Howard Troxler isn't the only Tampa Bay area media institution calling it quits after 29 years in the local business.
Fox-13 television reporter Warren Elly is also stepping away from his gig in local journalism, and on Saturday night at Tampa's Four Green Fields, over a hundred of his friends, colleagues and sometimes competitors paid tribute to him by gathering at the popular watering hole, celebrating his distinguished career, much of it spent covering the courts, crime, local politics and shuttle launches.
In addition to current and former Fox colleagues paying their respects (including Kathy Fountain, Russell Rhodes, Gloria Gomez and Tanya Arja, among others), reporters from the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times were also in tow.
Also making appearances were Tampa's last two mayors — Pam Iorio and Dick Greco, whom CL spent a few minutes catching up with for the first time since he fell 384 votes of qualifying for the runoff election against Rose Ferlita, in his bid for a fifth term as Tampa's chief executive on March 1.
This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2011.