No one, seemingly, saw it coming. A serious challenger, that is. Certainly not City Councilman John Dingfelder. And certainly not a race with intimations and accusations of sign sleuths, push polls and a “hatchet job.” The District 4 incumbent has, quite arguably, been a sensible enough, if sometimes quirky, successor to Linda Saul-Sena, the patron [...]
To update an old “Saturday Night Live” Francisco Franco parody: “Anna Nicole Smith Still Dead.” Alas, the storyline is far from interred. There’s cause-of-death intrigue, ongoing estate battles and garden-variety sleaze at every turn. And all those rivulets of emotion on Facebook, the fan-produced tributes on YouTube, the candlelight- vigil plans for New York’s Union [...]
Step down on top, Tony. Given the usual givens – parity and luck – it’s not likely that the Indianapolis Colts will repeat as Super Bowl champions. So, Tony, max out on your influence now. Come back to Tampa – as you plan to some day anyhow – and work with your causes, the ones [...]
It was one of those easily buried, three-graph obit stories two weekends ago. Perhaps you saw it: “‘The King’ of Softball dies at 81.” “The King” was Eddie Feigner a legendary pitcher who barnstormed the country for some 50 years with his four-man team, “The King and His Court,” taking on all comers. With his [...]
The recent column on Gasparilla brought a spate of e-mails and a couple of letters that were all variations on the same theme: Thanks for the “sobering” look. Well, thanks, in turn, for the sobering feedback. It matters. Most of the correspondents provided first-hand observations of disgusting behavior. One, in particular, referenced a long day’s [...]
Remember when Sen. John McCain was the “maverick” presidential candidate? Nothing epitomized it more than telling off Jerry Falwell & Co. during the 2000 campaign. Ever since, he’s been deconstructing that label in anticipation of another run – one in which he can’t afford to alienate true believers on the right. Most recent case in [...]
While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama dominate the current Democratic presidential landscape, still waiting in the wings – possibly anticipating a deus ex machina draft moment – is Al Gore. If The Polarizer and the Clean-Cut, Inexperienced One prove problematic in an election that is the Dems to lose, the party could still turn to [...]
Projects such as the Tampa Museum of Art, the Children’s Museum and the Riverwalk are obvious keystones of any downtown-revitalization scenarios. Complementary pieces include, for example, the new Embassy Suites Hotel, the under-renovation Floridan Hotel and the nearly completed SkyPoint condominium. Museums, condos, hotels and 66,000 workers, however, don’t make a neighborhood – and that’s [...]
Say this for Turner Broadcasting Systems – and an advertising agency – they eventually did the right thing in that bizarre Boston security scare. To the tune of $1 million, they reimbursed the agencies that dealt with those electronic devices that caused the closing of bridges and highways. They also donated another $1 million toward [...]
Fidel Castro’s days are now numbered. As a result, the countdown has begun in Miami for a mega-party in celebration of his death. It will be sponsored by the city and held in the Orange Bowl. While the circumstances are certainly unique and emotionally charged, the reality is this: Celebrants diminish themselves by such a [...]
