News: Daily Loaf, Creative Loafing Tampa

Adamo Drive Mural almost ready to be unveiled

Nicole Abbett — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:26:00 -0400

Join Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Tampa community leaders this Tuesday, May 21, to celebrate the newly finished Adamo Drive Mural. The dedication is taking place at 2 p.m. which will include a preliminary session with the artist, Michael Parker, and a reception afterward.…

Hillsborough County homeless population drops dramatically

Mitch Perry — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:44:00 -0400

The Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County announced today that the number of homeless people in Hillsborough stands at 2,275 — a 47 percent decrease from the 2011 count of 4,681.

You may not be familiar with that 4,681 number, since the Coalition announced in 2011 that there were over 17,000 homeless people in the county, a stunningly high number that seemed to indicate that the problem here was worse here than anywhere else in the nation.…

Mitch Perry Report: Tribune urges Rick Scott to veto study of HART/PSTA merger

Mitch Perry — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:20:00 -0400

The Tampa Tribune's editorial page today is coming out forcefully in advocating that Governor Rick Scott veto the $200,000 added into the state budget by Clearwater area GOP state Senator Jack Latvala for a new "desk study" evaluating the prospects of a merger between HART & PSTA, the two respective transit agencies for Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.

The paper notes the $100,000 study conducted by the agencies last year (that one paid by the agencies - this one would be paid for by Tallahassee, or you could say, taxpayers).…

Seminole Heights residents speak up on potential dog park

Terrence Smith — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:17:00 -0400

The city of Tampa's Parks and Recreation Department sought the locals opinion about a potential dog park added to Henry and Ola Park Wednesday night at the Seminole Garden Center.

Karen Cashon and Heather Wolf-Erickson presented a concept for the park, which would be a fenced-in area in an undeveloped part of Henry and Ola Park.…

Hillsborough Board agrees to referendum that could add Latino to BOCC

Mitch Perry — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:18:00 -0400

After last year's presidential election, when Barack Obama smoked Mitt Romney 71-29 percent on the Latino vote, Republicans throughout the land said they have to increase their outreach to the fast growing demographic, or else their political futures could be at stake.

Taken from that perspective, the unanimous vote by the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday to approve Les Miller's proposal to put a referendum before the voters in 2014 that would add one more single-member district and eliminate a county-wide district seat, isn't surprising.…

Pinellas County GOP at Tiger Bay: Session was great, though Dems disagree

Mitch Perry — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:30:00 -0400

According to most of the Pinellas County area GOP state lawmakers who gathered at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club's meeting at the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater on Tuesday, the just completed regular Legislature session was pretty awesome, with lots of love going out to House Speaker Will Weatherford for his fairness.

That's in large part because for the first time in a number of years, the state's revenues were up, allowing legislators to spend money on what they believed were worthwhile projects, instead of making drastic cuts.…

Buckhorn top aide Siobhan Harley leaving Tampa for political consulting gig

Mitch Perry — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:37:00 -0400

In the world of Tampa politics, Siobhan Harley has become a powerful player in just a few years.

The most visible member of Bob Buckhorn's campaign team for mayor, the Scottish native was immediately hired onto Buckhorn's staff after he was elected in March of 2011.…

Mitch Perry Report 5.13.13: IRS scandal will redound on local government

Mitch Perry — Mon, 13 May 2013 07:47:00 -0400

The American people's trust in government began eroding in the 1970s, and it has never fully recovered. That erosion, coupled with an ideological aversion amongst Libertarians and some conservatives to what they label "big government," has created an environment where Second Amendment fans can argue against universal background checks for guns because of fears of a national gun registry, which they claim would lead the government to take away their guns.…

Kiersten Down gets ready for her 3800-mile bike ride for Student Veterans of America

Chrystal Tacker — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:50:00 -0400

“People often think it is crazy to bike ride across the country, but I don’t live life in the culture of fear. Sometimes you just have to get off the couch and live life.”

Kiersten Downs has wanted to cycle across the United States for many years and decided to combine her three passions: bike riding, advocating, and advocating for student veterans.…

Tampa House Democrat recounts his first session in Tallahassee

Mitch Perry — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:00:00 -0400

District 63 House Democrat Mark Danish owes nearly all of his November 2012 victory over Republican incumbent Shawn Harrison to an incredible grass-roots campaign, as the state Democratic party pretty much sat out the race.

But less than a week after participating in his first full session in Tallahassee, the native New Yorker said party officials claimed they will back him when the 2014 election cycle begins, and he's been told that he's being groomed for a leadership position.…

Mike Suarez supports his colleagues upcoming trip to Cuba

Mitch Perry — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:46:00 -0400

Back in the fall of 2011, Mike Suarez was the only member of the Tampa City Council who objected to the board sending a letter to the Cuban government after Tampa International Airport resumed direct flights to Havana for the first time in nearly half a century.

So naturally with three of his colleagues (Mary Mulhern, Yolie Capin and Harry Cohen) now on board for the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's jaunt to the communist island later this month, CL reached out to him for his take, which was very uncontroversial.…

Mitch Perry Report 5.8.13: Stop calling Mark Sanford's victory "amazing"

Mitch Perry — Wed, 08 May 2013 08:00:00 -0400

As the returns coming in last night showed that Mark Sanford was going to defeat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in the special election for Congress in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza tweeted, "Amazing. Just amazing."

No, Mr. Cillizza.…

Opposition builds toward proposed apartment tower in downtown Tampa

Mitch Perry — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:48:00 -0400

In January, the Tampa City Council voted unanimously to sell one acre of land to two developers looking to build a 36-story apartment tower overlooking the Hillsborough River, just west of the John F. Germany Public Library. But as the issue goes back before the Council this week at a rezoning hearing, some of the residents who live the area are expressing their unhappiness about the project, including the fact that they haven't been given an opportunity by Mayor Bob Buckhorn to express their displeasure.…

HART Board wants Gov. Scott to veto Latvala bill on merger study with PSTA

Mitch Perry — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:47:00 -0400

Over the course of the past year HART & PSTA, the transit agencies representing Hillsborough & Pinellas counties, respectively, spent $100,000 on a study mandated by the Florida Legislature about a potential merger of their respective organizations. The preliminary study showed a merger could save about $2.4 million a year, but researchers said more analysis was needed.…

Mitch Perry Report 5.6.13: LeBron James takes home more hardware

Mitch Perry — Mon, 06 May 2013 07:54:00 -0400

Hope everyone had a good weekend - how can you not dig these uncommonly low-humidity days rolling into the first week of May? By the way, I discovered something about myself yesterday. I can't deal with films like "Iron Man 3" at all anymore.…

McCain: We need a select committee to get to the bottom of Benghazi

Mitch Perry — Sun, 05 May 2013 11:02:00 -0400

Thought the controversy over Benghazi was over? Not by a long shot.…

Florida LWV hails "historic" election reform bill

Mitch Perry — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:08:39 -0400

On the Legislature's final day of the 2013 session, Florida lawmakers approved a comprehensive elections reform bill that met with the approval of the League of Women Voters, who declared in a press release that the new laws will "ensure that Florida elections will no longer become fodder for late night television."

The bill passed the House 115-1 and 27-13 in the Senate.

In 2011 the GOP-led Legislature passed an elections reform measure that that state Democrats said reeked of voter suppression, with the most high profile issue being the reduction of early voting days.…

Tampa to crack down further on homeless?

Mitch Perry — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:25:42 -0400

For a good portion of both 2010 and 2011, the Tampa City Council spent considerable time discussing and debating what to do about the growing homeless population in the city. Ultimately they came up with a partial ban on panhandling, prohibiting it for everyone except newspaper hawkers six days a week (anything still goes on Sunday).…

Hillsborough County Commissioners support trap-neuter-release program to deal with feral cats

Mitch Perry — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:17:00 -0400

The issue of what to do with feral cats was the primary point of discussion at this morning's Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners meeting. The Hillsborough County Animal Services task force recently released a preliminary report aimed at minimizing the number of lost or stray animals that are euthanized at the county shelter each year.…

Tampa Bay Times daily circulation up 13.6 percent, Tribune up over 32 percent

Mitch Perry — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:07:00 -0400

According to the Alliance for Audited Media, the Tampa Bay Times has the 16th highest daily circulation in the nation, and has increased sales over the past year by 13.6 percent. The daily circulation of the paper is at 340,260, a big leap from 299,497 a year ago.…

Floirda activist group blasts new death penalty legislation

Mitch Perry — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:19:18 -0400

Reversing a nationwide trend, a bill that would expedite the death penalty process in Florida is going to Gov. Rick Scott's desk. On Monday, the Florida Senate passed legislation that would create shorter time frames for the appeals process and take away the governor's discretion of when to order the execution.…

Florida Voices website to shut down at the end of this week

Mitch Perry — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:25:00 -0400

Last week the staff and friends of Creative Loafing got self indulgent and partied for a few days, celebrating 25 years of publishing in the Tampa Bay area (under our current name as well as The Weekly Planet moniker). As I wrote about in the special anniversary issue, alt-weeklies (as well as many mainstream newspaper organizations) are currently operating under very challenging economic conditions, as much of the action has spread to the Internet, without attendant advertising following suit.…

Ken Welch unhappy with Sandra Gadsden's column about commissioners and the Pier

Mitch Perry — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:57:00 -0400

Last week, several Pinellas County commissioners suggested that the St. Petersburg City Council should refrain from allocating more money toward the Lens Pier plan until after a referendum that could go on the ballot this August provides more clarity on the issue.

That attitude irked Tampa Bay Times reporter/editor/columnist Sandra Gadsden, who blasted the commissioners in a piece published this weekend.…

Mitch Perry Report 4.29.13 - The best movie of 2013 was released this weekend

Mitch Perry — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:11:00 -0400

A happy good morning to y'all on this last Monday in April. How was the weekend?

As an inveterate moviegoer, 2013 has started off a bit rocky, to say the least, which is why I can happily say I saw two very strong films over the past couple of days that I'm happy to recommend to everyone.…

An emphasis on children's health is spotlighted in Tampa's Curtis Hixon Park

Mitch Perry — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:05:54 -0400

According to the CDC, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. The answer to this vexing problem isn't complicated: health lifestyle habits such as eating healthy and engaging in physical activity, can definitely lower the risk of becoming obese and/or suffering from related diseases.…