Let's Talk Feed

Brothers of the Sun tour

Times Editor — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:28:40 +0000

Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and special guest Jake Owen talk about the upcoming 22-city tour, which kicks off today at Raymond James Stadium.

Links from the Times for June 1: Warehouse party at 2004 RNC in New York

Times Editor — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:53:12 +0000

Click here to watch a video from Warehouse Productions’ party at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York

Join Bay News 9 meteorologist Mike Clay for a live chat on June 5

Times Editor — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:37:38 +0000

We're pleased to welcome a member of our media partner's news team, Bay News 9 meteorologist Mike Clay, to share his expertise and insight as we head into another hurricane season. Join us from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5, and ask him whatever is on your mind. Can't make it that day? Leave a question in the comments below and we'll get it asked at the chat.

Live chat with Bay News 9 meteorologist Mike Clay

Video: Sickles High grad gets special surprise

Times Editor — Thu, 31 May 2012 21:19:10 +0000

When Lindsey Singleton accepted her diploma, her sister Sara, back home for the first time since leaving for Afghanistan as an Army Specialist, was waiting to congratulate her.

Video: New restaurants, bars debut at TIA

Times Editor — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:12:05 +0000

Tampa International Airport is getting a big helping of local flavor, debuting a number of new restaurant concepts both before and after security checkpoints.

Third valedictorian from one family

Kristen Walbolt — Wed, 30 May 2012 23:38:15 +0000

Hillsborough High's IB Valedictorian Cheryl Cherian, 17, of Temple Terrace is the third Cherian daughter to be the IB valedictorian, but she has the highest GPA of the three sisters.

Arrest cracks 2009 Tampa cold case

Kristen Walbolt — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:23:01 +0000

Read past coverage of the case here and see the flier that may have helped lead to an arrest here.

Teen runner hurt by hurled egg

Times Editor — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:05:24 +0000

Three teenagers face felony battery charges after Tampa police accuse them of throwing an egg at a Bayshore Boulevard teenage jogger Sunday night and injuring his eye.

One woman's experience in noncitizen voters targeting

Times Editor — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:41:29 +0000

For reasons she can't fathom, a woman's name got on the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' list of 2,700 suspected noncitizens who may be voting illegally in Florida. It was a mistake. Read the non-citizen eligibility letter here.

New truck for an injured Marine

Kristen Walbolt — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:08:15 +0000

Justin Gaertner, a Marine who lost his legs in Afghanistan, is given a new truck. We have a special report on Justin here and here.

Video: Skydiving granny almost plummets to death

Times Editor — Mon, 28 May 2012 16:16:22 +0000

Have you heard about the 80-year-old woman who almost bought the farm when she took her first skydiving jump for her birthday? The incident happened last June, but just went viral. Here's the video report from ABC News about the mishap.

And here's she is on Good Morning America on May 28, describing what was going through her mind as she spiraled toward the ground.

Nelson shows a python skin to members of a Senate

Kristen Walbolt — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

During 12 years in the Senate, Florida Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson has maintained a tight focus on the state, rarely missing an opportunity to exploit headlines or take up populist causes, whether sounding alarms over Burmese pythons in the Everglades or Chinese drywall or demanding pensions for ex-Negro League ballplayers in Tampa.

$334 million mortgage settlement

Kristen Walbolt — Sat, 26 May 2012 10:21:53 +0000

Out of $334 million in cash payments sent to Florida in a multibillion dollar mortgage settlement with major banks, more than $33 million will go to help bolster the state’s budget. Florida is one of several states taking a portion of the $2.5 billion in cash payments from big banks and using it for programs not directly related to the foreclosure crisis, according to ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization. The ProPublica story, entitled Billion Dollar Bait & Switch: States Divert Foreclosure Deal Funds, can be found here.

Video: Laughing yoga

Kristen Walbolt — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:13:42 +0000

Tornado doesn't stop wedding ceremony

Times Editor — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:01:20 +0000

A couple in Kansas didn't let a tornado stop their wedding last Saturday. A wedding guest captured their ceremony and the scary weather.

FCAT results: How did your child's school do?

Times Editor — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:41:49 +0000

Third-grade FCAT reading scores were released Thursday. In the Tampa Bay area, students earned these scores:

• In Pinellas County, 56 percent of students were on grade level for reading, while 17 percent earned a 1 and failed the exam. Half scored a 3 or above in math.

• In Hillsborough County, 57 percent earned proficient reading scores, while 18 percent failed. In math, 55 percent were on grade level.

• In Pasco County, 57 percent earned a 3 or above in reading and 19 percent failed. Half of the county's third graders scored a 3 or above in math.

• In Hernando County, 59 percent scored 3 or above in reading and 14 percent failed. In math, 58 percent were on grade level.

To learn how your child's school did, click here for the state's interactive search site.

Video: The amazing Zephyrhills wingsuit

Times Editor — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:28:39 +0000

A stuntman who glided to a landing from 2,400 feet up using just a wingsuit has a friend in Pasco County to thank. Tony Uragallo designed and sewed the suit, which helped Gary Connery come in for a near-perfect landing on 18,000 cardboard boxes in the UK on Wednesday. You can read Uragallo's story here. But watch the video here first. It's amazing!

Video: Scary footage of plane engine blowout

Times Editor — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:10:45 +0000

There's a good reason why they don't want you to have your electronic device on while the plane is taking off: You might capture really frightening footage of something terrible going wrong with one of the engines. So tell us: What would you have done if you'd seen this happen? Cry like a baby? Shriek like a girl? Faint? Wet your pants? Worse? Check it out:

Photo gallery: Special Operations demonstration

Times Editor — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:16:51 +0000

U.S. and international Special Operations Forces (SOF) demonstrated their combined combat capabilities outside the Tampa Convention Center on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. US SOCOM commander Adm. William H. McRaven invited SOF delegates from 96 nations to Tampa for the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference. See photos.

Campaign attack ads

Kristen Walbolt — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:02:30 +0000

A new Obama ad.

An anti-Romney ad.

An anti-Obama Crossroads GPS ad.

Two-day search for missing woman ends well

Times Editor — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:50:03 +0000

Deep in the brush, they found Ellen Quinlan: dehydrated, disoriented and vulnerable to the elements. But the two-day search ended as well as it could have. Listen to CCSO air to ground radio communications here.

Photos: Dominica

Times Editor — Sun, 20 May 2012 01:55:36 +0000

The island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea, sandwiched between Martinique and Guadeloupe, is considered one of the last unspoiled islands of the Caribbean. See photos. Read the story.

Special report, photos: Investigations at Dozier School for Boys

Times Editor — Sun, 20 May 2012 01:29:25 +0000

A team of anthropologists and biologists from USF are performing an extensive amount of research, including using ground penetrating radar, to search for potential graves at the Arthur G. Dozier School for boys in Marianna. See photos.

To read more stories about the Dozier school, please click here for a special report.

Winter the dolphin, star of the film 'Dolphin Tale'

Times Editor — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:28:09 +0000

Watch video and read all about Winter, the dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium who inspired the 2011, Dolphin Tale, here. The aquarium is looking to expand in a new location because of the popularity of Winter.

Video: Crazy exercise contraptions

Times Editor — Sat, 19 May 2012 13:40:47 +0000

In today's Personal Best section, we told you about trainer Rob Snyder's unusual exercise equipment. Watch him in action in this video:

Links from Saturday's Times: Exercising all options

Sat, 19 May 2012 08:30:00 +0000

In recent years Rob Snyder, a chiseled father of two teenagers, has been a regular fixture on St. Petersburg’s iconic waterfront. If you jog, walk or ride along North Shore Park you may recognize Snyder as that crazy guy who whizzes by almost daily on any one of several strange-looking exercise machines.

Video: Snyder talks about fitness, fun and how to put them both together
How he does it: To learn more about Snyder’s regimen, go to his website: zipfit.us

Video: Great horned owl at McGough Nature Park

Times Editor — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:01:20 +0000

The staff at McGough Nature Park is asking the public to suggest names for the park’s newest resident, a juvenile great horned owl that DNA testing has confirmed is male. The list of entries will be narrowed to the top five and then posted for voting on Largo’s Recreation, Parks and Arts Facebook page, facebook.com/playlargo. The name with the most votes wins. To enter a name, visit largonature.com or drop by for an entry form at the McGough Nature Center inside the park at 11901 146th St. N, Largo. Names can be submitted through June 22.

Meanwhile, to give you some incentive to enter the contest, here's video of the young owl.

Links from Friday's Times: Port St. John shootings 911 audio

Ken Walker — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:30:00 +0000

Neighbors of a Port St. John mother who fatally shot her four children before killing herself weren't sure who was injured after hearing gunshots and refused to admit three of the woman's kids who were trying to get in their house, according to a 911 call released May 16, 2012 (audio player posted after the jump):

[Brevard County Sheriff's Office]

You will need the free iTunes player, QuickTime or other mp3 player to hear the audio.

The caller's husband told a dispatcher in the 911 call that the children were frantically trying to enter their house, but Amid the confusion, the caller apparently warned one of the children not to enter her home.

"Get back, you're not coming in our house," she can be heard saying in the recording.

Romney denounces super PAC's ad plans

Times Editor — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:47:58 +0000

Here is a link to the full proposal of the Republican super PAC's plan for advertisements linking President Barack Obama to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. GOP candidate Mitt Romney has disavowed the plan, which has been shelved.

Video: Will Rhymes passes out

Kristen Walbolt — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:38:01 +0000

Rays player Will Rhymes collapses after being hit by a pitch at the Trop. He talks about the incident in video here.

Audio: Columnist John Romano on WFLA-AM 970

Ken Walker — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:39:33 +0000

Times columnist John Romano was interviewed on WFLA-AM 970 this morning about today's column, "Let's grade the people who messed up the FCAT." Listen in after the jump:

You will need the free iTunes player, QuickTime or other mp3 player to hear the audio.

Links from Thursday's Times: Video of death penalty talks

Ken Walker — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:30:00 +0000

An op-ed column in Thursday's Tampa Bay Times from former Florida Supreme Court justice Raoul Cantero and Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University senior program director Mark Schlakman calls for rewriting Florida's death penalty statute to require juries' unanimous recommendations. Link: To watch a forum that FSU/Center for the Advancement of Human Rights convened in November 2011 with the American Bar Association in cooperation with the Constitution Project titled "The Death Penalty: Evolving Issues in Florida," which coincided with the five-year anniversary of the release of the ABA’s Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team report, click here.

Video: Four men violently attack Tampa man

Times Editor — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:33:15 +0000

Police are searching for four men who violently attacked a pedestrian Sunday.

Survey of a four-day school week in Pasco

Kristen Walbolt — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:35:07 +0000

See the results of the Hanover Research survey regarding a proposed four-day school week in Pasco County here.

Mitt Romney in St. Pete

Kristen Walbolt — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:48:46 +0000

Mitt Romney blamed President Barack Obama for the nation's sluggish economy and high unemployment as his campaign made its way through the Tampa Bay area Wednesday with a rally at the Mirror Lake Lyceum. For complete coverage of the RNC, click here.

Voice mail from Jim Greer

Kristen Walbolt — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:44:15 +0000

The message to former Gov. Charlie Crist from good friend and confidante Jim Greer was so ominous-sounding that he contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to report the messages. Hear the voice mail here. You can find a profile of Jim Greer here and coverage of the case against him here.

Video: Little boy gets wish to see Winter the dolphin

Times Editor — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:52:39 +0000

Damian Moore is 8 and has worn a prosthetic on his left leg most of his life. On Tuesday, the little boy from Iowa and his family got to meet Winter the dolphin, whose own story of losing her tale was made into the movie Dolphin Tale. You can read that story here. The Moore family filmed this video when they surprised him with a trip to Clearwater to meet his inspiration.

Alzheimer's study

Kristen Walbolt — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:45:13 +0000

Country singer Glen Campbell, who has Alzheimer's disease, attended a news conference Tuesday in Washington, D.C., where Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the first National Alzheimer’s Plan. Times pop music critic Sean Daly recently interviewed Campbell on his "goodbye tour," where the disease was ever present.

New focus on Bain

Kristen Walbolt — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:03:02 +0000

In advance of Mitt Romney's fundraising swing through Florida Wednesay Democrats are highlighting one of the business ventures of Bain Capital while Romney was in charge: Dade Behring, which, saddled with debt, wound up shuttering two medical technologies facilities in Miami. Some 850 jobs were lost, while Bain walked away with $242-million - an 800 percent return on its investment. In Miami, story of profits and layoffs highlights debate over Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain.

Low FCAT scores stun, upset many

Ken Walker — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:07:23 +0000

A change in standards means fewer students pass the test's writing portion (read today's story).

Download PDFs of writing samples from 2011 and 2012:

2011 standards: 1 score sample | 3 score sample | 6 score sample

2012 standards: 1 score sample | 3 score sample | 6 score sample

FHSAA: Five Armwood players falsified addresses

Times Editor — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:42:00 +0000

The superintendent blames parents for the infractions and says she has no plans to fire coach Sean Callahan. Read the entire 45-page document detailing the investigation here.

JPMorgan Chase CEO tries contrite

Kristen Walbolt — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:12:45 +0000

What a difference three months — and a $2.3 billion trading blunder — can make. Jamie Dimon is sounding contrite and humble this week as the JPMorgan Chase CEO rolls into Tampa on Tuesday for his company’s annual meeting. He’s been taking to the airwaves apologizing for the “terrible, egregious mistake” which could balloon to a $4 billion loss. Dimon will be in Tampa on Tuesday to host the massive bank's potentially raucous annual shareholders meeting. See a Q&A with Jamie Dimon here.

MacNamara resignation letter

Times Editor — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:39:33 +0000

Steve MacNamara submitted a letter of resignation Saturday afternoon as Gov. Rick Scott's chief of staff.

Links from the Times for May 12: Pinellas school auction fees

Times Editor — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:21:19 +0000

The Pinellas school auction offers bargains, but at what cost? Even though the auction grossed more than $300,000, some of the prices were far below winning bids for similar items available on online auction sites. Click here to see some of the bargains that winning bidders received.

Gov. Scott's chief of staff made exceptions for friend

Times Editor — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:30:49 +0000

Gov. Rick Scott came into office with a strict travel policy that prohibited agency junkets and demanded that out-of-state trips have a quantifiable benefit to the state, but the rule was waved for the state's film commissioner, a friend of the chief of staff. Read the emails to Steve MacNamara here and here.

St. Pete mayor turns up in ad on house flipping

Ken Walker — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:04:30 +0000

Bill Foster says he never endorsed a company that rehabs houses in Pinellas County, though his photograph appears in its advertising. "It's a great investment," Foster is quoted as saying. "Joe and his team are really making a difference. I'm very impressed."

Hear Times reporter Michael Van Sickler discuss his story on 970-AM WFLA this morning:

'We will take care of their parents'

Kristen Walbolt — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:00:50 +0000

That's the message MacDill wants to share with the children of service members deployed overseas. So Camp CARE gives those kids a chance to march, run and even skip in their parents' boot steps.

Soaring over (and into) the gulf

Times Editor — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:21:27 +0000

Times pop music critic Sean Daly braves the brand new JetLev, a water-propelled jet pack that sends riders up to 30 feet in the air while pushing them across the water at nearly 30 mph. Backstory here.

As Children's Board prepares for new audit, two old ones shed some light

Times Editor — Sat, 05 May 2012 23:36:59 +0000

The Children's Board of Hillsborough County says it wants an upcoming study to give a warts-and-all picture of the public agency's staffing and workplace culture.

But a dozen years ago, another study produced a picture that officials disliked so much they put it on a shelf and refused to finish paying for it.

The 2000 study by Temple Terrace consultant James Fisher contains plenty of vague jargon. Children's Board officials said the report was too vague, in fact, to be useful.

Click here to read the consultant's 2000 report.

Video: Helen Rosburg

Times Editor — Sat, 05 May 2012 23:12:50 +0000

Helen Rosburg, the great-granddaughter of William Wrigley Jr., founder of the chewing gum company, rescues goats, pigs, horses, cows, lots of cats and dogs – nearly 200 animals altogether – and puts them up in style on her 127-acre spread in Odessa.