Did Kimberly Overman Scare Les Miller Into Doing The Right Thing?

A week after Seminole Heights resident Kimberly Overman said she would be taking on Miller in the Hillsborough County Commission District 3 race, she drops out. Miller voted no on TBX. here 

USF Professor Doug Jesseph warned lawmakers on the MPO that they were putting their political futures in doubt if they supported the TBX. “If you have political ambitions, you should take note,” he said. “Support TBX and literally hundreds of
people will work 

tirelessly for your electoral downfall.

The Purge Begins In Tampa: Sandy Murman

Out: Pro TBX - Sandy Murman

In: Stop TBX - Jeffrey Zampitella

Check him out here

Ybor Paparazzi

Manny Potter

Of Venture XXVI

Visit him here

A Day in the St. Pete Sunshine

Poll: Pat Kemp Leads

A new poll shows Pat Kemp leading the Democratic primary for the District 6 countywide Hillsborough County Commission seat. Kemp led the four candidates with the support of 34 percent of those polled. Tom Scott drew 24 percent, John Dicks 6 percent and Brian Willis, the leading fundraiser in the primary, got 4 percent. here

No Loitering In Riverside CA.

While in Cali. canvassing my partner stopped at a 7-11 for a smoke break. We were not there 5 minutes when this guy came up and told us we could not "Camp out there?" that we had to move or he was calling the cops. I complained to the store manager and was told I had to talk to the landlord. 

Tampa's Unforgiven

 Cindy Stuart

Harry Cohen

 Ken Hagan

 Sandra Murman

Stacy White

Frank Chillura

Rick A. Lott

The Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization approved the Florida Dept. of Transportation’s controversial Tampa Bay Express project on Thursday morning, adding it to its annual Transportation Improvement Plan for the next five years, despite intense passionate opposition. here

USF Professor Doug Jesseph warned the lawmakers on the MPO that they were putting their political futures in doubt if they supported the TBX. “If you have political ambitions, you should take note,” he said. “Support TBX and literally hundreds of people will work 

tirelessly for your electoral downfall.

Ybor Paparazzi

Ltamar J. Martinez

Of Free Attorney Referrals

Visit him here

Orlando Prosecutor Suspended For Racist Facebook Rant

Scott And Bondi's Discrimination Against LGBT Floridians

Gov. Scott has fought to maintain discrimination against LGBT Floridians since being elected. He and his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, vowed to never allow same sex marriage and spent tens of thousands in taxpayer funds to fight all court decisions that upheld equality. Bondi so strongly supported LGBT discrimination that in 2014, she said marriage equality must never be allowed because “that would impose significant public harm.” That was both divisive and untrue. Well, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for equality, and Scott and Bondi lost – resoundingly. But they clearly have not learned anything, since their campaign to discriminate against LGBT people lives on. here

Tourist Beware: Don't Drink Florida Water

With minimum public input, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been working for four years on a proposal that could let more cancer-causing toxins be released into the state’s surface waters. Most Floridians have been kept in the dark regarding the plan that will cause great harm to the state’s aquatic environment, residents and visitors, according to activists and some elected officials. here

Register To Vote Florida

Spent the day registering voters with my new friends in Belmont Heights. Thanks, you guys are awesome!

Register To Vote

Miami Women Visit Dentist For Reproductive Healthcare

A group of women in Miami walked into a dental office seeking pap smears and treatment for yeast infections. About a dozen women crowded into a dental clinic at the Jessie Trice Community Health Center in Miami. "I came to see the dentist," said Yolanda Davis. "I have a bad yeast infection." Rosalie Whylie asked the receptionist if she could make an appointment for a pap smear. A representative from the dental clinic, who did not identify herself, told the women the dentists do not offer those types of services. But the women insisted, saying that Florida's GOP-led legislature instructed them to come to a dental clinic for women's health care. here

Fire Marco Rubio For Not Doing His Job

Rubio has gained a reputation for hating his job and seems to have all but given up on doing it, racking up the Senate’s “the worst attendance record, missing 35 percent, or 120 of the 339 roll votes” last year. He even skipped votes on bills that he talked about on the presidential campaign trail. here

What Stogie Had For Lunch

Moo Goo Gai Pan

With Fried Rice

At China 1 in Ybor City

Florida Woman arrested after allegedly threatening to blow up Sunrise mosque

Ybor Paparazzi

Jenna

At Elmer's Sports Cafe

Visit them here

Florida's Culture Of Corruption: Pam Bondi

Pam Bondi had shown that her priority wasn't the public.

Bondi joined the lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. Last summer, Bondi also joined the lawsuit against the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming and sea level rise. According to a study  no state faces a greater threat from rising seas than Florida. Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Jacksonville are the cities most at risk. Yet Bondi would block the program that allows states to create plans for reducing emissions by 2020. here

Given her resistance to the Affordable Care Act and the Clean Power Plan, it is no surprise that Bondi placed her political interests above the interests of Floridians who complained to the state that Trump University scammed them. The difference is the clarity of Bondi's selfishness.

Ybor City Roosters

In Ybor roosters rule!

Vote For Solar Florida

The Florida August Primary Election is right around the corner and Amendment 4, a proposal to remove taxes on solar power, 

is on the ballot. here

To sign up to vote by mail, visit FloridaSolarVoter.com Don’t live in Florida? Share this blog with pro-solar family and friends in the Sunshine State!

Florida INC. Income Inequality

The top 1 percent of wage earners in Florida make $1.27 million on average, nearly 35 times more than the bottom 99 percent, for which the average income is $36,530. here

Dezeray Lyn: Fuck Jails. Fuck Judges

"I have to let everyone in Tampa know that we are now safer... I sat in a courtroom this morning doing jail solidarity and watched the police/judge keep my community 'safe' by delivering 'justice' in the form of sentencing a young houseless man to a year in jail for stealing food worth less than ten dollars from 7-11. 

This came from a judge who ten minutes earlier started shouting and had a young man arrested for his phone ringing in court. This is from the judge, "IF YOUR PHONE RINGS IN CHURCH, GOD SENDS YOU TO HELL! IN MY COURTROOM YOU GET SENT TO JAIL!" 

One young man facing life in prison who wouldn't take a plea deal because he insisted upon his innocence was treated like absolute shit for it. And our friend... Navigating life with mental health issues and crushing poverty will have a year in jail to review his 'crime' of thinking that food was a human right. One might assume that the poverty driving people to steal food, and the fact that so many thousands of our community members are on the streets, food insecure, hungry and lacking adequate medical care, would be an indictment of the ciry rather than the community members themselves. Fuck jails. Fuck judges." 
Dezeray Lyn

Rick Scott's Florida Neglect Of Children

Florida's children have fallen behind in economic well-being and health, earning the state the rank of 40th out of the 50 states in the latest annual report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. here

Register To Vote Florida

Meet Marilyn 

Registering people to vote in Ybor City

here

Walk with Kevin in the Brandon 4th of July Parade!

July 4th - 10AM

info

The Citrus Taliban In Tampa

A Christian local government employee in Tampa has claimed that flying a Pride flag in wake of the Orlando shootings has created a “hostile work environment”. here

It is unclear why a worker would anonymously complain to a Republican anti-LGBT Commissioner but not to their direct superiors or anyone who could actually respond to their concerns beyond using them to make a political point.

Stop TBX Speak Up And Then Drink Up!

Several local establishments will thank those who attend and speak at the MPO Board meeting on June 22nd to StopTBX, by providing a free beer or soft drink after the meeting! here

6.22 - 6PM

MPO board meeting to vote on funding TBX here

Florida Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis A National Embarrassment

Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis posted on Facebook on Sunday that “All Orlando nightclubs should be permanently closed. With or without random gunmen they are zoos,; utter cesspools of debauchery.” here

Floridians Don't Like Marco Rubio

A survey, released Friday, found 30 percent of Floridians polled said they approved of Rubio’s job performance. Another 49 percent said they disapproved of the job Rubio was doing, while 20 percent stated they weren’t sure. here

Florida GOP Giving Away Free AR-15 Semiautomatic Rifle

Sen. Greg Evers a congressional candidate and state senator from Florida’s Panhandle announced a “Homeland Defender Giveaway” contest to give residents of the district a chance to win an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle on Independence Day. here

-------
For 14 years, Evers has earned an A-plus rating from the NRA.

Tampa Bay Alan Grayson Campaign Starts In Ybor City

Our leader Becky Killik

Our hero Wayne Schucker

 Join the Campaign here

Florida's Right Wing Infestation: Joe Kaufman

Joe Kaufman is  running against Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tim Canova for Florida's 23rd Congressional District. On Sunday, he put out a call to shut down "every Florida radical Muslim institution" —  though he couldn't say how he'd sort out "radical" from "nonradical" ones. Kaufman is running, in essence, on a platform that boils down to "Muslims are scary." He writes often for the ultra-right-wing FrontPage Magazine, where he calls Muslims "terrorists." here

St. Pete 2016 Pride Flag Raising

6.23 - 10AM

St. Pete City Hall

info

Ybor City, Florida

Urban Living

What Stogie Had For Lunch

My last lunch in Cali.

Kafta Kabob with Rice
At Gyro Kabob Greek Cafe, Wildomar. Thanks Delany and Morgan

Be a Florida Solar Voter this August!

MARCO RUBIO’S RECORD OF VOTING TO PROTECT THE TERRORIST GUN LAW LOOPHOLE

In the wake of Sunday’s gun tragedy in Orlando, the gun violence prevention organization Americans for Responsible Solutions issued the following statement today on United States Senator Marco Rubio’s record of voting to protect the loophole in federal law that allows known and suspected terrorists on the FBI’s terrorist watch list to pass a criminal background check and legally purchase guns at federally licensed firearms dealers: here

Florida's Culture Of Corruption: Jeff Brandes

A St. Pete lighting company in which Sen. Jeff Brandes is invested received $65,000 worth of work as the result of a grant he helped secure in the 2013 state budget. here

Polls: Florida Supports Medical Marijuana

The numbers in eight polls taken since January 2015 vary widely as to whether people of Florida support the legalization of medical marijuana. But the polls all agree that over 60 percent — the percentage needed to pass Amendment 2 in November’s general election — said they were ready to vote yes on the change in the state’s constitution. here

Anderson Cooper Responds To Bondi's Interview Claims

Florida To Protest Bear Hunt

 Conservationists, animal advocates, and other grassroots activists will gather in over 28 cities across Florida, on June 18 to protest the state's bear hunts. here

Tampa

Clearwater

Orlando

St. Pete

Sarasota

Other cities

What Stogie Had For Lunch

Pizza with Soda

At New York New York Pizza

Visit them here

President Obama In Orlando

Tampa for Grayson Meeting In Ybor City

6.18 - 12PM

Robert W. Saunders, Sr. Public Library

info

Tampa FNB Prisoner Solidarity

6.21 - 8AM

Our friend, Ashton, from our FNB food shares has won one trial and is going to pretrial for another charge on June 21st before Judge Holdens Court. Ashton, a young travelling homeless man, was arrested and beaten by police, claiming that he stole a sandwich from a store, despite video evidence showing otherwise. Tampa Food Not Bombs and other concerned community members will be there to support Ashton in this difficult time. here

Anderson Cooper Makes A Fool Of Pam Bondi

Anderson Cooper, celebrity and TV host, can be an acquired taste if you're not big on news anchors who get dry-humped by Madonna on stage at a concert. But he appropriately mixed passion with fair-minded inquisition Monday as he made a total fool of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a hopeless right-wing partisan and a onetime analyst for Fox News. here

Do You Support TBX?

60% NO, so far!

Vote here