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Monday, March 18, 2019

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John Jonchuck exits the courtroom as they take a recess during a pretrial hearing last Thursday. DIRK SHADD | Times

The trial of John Jonchuck, Day 1: It begins

The murder trial of John Jonchuck is set to begin today at 9 a.m. with jury selection. Jonchuck, now 29, is charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 8, 2015 killing of his 5-year-old daughter,…

Mehr Khan, left, and Dr. Nadeem Khan, right, pose with friends Laura and Dr. Stephen Kreitzer during the interfaith community vigil. Faith leaders, local officials and members of the community gathered for the vigil in response to the recent terror attack at mosques in New Zealand, where 50 people were killed by a white supremacist. [OCTAVIO JONES | Times]

At interfaith vigil, local Muslims say white supremacy is on the rise and they are afraid

The vigil was held for those killed in a mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand.

For nearly 60 years, Mar Fee “Yee” Moon worked at and ran China City, an iconic mainstay in St. Petersburg. He's pictured here with his children and grandchildren. He died on March 2 from congestive heart failure. (Photo courtesy Lon Martin)

Owner of China City restaurant savored good food and big family

Yee Moon worked long hours and lots of years as a chef in St. Petersburg

Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell delivers a pitch in the first inning of a spring training game against the Phillies on March 11 in Clearwater. (CHRIS URSO | Times)

Blake Snell salary situation reveals the best and worst of the Rays

A small investment to reward Snell would go a long way toward reshaping the team�s image.

Gary Payne enjoys tooling around Davis Islands in a golf cart with his dog Barkley. Using the small, electric vehicle is also better for the environment, Payne said. [TAILYR IRVINE | Times]

Yes, you can drive a golf cart on public roads. Depending on the golf cart. And the road.

From Sun City Center to Dunedin, more people are taking steps to make their rigs street legal. Plenty of them aren’t, too, but they’re not likely to get cited.

Hillsborough deputies on scene of death investigation in Tampa’s Uptown District

Deputies retrieved a handgun at the scene, but the suspect remains at large.

Forecast: It'll be cloudy with a chance of spring to get the week started in Tampa Bay

Overrunning winds will keep skies cloudy and conditions rainy to start the week, but things will clear by Wednesday, the first day of spring.

Ethiopia minister: Clear similarity between Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes

The planes in both crashes flew with erratic altitude changes that could indicate the pilots struggled to control the aircraft.

Travis Scott performed at Amalie Arena in Tampa on March 17, 2019. (JAY CRIDLIN | Times)

Review: Travis Scott fires up Tampa with combustible 'Astroworld' show at Amalie Arena

Were all the props really necessary? Nah. But Scott's electrifying presence won the night.

The Gasparilla International Film Festival kicks off at the historic Tampa Theatre on Tuesday. [Luis Santana | Times (2018)]

Tampa Bay’s top things to do for the week of March 18-24

Gasparilla International Film Festival kicks off, all of the other fests worth a visit and Badfish pays tribute to Sublime.

Latest

Yes, you can drive a golf cart on public roads. Depending on the golf cart. And the road.

Forecast: It'll be cloudy with a chance of spring to get the week started in Tampa Bay

Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast: Why Bucs are signing so many players to one-year deals

Interview: Former Starbucks CEO makes case for independent run for White House

Daystarter: Jonchuck trial begins; Missing Tampa teen returns after 7 months; Seminoles, Gators in NCAA West Region

Florida education news: School books, charter schools, taxes and more

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Spotlight

Illustration by RON BORRESEN, photo by DIRK SHADD | Times

John Jonchuck dropped his daughter off a bridge. Here�s what to know before his murder trial.

Catch up on the key events and individuals before a jury decides whether he�s insane or evil.

Not one but two Dumbo rides plus an interactive queue are in Storybook Circus, a revamped area adjacent to the New Fantasyland.

10 things you can buy for less than a one-day ticket to Walt Disney World

The theme park raised its prices again this week.

James Fair visits with his mother Alice Fair while he sat on on death row in Georgia in the early 1960s.
[Courtesy of Clennon King]

Film explores case of Tampa-born man who escaped ‘lynching’ in Georgia

By learning the story of James Fair, the filmmaker hopes, audiences may support a petition to re-open the investigation into the murder of an 8-year-old girl.

Mary Scroggins, left, with her 26-year-old daughter at Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs, questions why no charges have been filed in what they describe as a sexual assault on the daughter three years ago. The daughter, whose name is being withheld, has had been intellectually disabled since birth. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]

DNA supports St. Pete rape claim from woman who is intellectually disabled. Why no charges?

Detectives were ready to make an arrest, but prosecutors didn’t believe they could prove the case. The issue, they said: “Whether the victim is disabled to the point where she could…

The Laser Spine Institute opened its Avion Park surgical center in Tampa in 2014, part of a heady, years-long run that ended suddenly when the practice ceased operations March 1. [LUIS SANTANA | Times]

Laser Spine Institute: a medical juggernaut brought to its knees by financial blows

The company’s CEO blames surprise action by banks. But lawsuits and other factors also help explain its sudden demise.

Viewpoints

Vaccines work and are safe. Here, vendors offer services from vaccines and health screening to job opportunities during a Tampa Community Homeless Outreach event. Tailyr Irvine | Times

Editorial: Vaccinations work for the child and for the community

UConn coach Geno Auriemma's hair is fixed by his players, right, Moriah Jefferson (4) and Breanna Stewart (30) while celebrating their 2014-15 national title in Tampa. (OCTAVIO JONES | Times )

Where�s the March Madness in the Women�s Final Four?

Ernest Hooper - Times Staff Writer

Times Staff Writer

Ernest Hooper: Expanding the choir key to ending hunger in Tampa Bay

Sue Carlton - Times Staff Writer

Times Staff Writer

Carlton: How is a tax battle like a fight for civil rights? And other news

Marc Topkin - Times Staff Writer

Times Staff Writer

Rays not worried about MLB rule changes: 'We have a lot of pitchers�

Graham Brink - Times Staff Writer

Times Staff Writer

‘The most powerful woman in banking’ sees lots of upside in the Tampa Bay area

In Case You Missed It

Tampa man, freed in July after 46 years of a life sentence, jailed in Amalie Arena attack

Leonard Edwards, 63, was released last summer after 46 years in prison for a hammer attack and rape that occurred when he was 16. On Sunday, he was arrested in an attack on a co-worker. [Tampa Police Department]

Senate rejects Trump border emergency as Republicans defect

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, arrives in the Senate where she has said she will vote for a resolution to annul President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the southwest border, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Beto O'Rourke enters 2020 race attempting bipartisan appeal

Former Democratic Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke laughs as he is interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in New York on Feb. 5, 2019. [Associated Press]

Unsolved Hernando homicide will be featured on Oxygen's 'Cold Justice'

The cast of Oxygen's

Special Reports

https://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20190125/ARTICLE/301259689/AR/0/0/AR-301259689.jpg

Hurricane Michael aftermath: In a ruined town, family looks to rebuild the Driftwood Inn

In this series, the Tampa Bay Times is following the Wood family, who must deal with shifting regulations, difficult financial decisions and frequent reminders of what they lost.

https://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20181217/ARTICLE/181219672/AR/0/0/AR-181219672.jpg

Lincoln's Shot: Read Lane DeGregory's entire 8-part series now

A Tampa boy was born unable to breathe or swallow. But across the country, researchers were fixing floppy dogs with the same condition. Could his parents keep him alive long enough for a cure?

https://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20181127/ARTICLE/181129703/AR/0/0/AR-181129703.jpg

Heartbroken: Despite warnings, All Children’s kept operating. Babies died.

Johns Hopkins promised to elevate the hospital’s Heart Institute. Then patients started to die at an alarming rate.

https://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20181207/ARTICLE/312079763/AR/0/0/AR-312079763.jpg

State, federal officials missed warnings at All Children�s heart unit

Lawmakers are now asking questions about what happened.

https://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20181125/ARTICLE/181129803/AR/0/0/AR-181129803.jpg

Blood and Truth: Could DNA prove him innocent? Florida doesn’t want to know.

In 1976, a jury convicted Tommy Zeigler of four murders. He has been trying to convince the state of Florida to allow for full DNA testing, but it has refused. Again and again.

Videos

Bubba “The Love Sponge” Clem poses for a photograph with his two dogs, Pookie, top and Peaches while at his home Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018 in St. Petersburg. CHRIS URSO | Times

Bubba the Love Sponge: Tucker Carlson 'assured me he's not mad at me'

Tampa Bay's talk radio host is back in the news for something he recorded years ago.

The Laser Spine Institute joins a list of Tampa Bay businesses that have closed over the years. Some shuttered quickly, while others hung on for as long as they could. [Times files]

Laser Spine Institute joins ghosts of Tampa Bay businesses past, from Maas Bros to Webb's City

From shopping centers to drug stores, let's revisit some of our area's most iconic lost destinations.

https://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20190228/ARTICLE/190229647/TS/1/TS-190229647.jpg

Sandy Hook parent tells Pinellas students: ‘You’re literally saving lives.’

The national nonprofit that grew out of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary has been active in Pinellas County public schools with a message of awareness. On Thursday, Sandy Hook parent Mark…

The annual Blacktip shark migration season is in full force along south Florida?s Atlantic coast.
Florida Atlantic University has been tracking these apex predators by air and sea.
Photo courtesy Florida Atlantic University

Blacktip sharks begin annual migration to Florida's south Atlantic coast

The annual Blacktip shark migration season is in full force. Florida Atlantic University has been tracking these apex predators by air and sea.

The Yankees are introducing a new pastrami sandwich to be served during home spring training games at Steinbrenner Field this season. The pastrami is cooked in-house on the facility's 750-pound smoker. [EDUARDO A. ENCINA | Times]

Yankees open home spring training slate in Tampa with new menu items

Among the offerings at Steinbrenner Field are a house-made pastrami sandwich and a Tampa Cuban sandwich

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News

Daystarter

Daystarter: Jonchuck trial begins; Missing Tampa teen returns after 7 months; Seminoles, Gators in NCAA West Region

Jhamila Shine sits on her front porch holding a poster of her missing 17-year-old son, Micheal Shine III in October. He went missing after leaving for school in August. Seven months later, he turned himself in to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and was reunited with his family. [BRONTE WITTPENN | Times]

After 7 months, missing Tampa teen is reunited with his family

SCOTT KEELER | Times
Tthe Pinellas County Emergency Operations Center on Ulmerton Road which is also home to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, June 26, 2018. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a fatal pedestrian accident early on Sunday, March 17, 2019 in Seminole -- one of three pedestrian accidents in Pinellas County that night.

Multiple pedestrians hit by cars in separate overnight incidents in Pinellas County

John Jonchuck, 29, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2015 killing of his 5-year-old daughter, Phoebe. The trial is set to begin today. [DIRK SHADD | Times]

The murder trial of John Jonchuck is set to begin today

Check tampabay.com for the latest breaking news.

New Port Richey motorcyclist killed in crash, troopers say

Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn wears his signature Saint Patrick Day themed pants for the last time during the 8th Annual Mayor’s River O’Green Fest at Curtis Hixon Park in Tampa. [TAILYR IRVINE | Times]

Bob Buckhorn's shamrock leg-acy

Check tampabay.com for the latest breaking news.

Port Richey woman killed after walking into traffic, troopers say

Check tampabay.com for the latest breaking news and developments.

Hidden cameras found in Hernando massage business, deputies say

Monica Docobo, a crime scene investigator for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested March 9 on a DUI charge in Manatee County. The niece of former Chief Deputy Jos? Docobo, she is likely to be fired under a zero-tolerance policy put in place by Sheriff David Gee and continued by his successor, Sheriff Chad Chronister. [Booking photo from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office]

Niece of former chief deputy faces termination for DUI under Hillsborough’s zero-tolerance policy

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band performed at Tampa's Amalie arena on March 15, 2019. (JAY CRIDLIN | Times)

Review: Bob Seger roars a spirited farewell to Tampa on final tour stop at Amalie Arena

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Sports

Linebacker Shaquil Barrett is one of many players the Bucs have signed to one-year deals. [AP Photo/Rick Scuteri]

Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast: Why Bucs are signing so many players to one-year deals

The Lightning's Jan Rutta (44), center, fends off a charge by Red Wings left wing Thomas Vanek (26) with Steven Stamkos (91) defending, right, during a March 9 game. (DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times)

Jan Rutta finding his role in Lightning blue line

Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) checks Lightning center J.T. Miller into the boards during the third period on Oct. 27, 2018, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

Lightning prepares for �hot� Arizona

MONICA HERNDON | TimesTampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Charlie Morton (50) throws during the third inning of the Tampa Bay Rays spring training game against the Baltimore Orioles on March 6, 2019 at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Rays Monday: 1:05, vs. Pirates in Port Charlotte

Tommy Pham (right), shown earlier this spring, wants to make sure his Rays mates are ready for the season-opening test of facing two playoff teams. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]

Rays� Tommy Pham: �They know we�re good. We have to bring it�

OCTAVIO JONES | Times USF guard David Collins (0) and his teammates get at least one more game in the Yuengling Center this season.

USF men earn postseason berth

Gary Payne enjoys tooling around Davis Islands in a golf cart with his dog Barkley. Using the small, electric vehicle is also better for the environment, Payne said. [TAILYR IRVINE | Times]

Yes, you can drive a golf cart on public roads. Depending on the golf cart. And the road.

Linebacker Shaquil Barrett is one of many players the Bucs have signed to one-year deals. [AP Photo/Rick Scuteri]

Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast: Why Bucs are signing so many players to one-year deals

The Lightning's Jan Rutta (44), center, fends off a charge by Red Wings left wing Thomas Vanek (26) with Steven Stamkos (91) defending, right, during a March 9 game. (DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times)

Jan Rutta finding his role in Lightning blue line

Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) checks Lightning center J.T. Miller into the boards during the third period on Oct. 27, 2018, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

Lightning prepares for �hot� Arizona

MONICA HERNDON | TimesTampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Charlie Morton (50) throws during the third inning of the Tampa Bay Rays spring training game against the Baltimore Orioles on March 6, 2019 at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Rays Monday: 1:05, vs. Pirates in Port Charlotte

Tommy Pham (right), shown earlier this spring, wants to make sure his Rays mates are ready for the season-opening test of facing two playoff teams. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]

Rays� Tommy Pham: �They know we�re good. We have to bring it�

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Arts & Entertainment

Photo by Dominique NabokovZadie Smith's essay collection 'Feel Free' received the criticism prize from the National Book Critics Circle.

Anna Burns, Steve Coll among recipients of National Book Critics Circle awards

Photo by Deen van Meer
Disney’s Aladdin comes to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts as part of their 2019-2020 Broadway series.

‘Mean Girls,’ ‘Aladdin’ and four revivals lead Straz Center’s 2019-2020 Broadway lineup

AJR performed at 97X Next Big Thing at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa on Dec. 1, 2019. (JAY CRIDLIN | Times)

SoundBytes: The Black Keys, 311, Luis Miguel, AJR and more.

Check out the two-day Florida Mermaid Festival in Spring Hill this weekend. [Brendan Fitterer | Times]

Top things to do in Tampa Bay for Saturday, March 16

Amalie Arena in Tampa. [LUIS SANTANA | Times]

Five bars within walking distance of Amalie Arena

The Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival returns this Saturday. (Busch Gardens)

Top things to do this weekend March 15-17

Jesus (Benjamin Staley, center) sings “Beautiful City” as an encouragement to his followers, while a torn Judas (Chay Nott, left) looks on. Courtesy of Debi Kaufmann

Live Oak Theatre's 'Godspell' opens March 29 in Brooksville

Smithsonian brings Home Team exhibit to New Port Richey

Ambulance staff take a man from outside a mosque in central Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, March 15, 2019. A witness says many people have been killed in a mass shooting at a mosque in the New Zealand city of Christchurch. [Associated Press]

Dozens killed in New Zealand mosque terror attacks

With a family-style menu of tapas, Jaleo will showcase dishes like gambas a la Zahara. [Courtesy of Jaleo]

This is when José Andrés restaurant Jaleo plans to launch at Disney Springs

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