Highlights
State Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, was named Senate Majority Leader in May 2006. He is an air conditioner contractor who was born April 27, 1949, in Charleston, West Virginia.
He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1971. Webster's political career officially began in 1980 when he was elected as a Republican to the then-Democrat controlled Florida House of Representatives. He served 18 years in the House, two of which as minority leader prior to the GOP takeover in 1996. The change of party control made Webster the first GOP House Speaker in Florida since Reconstruction.
A conservative Southern Baptist, Webster and his wife,...
He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1971. Webster's political career officially began in 1980 when he was elected as a Republican to the then-Democrat controlled Florida House of Representatives. He served 18 years in the House, two of which as minority leader prior to the GOP takeover in 1996. The change of party control made Webster the first GOP House Speaker in Florida since Reconstruction.
A conservative Southern Baptist, Webster and his wife,...
State Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, was named Senate Majority Leader in May 2006. He is an air conditioner contractor who was born April 27, 1949, in Charleston, West Virginia.
He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1971. Webster's political career officially began in 1980 when he was elected as a Republican to the then-Democrat controlled Florida House of Representatives. He served 18 years in the House, two of which as minority leader prior to the GOP takeover in 1996. The change of party control made Webster the first GOP House Speaker in Florida since Reconstruction.
A conservative Southern Baptist, Webster and his wife, Sandy Jordan of Orlando, home-schooled their six children, guided by the Scripture-based teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, a fact that prompted some criticism that Webster's religious views were influencing the public policies of the Legislature. In 1998, he won election to the Florida Senate, where he would become the chief sponsor of legislative attempts to prolong the life of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Pinellas County woman who died in 2005 when her feeding tube was removed folowing a protracted legal and political fight in the Legislature, Congress and the Florida Supreme Court.
Webster tried unsuccessfully to become Senate president in 2002, then ran a short-lived campaign in 2004 for the U.S. Senate when Democratic Sen. Bob Graham retired. After dropping his bid for Graham's seat, Webster briefly considered retirement before standing for a second and final four-year term that year. In the 2006 spring session, a leadership fight between two would-be Senate presidents again thrust Webster into the limelight. Senate President Tom Lee demoted then-Majority Leader Alex Villalobos of Miami who was fighting a faction of GOP senators over the 2008-10 presidency and replaced him with Webster. The veteran's confidence and political savvy led the next Senate President, Ken Pruitt of Port St. Lucie, to keep him in that position of influence for Webster's final two years in office.
He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1971. Webster's political career officially began in 1980 when he was elected as a Republican to the then-Democrat controlled Florida House of Representatives. He served 18 years in the House, two of which as minority leader prior to the GOP takeover in 1996. The change of party control made Webster the first GOP House Speaker in Florida since Reconstruction.
A conservative Southern Baptist, Webster and his wife, Sandy Jordan of Orlando, home-schooled their six children, guided by the Scripture-based teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, a fact that prompted some criticism that Webster's religious views were influencing the public policies of the Legislature. In 1998, he won election to the Florida Senate, where he would become the chief sponsor of legislative attempts to prolong the life of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Pinellas County woman who died in 2005 when her feeding tube was removed folowing a protracted legal and political fight in the Legislature, Congress and the Florida Supreme Court.
Webster tried unsuccessfully to become Senate president in 2002, then ran a short-lived campaign in 2004 for the U.S. Senate when Democratic Sen. Bob Graham retired. After dropping his bid for Graham's seat, Webster briefly considered retirement before standing for a second and final four-year term that year. In the 2006 spring session, a leadership fight between two would-be Senate presidents again thrust Webster into the limelight. Senate President Tom Lee demoted then-Majority Leader Alex Villalobos of Miami who was fighting a faction of GOP senators over the 2008-10 presidency and replaced him with Webster. The veteran's confidence and political savvy led the next Senate President, Ken Pruitt of Port St. Lucie, to keep him in that position of influence for Webster's final two years in office.
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Yale celebrates Noah Webster's 250th birthday
Associated Press WriterNEW HAVEN, Conn. _ The announcement came in 1800 in the back of a Connecticut newspaper just above a farmer's reward for a stray cow. A man named Noah Webster was proposing the first comprehensive "dictionary of the American language." Webster was...Tags: West Hartford, Massachusetts, Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks, Noah Webster, Connecticut
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City firearm seizures drop 25 percent
Despite an increased emphasis on seizing illegal firearms, Baltimore police have taken about 25 percent fewer guns off the street this year and are making fewer gun arrests. City law enforcement officials said they were unsure how to account for the...Tags: Regional Authority, Police Arrests, Defense, Sexual Assault, Law Enforcement
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The real Americans
As Sarah Palin "aw-shucks-ed" her way through Thursday's debate, she repeatedly played the one card that has become her stock in trade: She is a real American. Her rural roots, her lack of sophistication and worldliness, her bare bones education, her...Tags: Government, Motor Racing, James Fenimore Cooper, Sarah Palin, Wars and Interventions
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All about being No. 2: funerals, earthquakes and inquiring after the health of the president
Thoughts on the vice presidency: ___ "You're not going to take it, are you?" — Grace Coolidge to her husband, Calvin, after he was nominated for vice president in 1920. "I suppose I'll have to." — Coolidge's reply. He became president...Tags: Government, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Disasters, Lyndon B. Johnson
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What's closed, shelter locations, road updates
Sentinel Staff WriterRoads Tolls that were suspended on the following roads during Tropical Storm Fay will be reinstated by 6 a.m. today: *Florida's Turnpike, from Miami-Dade County to Wildwood in Sumter County *Sawgrass Expressway *Interstate 75 -- Alligator Alley...Tags: Tourism and Leisure, Schools, Baptist, Kissimmee, Justice System
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Legislative wealth, 2000 to 2006
Sentinel Staff WriterCENTRAL FLORIDA LEGISLATORS Rep. Frank Atkisson, R- Kissimmee 2000: $136,487 2006: $367,001 Change: Up 169 percent Income almost doubled, to $84,000; bought new $305,000 home Rep. Joyce Cusack, D- DeLand 2000: $61,680 2007: $576,625 Change: Up...Tags: Dan Gelber, Homes, Mitch Needelman, Miami Beach, Rene Garcia
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Report cards arrive for lawmakers
Sentinel ColumnistHow supportive is your local lawmaker of the business community? The Florida Chamber of Commerce on Friday released its grades for legislators, and the chamber feels the class has fallen behind a bit. The total number of lawmakers who earned an A dropped...Tags: Laws, Economic Policy, Lee Constantine, Mike Haridopolos, Gary Siplin
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Cash & Threats: How trial lawyers wielded new power to help block commuter rail
Tallahassee BureauWhen Sen. Paula Dockery needed friends to help derail Central Florida's commuter-rail deal, she did something once unthinkable for a Republican legislator: She appealed to the state's trial lawyers. Dockery was up against a political dream team....Tags: Government, Laws, Upper House, Heavy Engineering, Executive Branch
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Abortion ultrasound bill fails to pass Florida Senate
Tallahassee Bureau ChiefAfter 90 minutes of emotional debate, a splintered Florida Senate on Wednesday killed a bill that would have required all women to undergo ultrasound exams before getting an abortion -- a mandate critics condemned as unconstitutional. The measure's...Tags: Government, Upper House, Medical Specialization, John F. Kennedy, Parliament
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Central Florida commuter-rail deal clings to life
Tallahassee BureauFor a while Wednesday, Central Florida's commuter rail appeared doomed. With the 61.5-mile DeLand-to-Celebration project facing as many as two dozen potentially crippling amendments, Senate Transportation Chairman Carey Baker, R-Eustis, announced he...Tags: Laws, Upper House, Environmental Pollution, J.D. Alexander, Winter Park
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Face-off nears on commuter rail
Tallahassee BureauA wide-ranging transportation package that includes an agreement with CSX Corp. to buy 61 miles of right of way for Central Florida commuter rail is poised for a pivotal vote today in the state House. But that package is on a collision course with a...Tags: Laws, Upper House, Fort Lauderdale, Vehicles, Jeb Bush
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Lawmaker Daniel Webster coy about plans as term limits end 28-year tenure
Tallahassee Bureau ChiefWith the clock winding down on the 2008 Legislature, the career of one of Central Florida's most enduring lawmakers is nearing its close. Senate Majority Leader Daniel Webster, R- Winter Garden, is entering the final week of his last regular session,...Tags: Laws, Government, Upper House, Orange County (Florida), John F. Kennedy
Oct 13, 2008
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