Romano: Prosecutors use Enron-inspired law to go after fisherman with undersized grouper

We begin in the middle of nowhere. No crowds, no TV cameras, no reason whatsoever to be paying attention. Just a handful of people on a fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico.

It's a summer day in 2007, and John Yates figures he has 3,000 pounds of grouper cooling on ice. Unfortunately, an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission figures about 72 of those fish are slightly undersized, and thus illegal....

It's time to stop being chumps for the PSC

They're low-profile bureaucrats, I get that.

They're faceless, nameless and mostly monotonous, and I can't blame you at all for not paying attention to the members of the Public Service Commission.

Except for this:

They're treating you like a chump.

A pushover. A fool.

They're helping electric companies reach further into your wallet, and they're doing it while earning big bucks to supposedly protect your interests....

Romano: Rigged redistricting — it would be funny if it weren't so appalling

Funny story:

So a bunch of voters get together to essentially tell Florida lawmakers that they don't trust them.

Don't trust them to be honest. Don't trust them to be fair. Don't trust them to be, I guess you could say, trustworthy.

These 3 million voters pass two constitutional amendments to make sure voting maps will never, ever be drawn to favor incumbents and political parties....

Romano: As Obamacare legal battle rages, remember the people it helps

They say there are legacies on the line. A president's. A chief justice's. Even the reputations of a forgettable collection of congressional leaders might hang in the balance.

They all await the outcome of a Supreme Court decision regarding a critical component of the Affordable Care Act. In the months to come, the story will no doubt be divided along the lines of political winners and losers....

Lost hope in undeveloped St. Petersburg land hurts more than lost money

His neighborhood was being torn down around him in the name of progress.

Sitting on his front porch with a baseball cap on his head and memories on his mind, the elderly gentleman told a reporter the story of planting the giant oak that was now providing their shade. He talked of the big-name acts that had passed through the doors of the Manhattan Casino across the road on 22nd Street S.

And he scoffed at the idea that progress was on the way....

Romano: Education 'reformers' want choices for parents — except in public schools

Apparently, the new buzz word in education is customization.

Jeb Bush used it the other day. So did state Sen. John Legg, who was the education committee chairman the past two years. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio wrote about customization, and so did Patricia Levesque, CEO of Foundation for Excellence in Education.

It is part of a philosophy that says parents should be calling the shots when it comes to the education of their children. That means more charters and more voucher money. It means home-schooling and virtual schools. Essentially, it means parents know best....

Romano: Lots of excuses, little real message in Florida Democrats' playbook

Democrats in Florida are putting together another election task force.

Republicans in Florida are laughing hysterically.

That's the simplified version of where we are in state politics today. Democrats continue to look for something that Republicans keep parading in front of them.

Call it messaging. Or vision. Or a dang clue.

You might have heard that Democrats are whining about all the money spent by Gov. Rick Scott in the final days of the campaign. And I'm sure it did have some effect....

Romano: Proposal for state of South Florida simply mirrors reality

For Alex Sink, the idea arrived four years too late.

In case you missed it, the city of South Miami recently adopted a resolution suggesting Florida be split into two states. Drawing a crooked line from Pinellas to Brevard, the 51st state of South Florida would pretty much keep the largest metro centers from having to associate with more-rural neighbors to the north.

The South Miami commissioners were motivated by the perception that the counties upstate enjoy the benefits of oversized tax revenues from their southern brethren while refusing to acknowledge the dangers climate change poses to South Florida....

Romano: St. Pete's parking rules are unconstitutional — and goofy

The word the judge used was "unconstitutional."

Pretty important word. Pretty damning word for government types.

And yet Judge William Overton agreed that was the correct description of an ordinance governing parking spots in downtown St. Petersburg.

From my limited knowledge of constitutional law, I think there are a few other words the judge actually could have chosen. They probably wouldn't have sounded as impressive or scholarly, but they would have been just as descriptive....