Hillsborough County Commissioners support trap-neuter-release program to deal with feral cats
The issue of what to do with feral cats was the primary point of discussion at this morning's Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners meeting. The Hillsborough County Animal Services task force recently released a preliminary report aimed at minimizing the number of lost or stray animals that are euthanized at the county shelter each year.…
Kathy Castor among group of Congress members calling on Obama to relax travel restrictions to Cuba
Kathy Castor Tampa's Kathy Castor made news a month ago when she called for an end to the 51-year U.S. embargo on Cuba, being the first Florida lawmaker to do so. She's continuing her activism on the issue by co-signing a letter to President Obama asking him to expand the current travel policy for Americans…
Mitch Perry Report 5.1.13: Parent trigger bill bites the dust, again
There was a lot of news out of Tallahassee yesterday, but for our money, nothing was more significant than the rejection of the Parent Empowerment Act (a/k/a parent trigger), a bill strongly opposed not just by the teachers unions, but a variety of groups and some Republicans. If the bill was going to go down…
Bill’s Sports Binge: Draft after Darrelle, Twitter twerps and say it ain’t so, Tebow
The NFL Draft: That long weekend in April when you're on a hot date with your favorite football team. She's dropped some weight, let her hair grow out, picked up a cornerback from the Jets. (Looking good, baby… Is it getting hot in here or is it just you?) Each day she shows you a…
Tampa Bay Times daily circulation up 13.6 percent, Tribune up over 32 percent
According to the Alliance for Audited Media, the Tampa Bay Times has the 16th highest daily circulation in the nation, and has increased sales over the past year by 13.6 percent. The daily circulation of the paper is at 340,260, a big leap from 299,497 a year ago. However, all is not golden over at…
Inside the photo booth: Bluesman Damon Fowler
Kevin Tighe Damon Fowler (click to enlarge)
New Music Tuesday! (April 30): Iggy and the Stooges, Akron/Family, Hands, and more.
Releases out this week, audio & video included
Controversial parent trigger bill goes down to defeat by 20-20 vote in Senate
Nancy Detert For the second consecutive year, the controversial parent trigger bill failed in the state Senate with lawmakers deadlocking in a 20-20 vote. The bill would have allowed parents with children in failing public schools to signs petitions that called for a conversion into a charter school. Just one more vote for the bill…
Deadline today for the Sandhill Writers Retreat
Have you a pen? Have you a notebook? Is your finger itching to write a novel, enhance your blog, or conduct investigative journalism on your neighbors (not cool, by the way)?
Integrity Florida hails ethics reform bills passed in Florida Legislature
Senate President Don Gaetz Florida's reputation as being one of the top states for political corruption in the union is so prevalent, that both House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz made it a top priority to address before the current session began. According to Dan Krassner with the group Integrity Florida, the…
Mitch Perry Report 4.30.13: Showdown on parent trigger bill in Tallahassee
Last year, the piece of legislation that would have allowed a majority of parents to petition that the failing public schools their children attend turn into charter schools, was denied on the last day of session: the Senate deadlocked on the bill, 20-20, after the House already passed it. Well, it's a year later, and…
Mad Men-inspired dance party benefits Creative Care Arts Program
I don’t know what type of ad campaign Don Draper would have devised for the St. Petersburg Pier. Hell, no one does, he’s a fictional character. However, I do know that whoever he pitched the idea to would have fallen in love with it, like so many area residents did over the years. The iconic…
Floirda activist group blasts new death penalty legislation
Seth Penalver was exonerated last year after being on death row in Florida for 13 years Reversing a nationwide trend, a bill that would expedite the death penalty process in Florida is going to Gov. Rick Scott's desk. On Monday, the Florida Senate passed legislation that would create shorter time frames for the appeals process…
Florida Voices website to shut down at the end of this week
Rosemary Goudreau Last week the staff and friends of Creative Loafing got self indulgent and partied for a few days, celebrating 25 years of publishing in the Tampa Bay area (under our current name as well as The Weekly Planet moniker). As I wrote about in the special anniversary issue, alt-weeklies (as well as many…
#MusicMonday 90: Johnny Marr, The Neighbourhood, Julia Brown & more
What the CL team is jamming this week, audio & video included
St. Pete City Council District 4 race gets crowded
Political reporters and bloggers in St. Petersburg looking forward for to an intense battle to succeed Leslie Curran between Darden Rice and David McKalip have another candidate to write and report about – Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association President Carolyn Fries. In a statement released today, Fries says, “Our city is divided by a number of…
Ken Welch unhappy with Sandra Gadsden’s column about commissioners and the Pier
Ken Welch Last week, several Pinellas County commissioners suggested that the St. Petersburg City Council should refrain from allocating more money toward the Lens Pier plan until after a referendum that could go on the ballot this August provides more clarity on the issue. That attitude irked Tampa Bay Times reporter/editor/columnist Sandra Gadsden, who blasted…
Get over it Florida Dems — Bill Nelson is not running for governor
Although I never bought into the stories that Bill Nelson was seriously thinking of running for governor, the Florida Democratic senator and his team didn't seem in too big of a hurry to downplay the rumors that started floating around in recent weeks. But that story is dead now. On Friday morning, Nelson told MSNBC's…
Mitch Perry Report 4.29.13 – The best movie of 2013 was released this weekend
A happy good morning to y'all on this last Monday in April. How was the weekend? As an inveterate moviegoer, 2013 has started off a bit rocky, to say the least, which is why I can happily say I saw two very strong films over the past couple of days that I'm happy to recommend…
Congress discusses possible options -but not troops- against Syria
Congressman Mike Rogers Last week the White House and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons in that nation's civil war, but officials at the White House said they wanted more time to examine the evidence and confirm beyond any doubt that the Syrian leaders…
An emphasis on children’s health is spotlighted in Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Park
USF med students work it at Healthy Kids Day at Curtis Hixon Park According to the CDC, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. The answer to this vexing problem isn't complicated: health lifestyle habits such as eating healthy and engaging in physical activity, can…
MarlBro’s
Cool menthol cigarettes and stereotypes that fit.
Rowdies seek to rebound from first loss of season
For a while there in last weekend's 4-3 loss to the Atanta Silverbacks, the Rowdies seemed as if they had found their mojo that helped them win the NASL title last season. Then, poof. Cara Keller A crowd of 3,575 was in attendance at Al Lang Field for last Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Atlanta…
All Pain, no Gain
You’ll definitely feel the burn if subjected to Michael Bay’s latest abomination.
No Problem
Because we could all use a break …
Arthur Newman is uneven at best
Above-average performances highlight an otherwise disappointing film.
Swamp people
Carlton Ward Jr. and his team bring us endangered Florida, the subject of a PBS doc series.
McConaughey finds gold in Mud
Director Jeff Nichols latest has a clean-spirited outlook that lifts it above the rubble of reality.
This Wedding crashes
The cast looks great. The rest is a mess.
Mitch Perry Report 4.26.13 – One more time, Florida Republicans say no to Medicaid expansion
It was long, it was arduous, and if you believe that Medicaid expansion as provided by the federal government is the right thing, it was frustrating. On Thursday members of the Florida House rejected an amendment from one of their own – Pasco County's Mike Fasano, from a plan offered from another one of their…
Seeing red
Red wine grapes are all about location, location, location.
Bite me
A few nuggets from the CL Festival Foodie Tour of Downtown St. Pete.
Dept. of Labor says Florida requirements to collect unemployment benefits was discriminatory
Beginning in August of 2011, the state of Florida changed the way that people claiming unemployment benefits had to file a claim. It could only be done on the Internet, as opposed to calling in one's hours as had always been the case, and new claimants now had to take an initial skills review test.…
Tampa City Council bids adieu to City Attorney Jim Shimberg
Jim Shimberg The lead-up to last year's Republican National Convention in Tampa placed unprecedented pressure on Mayor Bob Buckhorn and members of his staff. One of those on the firing line was City Attorney Jim Shimberg. The controversial "Clean Zone" area for RNC protesters created extreme angst in many sectors of the body politic, beginning…
Mitch Perry Report 4.25.13 – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are NOT on the clock tonight
The NFL draft begins tonight live from New York City. That means football junkies who've been in hibernation since the Baltimore Ravens outlasted the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl nearly three months ago can plan on camping in front of their television sets over the next three nights and nerd out. However there…
With a bullet
In the last decade, gun murders in Florida have surged 38 percent. Experts are divided over the cause.
A run for your money
5Ks, half marathons, fun runs: In an increasingly crowded running industry, the competition is heating up both on and off the field.
Not in their back yard
New problems evolve from old conflicts in Clybourne Park.
Company man
Robert Redford returns to the director’s chair for The Company You Keep.
Album review: Morningbell, Bôa Noite
Bôa Noite, the sixth and latest studio album from Gainesville-based foursome Morningbell, comes as a surprise in its ambitious scale and instrumental lushness, and it takes multiple listens to truly absorb and enjoy it. Bôa Noite was entirely self-produced by the band in their home studio, and its influences include (but aren’t limited to) Finnegan's…
Wunderbar
Get a yodel-worthy meal at Largo’s German Bistro 2.
Joe Pug delivers a night of heartfelt music at New World Brewery
A review of the Wed., April 24 show.
Taylor Swift dances and dazzles on her “Red Tour” at Tampa Bay Times Forum
A review of the Sat., April 20 show, with photos.
Album review: The Woolly Bushmen 7″
The Orlando trio presents a new recording at New World this Friday.
Frosted flakes
Cool down with this easy recipe for citrus champagne granita.
The 1300 block
A little plaza in Largo packed with ethnic edibles.
Ralph Fernandez mellows on travel restrictions to Cuba
Chip Weiner From left to right – John Grandoff, Ralph Fernandez, Rob Lorei, Bill Hauf (standing), Annie Betancourt, Reverend Russell L. Meyer, Bishop Raymond Johnson It's no secret that Ralph Fernandez is the man local reporters in Tampa reach out to when they want to get reaction from an old-school anti-Castro Cuban hardliner. That happened…
Tampa’s Janet Cruz and St. Pete’s Darryl Rouson join other Dems to support Mike Fasano on Medicaid plan
Pasco County House Republican Mike Fasano Earlier this week, The Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas reported that members of the GOP-led Florida Legislature were likely to adjourn at the end of this year's session next week without having resolved the issue of whether to accept federal Medicaid money to insure the state's poorest residents. "It's…
Fighting for the working man and woman: Joe Burns on reviving the power of a strike in labor relations
Federal statistics that were released earlier this year show that the percentage of workers in 2012 who belong to unions dropped to the lowest level since World War II. The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unions lost 400,000 members last year, or about 2.8 percent of their total, and more than half…
Inside the photo booth: The freeFall Theatre’s Jim Sorensen
Kevin Tighe Actor Jim Sorensen (click to enlarge)
15 fetishes you didn’t know existed from The Book of Kink
[See the complete fetish dictionary here: cltampa.com] When it comes to sex, what we consider kinky is usually everything that happens in other people's bedrooms. Trying to understand another person's fetish is as psychologically confusing as a man attempting to masturbate while reading a romance novel or a woman trying to watch gangbang porn for…
