Tampa's Streetcar Endowment Fund

With the endowment out of the picture - or at least relegated to a proper secondary supporting role, those who oppose the eventual and certain expansion of light rail throughout Hillsborough County will now have to find some other fake yard stick to judge by. For the rest of us, and those politicians who aren't run out of office, Tampa City takes rightful and proper stewardship over the best thing Tampa has ever done for itself in decades..........more

Statesman Charlie Crist

"I don't think he's helped any national Republican ambitions he may have by stepping up to the plate and batting for the other team. … There's a difference between working in a bipartisan way for the common good and switching sides and putting on the other team's jersey," said veteran Republican consultant Alex Castellanos........more

Baseball Game Or Country?

The Cinchett Family Of Tampa

here

Buddy The Worm

Commissioners say they won't be satisfied until they get a detailed accounting of where Johnson spent the money meant to run his office. "I want to know how those taxpayer dollars were spent," Commissioner Kevin Beckner said. "The taxpayers deserve to know and we need to know to bring closure to this.".........more

Tampa’s Mary Mulhern Calls Community Gardening Summit

Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Mulhern has an itch for a little civic green-thumbing. Mulhern has organized a community meeting for the hundreds of people she says have contacted her since she raised the idea of the city doing more community gardening.........more

Even In Florida, Homeless People Freeze To Death

A homeless man who spent the coldest night in six years wrapped in black garbage bags and huddled in a tent froze to death in Pompano Beach.........more

Tampa Rapist Wayne Tompkins

A rapist convicted of murdering his girlfriend's teenage daughter 26 years ago is scheduled to be executed Wednesday night if no judges agree to reconsider his protestations of innocence........here

El Taconazo / The Taco Bus

When it comes to authentic Mexican food, I may have hit the goldmine moving to Tampa.........more

Friends Of Stogie

At Gaspars In Temple Terrace

Julio Osegueda Of Fort Myers, Florida

SEEKING HOMES FOR PAINTING

The Paint Your Heart Out Tampa Steering Committee is seeking qualified homes to paint for the upcoming 21st annual Paint Your Heart Out Tampa event scheduled for Saturday, April 25, 2009........more

Stop The Green Swamp Trash Dump

Imagine a picturesque rural area lined with orange orchards, fields and the Green Swamp. Now add a 220-foot pile of trash that occupies 1,069 acres in the middle of that scene. It makes for a very unpleasant picture. But that’s exactly the scene that Angelo’s Aggregate Materials wants to bring to rural Pasco County.........more

The Green Swamp basin

In The New Gang Of Four, Higginbotham Is The New Blair

Incredibly, four of the seven commissioners — Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, Kevin White & Al Higginbotham — see the solution to our housing glut as MORE housing. And all the new strip malls and office buildings sitting around vacant? Yep, they want to see MORE of that commercial stuff built, too. And fast..........more

Willet at St Pete Beach

Please visit Leedra's Photos For Fun to see more Willet photographs.

Tampa Tribune Delivers Bibles to Subscribers

A local Tampa Bay newspaper distributed a copy of the New Testament along with its Saturday edition this past weekend as part of a national effort to deliver scriptures using a newspaper’s circulation........more

Dr. Neil Shaw: Hero in Hard Times

People Magazine featured Dr. Neil Shaw, chief medical officer and internal medicine specialist of Florida Veterinary Specialists (FVS), in their latest issue as a "Hero in Hard Times."..........more

Super Bowl Brawl: Christians Attack Mosque

Friends Of Stogie

Playing NTN

Tampa Preservation Is On Facebook

here

Film: Mountaintop Removal and Kilowatt Hours

Tuesday Feb 10 07:00PM -- Tampa Pitcher Show
Buy Tickets

What Tracy Thinks Of The Environment

God made the earth, He owns it, and He sustains it. We are simply caretakers of this beautiful planet. As such, we should handle it carefully and respectfully, not unnecessarily destroying it or contaminating it. We should do our best to be good stewards of our beautiful home.......more

Pre-Game Superbowl Photos

here

What to do in Tampa Bay after Super Bowl XLIII

Big Cat Rescue is an educational sanctuary is home to more than 100 exotic cats including newly rescued cougar, Sophia.

Downtown Tampa

Shot from Davis Islands

Homos Crashing Charlie's Wedding In St. Petersburg

"The group Impact-Florida has called on its members to gather in pink T-shirts outside First United Methodist Church of St. Petersburg on Dec.12 to "congratulate" Crist and Rome while their wedding takes place inside. The demonstration will continue outside the wedding reception at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in downtown St. Petersburg..........here

Olivia's Kiss: Chapter 13

And the saga continues...

Chao Mel!

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez (R) has decided against seeking a second term, a decision he will formalize shortly in the Sunshine State, according to an informed party source.........here
Sinfonian

Florida High Speed Rail May Get Back On Tracks

With indications from the Obama team that a stimulus package will put resources towards infrastructure projects, there is new hope in Florida that the on-again, off-again, high speed rail proposal might find new life............here

David Taylor's Story

Shows that recent economic forces can drive out even the most conscientious, sophisticated and successful local retailers. His natural and organic food store, Nature's Harvest Market, was an institution in Tampa, first on Dale Mabry Highway and for the past 18 years on MacDill Avenue..........here

Left Ybor City In The Early 1990s

Perhaps no sign of support is clearer than the election of Kevin Beckner, the county’s first openly gay commissioner. He defeated Brian Blair, a supporter of the county’s ban on recognizing gay pride.......here

The Redemption Of Howard Dean

Barack Obama's victory is proof that the DNC chair's 50-state strategy has revitalised the Democratic party........here

Donna Manion Leads Creative Tampa Bay

John Esposito In Tampa

Esposito was in Tampa on Saturday to address a banquet for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). WMNF spoke with Esposito..........here

Standing-Room-Only For Kevin Beckner

Democrat Kevin Beckner took the oath of office before a standing-room-only crowd that spilled into the first floor at County Center.......here
Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner
Nice Job Hillsborough County

Hispanic Panic For The GOP

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American Republican from the Miami area, puts it bluntly: "We have a very, very serious problem." He is referring to the GOP's lack of support among Hispanics, which could derail the party's future presidential hopes.........here

Tampa Mayor Iorio Makes Headway On Mass Transit

Now, two years after Iorio sent a "white paper" to hundreds of local lawmakers and business leaders urging them to reconsider light rail for the region, it appears a new County Commission has the votes to put a mass transit tax before voters........here
Tampa Rail

Al Ford

"He was the most wonderful man in the world," said his wife of 26 years, Joyce Ann. "He was so generous, kind, loving and sensitive. He always cared about other people. He always did for other people and put himself last. He was a fabulous husband, perfect in every way.".......here

Tampa Police Horse Sequence

Sequence had a rough Sunday morning patrolling the streets of Ybor City..........here