Lobbying For Stops On High-Speed Rail Line

LAKELAND -- Now that plans for a high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa are under way, communities are lobbying for a stop on the rail line.

Transportation officials said they have to limit the number of stops on the high-speed rail system. If there are too many stops, the average speed of the system won’t be fast enough to make the rail system worthwhile.

Lakeland Mayor-elect Gow Fields said he believes there will ultimately be only one stop in Polk County, and he wants it in his city.

“It’s very important we have a stop in Polk County,” Fields said.

If Lakeland does get a high-speed rail stop, the next logical question is: Where it will go?

The interchange for Kathleen Road and Interstate 4 is one prime spot, with plenty of land. Plus, the spot is a quick trip by bus to the city’s Citrus Connection bus terminal.

“People that don’t live here, that get off high-speed rail in Lakeland -- well, they can’t get off where they are going next,” Fields said. “They will have to have mass transit available to them to get to their next destination.”

Besides Lakeland, the Florida Department of Transportation said another site considered for Polk County could be the I-4 exchange with the Polk Parkway, which is also the future home of a huge University of South Florida Polytechnic campus.

Some residents would like the stop at U.S. Highway 27 and I-4, about 3 miles west of the Osceola County line and ChampionsGate, while others would like to see the stop built at Socrum Loop Road, in Lakeland.

Sujoy Daskundo, a manager at the Days Inn and Suites on Socrum Loop Road, said a train stop in the area could bring a boost to business for the neighborhood.

“Next door, we have Applebees, you have Cracker Barrel, Five Guys -- everything,” he said. “All the gas stations, so everything, all the businesses. There will be a flow of money going again.”

The Department of Transportation will make the final decision about the location of the stop. However, officials said they do not know when they will make that call.

Source:cfnews13.com/

A lonely lobbyist

Jaclyn Borowski

Aaron Houston, the one full-time marijuana lobbyist on Capitol Hill, spoke to students last night during a talk sponsored by SSDP.












We’re dangerously close to marijuana legislation. Why do I say dangerously? Do any of you feel prepared?”

Aaron Houston, the only full-time marijuana lobbyist on Capitol Hill, discussed the best methods for advocating legalized marijuana and emphasized how close the movement is to succeeding in a talk last night sponsored by Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

“I knew the climate was changing, but I didn’t realize how close he feels we are to legalization,” SSDP Vice President Nyssa Bryant said. “It’s really exciting.”

As the movement continues to grow, Houston said, the possibility of legalizing marijuana is nearing reality. And more and more states are legalizing medical marijuana — Maine was the latest to join the ranks by passing a referendum to legalize medical marijuana in early November.

“The world has basically changed very recently,” Houston said. “It may be hard to tell, but something is happening in College Park. Something is happening in Maryland. Something is happening in this country. People are starting to talk.”

And the people are taking their concerns straight to the president. A survey on President Barack Obama’s website, Houston said, asked people to vote for the issues they saw as the most pressing for the country. Each of the four times the survey was conducted, legalizing marijuana was the number one choice.

Houston is working on a bill for Congress detailing how a legalized marijuana policy would realistically be implemented. Though Houston believes Obama wants decriminalization, he said he thought that it likely won’t be a first-term issue for the White House to pursue.
Houston emphasized talking to people and networking as the key to pushing the legislation.

“I just connect people and ideas,” Houston said, explaining that at least 50 percent of the work he does is not specifically marijuana lobbying, but is working on making connections.

And through people telling him secrets and dropping anecdotes in his job, Houst is convinced more people have used marijuana than the country realizes. He recounted a time, recently, when a congressman’s wife told him how eating pot brownies made her husband so paranoid that he became convinced that the police were going to burst in and catch them.

“I feel like I’m kind of a priest sometimes because people tell me their secrets because I’m the marijuana lobbyist,” he said.

Houston emphasized, however, that the people behind legalization are evolving with the issue, expanding to encompass all parties.

“This isn’t a Democrat issue or a Republican issue — it’s an everybody issue. It’s a national security issue,” he said.

And this statement has proved too true, as Houston said the biggest changing point in the movement came last week when a top Republican, who he is currently unable to name, joined their cause.

“That turned the key; it put all the pieces in place for [changing the law] to happen,” said Houston. “It was that day last week.”

But while Houston continually impressed upon students how close legalization is, he also emphasized the need for perseverance.

“You lose so many fights. You lose nine out of 10 fights,” he said. “We’re going to lose a lot of fights, we may even go backwards a little bit.”

Houston’s talk left many students inspired to get more involved in the movement to continue the fight.

“I hope that people will get involved,” said Bryant. “It doesn’t have to be something big. I just hope that people take it to heart.”

Source:diamondbackonline.com/