and you deserve to live, too.

Dear Eric: My wife and I have a beautiful home on a lake. We keep our home very neat and tidy. Our adult son, wife and their young children live in another state and when we visit them, their home is a complete mess, dirty and sticky with spilled food and drinks (we stay at an Airbnb when we visit.)

They just stayed with us for a week, and we all had a wonderful, fun time, but they treat our house like they treat their house. Should we set some written house rules for their next visit (and possibly alienate them) like pick up wet towels and bathing suits, only eat at the dining table, clean up the kitchen after using, etc. Or do we just bite the bullet and resign ourselves to what it is.

— Cleaning House

Dear House: You and your wife have created a home for adults — chic, clean, just to your taste. Your son and his wife have a home for a family with kids. As you no doubt remember, when there are little fingers about, little fingerprints show up all over everything. It’s not a given, but it’s likely.

You probably won’t get this family to treat your house like a pristine adult house. But you should set age-appropriate guidelines for being a good guest.

Think about making different requests of the kids and the adults. Ask your son and daughter-in-law to make sure that the kitchen is cleaned up, or no food leaves the dining room, for instance.

Don’t do this in writing, though. Feels aggressive. But a phone call beforehand enlisting their help in setting their kids up to be good stewards of your house will make it a communal effort rather than something they got wrong.

Before you call, though, really ask yourself what you need to feel comfortable. The kids are young, the parents are on vacation; you’re all having fun. Sometimes a towel is going to sit on the floor for a minute.

(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)

If you think the University of Florida’s Billy Napier and other college football coaches spend way too much money on bloated support staffs, you haven’t seen anything until you read about the outrageous spending habits of outgoing UF president Ben Sasse.

Sasse left UF a few weeks ago after just 17 months on the job, citing his wife’s epilepsy for his abrupt resignation. Thanks to some superb investigative journalism by UF student journalist Garrett Shanley in the school newspaper — The Independent Florida Alligator — it’s now coming out that Sasse, even though he’s a conservative Republican, was spending money like a drunken Democrat. Sasse, it seems, was lavishly forking out millions of dollars in UF money to hire his political pals and allies. According to the Alligator’s reporting, presidential spending tripled in Sasse’s first year on the job, from $5.6 million in former UF president Kent Fuchs’ last year to $17.3 million under Sasse.

“A majority of the spending surge was driven by lucrative contracts with big-name consulting firms and high-salaried remote positions for Sasse’s former U.S. Senate staff (when Sasse represented Nebraska) and Republican officials,” the Alligator reported. “Sasse raised his former Senate staffers’ salaries at UF by an average of 44% compared to their Capitol Hill pay.

“Sasse’s consulting contracts have been kept largely under wraps, leaving the public in the dark about what the contracted firms did to earn their fees. The university also declined to clarify specific duties carried out by Sasse’s ex-Senate staff, several of whom were salaried as presidential advisers. The university said Sasse’s budget expansion went through the ‘appropriate approval process’ but did not answer questions about how Sasse bankrolled his splurges, where the funds originated or who authorized the spending.”

Sasse’s former Senate chief of staff was hired as UF’s vice president for innovation and partnerships — a newly created position — paying him $396,000, which doubled his Senate staffer salary.

His former Senate communication director was hired as UF’s communication director at a salary of $432,000, replacing the previous communication director who was making $270,000.

And many of these high-priced employees worked remotely and didn’t even bother moving to Gainesville. Sasse’s office spent over $600,000 on travel, compared to the $28,000 in travel expenses by his predecessor.

It’s no wonder Sasse, in 17 months as the president of the state’s flagship university, never sat down for an interview, held a press conference or answered the media’s questions.

At least Napier and the football team raises the money it spends whereas Sasse was spending millions in taxpayer money to reward his cronies.

If you ask me, the student journalists who essentially work for free at the Alligator are much better at their jobs than Sasse and his obscenely bloated  multi-million-dollar staff.

As one clever sports fan so aptly posted on social media: “A Nebraskan hasn’t looted the University of Florida so thoroughly since Tommie Frazier in the ’96 Fiesta Bowl.” …

Short stuff: Austin Dillon wrecked two drivers — Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin — coming down the homestretch to win his first NASCAR race in nearly two years on Sunday. That gives me an idea. Hey, if the IOC really wants to make the Olympics entertaining,  I’m suggesting that track athletes be allowed to adopt NASCAR rules. Can you imagine the excitement in the final 300 yards of the 1,500 meters if the inferior second-place runner is allowed to purposely trip or grab the race leader?  As NASCAR fans like to say: If you ain’t cheatin’, then you ain’t tryin’! … Speaking of the Olympics, I’m glad Team USA won the gold medal in women’s soccer, but I have to admit I was sort of rooting for Brazilian soccer legend and Orlando Pride captain Marta to finally win the gold in her final international competition. … By the way, did you see where Brittney Griner stood on the medal stand with her hand over her heart and tears in her eyes as the Star-Spangled Banner played following Team USA’s gold-medal performance in women’s basketball? Clearly, Griner — who said the WNBA shouldn’t even play the national anthem before its games back in 2020 when social unrest was at the forefront during the “Black Lives Matter” protests — has figured out that living in the good ol’ USA is pretty damn good. I’m thinking that a stint in a Russian prison will do that to a person. …

Last word:  Chi Chi Rodriguez — the iconic Puerto Rican golfer and flamboyant, quotable showman — passed away a few days ago at the age of 88. Said Chi Chi  when asked once about his woes on the green: “I read the greens in Spanish, but I putt in English.”

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen

True to form, most voters will resolutely avoid it, even though several major public offices are at stake and this election sets up the final choices that voters will make in the decisive general election on Nov. 5.

In a year when democracy itself is endangered, it’s not easy to detect a civic pulse locally. But everywhere, we hear that people’s eyes are on the big prize, the presidential race. Let’s hope so. Every election is important.

Despite repeated reminders, most voters have still not bothered to request a mail ballot — and most of those who did have not yet returned them.

Where is everybody?

The busiest early voting site in Broward is a regional library in Pembroke Pines, where two of the most spirited contests are being held.

They are the three-way Democratic primary for a state Senate seat and a nonpartisan race for the District 2 School Board seat. (In those races, the Sun Sentinel has endorsed Chad Klitzman for Senate and Rebecca Thompson for the School Board.)

Candidates and campaign workers sometimes overwhelm voters who show up, one or two at a time, at the library.

Some voters arrive with completed, sealed mail ballots, or are holding so-called slate cards, listing candidates recommended by a political party or an interest group.

“Everybody seems to have done their homework,” said Kathleen Angione, a candidate for county court judge who has spent many hours under a broiling sun at the Pines library. “They seem like savvy voters.”

Signs of disinterest

A good sign, but there simply are not enough savvy voters.

So get out and vote, and consult the Sun Sentinel’s list of candidate endorsements (which you can bring to the polls).

Broward will elect seven judges, up to five School Board members, two state House members, an election supervisor, a court clerk and its first tax collector on Tuesday, and control of the sheriff’s office is at stake for the next four years.

Palm Beach will elect its first new public defender in two decades and nominate candidates for state attorney and sheriff. Voters in both counties will nominate candidates for Congress and will help select Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s Democratic opponent.

Candidates rely on direct mail, texts, robocalls and TV ads to reach the voters they can’t find. Too few candidate forums, the slow trickle of returning mail ballots and even a lack of political signs at highway intersections all suggest a high level of disinterest.

By Wednesday morning, fewer than 8% of Broward voters had voted early or by mail, according to Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott’s website, and two-thirds of the 220,000 voters who have received mail ballots had not returned them. The numbers are higher in Palm Beach, where 10% had voted.

More Palm Beach voters (38%) had returned their mail ballots, and people were even waiting to vote at the Boca Raton library.

Broward’s loneliest early voting site, Broward College in Davie, had attracted a paltry 45 voters after four full days. Early voting in both counties will continue through Sunday.

A rare exception to the apathy occurred on July 29, when nearly 200 people turned out for a two-hour afternoon forum at John Knox Village, a Pompano Beach retirement community.

If current turnout trends continue, fewer people will vote in this local election than did four years ago in the “pandemic primary” during Covid-19 — a time when many candidates avoided knocking on doors and voters, fearful of contracting the virus, cast mail ballots from home.

In Broward, 317,160 people, or 26%, voted in the 2020 primary that preceded the last presidential election. In Palm Beach, 263,873 voted, or 27%. The statewide turnout was 28%.

There’s still plenty of time

It’s still possible for turnout to spike upward, but it will take a stampede of in-person voters on Election Day in both counties.

So in the unlikely event that you still intend to vote, here are a couple of helpful reminders.

Mail ballots must reach your county elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20. If you received a mail ballot and haven’t returned it, it is too late to mail it. You should bring it to any early voting site.

If you received a mail ballot and you decide to vote in person instead, you can do that. Broward Supervisor Joe Scott said you do not need to turn in the blank mail ballot at the polls.

“Just go vote,” Scott told the Sun Sentinel.

That’s good advice. Just go vote.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

One of the primary arguments against the Python Challenge is its inefficacy. Despite the hype and media coverage, the number of pythons actually captured during the event is relatively low. In August 2023, 209 pythons were caught during the challenge, whereas in July alone, professional contractors with the FWC managed to capture 307 pythons. The disparity in these numbers highlights the greater effectiveness of skilled contractors compared to the challenge participants.

Another major concern is the harm caused to native wildlife. The challenge attracts many amateurs, who, despite their enthusiasm, often lack the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively and humanely capture pythons. This lack of expertise can lead to significant collateral damage. High traffic on roads during the event increases the incidence of roadkill, with many non-target snakes and other wildlife becoming unintended victims. Out of about 1,000 participants, less than 100 will turn in even a single python, but they’ll kill countless native snakes like the green, brown and banded water snakes with their tires.

Professional contractors like me are reluctant to participate, further highlighting the challenge’s flaws. Out of 100 professional contractors, only a handful are willing to compete in the challenge. This reluctance stems from several issues, primarily involving the FWC. The FWC has a reputation for making constant mistakes regarding submitted pythons, including mix-ups, “administrative errors” and wrongful claims about euthanasia. These errors undermine the credibility and effectiveness of the challenge. Additionally, contractors find the chaos brought by the influx of 1,000 participants disruptive to their usual hunting process, making it less efficient and more hazardous for both hunters and wildlife. All that to be said, many contractors won’t hunt at all while the challenge is underway.

Most contractors wish that the Python Challenge would disappear, as we clearly see its counterproductive nature. Reducing the activity levels of the most skilled group, the contractors, while simultaneously causing more harm to native populations through increased roadkill, makes the Python Challenge a counterproductive event. Native alligator, turtle and bird nests are disturbed, native snakes are wrongfully submitted as pythons, and far more roadkill snakes are observed during the 10-day event.  The very goal of the challenge — to protect native wildlife and control the python population — is undermined by the methods employed and the consequences they generate.

Furthermore, the influx of participants can disrupt the delicate ecosystem of the Everglades. The increased human activity, noise and presence in previously undisturbed areas can stress native species and disrupt their natural behaviors. The ethical implications of such a disruptive event are considerable, raising questions about the morality of prioritizing an invasive species hunt over the well-being of an entire ecosystem. Especially an event with such minimal yield. We don’t offer the same type of challenge for iguanas, feral cats, feral pigs or many other accessible invasives, which raises questions about the selective focus and the ethics behind the Python Challenge.

Rather than relying on an annual spectacle, more effective and sustainable methods should be pursued. Professional wildlife management teams, trained in python detection and removal, could operate at an elite level to minimize collateral damage and maximize removal of the target species. As with most things, the private sector would do this far better than any government agency, especially with the current FWC python leadership in place. Public education campaigns could raise awareness about the issue without causing unnecessary harm to native wildlife.

In conclusion, while the Python Challenge may draw attention to the invasive species problem, its overall impact is more harmful than beneficial. A shift toward more scientifically sound and ethically responsible methods, combined with better education of participants, is crucial for the long-term health of the Everglades ecosystem.

Brandon Rahe, a nature lover and Florida native residing in St. Augustine, was a contractor in the FWC’s python program. 

I have first-hand experience as a discharged patient from a highly rated rehab facility, where I saw the problems of too few nurses, especially on weekends. Nurses had to cover too many rooms, testing their patience and frustrating patients.

One solution: FIU partners with nurses-in-training from California. They come here to practice their skills and learn about different cultures, knowing there may be future openings in Florida. In their white jackets, they take patients’ vital signs yet add a personal touch as they go room to room with big smiles, seeing if the patients need anything that a nurse hasn’t time to do. They are a welcome sight.

Besides excellent hands-on training, I’m sure some of these youngsters will fill the ranks of the rehab staff as nurses. It’s impressive that Florida is a leader in this kind of education.

Barbara B. Green, Boynton Beach

There they go again

When paid Republican strategists have no policies to boast about, they personally attack their opponents. They did it to John Kerry in 2004. Now they’re doing it to Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

They attacked Kerry even though he got three Purple Hearts in Vietnam aboard Navy swift boats that engaged the enemy.

Only one of those who served with Kerry on his swift boat said he wasn’t wounded, and he was not on any missions where Kerry was wounded.

Too late, their statements proved to be nearly all lies, as George W. Bush’s chief 2004 strategist recently acknowledged (Associated Press, Aug. 13).

The strategist who orchestrated those attacks, Trump adviser Chris LaCivita, is now attacking Gov. Walz over his military record. They are posting that he lied about being a Command Sergeant Major. (The Minnesota National Guard stated he did make this rank.)

Walz retired before he could complete training for Sergeant Major, so even though he was currently in the rank, he could not retire at the rank. They are masters of the disingenuous slur.

Sen. JD Vance said Walz left his Guard unit when he learned it was going to Iraq. Walz submitted his Guard retirement papers in May 2005. The unit’s first call-up notice came in July 2005; the regiment deployed in March 2006. He retired because he planned to run for Congress, which he did, and which he won.

What’s truly hypocritical is that they are trying to smear a man who served 24 years in the Guard and is running against Trump, who got a deferment for bone spurs during Vietnam. Bone spurs so bad he could not serve his country — but he could still play tennis, squash and golf.

Vote Blue to save our democracy from the lies of Trump and Project 2025.

Ray Belongie, Lt. Col. USMC (Ret.), Sunrise

Thinking of staying home

The upcoming election is a complete farce because of useless information we receive from the media and politicians.

We’re supposed to know where candidates stand on various issues. I will not vote if things don’t change. I will consider not voting as a message to the media, politicians and others involved that it is very honorable not to vote, rather than try to analyze stupid information thrown at us.

Mike Brewer, Boca Raton

Fix airline delays

Hey, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: I’ve never seen so many airline flight delays and excessively long lines as in the past few years. It’s out of control.

If there’s anything you can do about it, I think the people of America would appreciate it. The lack of service is insulting to the American people.

Diane Miller, Plantation

You can submit a letter to the editor by sending it to letters@sun-sentinel.com or by filling out the form below. Letters can be up to 150 words and must be signed (no pseudonyms or initials).You must include your email address, address with city and daytime phone number for verification. Letters are subject to editing for clarity and length. 

1. College isn’t high school. If you managed to finesse your way through high school, staying up to all hours of the wee morning playing video games online, and you think you are going to continue this habit — forget it. You won’t make it. First of all, you need sleep to function in class. And second, the amount of study time required to get a good grade, especially in science technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses, exceeds anything you have attempted previously.

2. College requires sacrifice. Our campus is located in South Florida, a mile from the beach. While I have no problem with a student going to the beach for a few hours on the weekend, the fear of failure must loom larger than whatever it is your friends think is more important in the middle of the week than hitting the books. Learn to tell them “No” early on.

3. College requires time management. My assignments are date-sensitive; they open on a certain date and they close five days later. Once they’re closed that’s it — you’ll get a zero unless you have a valid excuse for missing a deadline.

4. College doesn’t give participation awards. In an era when everyone gets a trophy, sorry — you don’t get an award for simply showing up.

5. STEM courses require solving problems. My college physics teacher had a cartoon on his office door that showed a confused student explaining to his professor that he really understood the material, he just couldn’t do the problems. You cannot learn science by osmosis. Magic happens when the brain, eyes and hands all come together in beautiful synaptic choreography, guiding a pencil across a sheet of paper.

6. Put your cellphone away. When I went to college, there was no internet, no laptops and, of course, no cellphones. If we needed to look up a physical constant, we had the “CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics,” a tome that required two hands and a healthy back to lift. While the improvements in technology and instant access to information are largely positive for students, many are addicted to their cellphones and the instant gratification of likes on social media. If you want to impress your professors while succeeding in your coursework, put your cellphone away — at least during class — and learn how to use it as a study aid.

7. Date your books. Sorry, but as a freshman, you don’t have time to get involved with a boyfriend or a girlfriend let alone the emotional roller coaster that almost always accompanies these relationships. If you are serious about graduating with a degree, especially one in STEM, your love life can wait at least until you are an upperclassman.

8. Do every assignment, even the extra credit. Missed assignments become zeroes. And you never know when a few extra points will come in handy. More often than not, a student with a borderline grade would have been bumped up to the next letter had he or she just completed all of the assignments.

9. Don’t wait until it is too late to ask for additional help. Swallow your pride. College is hard. It is not an admission of intellectual weakness if you need to spend time with a peer tutor or come by the professor’s office for additional help. At Palm Beach Atlantic, we are a small enough university that I can offer generous office hours to reach out to struggling students. Take advantage.

10. Show me that you really care about my class. I go out of my way to help promising students who struggle with the material. However, if you frequently cut my class, blow off assignments and do none of the extra credit, don’t you dare come to my office in April sobbing, “What can I do to pass your class?” My response at that point will be, “Take it over.”

If you want to avoid just squeaking by, here’s your first assignment: Commit these suggestions to memory and put them into practice every day. You will be tested on them frequently throughout your next four years.

Gregory J. Rummo is a lecturer of chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences at Palm Beach Atlantic University and an adjunct scholar at the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. He is the author of “The View from the Grass Roots,” “The View from the Grass Roots — Another Look,” and several other volumes in the series.

The proposed law in question, Senate Bill 280, would have made it far more difficult for cities and towns to deal with short-term vacation rentals that fail to respect the peace and quiet of their neighbors and negatively impact Florida’s families. The proposed bill hamstrung the ability of local communities to address market and public safety issues that may arise from vacation rentals. Cities have worked over the last decade to put in place sensible limitations on the frequency of rentals, regulations to limit noise and negative impacts, and other safety concerns. The bill imperiled many of these good-governance measures. DeSantis wisely safeguarded them, noting in his veto message that the “effect of this provision will prevent virtually all local regulation of vacation rentals even though the vacation rental markets are far from uniform across the various regions of the state.”

One of the biggest drawbacks of the bill is that it would have made it a heavy lift for governments to crack down on bad actors. While many vacation rental operators work alongside their neighbors, others do not. The bill would have significantly reduced the ability for local governments to respond to concerns of their constituents. Few things can be more in the local purview than efforts by one city to prevent a specific street or neighborhood from turning into a strip of vacation rentals with high turnover and noise.

DeSantis has consistently understood when statewide interests require uniformity and when local needs are best left to municipalities. He has ensured Florida’s economic engine has continued to thrive by stopping efforts by a single locality that would have had an undue or unworkable burden for the businesses that serve Florida statewide. While there is certainly a need for some statewide standards to ensure consistency and fairness, this bill overstepped by imposing regulations that could potentially harm property rights and undermine local governance — principles we as Americans hold so dear.

The governor’s veto is a clear message that localities should retain the right to tailor regulations that best suit their specific needs and circumstances. To his credit, the governor has recognized this principle in other actions over the years, vetoing legislation that would have prevented cities from encouraging new development and supporting a delegation of power that allowed cities to decide the issue of smoking in local parks.

While the federal government continues to impose more and more national regulations that take away state and local input, often with unintended negative consequences, DeSantis has led our state to record growth and prosperity with a nuanced approach that career politicians and bureaucrats in Washington would wisely mirror. DeSantis’ action reflects his understanding that local communities need a mechanism to address their own specific needs if problems arise in their neighborhoods with vacation rentals. It demonstrates a significant victory for both local governance and property rights in the Sunshine State.

If this legislation comes back next session, I hope that industry and government can work together to provide a more thoughtful framework. As vice chair of the of the Florida Republican Mayors Association, I know our members are eager to collaborate with legislators in crafting solutions that balance statewide interests with local autonomy. I remain grateful for DeSantis’ wise decision on this issue and his strong leadership for Florida.

Scott Singer is the mayor of Boca Raton and the vice chair of the Florida Republican Mayors Association.