News & Views, Creative Loafing Tampa

Tampa goes green

Linda Saul-Sena — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:05:00 -0400

A community comes together to create a pathway connecting Tampa’s greenspaces. by Linda Saul-Sena Imagine walking with friends under shady trees, protected from motorists, en route from the community garden to the neighborhood cafe. Ahh!…

Race headlong fearless

Peter Meinke — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:03:00 -0400

The legacy of Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. by Peter Meinke You gave us a vision of grace a Greek statue cast in Africa touched to life…

Florida Dems search for a gubernatorial candidate

Mitch Perry — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:05:00 -0400

The speculation runs rampant as Democrats ponder who will run against Rick Scott. by Mitch Perry After nearly 90 minutes of not so scintillating rhetoric from various local Democrats, former Republican Governor Charlie Crist took to the stage at the Tampa Convention Center last Saturday night, the keynote speaker for the Hillsborough County Democratic Party’s Kennedy King Dinner. It was the biggest Democratic Party event for Crist since he switched from independent last December.…

Hangin' with the Boys of Summer

Mitch Perry — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:07:00 -0400

Minor League baseball games are a bargain — and a blast. by Mitch Perry In the U.S., one sport still dominates the summer landscape — baseball (sorry, soccer nuts). And in Tampa Bay, one baseball team reigns supreme (even though the Rays’ low attendance figures are so consistent that they’re no longer news).…

Leagues of our own

Mitch Perry — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:06:00 -0400

The Ybor City Museum's Béisbol exhibit is a hit. by Mitch Perry If you’re a baseball fan living in Tampa but hail from out of town, you learn quite quickly from your friends and fellow fans about all the local natives who have made good in the Major Leagues over the years. You know the names: Wade Boggs, Doc Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Tino Martinez, Dave Magadan, Fred McGriff, et al.…

Winds of change blowing around Cuba

Mitch Perry — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:03:00 -0400

With U.S./Cuba relations in flux, Tampa politicians are making history. by Mitch Perry On a Friday evening in late March, over 100 people jammed into the back room at Tampa’s Mise en Place restaurant for the beginning of a two-day conference on U.S./Cuba relations. Many in the audience had come to hear the keynote speaker, Miami Democratic Congressman Joe Garcia.…

Public agencies shape our urban landscape

Linda Saul-Sena — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:59:00 -0400

Tampa's "Authorities" vary widely in their recognition of the power of art and design to further their missions. by Linda Saul-Sena The word “Authority” suggests “The Enemies of Fun,” doesn’t it? Certainly not aficionados of art and design.…

The mystery man behind St. Pete's Driftwood

Peter Meinke — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:58:00 -0400

A quirky neighborhood owes its existence to a builder with an alter ego. by Peter Meinke High in the Yew tree Lombo lies, Tossed betwixt the seas and skies,…

MarlBro’s

Erica Dawson — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Cool menthol cigarettes and stereotypes that fit. by Erica Dawson “It’s like how black people love watermelon.” I said this to a friend who, after stopping at Walgreen’s for Marlboro’s, asked me why black guys like menthols.…

With a bullet

Eric Barton/Florida Center for Investigative Reporting — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:05:00 -0400

In the last decade, gun murders in Florida have surged 38 percent. Experts are divided over the cause. by Eric Barton/Florida Center for Investigative Reporting Michael David Dunn didn’t like the volume of music coming from the SUV parked next to him at a Jacksonville gas station. So he yelled over the bass vibrating from a boxed speaker in the back of a red Dodge Durango and told the men inside to quiet down.…

Birthday poem

Peter Meinke — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Celebrate CL’s big day with a poem in your pocket. by Peter Meinke In the midst of Creative Loafing’s 25th Anniversary celebration, the Academy of American Poets has chosen Thurs., April 18 as National “Poem in Your Pocket Day,” so I thought CL and Poet’s Notebook could perform a public service and offer a poem for you to cut out and carry around for a few days. The idea is — for those who haven’t heard of it — “On ‘Poem in Your Pocket Day,’ select a poem you love, carry it with you, and share it with others throughout the day.” (Of course, if you’re not fond of this one, pick another: I like the pocket idea in general, and am not over-sensitive, like some other poets you may know.)…

Constant reader

Scott Harrell — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 06:03:00 -0400

My two-plus decades with the Loaf. by Scott Harrell I have had the distinct and relatively rare pleasure of experiencing Creative Loafing from a wide variety of perspectives over the last two decades and change. As a casual reader.…

Common ground

Linda Saul-Sena — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Get deeper into the built environment with this weekend’s CL Festival events. by Linda Saul-Sena “Architecture is surely our greatest physical symbol of our idea of community, our surest way to express in concrete form our belief in the notion of common ground.” So says the Pulitizer Prize-winning critic Paul Goldberger in his book Why Architecture Matters. He goes on to say that the very best way to learn about architecture is to experience it.…

Lest alt acquaintance be forgot

Mitch Perry — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 03:57:00 -0400

Watching alt-weeklies thrive, and shrink, and endure. by Mitch Perry I first remember reading what would later be known as an “alt-weekly” when I was a teenager in the late 1970s, picking up a copy of the Berkeley Barb. If memory serves, it had a really interesting review of Patti Smith’s Wave album.…

Feedback: Seminole Heights

David Warner — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

You wrote it, we printed it. by David Warner What drove readers to their keyboards this week? The Seminole Heights issue, for one thing (they loved the Fairy Tale House, Cappy’s policy toward noisy kids not so much, and disputed a point in Linda Saul-Sena’s column).…

Who you calling a tramp stamp?

Erica Dawson — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:59:00 -0400

What my tattoos don’t say about me. by Erica Dawson Merriam-Webster defines “tramp” as a “vagrant, a woman of loose morals, a prostitute ” (with PROSTITUTE in all caps). It denotes “stamp” as “a distinctive character, indication, or mark; a lasting imprint.” Good ol’ Urban Dictionary puts the two words together to the phrase we all know: a derogatory term referring to a tattoo on a woman’s lower back.…

Voting blocks

Mitch Perry — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:03:00 -0400

Hillsborough Commissioner Les Miller’s redistricting plan could result in the county’s first Latino representative, but is that fair? by Mitch Perry The last time advocates in Hillsborough County pushed to create a voting district with a heavy concentration of Latino voters, the results weren’t pretty. During the final public hearing on the issue in June of 2011, Commissioner Kevin Beckner released what he dubbed “The People’s Map,” which would have increased the Hispanic population in District One (a seat currently held by Sandy Murman) by nearly 10 percent.…

The enduring appeal of Seminole Heights

David Warner & Julie Garisto — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by David Warner & Julie Garisto In this week’s special issue on one of Tampa’s most fascinating neighborhoods, Seminole Heights, we consider multiple storylines, from the challenges of launching new businesses in the area to the suspicious similarities between SH and a certain crunchy city in Oregon. But I will leave it to longtime SH resident Julie Garisto, our A&E editor, to explain the neighborhood’s enduring appeal.…

Meet me on the porch

Linda Saul-Sena — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

When neighbors get together, the urban landscape gets better. by Linda Saul-Sena Front porches with their friendly openness are the secret to Seminole Heights’ success. People who see their neighbors outside, walking their dogs, pushing strollers, riding bikes and planting zinnias are much more likely to befriend them, and that leads to a sense of community.…

Seminole Heights Scavenger hunt

Scott Harrell — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 03:59:00 -0400

How many of these places do you remember? by Scott Harrell Neighborhoods — real neighborhoods, as opposed to gated communities or arbitrarily designated areas like “New Forest Lawn Ridge Beautiful” — are defined by the experiences of their residents, and the non-residents that are drawn there. Collective experiences, sure, but also individual experiences; one of the things that makes a great neighborhood great is that people experience it differently, but those different experiences are overwhelmingly positive.…

Seminole Heights: Open for business

Mitch Perry — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:06:00 -0400

The blossoming of retail and restaurants was a long time coming. by Mitch Perry In his State of the City address last week, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn urged local residents to make the city as good as any place in the country. In Tampa’s Seminole Heights, that’s exactly what a group of active and engaged citizens have been trying to do for years — and in the process have often found themselves at cross-purposes with City Hall.…

Feedback: Dawson’s debut

David Warner — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0400

You wrote it, we printed it. by David Warner We can’t remember a debut column raising more hackles than “Why I don’t wear red at Target” (March 14), the first installment of Erica Dawson’s “Dark & Sinful.” Many readers took issue with the column’s premise — or maybe it was just the headline. One reader —“Emma Bovary” no less (we so rarely get correspondence from fictional French heroines) — objected not only to the column but to the editor’s introduction.…

Man on a tightrope

Peter Meinke — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 04:05:00 -0400

The power — and pleasure — of uncertainty. by Peter Meinke Tomorrow if it come I (if I’m around)…

So you think you can dance?

Tiffany Razzano — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:17:00 -0400

A Tampa dance studio is accused of denying lessons to a lesbian couple. by Tiffany Razzano This past Valentine’s Day, Danielle Beckmann found herself in the exciting early stages of a new relationship. She wanted to find the perfect gift for her girlfriend of three months, Megan Younkman, and decided on something that would not only be romantic, but also a unique way to spend time together: dance lessons.…

Damn you, Greg Gumbel

Erica Dawson — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:00:00 -0400

Love and basketball and my almost indomitable mother. by Erica Dawson Every year on Selection Sunday, Mom gets pissed off at Greg Gumbel’s suit. “He had all year to pick it out.…