OUR OPINION Cheers and jeers

Cheer: Beacon College in Leesburg, which continues to buy up derelict buildings and vacant land to expand its unique educational institution.

Beacon was founded to provide a college education to young adults with special needs, primarily those with autism. Its student enrollment is burgeoning in recent years as word gets out about its specialized teaching methods, its intimate student-to-teacher ratios and its success in preparing people to meet the challenges of the work world and beyond.

Until recently, Beacon has been a somewhat disjointed warren of repurposed commercial buildings in downtown Leesburg. But that is changing. In recent years, the college has been buying more underutilized properties and transforming them into elegant, useful buildings with handsome exteriors. Its efforts are helping to infuse downtown Leesburg with a pleasant aesthetic and new energy.

Jeer: Lake County commissioners, for moving toward a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated Lake County.

The commission voted 5-0 in favor of the proposed law. They will vote on the final adoption of the law on Oct. 24 during the next county commission meeting. The ban would only apply to unincorporated areas of the county and would not stop cities from allowing dispensaries. Mount Dora and Mascotte voted to allow dispensaries this year, and medical marijuana is available in Orlando and The Villages.

In enacting this ban, the Lake County Commission is thumbing its nose at the will of a large majority of Florida voters, more than 60 percent of whom voted for medical marijuana in a statewide referendum last year. These dispensaries will be, for all intents and purposes, pharmacies permitted by law to dispense medical marijuana only only to those with prescriptions from doctors.

Jeer: Former U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, for reportedly using his old congressional campaign account to pay for a host of personal expenses.

Politico reported that Stearns, an Ocala Republican whose old district included parts of Lake County, has kept his campaign committee open and used it to fund personal expenditures such as trips, a monthly cellphone bill, membership dues and payments to his wife. He has used it to make investments that have netted almost $300,000, money that has stayed within the $1.5 million account.

A former attorney with the Federal Election Commission told Politico that Stearns' use of the money "seems flat-out illegal" and that he had never seen anything like it before. Stearns didn't respond to requests from Politico for comment.

Stearns served 12 terms before losing to current U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Gainesville, in a 2012 primary. He should have closed his campaign account after leaving office instead of using it as a personal bank account.

Cheer: State Rep. Kathleen Peters, R-Treasure Island, and Sen. Dana Young, R-Tampa, for introducing legislation to ban fracking in Florida.

A similar measure failed to pass in the last legislative session despite bipartisan support, including from members of Alachua County's legislative delegation. We hope they will also back the new bills, HB 237 and SB 462, and other efforts to protect groundwater from pollution.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves injecting a high-pressure mixture of water and chemicals into the ground to extract gas or oil. The potentially carcinogenic chemicals pose a contamination threat to the Floridan Aquifer, the source of our drinking water.

Hopefully House leaders and others who have been skeptical of such a ban will recognize that it is in our state's best interests.