JOHN BARTUS: WHY CONCERTS AND SPORTS ARE SO DARN EXPENSIVE
Up until around 15 (or so) years ago, ticket scalping was illegal in the state of Florida. Then, the Florida Legislature, in their infinite (lack of) wisdom,...
JOHN BARTUS: JIMMY CARTER LIVED A LIFE OF SERVICE TO HUMANITY
I suppose I first became aware of Jimmy Carter when I lived in South Carolina in the 1970s. He was the down-home peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia...
JOHN BARTUS: ALL ABOUT THE LIGHT
There are a lot of holidays packed in between Halloween and New Year’s Day. There’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Festivus for starters. Another of the “big ones”...
JOHN BARTUS: MARATHON REMEMBERS COUNCILMAN FRANK GREENMAN
Franklin Greenman was a friend of mine long before we served on Marathon’s inaugural city council. I respected him as a good local attorney … but I...
JOHN BARTUS: ADVICE FOR STAYING IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT
Now that we’re seriously into the Thanksgiving weekend, and the tryptophan and football overdoses are breaking our brains, it’s a sign that the “Official Holiday Season” is...
JOHN BARTUS: THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR
That magical time is upon us – the Holiday Season, or as it is otherwise known, the Consumer Capitalism Season. I trust that we will all be...
JOHN BARTUS: HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY, MARATHON!
This past Saturday marked a special anniversary for the Middle Keys. Before we get there, let’s turn the clocks back a bit.
It was November 1997. People throughout...
JOHN BARTUS: FLIPPING THE BIRD WITH YOUR HEROES
There’s an old adage that goes, “Never meet your heroes. They’ll surely disappoint.” I’m here to tell you that the old adage isn’t always accurate — and...
WEATHER UNDER CONTROL AND OTHER CONSPIRACY THEORIES
One of my favorite quotes, often attributed to Albert Einstein, goes like this: “The only infinite things are the universe and human stupidity. And I’m not sure...
JOHN BARTUS: PICK UP THE KARAOKE MIC AND JOIN THE EMPTY ORCHESTRA BLUES
For those of you who don’t know me past broadcasting, publishing or politics, my first love and passion has always been music. I still perform three to...