Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll resigns
Jennifer Carroll Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll has resigned. According to the Florida Times-Union, The resignation comes two days after Florida Law Enforcement officers interviewed Carroll about her involvement with Allied Veterans of the World, a non-profit that operates internet cafes in Florida. Officials from Allied Veterans and Nelson Cuba, the president of the Jacksonville…
Mitch Perry Report 3.13.13 – A Florida Dem out of governor’s race before he got into it?
The Miami Herald's Marc Caputo reported yesterday that former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz is considering whether to leave Florida's gubernatorial race. With all due respect to both Caputo and Diaz, was he ever really in it? Officially there is only one Democrat who has officially filed her candidacy for the 2014 nomination, and that's former…
Make the GMF Dickel cocktail at home
George Dickel Left Coast Bartenders' Guild's Danny Guess stirred up The Daily Dickel on Saturday at the Gasparilla Music Festival Gasparilla Music Festival was a feast for the ears, eyes and taste buds. Aside from nearly 20 different local food vendors (The Refinery, Independent Cafe, Ella's, Poor Porker), there were also great drink options like…
The Amazon Trail: Crossing America with two cats and a dog (again)
12/28/12: The movers, short of help, were here for 10 hours. We are exhausted. 12/29/12: We’re in Moss Point, Mississippi, near the Trent Lot International Airport. Be still my heart. Got in after leaving three hours late. Our cat Poppins had a bad trip on his calming medication. I rushed him to the emergency clinic…
Hung: the nude paintings, photographs and mixed media of Nude Nite Tampa (NSFW)
Shawn Alff When it comes to judging art, the process is as subjective as rating erotica. Our visceral reactions dictate our intellectual assessments. Often, I unfairly criticize nude-themed art shows as simply re-framing erotica in a socially acceptable way that can be hung in living rooms instead of hidden in closets. Many fans of burlesque…
Marco Rubio bashes Americans who have traveled to Cuba
(Updated) In a speech to the Cuba-Democracy PAC last Friday in Miami, recorded by the Shark Tank blog, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio bashed Americans who have obtained visas and traveled to Cuba in recent years. "These trips, [visitors] traveling to Cuba. Look, God bless them, I know they mean well. But I have people come…
Gallinippers & The Scare Machine
They’ve tasted the salty nectar of amateur python-hunter blood, and they’re hungry for more!
Tampa Trib flubs in editorial touting the glories of spring training in Florida
Maybe you're of the opinion that spring training is nirvana and it can't last long enough. I would respectfully disagree, especially this year with the World Baseball Classic compelling the MLB to open up training camps a full week earlier than usual. But it is a great time of year in the Tampa Bay area…
Mitch Perry Report 3.12.13: Who in the RPOF loves Rick Scott?
As you probably know by now, yesterday, a Senate subcommittee in Tallahassee rebuked Gov. Rick Scott's recommendation to expand Medicaid coverage, joining a House committee that did the same thing (also along party lines) a week ago. Now what? GOP senators praised the alternative "Negron Plan" even before they received all of the details during…
New Music Tuesday! (March 12): David Bowie, Wild Belle, Eric Clapton, Devendra Banhart & more
Releases out this week, with audio & video.
Fasano bashes his former Senate colleagues for failing to support Medicaid expansion
This morning in Tallahassee, health care professionals and Pasco County House Republican Mike Fasano held a news conference to support Medicaid expansion, a deal that looks dead after a Senate committee rejected the proposal yesterday. The news conference was organized by the Florida Remedy campaign, led by the Florida Hospital Association. Representative Fasano was quite…
A tree hugger’s paradise
Do your friends often call you a “tree hugger”? Do you find yourself wandering toward the gardening section every time you enter a superstore? If so, Greenfest might be the highlight of your year. Hosted by non-profit volunteer group The Friends of Plant Park, this nature festival is all about the care and cultivation of…
Wal-Mart coming to Seminole Heights?
Last year, the neighborhood was up in arms over a Family Dollar. Wait until they get a load of this …
NY Supreme Court judge blocks ban on big sodas
The ruling is a huge defeat for NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Florida Senate committee rejects Medicaid expansion
Florida GOP state Senator Joe Negron Last week, a House subcommittee rejected Rick Scott's recommendation to accept the federal government's plan to expand Medicaid coverage in Florida. Today, a Senate subcommittee did the same thing, voting 7-4 to reject the proposal which would add approximately one million Floridians without health insurance to the rolls, while…
#MusicMonday 87: Generationals, Jamaican Queens, Dawes & more
What the CL team is jamming this week; audio & video included
The GOP’s assault on Obamacare remains unabated
An effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act is gaining momentum among Republicans … and no one else.
Mitch Perry Report 3.11.13: Is Rick Scott up for lobbying the House to expand Medicaid?
According to Rick Scott's schedule, the governor will be in Sunrise this morning where he will distribute a "recognition" check at Piper High School. It's part of a state program that rewards A-rated schools or schools that demonstrate "exemplary improvement due to innovation and effort." Whether his gesture will win him any love from the…
Jeb Bush tells Fox News there’s “no Bush baggage at all” when asked about his presidential thoughts
As TIME magazine's Joe Klein puts it, "Jeb Bush isn't not running for President." Ostensibly it's the publication of his new book on immigration that got him booked on seemingly ever network and cable news show on Verizon in the last week, but unlike 2008 and 2012, the former Florida Governor is not closing the…
How serious is Paul Ryan’s new budget when it calls for repealing ‘Obamacare’?
Paul Ryan Count me among those who think it's a positive thing that President Obama reached out to Congressional Republicans over the past week. One of the biggest criticisms of the president that has never successfully been rebutted by the White House is his lack of outreach with members of both parties on Capitol Hill.…
Trans-Pacific Partnership, a “global corporate takeover”?
Attendees learned about the TPP at the Roosevelt 2.0 The activists attending the Florida Against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) event at the Roosevelt 2.0 in Ybor City on Saturday marched together in the belief that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a "global corporate takeover" and a "New World Order" that must be stopped. According to Public…
Nude Nite 2013 — photo gallery from edgy Ybor
This ain’t your grandmother’s nude art show.
Opera Tampa Maestro Daniel Lipton
The company’s new leader got Florida Opera Festival off to an auspicious start.
Lockup
Can a male chastity belt cause long-term damage?
On a roll
A quick and easy recipe for homemade veggie rolls.
Dead Man shooting
A middling revenge dish is served cold in Dead Man Down.
Mitch Perry Report: Paging Michele Bachmann — Marco Rubio says he still wants to defund Obamacare
Well, it's that time of year again, when I whine about the fact that daylight savings is upon again this Sunday. I'm not against daylight savings per se, just the fact that it now goes into effect three weeks earlier than it always had been prior to 2005 (when Congress changed the law, moving it…
Growing pains
Will clunky new development undermine the potential of Kennedy Boulevard?
Pearlstein’s true nudes
St. Pete’s Museum of Fine Arts showcases the revealing work of Philip Pearlstein.
Get sipping
There’s still time to see what’s brewing in Beer Week.
TGH’s new CEO defends the $10 aspirin
Why is health care so damn expensive? We've been told various theories in answer to that question, such as doctors get paid per transactions they perform on patients, and not for the ultimate outcome of the particular ailment or injury. Journalist Steven Brill was curious about why so much has been written about the price…
Exonerating an Emperor
Tommy Lee Jones and Matthew Fox take care of business in post-World War II Japan.
Treasure by the Trunkload
Aneesa Shakur’s an expert curator of home closets and her own 600 Block boutique.
Streisand would be proud: Ann Hampton Callaway and The Boston Pops soar at the Mahaffey
Ann Hampton Callaway. Heading into "The Streisand Songbook" last night at the Mahaffey with the Boston Pops and Ann Hampton Callaway, I was admittedly more excited about the singer than the orchestra. I'm a longtime fan of Callaway, and had enjoyed talking with her in a phone interview before the show. So when I looked…
Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association president says Gov. Scott’s distribution of teacher bonuses is “not fair”
Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association president Jean Clements In his State of the State address on Tuesday, published reports indicate that Gov. Rick Scott received "tepid" applause from GOP lawmakers when he referred to his plan to reward all public school teachers a $2,500 bonus in 2013. Acknowledging the push back he's received from members of…
USF students again advocate against tuition hikes
USF President Judy Genshaft wasn't around to meet the protesters Budget cuts, rape culture and tuition hikes were the hottest topics at Wednesday's protest by The Tampa Bay Chapter of Students for A Democratic Society, as they marched from the Marshall Student Center to the Patel Center where they hoped to speak with university President…
Legendary Hillsborough County lawmaker Fred Karl dies at the age of 88
Fred Karl, who during his distinguished political career served as a Florida Supreme Court Justice, state legislator, Hillsborough County Attorney and Administrator and most recently as Tampa City Attorney under Mayor Pam Iorio, died earlier this morning at the age of 88. That news was transmitted to members of the Tampa Bay area media by…
Mitch Perry Report 3.7.13: Rand Paul’s filibuster just keeps going and going …
… and going, and going, and going …
History repeats at the Gasparilla Music Festival
Downtown Tampa’s music throwdown returns for a second (bigger and better) edition.
Rick Scott’s about-face
Will his reversal on Medicaid lead to a challenge from his own party?
’S Wonderful: Rhapsody in blue hair
A quality but corny throwback with great Gershwin tunes and a witless script.
Coheed and Cambria storm Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
A look back at the Wed., March 6 show; with pics & setlist.
Well, hello Dolly — and Monstruosite’s devilish new looks
Dolly Donshey bedevils us with a creepy-beautiful launch of her new collection, and duo Death Starsky play tracks from their new concept album.
Nude Nite 2013
A night at the art event celebrating the beauty of the nude.
Listening rooms
Music I’d never heard in places I’d never heard it (including my living room).
Review: Daryl Hall and John Oates bring rock n’ soul to Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
A look back at the Wed., March 7 show; photos & setlist included
Four-star café
When it comes to taste, St. Petersburg’s Banyan Cafe gets it right.
Return to Oz
James Franco makes a wonderful wizard in Oz the Great and Powerful.
Activists visit Marco Rubio’s office to push immigration reform
A Florida Caravan for Immigration Reform bus visited Senator Rubio's Tampa office A bus caravan traveling throughout Florida stopped in North Tampa this afternoon to drop off petitions at Sen. Marco Rubio's local district office urging him to press for comprehensive immigration reform. Lakeland's Jesus Guevara — who is in danger of being deported —…
Doc Ford: heir apparent to knight errant
In the beginning, there was John D. MacDonald. And lo, it was good. Then John D's protagonist — handsome, hairy-chested hero Travis McGee — begat other knights errant, including a loveable serial killer, an amateur-sleuth photographer, a renegade roadkill-eating former governor and a crime-fighting marine biologist. RANDY WAYNE WHITE IN HIS ELEMENT (Pause: Inkwood Books…
Downton by the sea
Setting, service and flavor seamlessly converge inside the Don CeSar’s Maritana Grille.
Homemade chef
Local roots and attention to detail fuel excellence in Don CeSar executive chef Kenny Hunsberger.
Chinese celery salad
Arielle Stevenson Chinese celery salad is a great side dish or topping for soba noodles. Part Deux Celery is the Gary Oldman of vegetables — constantly morphing in presentation but consistently doing great things throughout the ages. You can count on celery. Julia Childs always stuffed her Thanksgiving birds with celery leaves. A great tip,…
