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Busy Weekend for World Leaders
Global:
G8 leaders met at Camp David over the weekend. Then NATO summit where Afghans to take over fighting mid-2013. Earthquake in Italy. Global News
National:
Barry Gibb of the BeeGees dies of cancer at 62. I'll Have Another wins Preakness. JPMorgan's bad bet rises in cost. US News
Florida:
FCAT debacle where new testing standards cause confusion blamed on the State. FL cities hire lobbyists to get things done. Florida News
Tampa Bay:
Tampa Bay Times desperate for Tampa stories - says Bern's Steakhouse not being truthful about vegetables. Keeps Up Children's Board attack. Tampa Bay News
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Italy Quake Kills 5 and Causes Widespread Damage
By: By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO On: Sun 20 of May, 2012 21:40 EDT (6 Reads)|
An earthquake struck the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna on Sunday, killing five people, wounding dozens and damaging historic buildings as well as warehouses and factories.
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Tomislav Nikolic, an ardent admirer of Russia, won 49.8 percent of the vote compared with 47 percent for Boris Tadic, the former president.
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To get a voice in Tallahassee, local governments pay lobbyists
By: Times Staff On: Sun 20 of May, 2012 19:35 EDT (6 Reads)|
By Tia Mitchell, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Sunday, May 20, 2012 TALLAHASSEE — When Pinellas County's tiny Lealman Fire District needed help navigating the state Capitol this year, it used its limited public funds to hire a lobbyist.The cost: between $10,000 and $30,000, according to records.But the gamble worked. The fire district's legislation — which continues to protect Lealman against the negative effects of annexation — was signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott in April."The only way to get it heard by the Legislature is through a lobbyist," Lealman fire Capt. Jim Millican said. "Someone has to get the word to all the legislators why this bill is important."Although the economic downturn has caused local government agencies to make tough budget decisions, many are still carving out room for Tallahassee lobbyists. Numerous city and county governments have long-standing relationships with firms while others, like ... |
Weekend search for boaters missing near Hudson Beach called off
By: Times Staff On: Sun 20 of May, 2012 18:51 EDT (3 Reads)|
By Will Hobson, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, May 20, 2012 HUDSON — Authorities on Sunday called off a search for five imperiled boaters after looking two days with no signs of a sunken boat and no missing person reports filed in the area. A man in Pasco County said he overheard a "Mayday" call after midnight Friday. The man called the U.S. Coast Guard and said he heard over the radio that a boat carrying five people, including three children, hit a rock and was sinking in the Gulf of Mexico.The Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission searched the area near where the caller said the boat was sinking — 5 to 6 miles west and 2 miles north of Hudson Beach — Saturday and Sunday, but found nothing."We have no reports of any missing people from the community," said FWC spokesman Robert Scholl. "If more ... |
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More trouble for the prosecution in the perjury trial of baseball star pitcher Roger Clemens. He is charged with lying to Congress when he said he had never used performance-enhancing drugs. But under cross examination, the key witness has himself admitted to lying and the key evidence has been called into question. NPR's Nina Totenberg explains all to weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz.
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After decades of ranching Florida's cattlemen feeling squeeze
By: On: Sun 20 of May, 2012 14:36 EDT (6 Reads)|
Florida is the third-largest beef-producing state east of the Mississippi River and ranks 10th in the nation. But it's getting harder for families like the Barthles to keep their family tradition alive as a business.
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I’ll Have Another Wins 137th Preakness Stakes
By: By JOE DRAPE On: Sun 20 of May, 2012 00:25 EDT (4 Reads)|
I’ll Have Another came from behind to beat Bodemeister in the 137th Preakness Stakes, keeping Triple Crown hopes alive for the trainer Doug O’Neill and the jockey Mario Gutierrez.
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In the old days of FCAT writing, those who scored the tests didn't give much of a hoot if students weren't too sharp on capitalization, punctuation, spelling or grammar.
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Largo owner of solar-powered home fights neighbor's trees, gains little ground
By: Times Staff On: Sat 19 of May, 2012 19:44 EDT (9 Reads)|
By Will Hobson, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, May 19, 2012 Mike Zwalley, 58, of Largo stands among solar panels and a solar water heater on the roof of his home. He is challenging his neighbor, who planted three trees that Zwalley believes will eventually grow to shade his solar panels. LARGO — Last summer, Mike Zwalley put a $65,000 solar energy system on his roof. The system — a 30-gallon solar water heater and 44 black panels that convert sunlight into electricity — cut Zwalley's electric bill from $300 to $400 per month to $10 to $20.About two months after Zwalley installed the system at his waterfront home off Indian Rocks Road, his next-door neighbor planted three cypress trees, each about 10 feet tall, along his property line.Zwalley, a 58-year-old car salesman, was not happy. He had asked the neighbor, Wade Gibson, not to plant the trees there.Zwalley ... |
Most of Bern's Steak House produce is not organic or locally grown on its own farm
By: Times Staff On: Sat 19 of May, 2012 11:36 EDT (9 Reads)|
By Laura Reiley, Times Food Critic
Saturday, May 19, 2012 The Bern’s menu and the waiters tout farm-fresh organic produce and say much of it is grown on Bern’s own farm. TAMPA — Waiters at Tampa's most iconic restaurant, the venerable Bern's Steak House, tell diners about the 8-acre organic farm on which Bern's grows its vegetables. The Bern's menu says that many vegetables used "are grown organically on our farm." And an ad in the new magazine Local Dirt asserts that "all of (Bern's) vegetables are organically grown on their own urban farm in Tampa."This part of Bern's story has captivated the media as well as the dining public, drawing U.S. presidents, celebrities and thousands of reservations each week. The promise of house-grown organic vegetables has helped to cement Bern's place in the pantheon of the nation's ... |
Hollande Tells Obama Troop Pullout in Afghanistan Will Proceed
By: By HELENE COOPER and JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr. On: Sat 19 of May, 2012 01:00 EDT (3 Reads)|
François Hollande, in his first meeting with President Obama as France’s president, restated his pledge to withdraw combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
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Mexico Detains Third General Tied to Drug Cartel
By: By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD On: Sat 19 of May, 2012 00:50 EDT (3 Reads)|
The arrests of a group of generals were without precedent in recent memory, and reports suggested that other key figures in the drug war could be arrested.
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J.P. Morgan is struggling to extricate itself from disastrous wagers by traders such as the "London whale." Losses would grow if the banking company sells its positions into a market that has turned against its positions.
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Children's Board directors discuss need for united front
By: Times Staff On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 19:07 EDT (14 Reads)|
By Jodie Tillman, Times Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2012 TAMPA — Before them was a stack of staffer emails complaining about low morale, dysfunctional leadership and the accuracy of contract documents. But some of the officials who oversee the taxpayer-funded Children's Board of Hillsborough County didn't want to talk about the messages.Instead, they criticized board chairman Chris Brown for compiling the emails in the first place, a decision they said wrongly took chief executive officer Luanne Panacek — the subject of many of those critical emails — out of the loop."If somebody's got a problem in here, you keep it in here," board member John Evon said at a workshop Friday. "We start going off the deep end here, and then we go rogue."Board member MaryEllen Elia, the Hillsborough school superintendent, said Brown's invitation last month for staffers to contact him could undercut a third-party ... |
Pinellas property tax bills total $300,000 from the top four delinquent homeowners
By: Times Staff On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 18:36 EDT (6 Reads)|
By Katherine Snow Smith, Times Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2012 Donna Aloi took home $24 million in lottery winnings. Thousands of property owners throughout Florida are struggling to pay their mortgage, insurance and taxes. But those who owe the most to Pinellas County in delinquent 2011 property taxes aren't the people you would think are living paycheck to paycheck. The tax bills were sent in October and a reminder was sent before the March 31 deadline.The four residents who missed that due date and owe the most taxes include a doctor on the state's board of osteopathic medicine and a lottery winner who received $24 million in 2001. The property owners' homes range in size from 5,330 square feet to 12,900 square feet.One Pinellas resident, Jabil CEO Tim Main, was on the delinquent taxpayer list, owing the second-highest amount for a residential property ... |
Florida's unemployment rate dropped in April, but fewer were looking for work
By: Emily Roach On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 10:23 EDT (4 Reads)|
Florida's unemployment rate dropped in April, but the decline masked job losses and fewer people are looking for work.
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Brain Disease Is Found in Veterans Exposed to Bombs
By: By JAMES DAO On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 10:00 EDT (4 Reads)|
The same degenerative brain disease found in football players and boxers has been found in veterans exposed to roadside bombs, a finding with potentially profound implications.
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'Lost Nation': US Think Tank Slams Germany's NATO Role
By: On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 09:12 EDT (3 Reads)|
Germany may be Europe's driving force in the euro crisis, but a prominent US think tank has accused the country of shirking its defense duties. In a report released ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago, a group of experts criticizes Germany for threatening the future of the whole alliance through its weakness.
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Fleeing the Wealth Tax: Wealthy French Take Their Assets to London
By: On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 08:18 EDT (3 Reads)|
During the election campaign, French President François Hollande threatened to slap an income tax rate of 75 percent on high earners. Since then, wealthy French have been looking for ways to get themselves and their money out of the country. And nowhere looks more attractive than millionaire-friendly London.
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Media General sells newspapers, except Tampa Tribune, to Berkshire Hathaway
By: On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 08:06 EDT (22 Reads)|
Media General, the parent company of The Tampa Tribune, News Channel 8 and TBO.com, has announced the sale of all of its print operations - except for the Tribune - to BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
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Fixed mortgages for 30-year loan dips to 3.79 percent; 15-year loan averages. 3.04 percent. But record low rates on fixed mortgages have not ignited home sales.
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Daredevil Nik Wallenda prepares to walk across Niagara Falls
By: On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 07:30 EDT (21 Reads)|
Sarasota aerialist's daily practices are drawing crowds in anticipation of his attempt to become the first person to walk on a wire over the landmark cataract |
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Florida officials, responding to skeptical comments this week from county election supervisors, said they are now going to double-check whether or not 182,000 registered voters are U.S. citizens.
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News Analysis: A Greek Exit? Euro Zone May Be Ready
By: By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 02:53 EDT (16 Reads)|
Years of foot-dragging and brinkmanship have prepared the currency union for life without Greece.
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White House Enlists 45 Firms to Give $3 Billion to Grow Food for World’s Poor
By: By STEPHANIE STROM On: Fri 18 of May, 2012 00:33 EDT (14 Reads)|
President Obama and four African leaders will introduce the group of companies, the Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security, on Friday at a forum on food security and agriculture.
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Bicyclists on a cross-state fundraising drive for people with disabilities will rest their wheels in Lakeland on Saturday to raise awareness of their cause. |
Florida Steps Up Effort Against Illegal Voters - New York Times
By: On: Thu 17 of May, 2012 22:00 EDT (17 Reads)|
PoliticoFlorida Steps Up Effort Against Illegal VotersNew York TimesMIAMI — In an attempt to clear the voter rolls of noncitizens, a move that had set off criticism and a threatened lawsuit, Florida election officials decided on Thursday to use information from a federal database to check a list of 182000 voters who ...Florida voter rolls suspected of having roughly 53K dead, 2600 ineligibleFox NewsFlorida non-citizen voter list will be vetted against Homeland Security databasePalm Beach PostFla. to double-check names on voter purge listMiamiHerald.comBradenton Herald -Politico -Huffington Postall 73 news articles »
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St. Petersburg Council votes to move forward with new Pier
By: Times Staff On: Thu 17 of May, 2012 21:25 EDT (16 Reads)|
By Waveney Ann Moore, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, May 17, 2012 ST. PETERSBURG — With just one resolute dissenter, the St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday to move forward with a new $50 million Pier.The decision came after more than a dozen speakers tried to make a case for saving the current inverted pyramid and a lengthy discussion by council members, who spoke both of their reservations about the design and agreement and praised the merits of the contract.The $4.7 million architectural and engineering services agreement with Michael Maltzan Architecture, designer of the new Pier, is the first for the project known as the Lens. Thursday's action kicked off a three-year process that will include demolishing the old Pier in the late summer of next year, constructing its replacement in 2014 and opening it in late 2015.The agreement does not address a potential challenge posed by ... |
Former Tampa council member John Dingfelder leaving ACLU legal job
By: Times Staff On: Thu 17 of May, 2012 19:27 EDT (17 Reads)|
By Richard Danielson, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, May 17, 2012 TAMPA — John Dingfelder, one of the leading voices in the discussion of Tampa's plans for the Republican National Convention, is leaving his job as an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.Dingfelder, 55, is a former two-term Tampa City Council member who joined the ACLU as senior staff attorney last summer. He is leaving at the end of May for a public defender's job, ACLU executives said, though further details about his plans were not available late Thursday.The move has been under discussion for a while, and "John agreed to get us to a good place with regard to preparations for the Republican National Convention (RNC) before he left," ACLU of Florida executive director Howard Simon said in an email to staff. "We have agreed that this is a good time for him to now make ... |
Florida non-citizen voter list will be vetted against Homeland Security database
By: Dara Kam On: Thu 17 of May, 2012 19:14 EDT (9 Reads)|
State highway officials soon will begin vetting a list of 180,000 potential non-citizens who are registered to vote against a U.S.
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Geithner: Again With the Debt-Limit Debate? 'I Don't Understand it'
By: On: Thu 17 of May, 2012 18:17 EDT (11 Reads)|
JEFFREY BROWN: And we turn to our newsmaker interview with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, now the longest-serving member of President Obama's economic team. I met up with him this morning in Baltimore as the secretary visited local businesspeople and companies.
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Citizens chief says it's legal to jack up rates for new policies
By: Charles Elmore On: Thu 17 of May, 2012 17:54 EDT (9 Reads)|
Consumer advocates warned Citizens executives are "making new laws" as the president of the state's insurer of last resort maintained Thursday it has the legal authority to raise rates for new customers beyond a 10 percent annual cap.
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Two FAMU band members admit hazing female clarinet player
By: On: Thu 17 of May, 2012 17:47 EDT (9 Reads)|
Victim was punched on legs with fists, smacked with metal rulerTALLAHASSEE — Two Florida A&M University band members, including one charged in the felony hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in Orlando, admitted Thursday to hazing a first-year female clarinet player who was treated at a hospital after being beaten last year.
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War Crimes Trial of Ratko Mladic Is Delayed
By: By MARLISE SIMONS and ALAN COWELL On: Thu 17 of May, 2012 15:08 EDT (11 Reads)|
Prosecutors at the trial of Ratko Mladic set out in detail the events leading to and during the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 men and boys.
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