For over a decade Trinity, currently housed at the Salvation Army on Florida Avenue, has offered high-quality lunches to the homeless or those who just want to come in for a meal cooked by a professional chef and served by waiters.

In June, officials with the Trinity Cafe purchased a property on Nebraska Avenue and 17th Avenue to serve meals at a facility that they could call their own.

But the move has not been greeted with open arms.

Kelly Bailey is the vice president of the V.M. Ybor Neighborhood Association, which is leading the opposition. She says her group's legal challenge is that the Trinity Cafe is calling itself a restaurant, "but people don't queue up 24 hours in advance to eat at a restaurant," referring to the fact that the cafe would predominantly be serving meals to the homeless.

• House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica

In Washington D.C., floor debate began on Wednesday on that bill, with a final vote expected on Friday (discussions on the Senate equivalent are also ongoing this week).

The reason that Hale, as well as Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) officials, are watching the proceedings with dread is a provision in the bill that eliminates the guarantee of a portion of federal gasoline and diesel tax revenues for transit, leaving programs like theirs extremely vulnerable to future budget cuts.

The Associated Press reports that Winter Park Republican Congressman John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and co-author of a major portion of the bill, said he is "fairly confident" based on his discussions with GOP lawmakers that the bill can pass.

As Rick Santorum continues to show life in the GOP race for president, all eyes are now turning toward Michigan, which holds its primary on February 28.

As Newt Gingrich has already complained ad nauseam, Mitt Romney has the deep pockets to flood the airwaves and massively attack his political opponents, as he did to the former House Speaker in Iowa and then again in Florida.

Now that Santorum is surging, he's preparing to feel a Romney onslaught. So he's taking the offensive, in what I believe is the funniest ad so far of the season.

• Bob Buckhorn, Thom Snelling & Bob Abberger

Tuesday afternoon that group, which had met twice a month since last July, convened for a final time to release its report, which was broken down into three main categories: code and ordinances, process and technology, and staff and organization.

Members of the Economic Competitiveness Committee said perhaps the single best thing to come out of their work has already been announced: an electronic software package called Accela Citizen Access, that will allow businesses to apply and pay for permits, submit construction plans, schedule inspections, check the status of a permit or inspection, and print an approved permit online any time. That is expected to come online in a few months.

• Rick Scott supported privatizing some Florida prisons

The issue: privatizing prisons in at least 26 prison facilities in 18 South Florida counties. Proponents said it would save $16.5 million annually. Opponents questioned those savings, and also expressed concerns about displacing state workers.

The proposal failed, 21-19.

Among those most critical of the proposal was Lakeland GOP State Senator Paula Dockery, a former chair of the Senate Justice Commission. She called the bill a solution in search of a problem, and disputed the 7 percent annual savings that supporters like J.D. Alexander were touting.