Kendrick Meek
The spectacle at the Children's Board in Ybor City sounded more like a wrestling cage match than a panel discussion on national policy, wrote the St. Petersburg Times' Adam Smith........here
I recognize that so much is going to change. So much that I can’t even anticipate right now. But some I can. Like this blog. Four-plus years on, and I would really like to keep it going. But there’s no way it can stay the same – and because I know my focus and priorities will change with a baby in the house, I know this blog will change........here
Listeners say Hernando County talk show host Bob Haa may have advocated shooting the president during a recent conversation with a caller. 
If there is one place where any bad feelings from the hearings on Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination could have lasting consequences, it's Florida, the pesky swing state that the second-largest Puerto Rican community outside the island calls home..........more
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I used to vote Republican until I realized that I was getting the shitty end of the stick. 
One of the most extensive algae blooms in Tampa Bay's history stretches more than 14 miles from Safety Harbor to Weedon Island, and scientists predict it soon could lead to fish kills........here
I've seen the news lately, so I had an idea of how noisy these events are around the nation. When I arrived, some two hours before the event started at six, there were already 20 some odd people there.........here
Congressman Meek would be in Tampa on Wednesday to open a new field office, sit for a taping with Bay News 9 and was open to an interview with me. Me, a blogger. A card-carrying member of the new media. I couldn't say 'Yes" quick enough...........here
Glenn Beck's Minions
A California developer wants to change our Comprehensive Plan to build a "multi-modal" cargo distribution center near Cockroach Bay. Unfortunately, the developer has persuaded the Ruskin Chamber to support this, in the name of "economic development." So unless we get a big turnout of opposition, the commissioners will be led to believe that citizens support this atrocity..........here
Hillsborough County commissioners agreed Wednesday to seek federal stimulus money to fortify the crumbling recreational span that has been closed since November........here 
Watermark publisher, Tom Dyer, counts missing the Ryan Skipper hate crime murder story the deepest regret of his publishing career. Watermark, a gay publication serving Tampa Bay and other metro Florida areas for 15 years, ran no stories on the Skipper case in 2007 even though it happened in nearby Polk County, between Tampa and Orlando..........here
The City Council voted 7-1 Thursday to move forward with a controversial plan to privatize the sidewalk fronting BayWalk and improve security at downtown's struggling entertainment complex........here 
Although the title of the picture is "Evil Clown," and the image bears some resemblance to The Joker of Batman lore, how can this picture not be construed as a racially-motivated attempt to literally paint Barack Obama in "whiteface"?........here
Some states aren't waiting around for a recovery to fall into their laps. Take Florida, for example. Recently, Florida lawmakers have made a gambit to develop their offshore oil reserves in an attempt to help ease them out of their economic troubles. A recently-filed bill is looking to open up leases for oil drillers off the coast of Florida..........here 
Authorities say a Lakeland man who used music to vent his frustrations with law enforcement will spend two years in prison for writing a threatening rap song. Antavio Johnson, 20, was charged with two counts of corruption by threat of a public servant after a Polk County gang detective found the song on a MySpace page..........here
If you’re like me, you need things to be simple. Complexity is a huge road block for me when it comes to consistency. So, when my family moved to Tampa, we were hoping getting involved with recycling was going to be easy. Thank goodness it was!.......here
You might have thought pro-wrestler-turned-politician Brian Blair was, excuse the expression, down for the count. During his troubling tenure as a Hillsborough County commissioner, he made dubious news with his God-and-country pontificating when there was actual county business at hand, and later for his crybaby ways when he lost a re-election bid and promptly sued the winner..........here
If Aesop ever wrote a fable about water, he would surely write a story about the Tampa Bay on the Gulf of Mexico and its continuing struggle to resolve its water crisis.........here
Pork Chops Athena
If you live in Connie Mack’s district ask him to back up his assertions with facts. Mack is choosing tyranny over democracy. These are not the principles US citizens should expect from their elected representatives........here
Antigua’s highest peak, known by islanders as Boggy Peak, will change its name to Mount Obama on August 4th, Barack Obama’s birthday. Last year, after the island’s people wore Barack Obama hats, shirts and buttons to promote Obama’s presidential bid, Antigua’s prime minister, Winston Baldwin Spencer, had the idea of changing the peak’s name in honor of the newly-elected president. Now preparations are underway for next week’s ceremony..........here
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Nolan Canova is the curator of CrazedFanBoy.com, a website devoted to the exploration of and the commentary on pop culture, including independent film, music and art reviews..........here
Influenced by the world of gangsters and Quentin Tarantino, Ybor City’s Reservoir Bar is a dive bar with big ambitions.........here
As of this week, the City of Tampa became one of just a handful of cities nationwide to start a green business designation program........here
My name is Tim Fasano and I am a Florida Skunk Ape Hunter. He is known as Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Swamp Monster depending on what part of North America you live. I search in the remote parts of Florida, the Cypress domes, the black water rivers, the muddy bayous and the thick Palmetto palms.......here
This is the original cigar factory built by Vicente Martinez Ybor in 1886. Ybor brought cigar-making to Tampa in 1885 after growing tired of labor unrest at his factory in Key West, Florida. He bought 40 acres of land northeast of Tampa and took advantage of the area's port and later the railroad. It was the beginning of Ybor City's meteoric rise to prominence as the Cigar Capital of the World........here
Will Not Sell Stogie Ad Space
David Douglas (C) is surrounded by previous winners as he celebrates winning the 2009 "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida, July 25, 2009........here
