It was a good week for Tampa. First the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development notified the city that it would be getting $38 million in stimulus money – most of it for the Encore project. Encore is a potentially catalytic, public-private venture that will redevelop the former Central Park Village, 28 acres between [...]
Good job, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Knowing that life-endangering scenarios are not enough incentive for some over-imbibing drivers, MADD has put out some numbers that will get some motorists’ attention. Whether you have an accident or not, a DUI will cost you financially. Big time. The average cost for a first-offense drunken-driving case is $7,000-$10,000 [...]
It was one of those vintage St. Petersburg Times features. Designed to elicit a torrent of letters and get people engaged, even riled. It obviously worked. It’s about a Brooksville archer-hunter who kills enough game, including deer and boar, to feed his family and share with clients and friends. Mounted trophy heads bedeck the walls [...]
This is over the top, even for the moronically moralizing David Caton: an e-mail campaign against USF’s “queer theory” course. Come on, this is an elective course that’s been around for two decades and, among other things, delves into practical questions of gender identity in a “society that enforces categories.” It’s not for everyone, but [...]
According to Ikea, its well-received 29-acre complex near Ybor City remains “undersigned.” Reportedly, some shoppers motoring along on I-4 just might be driving right past Ikea because it’s “visibility challenged.” Who knew? What with that two-story sign on Adamo Drive and all those 10-footers on the building facing the Crosstown and Adamo? But imagine how [...]
*Rumors continue to circulate about the NFL putting a franchise into Los Angeles. They typically involve relocation scenarios. The top two candidates: the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills. *Does anyone remember when a Gatorade shower wasn’t a dumb, clichéd way to congratulate a head football coach? *There’s a lot to admire about NASCAR, even [...]
“This is not something we’re doing to teachers. It’s something we’re doing with teachers, as full partners.” Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia, regarding the reforms expected as a result of the $100 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We’re in a position to make a lot of arrests if we have [...]
Lots of St. Petersburg officials didn’t like it, but the business-savvy group charged (by former Mayor Rick Baker) with looking into the Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium situation has unanimously reported that downtown St. Petersburg just won’t do. Even with an obscenely expensive, retrofitted Tropicana Field, said the 11-member, Pinellas-heavy ABC Coalition. What else St. Pete [...]
Two years ago Tampa City Council voted to rezone Fort Homer Hesterly Armory. The move was made to facilitate the West Tampa icon’s transformation into the ambitious, 10-acre Heritage Square. The Armory’s next incarnation would include a luxury hotel, spa, marketplace park and cultural arts center. The lead developer was Tampa-based Intelident Solutions. Along the [...]
Sometimes — amid the subplots of recession, terrorism and politics as usual — we forget that good news also happens. And not just the stuff that grabs headlines because somebody scored some stimulus money. We have recently learned from the state’s marine science laboratory that the manatee count exceeded expectations. An aerial survey by biologists [...]
