Commentaries

During the last few years, over thirty guest commentaries have been published in The News-Press (Fort Myers, FL), Naples Daily News, and Citizen-Times (Asheville, NC), covering a wide range of topics, including education, leadership, sports and community issues.

• Letter: Shame on UNC – Chapel Hill 10/23/17 Asheville, NC Citizen-Times, Les Cochran
• Letter: Duke Energy Bullies Regulatory Commission 08/31/17 Asheville, NC Citizen-Times, Les Cochran 
• Letter: Duke CEO ignores consumers, talks reliability 08/10/17 Asheville, NC Citizen-Times, Les Cochran
• No Consumer Bailout for Duke Energy 06/27/17 The Citizen-Times, Les Cochran
• Universities have a spending problem 05/06/16 Asheville Citizen-Times, Les Cochran
• Athletics should disclose finances 04/22/16 Asheville Citizen-Times, Les Cochran
• College Bowl Games: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous 12/29/15 Naples Daily News, Les Cochran
• Common sense 10/11/15 Naples Daily News, Les Cochran
• College and federal officials ignore skyrocketing costs 05/22/15 The Hill, Les Cochran
• Impact fees 02/11/15 Naples Daily News, Les Cochran
• Time to control costs for higher education students 01/05/15 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• Big-Time Football 08/14/14 Naples Daily News, Les Cochran
• Have Standards 06/10/14 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• Deep Impact 03/01/14 Naples Daily News, Les Cochran
• Gold and Brass 02/20/13 Naples Daily News, Guest Commentary: Les Cochran
• Forgetting Someone? 01/31/13 Naples Daily News, Guest Commentary: Les Cochran
• Who controls gun control? 01/15/13 Naples Daily News, Guest Commentary: Les Cochran
• Rated F 12/08/12 Naples Daily News, Letter to the Editor: Les Cochran
• SW Fla. schools must focus on basic instruction 06/18/12 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Emphasis in education should be on learning, not testing 05/30/12 Naples Daily News, Guest Commentary: Les Cochran
• Quality Education, Not Yellow Dinosaurs, Must Drive the Future 02/02/12 Lehigh Acres Gazette by Les Cochran
• New superintendents share common problems 10/05/11 Naples Daily News, Guest Commentary: Les Cochran
• It’s time for Lee County to shrink number of school buses 08/21/11 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Neighborhood elementary schools must drive district’s future 07/16/11 Cape Coral Daily Breeze by Les Cochran
• Upgrade Tice Elementary to invest in our neighborhoods 06/27/11 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Neighborhood elementary schools must be energized, quality-driven 03/30/11 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Lee school board’s use of its reserves could cost district millions 02/17/11 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Lee County will need new plan if it wants world-class schools 01/08/11 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Leadership transition is valuable opportunity for Lee School Board 10/05/10 Naples Daily News, Guest Commentary: Les Cochran
• Lee School Board’s use of its reserves could cost district millions 02/16/11 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Lee County will need new plan if it wants world-class schools 01/08/11 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Leadership transition provides an opportunity for Lee School Board 10/04/10 The Daily News, Guest Commentary: Les Cochran
• Lee commissioners need to get real on cutting budget, taxes 07/10/10 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Public employee compensation skyrockets, goes unchecked 11/14/09 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Judah all over the place on fund reserves 12/01/09 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Cut county duplication, waste and nonessential services 05/26/09 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Despite Judah’s backing, Edison Farms site strikes out 04/25/09 Bonita Daily News, Commentary: Les Cochran
• Recession demands downsizing Lee government 12/23/08 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Whatever happened to three strikes and you’re out? 09/18/08 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Lee commissioners blow a save opportunity 05/29/08 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Sevens lucky in Vegas but not in Lee County 05/12/08 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• County should offer 20 percent property tax rebate 03/22/08 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• It’s time for Lee County to get into 21st century 02/15/08 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• It would pay to reform way Lee County sets staff salaries 12/26/07 NEWS-PRESS, Guest Opinion: Les Cochran
• Downsizing county government need not be painful 07/09/07 Bonita Daily News, Guest Commentary: Les Cochran
• COMMISSIONER JUDAH DIPS, FLIPS THEN TRIPS 11/15/09 NEWS-PRESS.com, Les Cochran
• REPEAL TAX HIKE 08/24/09 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• COMMISSIONERS: IT’S TIME TO FOLD THEM! 04/26/09 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• Keep commissioners honest 12/05/08 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• Stilwell: It need not be this way 09/27/08 Cape Coral Breeze, Les Cochran
• How intriguing 08/22/08 Bonita Daily News, Les Cochran
• Watering the budget down 08/21/08 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• We need more than a stadium 08/13/08 Cape Coral Daily Breeze, Les Cochran
• Better set of ground rules 07/30/08 Bonita Daily News, Les Cochran
• New vision for Red Sox 07/28/08 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• County commissioners need to do their jobs 07/19/08 Bonita Life NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• Stimulating 07/17/08 Bonita Daily News, Les Cochran
• LETTER OF THE DAY: Real money 04/12/08 Bonita Daily News, Les Cochran
• Cut taxes! 04/06/08 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran
• LETTER OF THE DAY: Keep going 02/14/08 Bonita Daily News, Les Cochran
• Aim for the fat 01/24/08 Bonita Daily News, Les Cochran
• One big spend-fest 10/15/07 Bonita Daily News, Les Cochran
• Commissioners’ excess 10/14/07 NEWS-PRESS, Les Cochran