MAGICAL TURNAROUND

It was only a year ago that the Orlando Magic found itself in the embarrassing situation of hiring a new coach who decided he really didn’t want the job. After Billy Donovan reneged so he could remain with his winning University of Florida team, the Magic went with their second choice. And we’re glad they did. Stan Van Gundy deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround of the once-woeful Magic, which finished the regular season with a respectable 52-30 record (the team’s 27-14 road record was a franchise record) and advanced through the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996. The Magic long have been everyone’s favorite piÒata in this town, but nothing makes people forget about losing like winning.

KEEP UP THE FIGHT
Thank a group of nearby residents for fending off big development on the edge of Lake Eola Park--for now. They packed a meeting of Orlando’s Municipal Planning Board to denounce Eola Capital’s plan to build a 15-story office tower across the street and a stone’s throw from the park’s playground. The company planned to tear down five charming bungalows to build its 200-foot-high tower, which would have been surrounded on three sides by public land. Faced with strong opposition, the company temporarily withdrew its proposal, but says it will return to the planning board in the fall with more detailed plans. We hope the residents return with plans of their own--and lots of friends.

STUDENT OF PERFECTION
[Cutline: Ryan Jepson]
Orange County Public Schools can boast a coup in the high-stakes arena of college entrance exams: Ryan Jepson, a Winter Park High School junior in the school’s International Baccalaureate program, earned a perfect 36 score on his ACT exam. He’s one of only 56 students nationwide who achieved the perfect score this year--and the only Florida student to do so.

WE'LL HELP YOU PACK

RUNS IN THE FAMILY
On the subject of climate change, it turns out that our former governor and his brother the president are of one mind after all. Speaking before a group of business people in Dallas, Jeb Bush said, while keeping his head firmly planted in sand, that he was skeptical of human involvement in global warming. Dubya’s younger brother then went on to say environmental policies should be based on “sound science” and not emotion. Melting ice sheets, ceaseless droughts, and food shortages in developing and Third World countries can make one a bit emotional, if not crazy enough to believe the mountains of scientific evidence linking rising levels of greenhouse gases to catastrophic climate change. But Jeb probably gets his information from the same sources as the Bush administration--the oil lobby.

BAD INTENTIONS
The “Dr. Phil” show got into the gutter with the Jerry Springers of trash-talk TV when it attempted to host one of the six teen-age girls charged in the videotaped beating of a Polk County high school cheerleader. Employees for “Dr. Phil,” hosted by psychologist Phil McGraw, paid for the bond of Mercades Nichols in an attempt to have her appear on the show to talk about the highly publicized attack. “Dr. Phil” producers backed off, saying the employees broke certain guidelines. But that didn’t change the show’s intent to give one of the accused the 15 minutes of fame the teens sought by videotaping the melee. The alleged attackers had planned to post the video on YouTube.

Additional articles along with the remainder of this excerpt can be found in the current issue of Orlando Magazine.