Local Blogs in Most Dire Need of an Update

Flickr user: The Naples Players

A blogger (left) trying to reason with his blog (right)

You don't have to tell me that a blog is a beast with a bottomless appetite. I do sympathize with other local bloggers procrastinating their next post. But only to a point. Remember: There's a fine line between a blog and a time capsule. In this era of crumbling daily newspapers, fresh blogs are more important than ever, which is why I must call out the following sites for being derelict in their duty.

Mayor Tom Truex's blog. It's not that we're terribly curious what the former Davie mayor has been doing since challenger Judy Paul sent him to an early political retirement in a razor-thin election last month. It's that the last two posts make for a rather undignified exit. There's the one in December declaring that Truex will post no more forever so that he can concentrate on his reelection campaign. Then there's the final one in early March -- exactly a week before the election -- that seems totally paranoid: a denial of some specious rumor from police union officials that Truex feared would appear in the Miami Herald. The same Herald that had given him its endorsement. Truex owes an impassioned farewell post to his loyal-to-the-end supporters, along with a graceful note of good luck to his successor. Lacking these, the site fairly reeks with sour grapes.

Tim Smith's Blog. Ever have a friend with whom your primary bond is a shared contempt for some other person? And then that other person leaves the picture and suddenly you don't have much to talk about? This is my theory on the former commissioner and his anti-Mayor Naugle readership. Term limits take all the fun out of political coups.

Stuck on the Palmetto. OK, that link isn't really a blog so much as a tombstone. And honestly, I know this one mostly by its sterling reputation as an instigator and from its unceremonious departure. And though Rick now has South Florida Daily Blog, he's not quite as aggressive as he was in his previous incarnation. Maybe a ruthless alter ego will come up from the grave to pick up where Palmetto left off?