The Trump administration said on Friday it is suspending action on an Obama administration decision in October to probe a long-time practice by some airlines of preventing various travel websites from showing their fares and whether to require transparency in airline baggage and other fees.

The U.S. Transportation Department said in a notice Friday it is suspending a public comment period on the review of the practices to "allow the president's appointees the opportunity to review and consider this action."

Airlines generated $3.8 billion in baggage fees in 2015 and the Obama administration said in October it was formally exploring requiring airlines and ticket agents to provide consumers with prices that include service fees for baggage and other services alongside fares at points of sale.

Separately, the Trump administration is also extending the compliance date for a new regulation requiring reporting of data for mishandled baggage and wheelchairs in aircraft cargo compartments for one year - until Jan. 1, 2019.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/03/us-suspends-obama-airline-transparency-review.html

Ben Carson Is Now Officially in Charge of Housing Policy



I never knew what a nightmare was like until now

The Keystone XL Pipeline will not be subject to President Donald Trump's executive order requiring infrastructure projects to be built with American steel, a White House spokeswoman said today.

Trump signed the order calling for the Commerce Department to develop a plan for U.S. steel to be used in “all new pipelines, as well as retrofitted, repaired or expanded pipelines” inside the U.S. projects “to the maximum extent possible.”

By the White House’s judgment, that description would not include Keystone XL, which developer TransCanada first proposed in 2008.

“The Keystone XL Pipeline is currently in the process of being constructed, so it does not count as a new, retrofitted, repaired or expanded pipeline,” the White House spokeswoman said.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/keystone-pipeline-buy-american-exemption-235639?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange

Gov. Rick Scott has named Sarasota businessman Carlos Beruff to be the chairman of the powerful Constitution Revision Commission, the 37-member commission that will be dominated by Scott appointees which has the power to put proposals directly onto the 2018 ballot.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/scott-names-carlos-beruff-to-chair-the-powerful-constitution-revision/2314973

BOSTON — Former President Barack Obama has been named the 2017 winner of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/barack-obama-named-recipient-of-jfk-profile-in-courage-award/2315082

Solid Rock Ministries in Mobile, Alabama. Three officials from the church’s program for troubled teens were convicted in January 2017 of aggravated child abuse.

It was October 2011, and Captain Charles Kennedy, a veteran policeman, was in the main office at the Restoration Youth Academy (RYA), a Christian home for troubled teens in Prichard, Alabama, when he caught a glimpse of something shocking on a close-circuit monitor: a naked boy crouching in a 6-by-8-foot isolation room as a light bulb burned overhead.

Kennedy had been waiting for William Knott, the program’s manager, to return with some paperwork, and when he walked back into the office, Kennedy asked about the boy, whose name he later learned was Robert. He wanted to know what the boy had done to deserve such treatment. Knott, a squat, powerfully built ex-sailor, calmly explained his rationale: “He’s got an attitude. He’s only been there for a day, and he’ll be there for another day or two.”

http://www.newsweek.com/2017/03/10/saving-youth-foundation-alabama-christian-school-beatings-nudity-562257.html

"He pointed his finger at her and told her to shut her mouth and to not say another fucking word"

DADE CITY — Sumter County sheriff's Sgt. Alan Hamilton was there the day Curtis Reeves shot a man to death after a dispute in a movie theater over an illuminated cellphone screen.

Hamilton saw a burst of popcorn and a muzzle blast, he said.

He didn't see everything, he admitted. But he heard things. And some of those things conflict with Reeves' own testimony about what was said in the aftermath of the shooting at the Cobb Grove 16 theaters in 2014.

Hamilton's account also does not support Reeves' testimony in his ongoing "stand your ground" hearing that Chad Oulson, 43, was climbing over the back of his seat when Reeves, 74, fired a gun.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/reeves-had-no-cuts-or-blood-on-face-investigator-testifies/2314945

this morning TD Ameritrade announces $6.95 trades

snip

Having been schooled in recent years by voters on amendments involving redistricting, Everglades conservation and medical marijuana, the Florida Legislature is trying to change the rules again.

A joint resolution (HJR 321) was approved last week by a House subcommittee for a plan that would raise the threshold for passing constitutional amendments from 60 to 66.67 percent of the vote.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/romano-hey-voters-tallahassee-wants-to-stiff-you-again/2314715

Scientists predict there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.

When you're driving down the West Coast Highway on Vancouver Island, it's hard not to be in awe of the surrounding natural beauty. The 60-mile stretch of highway that runs from Victoria to Port Renfrew is flanked by the sprawling Pacific Ocean on one side and lush rainforest on the other. Scattered between the trees and ocean are a plethora of beaches where people hike, surf, swim, and camp. It's a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts.

But beneath the pristine wilderness there's a global epidemic slowly infiltrating Canada's oceans and beaches: garbage.

On a typical wet-winter coastal afternoon, I drove out to Sombrio Beach, located approximately 12 miles south of Port Renfrew, a community on the west coast of Vancouver Island, to see firsthand the impact garbage is having on the ocean and beaches. I spent the afternoon with an international group called the Surfrider Foundation, which has a mandate that reads: "Dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's oceans, waves, and beaches through a powerful activist network."

Surfrider started as a small grassroots movement in California during the 1980s and now boasts more than 50,000 members with roughly 80 chapters around the globe, including three in Canada. Every month, the Vancouver Island Chapter has a beach cleanup, where volunteers put on work gloves, rubber boots, and pick up garbage.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/scientists-predict-there-could-be-more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-oceans-by-2050