Already, the GOP dark horses are running wild, shooting out of the gate and into the next 11 months of campaigning. Matt Gaetz may have tripped over unsavory findings in a House Ethics Committee report and fallen by the wayside. Trump-anointed frontrunner U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is leading the field. But Groyper poster boy James Fishback and gender-warrior and former state House Speaker Paul Renner are up and running. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins is waiting in the wings. I’m sure I’ve missed a few.

And why not? There’s gold in that governor’s mansion.

Ronald Dion DeSantis walked through the doors in 2018 with $765,821 in assets and a little more than $508,850 in liabilities. He reports he will be walking out with $2.1 million in assets and $15,095 in liabilities. He earned it the old-fashioned way. He wrote a political book that his political friends were sure to buy and that other people who needed him to be a political friend — lobbyists, businesses, party leaders, etc. — would have to buy in order to casually drop phrases from it within DeSantis’ earshot, as though they had read it, as though it was on their nightstand. More likely, it was under a 1974 telephone book and the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, but who cares? A sale’s a sale. Greenbacks shower the Governor’s Mansion all the same.

On the other hand, we have wild-card Republican James Fishback. I don’t think he is running for the money, although his Tesla was repossessed and he could use the Uber fare. I think he is running for the sheer whoopsie of it all. This is a man who got on Fox News by saying he was a Musk Doge advisor. Wasn’t. Said he held a senior position at an investment firm. Nope. Said his investment funds were fabulous. Board trustees shut them down.

Fishback, 31, barely edged across the 30-year-old minimum age to run, a likely asset in courting Nick Fuentes and the far-right podcaster’s youthful Groyper audience. This would be the same Nick Fuentes who has split the Heritage Foundation into thirds over the question of whether Fuentes is too Nazi-adjacent, not enough Nazi-adjacent or just the right amount of Nazi-adjacent. But you can’t dismiss the attention economy, as Hillary Clinton learned, and Fishback is terminally online.

Donalds’ golden-ticket Trump endorsement hasn’t cleared the field, but it has put him smack in the middle of the DeSantis-Trump mean girl feud. DeSantis can’t make Trump lose, but he was spotted doing the next best thing; scouting a mega donor to fund a challenger — any challenger — to Donalds. There’s also a Donalds Money Thing. His wife’s charter school income of between $1 million to $5 million wasn’t fully reported on 2023 congressional financial disclosures until Florida Bulldog reporters started sniffing around. The Federal Elections Commission caught him simultaneously raising money for reelection to Congress and the governorship, which could pave the way for diverting millions in federal contributions to the governor’s race. Donalds graciously apologized and immediately set things right. Just kidding! We’re in Florida! His campaign invited the FEC to go jump in a lake. Well. The lake leap was implied. Like the need for ethics.

Of course, it could be worse.

We could be Tennessee. Department of Defense Secretary and all-around Bomb Vivant Pete Hegseth talked about running for governor there back in July but then chose to remain in D.C. to de-beard generals and address the crisis of expanding military waistlines. The grateful voters of Tennessee thank him for his service.

Or we could be Minnesota, where Pillow Guy and all-around political conspiracist Mike Lindell is challenging Gov. Tim Waltz this November. If Lindell emerges as the GOP nominee, “We’d be cooked,” Minnesota Republican strategist Dustin Grage moaned to Politico. “I’d be moving to Florida very shortly.”

Who wants to tell him?

By not doing anything, the Supreme Court has decided to let a lower court ruling in the 5th U.S. District Court of Appeals stand, making it the law of the land. That ruling allows a governor or other official to determine what books are allowed in public spaces. As written, state and local governments in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas — the states covered by the 5th District — can now dictate what can be read, purchased and shared in the state. It is the law.

We can only imagine this power will spread to other states, and book banning will become the norm, not the abomination it is. It is impossible for the people to forge a more perfect union without being informed, without access to uncorrupted information.

Denying access to books, culture and history makes it easier to designate individuals and groups as enemies and scapegoats. How do you challenge government without data, without resources, and without information? With the other branches of government subservient to the executive, power becomes absolute.

There are few reliable sources of news and information as it is. Much of our media is controlled by a handful of families and major corporations. In less than a year, the Trump administration has pressured for mergers, silence and paying bribes for mergers and maintaining licenses to operate. If you step out of line, you could be sued by the president, threatened with punitive damages, feel the whole weight of the United States government upon you.

Publishers have given up on writers; stores won’t carry certain authors or journalists. If you are part of a marginalized or minority community, options evaporate before your very eyes. The only way to stop this is to embolden yourself and build a community that will be unafraid of the challenges — and there will be challenges. Even if they seem to fade, they are always waiting to return with a vengeance.

How long did the parental rights group cloister in the shadows until it was safe to resurrect the ghost of Anita Bryant? How easy was it for them to turn defense to offense and push the national agenda? Removing freedom of thought and speech makes everything else so much easier.

Information is power, and it is found in books, newspapers, magazines, in hard copy and virtual. It is our right to have access to it, no matter how uncomfortable it makes those holding onto power feel.

Don’t give up on freedom, democracy, the Constitution, or our promise of a more perfect nation. The promises made by our Founders rest in our hearts, and only we can keep them alive or let them die. America has choices to make — you have choices to make. Pick up a book, challenge yourself and challenge authority.

Robert Kesten is president and CEO of the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library in Fort Lauderdale.

I grew up in Delray Beach, where I was guided by hope and the possibility of changing my family’s story. So, my success belongs to those who came before me — especially my parents — whose sacrifices make this opportunity possible and inspire me to approach my education with purpose, responsibility and gratitude.

Early in my senior year of high school, I realized that while I had the ambition, work ethic and academic credentials to attend college, my family and I simply could not shoulder the financial burden that came with it. I knew that without meaningful financial support, my dream of attending college and fully participating in the experience could easily slip away.

I spent much of that year in my guidance counselor’s office, researching and applying for every scholarship I could find. I focused particularly on academic and merit-based opportunities tied to creative writing, a passion I had been nurturing through a personal project: publishing my first collection of poetry, “Nesting Dolls.”

Writing has always been my way of understanding the world, and I hope to one day combine storytelling with meaningful engagement as a journalist who bridges cultures and lived experiences.

It wasn’t until I learned about the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties that my dream began to feel truly attainable, without being overshadowed by debt.

Through a college-preparedness program at my high school, I was introduced to the Community Foundation and its extensive scholarship and grant programs. The foundation partners with donors, nonprofits and community leaders to provide students with the financial resources to pursue higher education.

But what sets the Community Foundation apart is that its support extends well beyond tuition assistance. The organization invests in students as whole people.

I know this because I am living proof.

In the fall of 2024, I was honored to receive the Lawrence A. Sanders Scholarship Fund for Creative Writing, offered by the Community Foundation. I am now enrolled at the University of Central Florida and majoring in communications, where I am able to focus on my studies while actively participating in campus life.

I currently write for UCF’s Her Campus chapter, an online magazine that allows me to sharpen my voice and grow as a writer — an opportunity made possible by the stability this scholarship provides.

The Community Foundation’s support has also allowed me to pursue a lifelong goal of studying abroad. This summer I will study intercultural communication in Rome.

As a Black student, this experience carries particular significance. According to Open Doors data, Black students comprised just 6.1% of Americans studying abroad during the 2023-2024 academic year.

That statistic highlights how rare and how important this opportunity is. I am proud to be part of the change.

Beyond financial aid, the Community Foundation offers wrap-around services, including success coaching and peer connection opportunities. Through this program, I have navigated college challenges, gained confidence and experienced things I never imagined, including attending my first Broadway show.

To students who dream of college but feel intimidated by the cost: Don’t let numbers define your future.

Organizations like the Community Foundation exist because they believe in education, equity and potential. They invest in students not just to succeed, but to give back and lift others as they rise. And to the donors who give through the Community Foundation, thank you. Your generosity transforms aspirations into opportunities and makes dreams like mine possible.

Nedjie Aurelien of Delray Beach is a sophomore at the University of Central Florida.

Upon closer inspection, these dragnets are rarely precise; reports frequently surface of legal residents and even American citizens being swept up in the chaos. But in the cold math of the detention industry, the identity of the detainee matters less than the fact that a bed is filled.

Who truly benefits from this brutal efficiency? Follow the money, and you’ll wind up on the doorsteps of CoreCivic and the GEO Group (headquartered right here in Boca Raton). As the nation’s largest private prison contractors, these firms have secured multi-billion dollar contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The incentive is built into the contract: a per diem payment for every person held. The more people arrested, the higher the profit margin.

Is it a coincidence that these corporate beneficiaries of exorbitant government contracts were also some of the largest donors to Donald Trump’s inaugural committees? While loyal Trump voters may cheer the display of force and the sight of foreign families being split apart, the boardrooms of the prison-industrial complex are toasting to record quarterly earnings as their stock prices skyrocket.

At first glance, it looks like these deplorable policies serve his base, which often complains of lost jobs to foreign workers. But it is a mistake to believe these sweeps are designed to reclaim jobs for the American worker. Even Trump, throughout his pre-political business life, staffed his gaudy resorts with cheap, undocumented labor. Many industries that form his core base — construction, agriculture and manufacturing — practice similar business strategies.

My perspective comes from the front lines of this data. During my time as an assistant editor for the Human Rights Defense Center, which publishes Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, the two most frequently read periodicals by the incarcerated, I saw firsthand how the “profit-per-head” model has corrupted our justice system.

The private prison lobby doesn’t just manage cells — they help write the laws that fill them:

“Three Strikes” Laws: Once promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — a nonprofit organization of conservative lawmakers and businesses partially funded by private prison firms — these laws mandated life sentences for third-time offenders. This ensured that prisons remained teeming with an aging, non-threatening population that raked in billions for decades.

“Truth-in-Sentencing”: By eliminating parole or “good time” credits, these laws ensure offenders serve nearly 100% of their time, stripping away incentives for rehabilitation while maximizing “bed-days” for contractors.

“Pay-to-Stay”: Perhaps most insidious is the practice of charging inmates for their own incarceration. For many, the harshest punishment begins after release, as they are hounded for “room and board” fees they can never hope to pay. Good luck to any former felon finding legal work that’ll pay those steep bills. This creates a never-ending cycle of debt and recidivism that ensures the revolving door of the prison keeps spinning.

Any action of an elected politician should serve their supporters, yet these policies primarily serve the balance sheets of corporate donors. Who pays the price? Lady Liberty. The statue that greets families of refugees that risk everything to come here is not that of a warrior, but a welcoming mother, armed only with a blinding torch and a book. This book promises the “tempest tossed” that they are now governed by laws, not the tyrannical whims of a dictator.

By putting the profits of his donors ahead of the rule of law, the Trump administration simultaneously destroys our country’s identity as a refuge in a dangerous world. Once upon a time, anyone could reject the shackles of their old lives and relish the taste of freedom in America. Today, Trump has sold the American dream to the highest bidder.

Jordan Arizmendi was an assistant editor at Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News. He lives in Pompano Beach.

You might be able to handle it yourself, depending on your loved one’s assets. Enter Do-It-
Yourself Probate. (Probate is the management and distribution of a deceased person’s assets.)

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 17,000 people die in Broward
County each year. Many more declare Broward their home for tax estate purposes, meaning
their probate occurs here too — suffice it to say, probate judges in the 17th Judicial Circuit are
extremely busy. Broward’s three probate judges currently handle more than 14,000 cases and many involve large estates, complex issues, extensive attorney fees, and take years to resolve.

The good news is that a person whose estate is too small to justify hiring a lawyer, but still needs to access a loved one’s bank account to pay for the funeral, transfer title to a car, receive retirement benefits, or determine who has rights to the house now has a do-it-yourself option that can save money and time.

Now, pro se litigants — individuals representing themselves in probate matters — can have their case assigned to a division that is staffed by magistrates who specifically allocate time to handle
smaller probate issues. While the magistrate cannot provide legal advice, they can steer your case
in the right direction, which is the goal for a pro se litigant. This option is called “summary
probate,” and it can be used in instances where someone died more than two years ago or if the
individual’s assets are worth less than $75,000.

Here’s how it works: A pro se litigant files a petition with the court for “summary administration”
that includes a detailed checklist for things like proof of payment for funeral and medical costs,
names of beneficiaries, creditor claims and whether or not real property is involved.

Next, the clerk of courts reviews the submission and assigns it to a general magistrate. The case
plays out in one of two ways: A magistrate reviews the case, determines everything is in order
and OKs the distribution of assets, or the magistrate sets a hearing to clarify unanswered
questions so the case can move forward.

“Having magistrates who dedicate time to a pro se probate docket to assist the general public
improves case management,” said Chief Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips. “This greatly reduces the
backlog of pro se probate cases previously assigned to judges who are usually busy with their
contested motion calendar docket and trial calendar.”

Fort Lauderdale resident Allyson Meyers used DIY probate and saved $5,000 to $10,000.
“Regular status updates with the clerk’s office ensured the paperwork was in order and helped
keep the process on track,” she reported.

Summary administration saves time and money by eliminating the need to submit an extensive
formal inventory, publish notice over an extended time, pay lawyers hefty fees and wait months
or years for the probate to conclude. Just remember, this option is not for large, complex estates.
However, if your case qualifies, you can access the forms you need online to file your own
probate case and save time and money.

Need some guidance? Go to the 17th Judicial Circuit’s Probate and Guardianship Smart Forms
website at 17th.flcourts.org/probate-and-guardianship-smart-forms-home-page for all related forms. You can also find a checklist at the 17th Judicial Circuit’s website that lists everything you need to get started with summary administration.

Judge Kenneth L. Gillespie is an administrative judge in the Broward County judicial circuit’s probate division.

At issue is the redevelopment of a valuable parcel of property near the downtown Brightline station.

The city, through a public-private partnership with a developer operating as One Boca, aims to create a more walkable and welcoming place for all residents.

But a group called Save Boca, comprised mostly of a small, but vocal band of citizens living near the proposed development, are vehemently opposed to any development. They successfully pushed for the issue to be placed on a March 10 ballot.

Save Boca supporters are concerned about traffic, building heights and the project cost.

At numerous City Council meetings, they have hurled insults at elected officials and jeered at people speaking against them.

According to legal filings, the group’s founder spent $60,000 of his own money to fund yard signs, T-shirts and other materials. He is also running for City Council and recently filed a lawsuit against the City.

Over the past year, through a series of public meetings, the One Boca team listened to concerns and reacted by significantly reducing the amount of residential housing, office space and hotel rooms while increasing public spaces.

Highlights of a recently released revised plan:

• A new pedestrian promenade will be lined with shops, dining and gathering spaces
• Less than eight acres of underused parking lots and outdated buildings will be held for private development
• The rest will be public spaces, with Memorial Park remaining city-owned and significantly enhanced with better fields and facilities like restrooms
• Recreation areas will more than double, adding playgrounds, tennis courts, shaded walkways and other spaces
• A new City Hall, community center and a police substation will be built with funds from the private development
• As part of the residential building, there will be workforce housing and, due to public demand, a grocery store
• Public safety will improve through bike lanes, more shade trees and a mobility hub

The project’s financial benefits are significant and could offset a possible cut in property taxes being considered by the state.

According to an independent analysis, the project is expected to generate over a quarter of a billion dollars in annual economic output, resulting in an estimated $88 billion in total economic impact over the 99-year lease.

This is in addition to the billions in direct revenues the city will garner through rent payments and new taxes the project will generate.

As I look to the decades ahead, I see financial security for all of Boca Raton that ensures our children and their children will continue to enjoy the excellent services and quality of life which make Boca Raton one of America’s best places to live, work and play.

I urge my fellow citizens to support One Boca and vote accordingly March 10.

A separate item on the same ballot is whether to float a $175 million bond to finance the building of a new police station on city-owned land near the Spanish River Library.

The current station, built in 1986, is outdated and can’t adequately accommodate the 300-plus officers and civilian staff working there.

A positive outcome will finally give the police department the modern and efficient facility it deserves. The average property tax will only increase $124 a year, but ensure our growing community remains safe and secure.

Bob Tucker, a retired corporate executive, has lived with his family in Boca Raton since 2008. He serves part time as executive director of the Boca Raton Police Foundation.

When Florida’s government reformed the lottery-like “one way attorney’s fees” laws in 2022 and 2023, the insurance industry noted that prices would take time to drop due to the long timeline, from seeing lower post-reform losses, to reflecting that data in rate filings, to waiting for policy renewals priced on lower rates, to mortgage escrow changes based on the new prices. Finally, lower rates are here for most residents — but some are still seeing the bottom line go up. Why?

Simply put, the “premium,” or price, of insurance is the “rate,” or cost per $1,000 of value, multiplied by the home’s replacement value. In a cruel coincidence, as rates rose due to the litigation explosion of the past decade, inflation in labor and materials dramatically raised home repair costs.

The market value of homes also rose, but that is cold comfort to homeowners who can’t use their Zestimate to pay grocery bills. More recently, rates have started to drop, but values keep rising.

Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation compiles excellent, publicly available market data. That date shows that, since mid-2022, the average premium per $1,000 of value for owner-occupied, site-built homes rose from $4.59 to $5.15, peaking in summer 2024, then declined to $5.00 as of September 2025. Said differently, rates rose about 12%, topped out, began declining, and are now 9% higher over three-plus years. But average premiums per policy rose from $2,798 to $3,669 in summer 2024, and have kept rising to $3,748. Premiums have risen 34%! In other words, about three of every four dollars of price changes have been driven by replacement values, not insurance company rates.

It’s great to know the truth, but what can cash-strapped homeowners do about continuing price hikes?

First, shop around. The reforms have brought capital and competition back to Florida property insurance — 17 new companies have launched since 2023. Agents who told customers to stay put in the crisis now have more options, and falling rates may make for cheaper comparable coverage.

Second, check your replacement value. Ask to recompute it at renewal time, because your existing insurer often uses a simple “inflation guard” annual value increase. Homeowners rates are calibrated to “100% insurance-to-value,” meaning your home should be insured for replacement cost — no more, no less.

Third, reevaluate your risk. Ensure your insurer knows about any improvements to the roof, windows, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems. An improved credit score may mean a lower rate; if yours has improved, ask the insurer to run it again. Some insurers offer credits for senior citizens, veterans, secured communities, smart home devices and other risk factors your rate may not be reflecting right now.

Finally, if appropriate, share your risk. Raising your deductibles or accepting “actual cash value” roof coverage will lower premiums, but remember, this will impact your finances after a claim.

The best news is that rapid rate decreases are finally beginning to outpace replacement value inflation. The global reinsurers who back the vast majority of our storm coverage are recognizing Florida’s success and moderating their capital costs. Non-storm claims frequency has fallen dramatically as unscrupulous actors retreat from soliciting claims tailor-made for their attorney partners. Litigation rates have also fallen by half or more, as attorneys know “jackpot” fees are less often awarded under new laws. But even as the landscape improves, homeowners can get smarter about rates and premiums and exploit the new era of competition for their insurance dollar.

John W. Rollins is the CEO of Patriot Select Property and Casualty Insurance Company, a Florida homeowners insurer, and a credentialed actuary.

Right-wing Pérez Jiménez ruled 1950s Venezuela with an iron fist, repressing political dissent and censoring the press with his secret police, the Seguridad Nacional. The regime fostered broad discontent among students, workers and sectors of the military, culminating in massive citizen demonstrations and a general strike that broke out into a bloody revolution.

My father was the press attaché at the Caracas embassy that night in 1958 when Pérez Jiménez flew into exile on a flight path straight over our house. Without the reviled secret police, Venezuelans experienced freedom of assembly and freedom of the press, which allowed my father’s work in supporting democracy to expand exponentially. The ruling junta that followed the revolution carried Venezuela into free elections, establishing a democratically elected government that would last four decades.

The leftist Chávez and Maduro regimes re-imposed suppression of dissent, eventually plunging Venezuela into a constitutional crisis. The first Trump administration recognized the election of interim president Juan Guaidó in 2019, but Maduro has prevailed in maintaining control of the presidency by decree. Election fraud, human rights abuses, rampant corruption and a severe economic crisis have resulted in the outmigration of millions of Venezuelans, many of them to the United States. Until recently, many were granted Temporary Protected Status, and the second Trump administration’s termination of these protections has put hundreds of thousands at risk of deportation.

In his second term, Trump has thrown gasoline onto the fire of this chaotic scenario with lethal strikes on civilian boats in the waters off Venezuela, taking possession of tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, and designating Maduro as a member of a foreign terrorist organization. Trump has said that he will make land assaults on Venezuela next.

As congressional candidate and Coast Guard veteran James Martin recently wrote in the Sun Sentinel, Trump’s justification for these actions revolves around claims that Venezuelans are complicit in trafficking in fentanyl and thus should be treated as enemy combatants. This despite evidence that it is Mexico, not Venezuela, that produces this lethal drug. At the same time as Trump is literally blasting Venezuela, he has pardoned the former president of Honduras who was convicted of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.

Congress has not declared war on Venezuela. The taking of civilian life is a crime. Trump has taken the criminal immunity granted to him by the Supreme Court to run rampant over the Constitution.

This is not behavior worthy of our country. The country my father represented during his Foreign Service career, the place American diplomats around the globe represent today. The world’s longest-lasting democracy now has an emerging dictator at the helm.

J. K. Amerson López is the author of “Embassy Kid: An American Foreign Service Family Memoir.” She lives in Lake Worth Beach.

Nearby residents have expressed worries about pollution, water pumping and the threat of utility rate hikes. One resident expressed concerns about sound from the center all day and all night, while another resident told commissioners, “You’re jeopardizing our water. You’re jeopardizing traffic. You’re jeopardizing our quality of life.”

AI data centers generate intense heat, requiring massive cooling systems to run constantly, generating noise and requiring millions of gallons of water per day. The amount of electricity needed to operate their servers can lead to higher electric rates and require upgrades to the power grid to accommodate them, or even new power plants being built.

The U.S. has more data centers than any other country, according to datacenters.com — nearly 4,000. Tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft use the centers to provide the massive computing power required for artificial intelligence.

Florida alone already has 120 data centers. It’s the fourth largest data center hub in the U.S. after Texas, California and New York. The Palm Beach County project is among dozens underway or planned for the state next year, including huge “hyperscale” projects in Tampa, Orlando and Miami-Dade.

There is opposition growing in Florida, but an environmental campaign to lobby legislators can’t keep up with the speed of hyperscale data center construction. The massive “Colossus” data center was built by Elon Musk’s xAI team in a record-breaking 122 days. Think about how long it takes to get a bill through Congress.

It’s easy to get discouraged when watching residents speaking out at public hearings. They inevitably point out the negative impacts of data centers, including how quickly they can blanket our landscape, suck in our much-needed water, rattle our nerves day and night with the noise.

They say please don’t, then the permit is somehow granted, and they do it anyway.

Some say demand is growing for AI, but whose demand? Who is crying out for more AI? Maybe Nvidia shareholders, maybe tech start-up bros. No one on my street.

None of my neighbors believe they need AI more than they need water and power. Palm Beach County has a population of over 1.5 million. Would you trade the water and power for 1.5 million people in exchange for a few hundred short-term construction jobs and then a dozen permanent jobs after it’s built?

Thanks to the growing volume of voices opposing these projects locally, Palm Beach County commissioners delayed another vote on the “Project Tango” data center until April to provide time for more impact studies. It’s not too late to get back to the wheel of this ship and set it on a more humane course.

Katie Carpenter is a West Palm Beach-based filmmaker with Everwild Media (everwildmedia.com), producing documentaries about conservation, climate change and solutions. This opinion piece was distributed by The Invading Sea (theinvadingsea.com), which publishes news and commentary on climate change and other environmental issues affecting Florida.

That sums it up nicely.

Many were not quite so fortunate in 2025. Some who led especially interesting lives, locally and beyond, are worth recalling one more time.

The voice of Connie Francis became eternally synonymous with Fort Lauderdale with “Where the Boys Are” in 1960, the title song of the definitive spring break movie. The song never reached No. 1, but it was so popular that Concetta Franconero recorded it in seven languages (yes, including Italian). A longtime resident of Parkland and one of the all-time top-selling female vocalists, Francis died in July at age 87.

Speaking of music, John Day’s tuneful voice was synonymous with Fort Lauderdale for years, strumming his guitar and singing songs like “Time in a Bottle” on lazy Sunday afternoons. He also was many other things: sailor, pilot, restaurateur, philanthropist. Remember Mangos, a Las Olas Boulevard fixture? He co-owned it, and many others. Day, 81, died in the mountain town of Banner Elk, N.C., in July.

To Geraldine Thompson’s many admirers, it hardly seemed coincidental that she died during Black History Month in February, at 76. A soft-spoken leader with a fiercely determined spirit, she represented Orlando in the Legislature for nearly two decades, and fervently advocated for Black history like the dedicated teacher that she was.

Many who make their mark in life decide to settle quietly in Florida. Such was the case with Carolyn McCarthy, who turned a family tragedy into a crusade for better gun laws. Her husband was shot to death, and her son gravely wounded, by a gunman on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993, and that spurred her to action. McCarthy, 81, served nine terms in Congress, fighting the NRA every step of the way. She lived the last decade of her life in Fort Myers.

Life’s twists and turns took Jay North to Lake Butler, Fla. near Gainesville, where for years he did what so many people do there: He worked for the Florida Department of Corrections. You know him as the towheaded little boy who became a pop culture icon by the age of 8 as Dennis the Menace on TV from 1959 to 1963, where he endlessly tornented his next-door neighbor, Mr. Wilson. North died in April at age 73.

In the turbulent world of Broward politics, the county gets a new superintendent of schools every few years. After Frank Till was fired in 2006, his chief of staff, Jim Notter, got the job in a period of immense turmoil (one board member went to prison for corruption, another was suspended for misconduct, and budget problems required mass teacher layoffs). He stayed until 2011 and retired to spend time with his grandchildren. He died in May at 78.

Others who departed this year included Roy Black, 80, of Coral Gables, one of the nation’s leading criminal defense lawyers; Scott Cowan, 79, for nearly two decades an influential Broward County commissioner; Jack Penrod, 85, a beach-area businessman who also helped to put Fort Lauderdale on the map; Art Seitz, 82, whose ever-present camera documented the sport of tennis from every possibly angle for a half-century; Nancy Stewart-Franczak, 67, a “foodie” of the first order, who organized successful food festivals, including Delray Beach’s improbably successful Garlic Fest; and Lou Toman, 90, who seemingly was everywhere as he chronicled life in South Florida as a “photog” for the Sun Sentinel (and its forerunner, the Fort Lauderdale News) for 53 years.

Every community needs a Frances Bourque. A committed preservationist, she fought to save three historic Delray Beach school buildings from the wrecking ball, and they became Old School Square. Bourque was 84 when died in July. A scholarship fund lives on in her name.

Talk about history. R. Emmett McTigue grew up in Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s, when his father, real estate investor M.R. McTigue, bought up vacant lots that today are worth millions. Like his father, Emmett McTigue oversaw Las Olas Boulevard for decades; he died in June at 92. (He didn’t want an obituary, but he deserved one, and this column gave him one.)

Forty years ago, McTigue advocated reducing Las Olas from four travel lanes to two to encourage foot traffic. It didn’t happen as he wanted, but on-street parking was approved later, and as we now await 2026, the debate still rages over how the signature street should look.

Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor for the Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com or (850) 567-2240.