Repeat violations don't warrant firing

Moore's history with Broward transit ended two weeks ago. He wasn't fired. He retired. Broward transit officials said Friday they would have fired him if he hadn't left.

His case is illustrative of some of Broward's transit drivers, given more forgiveness for causing accidents and mistreating the public than even their union contract calls for. Meanwhile, complaints continue to come in, public records show. The disciplinary system for bus drivers is under scrutiny now by top county officials, including the county auditor.

"I think some of them know they can get away with doing what they want,'' said Tom Cook, a daily bus rider who lives in Wilton Manors. "They know how their contract is. We're pretty much at their mercy.''

Moore,Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! 62, remained behind the wheel until his Jan. 11 resignation, earning $48,500. He and his union representatives couldn't be reached for comment for this story.

His personnel file shows Moore repeatedly had flareups with passengers who grated on his nerves. He also had a history of accidents.We are one of the leading manufacturers of solar street light in Chennai India.

Once, he had the police kick a woman off his bus because her daughter was popping bubble gum loudly. Another time he had a passenger evicted for whistling.We've got a plastic card to suit you.

Moore had to be continually reminded not to fight with passengers, and not to let them get under his skin.

In one of his cases, Moore wrote a response, telling county officials that his loss of an arm and leg in a county bus accident in 1996 had heightened his sensitivity to sound. Moore lost two limbs while driving a Broward transit bus in 1996, in a crash caused by a Cadillac on University Drive. He came back to drive buses using prosthetics, receiving a federal waiver allowing him to do so.Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet?

Hired in 1993, Moore's first serious discipline, a three-day suspension, came in 2001, according to his personnel file. "You had a passenger who placed his bike on the bike rack,'' county bus officials summarized, "and then proceeded to board when you closed the doors and left him and further down the road you stopped and took the bike off the rack and left it on the side of the road.''

Years later, in August 2008, Moore was suspended for five days after an ugly exchange with a female passenger. Moore missed her bus stop, and she wanted off. He pulled over at the next stop.

Moore refused to open the front door to let her out, insisting she leave by the back door. Passengers started yelling at him, but he wouldn't budge. The woman remained on the bus after it pulled away, until a county supervisor intercepted it and apologetically drove her home.

Just a month later, Moore got into a challenge with a woman whose daughter was popping bubble gum. He called headquarters and told them to call the police.

This wasn't his first instance of "improper and overly aggressive'' exchanges with passengers, his bosses wrote, and because of the progressive discipline system, they wrote, "this instance is grounds for termination.''

Instead, they offered him a "Last Chance Agreement'' — a five-day suspension and employee-assistance referral, and the warning: "Any future incidents of a same or similar nature that rise to the level of formal discipline will result in immediate discharge.''

He received many more chances after that, starting with an accident a year later.

In July 2010, for example, a man in a white cap got on his bus. Moore could have been fired if he got in any more trouble, but the man was whistling. Moore pulled the bus over and waited almost 11 minutes for Plantation police to evict the man for "whistling too loud,'' personnel records say.

County transit officials pulled the video tapes and watched. "There are ... no laws that prohibit any member of the public from whistling in a normal tone,'' they wrote to him in a memo.

The Santa Fe girls' basketball team went on a mid-game roll and didn't let up Saturday until they had secured the third-place trophy of the 32nd Wildcat Classic.

The fourth-seeded Lady Chiefs coasted to a 60-40 victory over Sacred Heart for their best finish in a tournament since defeating Glasgow by three points at Slater 2009.

The Lady Gremlins came into the meet seeded seventh, but pulled off the biggest upset of the first round by beating No. 2 Higginsville. And they appeared ready to put Santa Fe to the test.

Neither team led by more than four points until the final minute of the first half, when the Lady Chiefs surged on junior Brooke Barnett's runner in the lane, a free throw by sophomore Lexi Smith and two charity shots from senior Brandi Beasley for a nine-point cushion at the break.

That was merely a prelude to Santa Fe's third-quarter dominance. Freshman Kyle Limback converted a conventional three-point play, Barnett made two lay-ups, Limback drove to the hole and Barnett popped a perimeter jumper to cap a 19-2 run for a 42-21 Lady Chief lead.

The Lady Huskers recovered from their first-round upset at the hands of Sacred Heart to win back-to-back games, the third time this season they've won twice in tourney play -- having placed second in the Husker Classic and third in the Lafayette County Tournament, both on their home court.

Higginsville blew out to a 13-3 first-quarter lead and extended the margin to 14 points by halftime. The Lady Wildcats surged slightly with 12 points during the third period, but Dyer had 10 of her team's 24 points down the stretch to seal the win.Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person.