TAMPA - Deputies arrested a 50-year-old woman on Sunday driving with a blood-alcohol reading almost five times the level at which Florida law presumes a driver impaired, according to an arrest report. ...more

June 23, 2008

St. Pete Mayor Recommends Va. Developer For Trop By CARLOS MONCADA The Tampa Tribune ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor Rick Baker is recommending a Virginia-based developer to transform Tropicana Field and its parking lots into a massive mixed-use community of shops, restaurants, offices, hotels and residences. In a memo today to the city council, Baker said he concurs with the recommendation of his staff to select Archstone-Madison, of Arlington, over the Tampa Bay Rays' preferred developer, Houston-based Hines Interests. Hines was retained by the Rays last year to produce a site development plan for the 86-acre Tropicana site. That plan was unveiled when the team announced the new stadium proposal in November. The council will consider Baker's recommendation at its meeting on Thursday. Redeveloping the Tropicana site is a key part of the Rays' plan to build a $450 million ballpark on the downtown waterfront by 2012. The recommendation is to authorize city staff to negotiate further with Archstone-Madison and to enter into a memorandum of understanding by Aug. 1. Council members voted last week to begin the process for scheduling a Nov. 4 referendum on a new waterfront stadium. Final action on the referendum is set for Aug. 7, when the council also could take action on the memo of understanding, Baker wrote. Archstone-Madison and Hines were among three developers who submitted bids to the city to redevelop the Tropicana site. Although both proposed similar town center-style developments, Archstone-Madison's 5.4 million-square-foot project, called "EcoVerde," was more intense than Hines' 3.11 million-square-foot project, dubbed "West End St. Pete." Thus Archstone-Madison offered the greater potential return on property and sales tax revenue generated at the site, staff said. Archstone-Madison's proposal "strongly reflects the vision established" in the city's nationwide request for proposals, the mayor's memo states. The memo notes that Archstone-Madison's $65 million purchase offer for the Tropicana site "is highest and comes closest to covering the remaining debt on Tropicana Field." Hines offered $60.6 million. The Rays' financing plan proposes using the proceeds from the dome's sale to pay off the remaining city and Pinellas County debt on the stadium. The Archstone-Madison project, when completed around 2020, would create a projected 5,574 new jobs compared with 3,174 for the Hines project, which would be finished by 2016. the memo said. Also, Archstrone-Madison would create 17,521 construction jobs while the project is under way, versus 10,959 for Hines. The Archstone-Madison proposal would generate $37.5 million in annual tax revenue, including $7.5 million for the city, according to a final comparison between the two developers. The Hines project would raise $23.1 million in yearly tax revenue, with $4.3 million going to the city. Neither developer, though, offered the city a guarantee on that projected tax revenue. ...more

June 13, 2008

TAMPA - A 45-year-old Tampa man has been charged with having a five-year sexual relationship with a girl, starting when she was 13 years old, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. ...more

June 5, 2008

Deputies arrested three armed robbery suspects within minutes of a man being held up in North Tampa early today, Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said. ...more

April 17, 2008

TAMPA - At a vigil for his 7-year-old daughter Saturday night, Michael Johnson said the girl was a social butterfly who loved animals. ...more

February 10, 2008

TAMPA - A 7-year-old girl playing in the middle of a dirt road at a mobile home park off East 148th Ave. was hit by a vehicle driven by her neighbor about 9:30 p.m. Friday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. ...more

February 10, 2008

TAMPA - Three weeks after her husband was shot to death outside the Groovy Mule bottle club, Sesily Coleman only has been able to rest three to four hours a night. ...more

February 10, 2008

When a child goes missing, every second counts when it comes to getting a description and photo to the public. ...more

February 7, 2008

When a child goes missing, every second counts when it comes to getting out a description and photo to the public. ...more

February 6, 2008

Mounir Benzegala and Jeremy Black each made a pair of free throws in the final seconds of overtime Wednesday, helping the University of Tampa men's basketball team to a 79-74 win against Lynn. ...more

January 31, 2008