Provides the latest RSS feeds for St Petersburg (Florida) News. For more headlines on Breaking, National, Business, Finance, Sports and World News, visit our home page Tampa Star.com http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/cat/30ca9883873cb9af/ en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 14:14:16 -0400 Sat, 25 May 2013 14:14:16 -0400 30 TAMPA -- A motorcyclist died Friday night after an accident on Bearss Avenue, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Just after 7 p.m., Geoffrey B. Dawson, 25, of Tampa, was driving a 2006 Honda CBR 1000 westbound on Bearss Avenue at a high rate of speed, weaving in and out of traffic, deputies said. At the same time, Catherine Nicholas, 27, of Brandon, was turning left at ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214761695/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Sat, 25 May 2013 12:23:16 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214761695/scat/30ca9883873cb9af LARGO, Fla. -- A man is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after being shot in a confrontation with two sheriff's deputies in the Tampa Bay area.According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, deputies Steven Smith and Mark Douglas responded to a call about an armed man in Largo on Friday night.The sheriff's office says the deputies attempted to stop the suspect's ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214760255/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Sat, 25 May 2013 10:42:45 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214760255/scat/30ca9883873cb9af The Pinellas Supervisor of Elections is posting daily updates on how many signatures have been verified on the more than 20,000 petitions turned in to the city clerk. As of Thursday, the county had processed 8,512 signatures, and 95 percent had been declared valid. The office updates the total at the end of each day on its website. Concerned Citizens of St. Petersburg handed in more than 20,000 ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214756567/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Sat, 25 May 2013 05:12:22 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214756567/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA -- Whither now, Channelside? The latest offer to buy and revive Channelside Bay Plaza was still in the negotiation stage when the Tampa Port Authority's governing board voted unanimously Tuesday to kill it. But the bigger problem with the downtown retail center is not who wants to buy it. It's who is trying to sell ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214756566/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Sat, 25 May 2013 05:12:22 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214756566/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TALLAHASSEE Senate President Don Gaetz calls her the Margaret Thatcher of the Florida Senate -- "tough, principled, independent and absolutely fearless." Valerie Guenther, chairman of the Charlotte County Democratic Party, notes she's a "tough target" because she doesn't just vote the party line. And Sen. Tom Lee says, "She looks you in the eye and tells you ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214756568/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Sat, 25 May 2013 05:12:22 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214756568/scat/30ca9883873cb9af The body of a missing Seminole County insurance agent has been found in upstate New York, WFTV.com is reporting. Charles Butler, 56, disappeared last year after a trip ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214754175/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Sat, 25 May 2013 01:28:27 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214754175/scat/30ca9883873cb9af LARGO, Fla. - A man armed with an assault rifle who was fleeing from deputies was shot multiple times, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752937/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Sat, 25 May 2013 00:27:01 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752937/scat/30ca9883873cb9af A throng of media follow U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, in red, and University of South Florida assistant professor Erin Kimmerle in March as they tour a cemetery at the ex-Dozier School for ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752632/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 23:07:22 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752632/scat/30ca9883873cb9af The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is investigating a deputy involved shooting in Largo tonight. The shooting occurred about 8:30 p.m. on 119th Street just south of Ulmerton Road. A male has been transported to the hospital, sheriff's officials ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752635/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 23:07:22 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752635/scat/30ca9883873cb9af ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor Bill Foster wants to give voters other options in case a possible referendum halts the proposed Lens in the August election. In a memo released late Friday, Foster asked the City Council to consider passing an ordinance that would include three possible nonbinding straw-poll questions to decide what would replace the inverted pyramid after it is demolished later this ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752633/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 23:07:21 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752633/scat/30ca9883873cb9af ST. LEO -- Four people, all local government veterans, tried to convince Pasco County's elected leaders Friday that they should be tapped to lead the county's transition from a bedroom community into a bustling jobs mecca. Each spent an hour answering questions from commissioners, who are expected to decide Tuesday from among the finalists chosen from more than 60 who sought to succeed ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752636/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 23:07:21 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214752636/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Ronde Barber's record-breaking 200th consecutive start to open the 2012 NFL season was one of the moments recognized during the Tampa Bay Sports Commission's annual Sneaker Soiree ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751958/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 22:14:49 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751958/scat/30ca9883873cb9af MOON LAKE, Fla - Authorities in Pasco County are searching for a serial arsonist who set six brush fires in the Moon Lake area. Forestry officials estimate 600 acres burned in those fires. Due to the ongoing investigation, officials said they will not release information regarding how the fires were started. No one was injured in the fires nor were any homes damaged. However, the fire did butt up ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751959/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 22:13:25 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751959/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA -- Five years ago, an Air Force airman grudgingly married his pregnant girlfriend but began lacing her food with ground up abortion pills. She miscarried in her second trimester, after consuming a deviled egg. Caylinn Young, 25, of Oklahoma felt isolated in her experience until she read recently about a Lutz woman named Remee Lee, 26, who miscarried in March, reportedly under similar ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751960/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 22:00:02 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751960/scat/30ca9883873cb9af It started several weeks ago when she felt a lump. Pasco Clerk of Court Paula O'Neil, who had always emerged healthy during routine mammograms, got the diagnosis. Stage two breast cancer. It came just weeks before the disease took the national spotlight as actor Angelina Jolie revealed in the New York Times that she'd had a preventive double mastectomy because of a family history and ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751228/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 20:51:45 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751228/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA -- The paralegal at the center of scandalous allegations of a DUI setup talked to prosecutors behind closed doors Thursday. But the attorney for Melissa Personius contends there was no plot by the paralegal's bosses to get C. Philip Campbell, their opposing counsel, arrested on a DUI charge in the middle of a heated trial. "It wasn't like, 'Get this guy drunk, get him ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751229/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 20:51:45 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214751229/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA, Fla. - As he walks across the campus at Blake High School in Tampa, Ahmed Mohamed looks like your average student that's eager for the school year to end. But Ahmed walks a path that few others have ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750363/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 19:57:18 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750363/scat/30ca9883873cb9af LARGO, Fla. - The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office plans to monitor a gun show this weekend as they increase enforcement of an ordinance that closes the so-called "gun show ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750364/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 19:57:17 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750364/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Sam Bryant earned the rank of Eagle Scout 21/2 years ago, piling up merit badges, holding leadership positions in Tampa Palms Troop 180 and -- for his big project -- putting on a dog adoption fair. "Scouting has made me a better person,'' the Freedom High School junior said Friday. "I gain knowledge of a bunch stuff I don't get anywhere else.'' As for recent ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750365/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 19:44:06 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750365/scat/30ca9883873cb9af PORT RICHEY -- Police are searching for the man who robbed the House of Tans on Friday afternoon at gunpoint. The man entered the tanning salon at 6628 Ridge Road about 1:30 p.m. and showed an employee "what appeared to be a black semi-automatic handgun in his waistband," then demanded money, the Port Richey Police Department said. After he received the money, the man put the gun ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750367/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 19:44:05 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750367/scat/30ca9883873cb9af MOON LAKE - Pasco deputies are looking for leads on potential arsonists in the wake of several area fires in recent weeks. Several fires have started consistently from 10 a.m. to noon around Moon Lake, said Pasco County Sheriff's Office spokesman Doug Tobin. They do not have suspects in mind. The fires have been started in remote areas away from homes, Tobin said, but are moving closer as ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750366/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 19:44:05 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750366/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Nature Coast Technical High School senior Alyssa Cooper has always been a motivated student. She's worked hard to achieve a 4.55 grade-point average. To pull in highest honors at the school. To obtain her associate's degree from Pasco-Hernando Community College. One big factor keeping her motivated: the prospect of becoming valedictorian -- earning her graduating class's top ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750368/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 19:44:04 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214750368/scat/30ca9883873cb9af The new, state of the art, Lakeland Skatepark opened this week to crowds of anxious skaters. Just a few days in, and some people are driving more than 100 miles to check it ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749292/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:50:42 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749292/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA, Fla. - It started with wings, lots of broken off wings. After awhile, Michael Haddock broke down and called an exterminator. That's when he learned, inside the floor of his newly-rented south Tampa home, there are termites. "It was a nice little Saturday morning surprise that we had," Haddock said. Haddock will soon have to get his home tented, which is a sight pest control ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749276/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:50:41 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749276/scat/30ca9883873cb9af A school volunteer at Just Elementary became $10,000 richer Friday, thanks to a simple mantra: Just Love. Lynnette Henry is the 2013 winner of We Deliver, a reward for her extra efforts to help students, colleagues and the community. She was the counselor at Just Elementary Elementary when she started a program called Just Love, which is a partnership with Idlewild Baptist Church. The school ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749293/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:19 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749293/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA -- Hank Tippins could barely get the words out between sobs that racked his body so hard he hunched over and gasped for air. "I'm so sorry for what I did to your mom and your family," he said haltingly. "I'm so sorry. I should have never been drinking that night. I should have never gotten in the car to drive." Tippins, a 29-year-old engineer with a wife and ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749294/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:19 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749294/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Charlie Crist, almost unique among political figures of his stature, has never had a consistent inner circle of advisers at his side. Ask anyone who knows the former Florida governor well -- or as well as anyone can know the ever-sunny but often inscrutable Crist -- and they will tell you he has two primary confidants: Carole Crist, his wife, and Dr. Charles Crist, his father. "He keeps ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749296/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:18 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749296/scat/30ca9883873cb9af ST. PETERSBURG -- As Mayor Bill Foster works to close a $4 million budget gap this year and find money for employee raises next year, a generous police perk the mayor approved after taking office is coming under scrutiny. Nearly 80 percent the city's police officers are assigned a take-home car that they can drive to and from work and gas up for free at city pumps -- courtesy of taxpayers. ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749299/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:17 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749299/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Months of little rainfall and heavy reclaimed water usage have drained reserves, prompting county officials to ask resident to limit their use. Beginning Tuesday, residents should only use reclaimed water on alternate days, dictated by a schedule based on house numbers. Addresses ending in an even number can use reclaimed water on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Addresses ending in odd numbers, as well ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749298/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:17 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749298/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Who says war is hell? Eddie, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, is a bomb-sniffing dog at MacDill Air Force Base who is one of 14 military canines nationally entered in the American Humane Association's 2013 Hero Dog Awards competition. Winners in several categories will be announced later this year with an overall champion picked Oct. 5. The winner gets $5,000 donated to the handler's ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749297/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:17 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749297/scat/30ca9883873cb9af BROOKSVILLE -- The Hernando County Sheriff's Office is mourning the loss of a beloved veteran of the department. And while not a paid employee, the 4-year-old German shepherd, Ike, one of the department's four-member canine unit for the past three years, was nonetheless an integral part of the department's crime-fighting force. According to the Sheriff's Office, Ike and his ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749300/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:16 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749300/scat/30ca9883873cb9af WEEKI WACHEE -- Authorities have released the identity of a Weeki Wachee man who was shot at his home Thursday night and died later at a local hospital. George Avedissian was shot about 8:20 p.m. during an argument with his housemate, an adult male, at his home at 8743 Ostrom Way, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said. Avedissian was taken to Oak Hill Hospital in Spring Hill, where he ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749301/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:16 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214749301/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA -- Gary Morch remembers the knock on the door. He scrambled to the kitchen counter and hid the spoon, syringe and pills in a drawer. His toddler son, Adison, played in a bedroom. Morch opened the door. Child protective investigators walked ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214748296/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 17:28:08 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214748296/scat/30ca9883873cb9af ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor Bill Foster plans to meet Tuesday with black leaders about rising tension between the African American community and the city's police officers. Black leaders said they are concerned about shootings in March and April in which officers shot into moving cars, which the department forbids unless there is a threat from someone with a gun. Both incidents are under ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214748295/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 17:28:07 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214748295/scat/30ca9883873cb9af May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Bloombergs Alix Steel, Adam Johnson and Julie Hyman report on todays ten most important stocks including The Gap, Sears and Procter and Gamble. (Source: Bloomberg) Stock prices for most of the largest publicly traded companies in the Tampa area gained ground in advance of the Memorial Day weekend. Bloomin Brands (NASDAQ: BLMN) posted the biggest jump, one day after pricing a ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214747755/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 17:15:16 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214747755/scat/30ca9883873cb9af DADE CITY - A 22-year-old man was arrested Thursday on charges he took photos and video of himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Rogelio Perez-Mejia recorded the sexual encounter with the girl in November, a Dade City Police report states. He later created four still images from the video. Deputies also found four images of the girl, nude, in his email account, the report states. He also ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214747199/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 16:19:14 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214747199/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TALLAHASSEE -- Key House Republicans are raising news questions about a $52 million take-out deal between an upstart St. Petersburg insurance company and Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, penned a letter to state Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty on Friday questioning whether Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance has already violated a May 17 consent ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214747200/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 16:19:13 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214747200/scat/30ca9883873cb9af BROOKSVILLE -- Hernando County schools superintendent Bryan Blavatt announced Friday the appointment of three administrators to fill soon-to-be-vacant principal positions. John Stratton, the current principal at Explorer K-8 School, will become the next principal at Central High School. Stratton, who has eight years of administrative experience in Hernando, will replace interim principal Marvin ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214747201/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 16:19:13 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214747201/scat/30ca9883873cb9af A Tampa man has been arrested a year after his former girlfriend's 2-year-old died from severe brain trauma. According to Tampa police, Javaurian Saffold was home alone with the child on May 25, 2012 before the child's mother, Candace Mitchell, arrived home to find her son breathing shallowly. Tampa police arrested Mitchell on May 28, 2012 for aggravated child abuse for failing to seek ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745912/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 15:20:38 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745912/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Grab the sunblock and beach towels. Forecasters are predicting gorgeous weather for Memorial Day weekend in Tampa Bay. Temperatures in the mid to high 80s will combine with a breeze and low humidity through Monday, said Mike Clay, chief meteorologist for Bay News 9. The conditions may verge on ideal, especially nice even for the gulf coast in the weeks before summer. "Usually there's ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745915/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 15:06:55 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745915/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Encouraged by nascent plans for a special taxing district south of downtown St. Petersburg, the Pinellas County Commission is considering using the same method of stoking development in four other low-income areas of the county. East Tarpon Springs, North Greenwood, High Point, parts of Lealman, and neighborhoods south and west of downtown St. Petersburg have all been identified in a county ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745914/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 15:06:55 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745914/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Quirky geektastic food show host Alton Brown is shown on a promotional video on his website ordering ponchos and air cannons for his upcoming tour -- one that's bringing him to Tampa -- for some "bizarre and potentially messy experiments." The Iron Chef host and Peabody Award-winning television personality is taking his brand of quirky humor and culinary science on the road with ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745913/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 15:06:55 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745913/scat/30ca9883873cb9af MADEIRA BEACH -- In 2011, a new commission majority came to office intent on fixing what they viewed as major issues within the city's financial reporting. Instead, the following year was one of political and financial turmoil resulting from the resignations of most of the administration's top leaders, including its award-winning finance director, Monica Mitchell. Today, only one of ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745918/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 15:06:54 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745918/scat/30ca9883873cb9af RALEIGH, N.C. -- The biographer whose extramarital affair with then-CIA director David Petraeus triggered his resignation says she regrets the relationship and the harm and grief it caused her family. Paula Broadwell told WSOC-TV in Charlotte on Thursday that she credited her husband and friends for standing by her as she rebuilds her life six months after her relationship with the married ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745917/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 15:06:54 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745917/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA -- Detectives arrested a man this week in connection with the death of a 2-year-old boy last year, police said Friday. On May 25, 2012, Javaurian Saffold was alone with his girlfriend's son in their apartment at 5502 N 43rd St. When his girlfriend returned, the toddler was "lifeless and breathing shallow," Tampa police said. Saffold told his girlfriend the boy fell and ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745916/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 15:06:54 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745916/scat/30ca9883873cb9af What constitutes entrepreneurial mindset? Researchers at Eckerd College may have solved the puzzle. Tired of the many anecdotes and existing studies on innovation and entrepreneurial mindset, Director of Coaching at the Leadership Development Institute, Jennifer Hall, and colleagues Mark Davis and Pam Meyer created The Entrepreneurship Dimensions Profile to gain a definitive understanding of the ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745919/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 14:47:21 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745919/scat/30ca9883873cb9af The University of South Florida College Of Nursing has received $2.1 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute for a clinical trial involving cancer symptom management. The project involves testing a brief intervention known as COPE, which aims to teach cancer patients management skills for improving symptoms they identify as the highest priority, according to a written ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745280/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 14:25:45 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214745280/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Tyler Smith, business development vice president at Certified Boom Repair Services, talks about what his firm does and how busy it is. Florida politicians and economic development officials love to describe construction cranes as the state bird. Its nearly impossible to build structures of any size without one, so business activity in this heavy equipment sector tends to reflect the pace of ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743769/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 13:43:07 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743769/scat/30ca9883873cb9af The FDIC contended Robert Messick had a conflict of interest because he also represented the developer and another lender, according to court records. A Tampa federal jury decided prominent Sarasota law firm Icard Merrill and Robert Messick, shareholder and senior partner, committed professional malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty in a real estate deal involving failed First Priority ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743836/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 13:00:20 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743836/scat/30ca9883873cb9af ST. PETERSBURG -- This morning Lyndsey Staub put on a little bit of makeup before she left for Dixie Hollins High School. Once there, she hugged-hello her teachers. She ate breakfast with the senior class. But Lyndsey had come on official business. She needed to pick up her cap and gown. Lyndsey, who has struggled to finish high school while fighting cancer, finished up her final credits this ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743203/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 12:42:20 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743203/scat/30ca9883873cb9af In the months and days before his shooting death, Trayvon Martin was getting into fights, getting high on marijuana, getting suspended from school and talking with friends about getting a gun, according to cellphone text messages that defense lawyers for shooter George Zimmerman released Thursday. Trayvon's chronically misspelled, slang-filled messages -- as well as pictures of a ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743201/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 12:42:20 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743201/scat/30ca9883873cb9af ST. PETERSBURG -- Even as one of Florida's most famous icons closes Friday, some fish in Tampa Bay won't get a reprieve until later this summer. The city will continue to allow people to fish from the Pier approach until later this summer. "The access will be opened back up to fisherman probably within one or two weeks," said David Metz, St. Petersburg's downtown ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743200/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 12:42:20 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743200/scat/30ca9883873cb9af If you know anything about Tampa's not-exactly-shy Mayor Bob Buckhorn, it will not surprise you that he had dreams of being a fighter pilot. In fact, after college, Buckhorn was picked for Navy flight school, only to be diagnosed with degeneration of his cornea. It was a misdiagnosis, as it turned out, but it sent him off to Tampa and politics instead of to the skies. If you know Buckhorn, ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743202/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 12:42:19 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743202/scat/30ca9883873cb9af ST. PETERSBURG -- Carolyn Fries, one of the three candidates seeking the District 4 City Council seat, said the Redistricting Commission should not be allowed to alter district boundaries in an election year. She declared that Friday after the Tampa Bay Times found Thursday that her two opponents, Dr. David McKalip and Darden Rice, don't currently live in the district. "I think the ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743204/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 12:42:18 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214743204/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Pharmacist Samuel Wahba faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Pharmacist Samuel Wahba has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, lying to a federal agency, making false claims to a federal health care program and concealing his exclusion from all federal health care programs. In 2001, he was convicted of violating the state racketeering law, Medicaid fraud and ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214742455/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 11:52:10 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214742455/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Florida Bank and the Treasury earlier agreed to wind down the banks nearly three-year-old involvement in the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Florida Bank Group Inc. is a step closer to repaying its TARP investment from the U.S. Treasury. The banking company has received commitments for more than the minimum amount of capital it targeted in a private placement offering sent to investors last month, ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214742250/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 11:47:22 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214742250/scat/30ca9883873cb9af More than 80 local Girl Scouts visited One Buccaneer Place last week to get an up-close look at the careers available in sports, with Buccaneer women professionals gladly sharing their own experiences and ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741416/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 11:40:47 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741416/scat/30ca9883873cb9af THONOTOSASSA -- An 81-year-old man was arrested Thursday, accused of molesting an 11-year-old girl seven years ago, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. Between June and July of 2006, Dewey Darrel Risner, of 10405 Main St., paid the girl to help him clean his shed. During the girl's visits, Risner also molested her more than 10 times, an arrest affidavit shows. At the time, ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741419/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 11:26:25 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741419/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Attorneys in the Virgil DeBose murder case will deliver their closing arguments this morning. DeBose is charged with the 2007 rape and murder of 78-year-old Audrey Mulligan. On March 12, prosecutors say, DeBose knocked on Mulligan's Paradise Shores condo. He asked for a glass of water. She let him in, believing he was one of the roofers working at the complex. Once inside, he attacked her. ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741418/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 11:26:25 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741418/scat/30ca9883873cb9af More than 37,000 third graders statewide could be held back a grade because they failed the reading FCAT. In the Tampa Bay area, 5,507 third graders failed the standardized test, according to results released Friday by the state Department of Education. Numbers ranged from 2,956 in Hillsborough County to 258 in Hernando County. Reading scores across Tampa Bay were about the same or slightly ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741417/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 11:26:25 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741417/scat/30ca9883873cb9af American Idol's Randy Jackson entertained a beachside crowd Thursday before performing with MacDill vocalist Staff Sgt. Aisha Davis, the 2011 Air Mobility Command Icon winner, during a ceremony for new master sergeants at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Davis did a rendition of America the Beautiful alongside Jackson on ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741420/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 11:26:24 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741420/scat/30ca9883873cb9af TAMPA -- A 66-year-old man was arrested Thursday after authorities discovered he had crammed dozens of cats into three carriers, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. While conducting a court-ordered eviction to James Hopkins at 10706 N Annette Ave., authorities found one kitten, its eyes "matted close due to severe infection resulting from upper respiratory infection," ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741421/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 11:26:24 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214741421/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Continuing a Buccaneer tradition, the team's rookies visited St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa on Wednesday to raise the spirits of pediatric patients and kick off a series of charitable ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214739663/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 10:47:26 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214739663/scat/30ca9883873cb9af SEBASTIAN, Fla. - It's a countdown for 18-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt. She and her family took one last stand at a rally in Sebastian's Riverview Park, ahead of Friday's deadline for her to accept or reject a plea deal from the state ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737969/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 08:56:39 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737969/scat/30ca9883873cb9af PINELLAS PARK -- The Florida Highway Patrol has cleared a state trooper who shot a man in a cemetery last September, authorities said Friday. The decision comes several months after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which also investigated the incident, cleared trooper Daniel Cole of wrongdoing. On Sept. 10, Clifford F. Work, 48, who owns the Royal Palm North Cemetery, was asleep ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737971/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 08:43:44 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737971/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Mackeral Shay Crocker, 20, is the second suspect arrested in the November killing of a 58-year-old man in Lealman, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737970/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 08:43:43 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737970/scat/30ca9883873cb9af South Pasadena, Fla.-State Representative Kathleen Peters announces that the Florida Legislature has secured money for the Pinellas beach renourishment project FY 2013-2014. $3.7 million has been designated to Treasure Island and Long Key, matched by $13.7 million in federal ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737972/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 08:42:54 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737972/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Several crashes in Central Florida are causing minor delays Friday morning, according to traffic officials. In Orange, a crash with injured victims was reported near Pope Road ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737119/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 07:53:19 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737119/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Employment law is full of minefields. In this weeks Ex-Files profile, Ogletree Deakins managing shareholder Helen Palladeno talks about how being a labor and employment law firm solely allows for a very efficient focus. Clients are demanding more from firms like hers, which means an emphasis on training and advice. Many businesses scaled down that training during the Great Recession, she ... http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737552/scat/30ca9883873cb9af Fri, 24 May 2013 07:51:13 -0400 http://www.tampastar.com/index.php/sid/214737552/scat/30ca9883873cb9af