The St. Pete Times focuses on racism and the leak investigation: http://www.sptimes.com/Opinion.shtml

Six weeks after guards punched, kneed and choked Martin Anderson at a North Florida juvenile boot camp, Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober to investigate "all matters connected" to the 14-year-old's death. To do that thoroughly he must look beyond the incident and answer these questions: Why did the state, which knew for years that guards used excessive force, tolerate the abuse of children? How did that permissiveness create an atmosphere that encouraged beatings such as the one that Anderson received shortly before he died?

Ober has moved quickly to consolidate the probe, taking control of the investigation from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, ordering a new autopsy and bringing in his own team to investigate how Anderson died Jan. 6, only hours after entering the Bay County Boot Camp, where guards were videotaped beating him. Once Ober receives the new autopsy report, expected any day, he will have a cause of death and can pursue whether criminal activity was involved.

Anderson's beating cannot be examined in isolation. As th e Miami Herald reported, records show that youths at the Panama City boot camp were repeatedly kneed, punched or restrained by guards using "pressure point" holds on their ears and chins. Of the 180 times since 2003 that guards documented using force, only eight instances were in response to youths' violent behavior or escape attempts. In the vast majority of cases, the Herald reported, guards attacked youths for being "insolent," talking back or lacking "motivation" - even "breathing heavily."

It sounded hypocritical at first. President Bush has long voiced his displeasure about news leaks from his administration, particularly the leaks of classified information. Yet the White House on Friday did not dispute court papers filed in the CIA leak case against Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff that Bush had authorized that same aide to disclose other information from a classified prewar intelligence report.

"There is a difference between providing declassified information to the public when it's in the public interest and leaking classified information that involved sensitive national intelligence regarding our security," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

Now we get it. It's okay to slip classified information to a reporter if the president approves it, because then the information is declassified. And leaks aren't bad if they paint the administration in a positive light - and it's the president who authorizes the leaking.

where as the Tampa Tribune focuses on taxes and the 2008 GOP Convention:  http://www.tbo.com/news/opinion/

The Florida Legislature will make an unfair system worse if it rushes ahead with short-sighted proposals to change how property is taxed.

Senate President Tom Lee should put the brakes on attempts to send any constitutional amendment on taxes to voters. Instead, he should appoint a panel of experts, taxpayer advocates and lawmakers who can compromise on thoughtful reforms that protect all homeowners, not just those who stay put.

The most dangerous change lawmakers are considering would allow homeowners to transfer existing tax shelters to newly purchased properties. Other proposals would double the homestead exemption, dictate tax rates to cities and counties, and apply a tax cap to all properties.

All of these remedies come with damaging side effects that a tax reform panel could explore. If homeowners are allowed to take their tax breaks with them, tax injustice would only increase. If all properties are capped, tax unfairness would spread to businesses and apartments.

A Tampa delegation is heading to Washington for an "interested cities" session Tuesday with the committee that will select the host city for the 2008 Republican National Convention. The city's official bid won't be submitted until June and a decision won't be made until January, but Tampa should be a clear favorite.

Four years ago, Tampa narrowly lost the convention to New York City - an understandable favorite because of the rawness of 9 /11. The city has an even stronger case this time: It has more downtown hotels and hotel rooms overall. And Tampa has a strong political team, led by longtime GOP activist Al Austin.

Given Florida's importance in presidential politics, it would make a strong statement for the Republican Party to choose Tampa for its convention.

The Star Tribune focuses on K-12 education: http://www.startribune.com/561/

For the past two years, plans to restore preschool aid to some districts have floated at the Legislature, only to be stalled or dropped. This year should be different. If the state won't provide the money directly, lawmakers should approve a plan to let districts raise local taxes to serve 4- and 5-year-olds.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's budget proposal includes the plan to boost local levy authority to make up for a 2004 state cut. At that time, 14 districts were using regular state funding for preschool programs. Among them were Minneapolis, St. Paul, Robbinsdale, Hopkins and Bemidji. In late 2003, the state Department of Education decided those districts could no longer use state funding for that purpose.

whereas the Pioneer Press focuses on the energy policy (again):  http://www.canoecountry.com/pioneer/

Promises, promises. The federal government long has promised to take responsibility for permanent storage of waste from nuclear power plants, including the two in Minnesota. The government's own deadline was 1998. So far, that promise has amounted to a $9 billion investment in the waste dump site at Yucca Mountain, Nev., that is still years away from accepting spent nuclear material from plants like those at Prairie Island, Minn.

The Bush administration is renewing momentum to get the Nevada site running. It is behind legislation that, among other things, would increase the amount of spent fuel the site can take. It would also designate the money utilities are required to pay each year for developing the storage site expressly for Yucca Mountain.

Nuclear generation will remain a part of the mix for powering the future. It is reasonable to argue how much of the mix it should be. But there are 55,000 tons of waste already waiting at sites around the country, including at Prairie Island, where above-ground storage began in 1995.

To take charge of reality, this national nuclear waste storage site is essential. Legislation to press for it deserves public attention and support.