After it made landfall in the Keys, Fay surged north off Florida's west coast. Then it made landfall a second time when entering the peninsula. Then slowed down. It sped up. It turned. ...more

August 21, 2008

Deputy Malachi McCoy, who ended a gunman's rampage in northwest Tampa in June, will receive the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's Medal of Honor at an awards ceremony in September. ...more

August 20, 2008

An attorney for Hillsborough County Fire Chief William Nesmith filed notice Friday that Nesmith intends to sue the Pinellas sheriff after deputies arrested Nesmith in March. ...more

August 2, 2008

An attorney for Hillsborough County fire Chief William Nesmith filed notice today that Nesmith intends to sue the Pinellas sheriff after deputies arrested Nesmith in March. On March 1, Nesmith, 59, was arrested at his Indian Rocks Beach condominium and charged with domestic battery after his wife, Beverly, told deputies he threatened to kill her and then himself, an arrest report states. Deputies seized two guns found in his personal vehicle and a county-owned vehicle. ...more

August 1, 2008

Members of the Highlands County Fire Services and Highlands County Emergency Management spent the better half of Wednesday morning unpacking, taking inventory and testing 26 new Lifepack 1000 Automated External Defibrillator (AEDs) that will be issued to the Highlands County Fire Services staff, emergency management and the volunteer fire departments. ...more

July 31, 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

A week ago, Deputy Malachi McCoy was reading the Bible and came upon Psalm 28:7. He was immediately drawn to one line in the verse: "The Lord is my shield." ...more

June 10, 2008

The day before he shot and killed his estranged wife and two others, Jorge Orlando Bello Garcia visited his father and told him he wanted to get away. ...more

June 9, 2008

TAMPA - The day before he shot and killed his estranged wife and two others, Jorge Orlando Bello Garcia visited his father and told him he wanted to get away. ...more

June 8, 2008

King Kong's roar was silenced, and Marty McFly won't be going back to the future anytime soon. ...more

June 2, 2008