GUILTY: Kevin White convicted on 7 of 10 public corruption charges
The former politician will be sentenced in late February.
Comedian Nick Griffin talks sleep, shows and sadness
Awkward and entertaining honesty from the comedian headlining Side Splitters this weekend.
Dinner and a movie at MOSI to benefit Sweetwater Organic Community Farm: Thu. 11/10
Attendees receive a free burrito and drink to enjoy during the screening of FRESH.
Mitch Perry Report 11.9.11
That was quite an election night nationally, though nobody seemed to be too enthralled about the St. Pete City Council elections, which ended up having 12 percent voter turnout. The GOP presidential primary debates return back to the airwaves tonight from Michigan on CNBC. Now with Herman Cain's troubles, the GOP now looks towards salvation…
Karl Rove group back with new ad contrasting Obama with Bill Clinton on taxes
It's been amusing to see the organized right wing in this country, who did everything in their power to bring down Bill Clinton's presidency (and nearly succeeded), now embrace the former commander in chief and his wife whenever it suits their purposes of trying to crush their current object of disaffection, Barack Obama. This morning…
Conservative intelligentsia now hyping up Newt Gingrich – can he seize the moment tonight?
As the Herman Cain campaign continues to implode, political analysts, especially of the conservative variety, only have a few more choices to prop up as the alternative to the apparent inevitability of Mitt Romney giving his victory speech in Tampa next August. As has been the case since the GOP campaign began, it's always been…
This week in food and drink
Dinner & a movie at MOSI, bike ride bar crawls, wine dinners and more.
Spoiler Corner: Glee, Up All Night, Vampire Diaries and more!
Everyone’s doing it and losing it on Glee.
No surprises in St. Pete City Council election, but in Largo…
Is it too soon to think about the 2013 election?
“Take off that bra, you’re only 8 years old”
Kids grow up fast enough without adults helping them along.
‘Free Coffee Day’ at Bruegger’s in Tampa: Wed., 11/9
Guests can stop by the Tampa location to receive a free medium drip coffee from open until 2 p.m.
Tampa RNC announces initiative for small, women and minority businesses
As 2011 slowly fades into 2012, more and more opportunities and possibilities regarding the 2012 Republican National Committee are being unveiled, and today the RNC Host Committee announced a new initiative that is intended to promote and cultivate small, women, and minority-owned companies in the Tampa Bay area. Organizers have promised that local businesses will…
Florida redistricting amendments unlikely to boost Dems in 2012
The D.C. based political newspaper Roll Call has a story online Tuesday headlined "Democrats Betting Big on Florida Redistricting," though the subhead is more accurate, reading, "New Fair Districts Law Will Prevent Major GOP Gerrymander, but Huge Gains Are Not Likely."That should have been the headline. A year ago Floridians of all political stripes overwhelmingly…
Savoring the simpler things in food
The battle between simple and complex has been fought in the kitchen arena for as long as there have been culinary arts.
Mitch Perry Report 11.8.11
Well it's Election Day today. I'm hoping our St. Petersburg readers will go to the polls and vote, unless it's their decision that it's better off not, though in a local race, that frankly makes no sense whatsoever.CL takes a look at the council races, and other big issues on the ballot across the country.…
As conservatives continue to show disdain towards Romney, can Huntsman do anything about it?
The folks over at Morning Joe were aflutter this morning discussing a post by conservative blogger Eric Ericson eviscerating Mitt Romney, but acknowledging that he'll probably take the nomination because "the other candidates, right now, are a pretty pathetic lot." Ericson says his despair over Romney being the nominee may make him take a second…
New Music Tuesday! (November 8)
David Lynch’s Crazy Clown Time, plus Atlas Sound, Owen, Pusha T, Sigur Rós and more (audio & video)
Feast your ears on Song of Lunch
Bittersweet morsels from two British favorites.
Election Day 2011 is here
Today is Election Day in what is considered an "off-year" election, but there are plenty of major political races and issues that will be decided upon locally and throughout the nation. In the Bay area, St. Petersburg residents have a chance to vote for half of the eight-member body that is their City Council. To…
The Gaily News: LGBT community increases home values
There goes the neighborhood. A new study reveals that the presence of same-sex couples, known for helping to gentrify areas, may increase property values in neighborhoods that support gay marriage and LGBT causes. Conversely, the study, which is based on home values in Columbus, Ohio in 2000, shows that homes in areas that don't support…
Health care reform is the law, not that you’d know that in Florida
CHAIN's Patrick Cannon goes over the benefits of the Affordable Care Act Although the individual mandate provision of the federal law has been challenged and will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, the fact of the matter is, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land in America – not that you'd…
Kathy Castor visits local business, talks up manufacturing
Tampa area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor visited Southern Manufacturing Technologies Inc. on Monday to discuss the development of the manufacturing sector in Tampa Bay and the United States overall.
Tampa City Councilwoman Lisa Montelione meets with 3 Occupy Tampa protesters
Councilwoman Montelione in conference room with Occupy activists Three members of the Occupy Tampa movement met Monday morning with City Councilwoman Lisa Montelione for approximately half an hour to discuss some of the grievances they have with the police and elected officials regarding their protest movement. The meeting, originally scheduled shortly after 10 a.m., appeared…
Are diet sodas unhealthy and what are some better alternatives?
While no direct links between diet drinks and specific human health problems have been found, there are much healthier beverage choices out there.
#MusicMonday, Vol. 52
What the CL Music Team is jamming this fine Monday to rocket launch the work week. To check out previous entries, click here. Andrew – Surfer Blood, Tarot Classics EP (2011)Just a brief four songs, but if they're any indication, this South Florida fivesome's got a future worth the attention. Tarot yields a healthy dose…
Music Fest rocked for ALS: an inspirational day in photos
Info on becoming an ALS advocate can be found webfl.alsa.org.
I want my LGBTV: Kurt and Blaine, ‘The Real L Word,’ and the newest gay soap character
"Glee" couple Blaine (Darren Criss, left) and Kurt (Chris Colfer, right) plan a special night together in tomorrow's episode. Tomorrow's episode of "Glee" will likely stir up more controversy than the show ever has before. Two of its most popular teen couples will lose their virginity — including gay pairing Kurt and Blaine. The couple…
First look: Knife & Co. opens its doors on Kennedy Blvd. in Tampa
A first look at the space and menu featuring Southern-inspired, modern American fare.
NFL’s best week: Tebow, Eli & please, no LSU-Bama Game of the Century II
Tim Tebow With the World Series history and the possibility of an NBA season never happening at all, America's favorite sport, football, took total center stage on both the collegiate and professional fronts this weekend. In the NFL, with the Tampa Bay Bucs mired in mediocrity (although a .500 season wouldn't be bad, depending on…
Mitch Perry Report 11.7.11
Good morning everyone, and isn't it one? Getting that extra hour of time over the weekend is huge. The weather was spectacular in Tampa Bay the past couple of days, and hundreds of people took advantage of the day yesterday to participated in the 5th annual Bicycle Bash – among those involved being Tampa Mayor…
Concert review: Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All at The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City
Tyler the Creator and his troupe of rap provocateurs otherwise known as Odd Future Golf Wang Kill Them All graced The Ritz last Wednesday. They talked, farted around, and worked a pretty solid set for the hour and a half or so they were on stage. The crowd went pretty fucking crazy, moshing and leaping…
Buckhorn headlines 5th annual Bicycle Bash in suburban Tampa
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn gets ready for a ride in the park There are many, many areas where Tampa remains behind a host of other major cities in the U.S., and one of them is having a series of roads and trails designed for bike riders. But that is slowly but surely changing, and the…
Jon Huntsman tries to make his case
Jon Huntsman in Brandon earlier this year In the current issue of Time, political columnist Joe Klein refers to the GOP presidential field as "Romper Room," and adds that they are "an embarrassing spectacle for Republicans." As an example, he cites the debate where not one of the candidates said they would accept a deficit-reduction…
Time to get serious about apps
Five essential apps your phone probably didn’t include.
Found on Etsy: Fannies
We all knew they'd make a comeback. Everything comes back. I think, there for a minute, Scrunchies even tried to crawl up that hill of really awful fashion statements from whence they were tossed to make their way back into our lives. I tried to re-embrace my Scrunchie power, remembering how well they used to…
Key West-style seafood chowder that tastes like Florida in a bowl
Floribbean delight.
Photo review: Battles at Crowbar, Ybor City
Some shots from last Wednesday night's Battles show at Crowbar. If you missed it, you should be kicking yourself with steel-toed boots as it was, by leaps and bounds, one of the best shows I've seen here this year — a wild, balls-out rock show complete with moshing (or slam-dancing, or whatever the kids are…
Fambul Tok postponed
The award-winning film Fambul Tok scheduled to be screened at the Capitol Theatre in the Cleveland Street District in Downtown Clearwater this Sunday, Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. (and featured in this week's print edition of CL, in our weekly Do This feature) has been postponed due to the unexpected illness of Libby Hoffman, the…
CL Holiday Auction: Help us help The Children’s Home
There’s still time to donate items!
Talking about bad, bad girls: Observations of a reality TV show casting call
A “flighter not a a fighter” survives The Bad Girls Club open casting call.
Movie Review: The Rum Dairy
[Editor's Note: Ok, I blew this one. Anthony had this review in late last Friday and I never got around to posting it. With my apologies to the author, I present the CL review of The Rum Diary …] Bruce Robinson's (Withnail & I) long awaited adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary opens…
Snapshots of readers in Forgotten Bookmarks
Many people collect used books, but only a used book connoisseur could possibly collect used bookmarks. In the same way it can be interesting to read a biography of an author, to glimpse the life behind the pages, it can be equally as insightful to look at a snapshot, or note, left behind by the…
Photo review: Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Pujol and Look Mexico at Crowbar, Ybor City
Some shots from Tuesday night’s show.
Gold mining with cyanide threatens water supplies and wildlife
Some 90 percent of gold mines around the world employ cyanidation to harvest their loot.
Mitch Perry Report 11.4.11
Happy Friday to y'all. And happy ending of Daylight Savings Time. Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but as somebody who works out daily every morning at 6 a.m., I'll appreciate not having to stumble over downed tree branches that I can't see (Can I also state that I'm not a fan of Congress changing…
Conservative arguments on Iraq ring hollow
Charles Krauthammer There are more than a handful of military historians and analysts who say the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 was among the worst foreign policy blunders in the 235 year history of this glorious nation. It wasn't bad enough that the casus belli for the Bush administration to invade that country proved…
Credit unions feel the love in advance of Saturday’s Bank Transfer Day
Although derided for a lack of a clear message, the genesis of the Occupy movement that began in NYC and has spread worldwide over the past six weeks has been anger at Wall Street and the U.S. financial system, and that includes the big banks such as such as BofA, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan and…
Neighborhood Dining Guide: Comfort Food Fare
With the holiday season upon us, we'll soon be craving a steaming hot plate of food to warm our stomachs and souls. Try one of these restaurants for comfort on a plate (or in a bowl). ALEX'S SOUTHERN BBQ 5362 W. Village Drive, Tampa, 813-269-0050, alexsbbq.com. This family-owned barbecue institution has been in business since…
Page Eight turns on Nighy
An noteworthy performance from Bill Nighy nearly redeems an underwhelming thriller.
Maple syrup makes its way from plate to glass
Not just for pancakes…
CL Holiday Movie Preview
Big stars! Huge budgets! But which holiday blockbusters made Santa’s list?
Tower Heist aims for the big score
But Murphy and Stiller end up with low returns.
Occupy Tampa gets no satisfaction at City Council meeting
Occupy Tampa members cheer a speaker's comment at Council meeting Thirteen days after the first arrests in the Occupy Tampa movement, Tampa police officials and members of the activist movement both came before the City Council Thursday morning to give an assessment of where things stand, a month into the protests. But if you were…
One toke over the line
Harold & Kumar sputter into 3D irrelevance.
Innovative uses for leftover Halloween candy
Take all this free candy, strip the valuables from it and turn it into edible gold.
Ybor business owners ecstatic about the demise of Club Empire
Restauranteur David Sunday called the news "fantastic" For years, merchants in Ybor City have complained about the violence and general unsavory behavior emanating from two hip-hop clubs, Club Fuel and Club Empire, saying that they needed to go away for the entertainment district to thrive again. Fuel was closed down a couple of years ago,…
Green Community Calendar weekend events
5th Annual Evening for the Bay, compost and gardening workshops, markets and more.
Rating the ratings: Zagat’s Tampa/Sarasota choices
The new guide to America’s top restaurants favors the old guard.
Mitch Perry Report 11.3.11
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn talked to activist Kelly Benjamin yesterday about Occupy Tampa. Check out their interview here. Speaking of the Occupy movement, it's starts to happen up at USF today. GOP state Senator Alan Hays made some comments about Hispanics that have angered several lawmakers, who want Hays removed from the Redistricting Committee, where…
Janet Cruz not satisfied with Sen. Hays remaining on Redistricting Committee
Tampa House Democrat Janet Cruz At some point, Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos is going to get the message that some Democratic lawmakers aren't going to stop pestering until he does something, anything, regarding state Senator Alan Hays remarks calling for 'Hispanic speaking' voters to prove they are American. Hays sits on the Senate Committee…
Wedding bell blues
My fiancé’s ex is making a mess of my big day.
For the greater good
Snow in October? It’s all part of the plan.
Strategy session
Media consultants The Victory Group are already planning for the RNC.
The Cards win, the weather turns and more …
Shit happened for the week of Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 2011
Sarasota’s got the blues, MarchForth Marching Band parades into Skipper’s + more of the week’s best upcoming concerts.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 The Tiger Lillies This long-running London trio with a knack for the perverse and bizarre purveys a mix of gypsy, cabaret and neo-opera, against it weaving tales about prostitution, murder, drug addiction, hell and other twisted topics. (Jaeb Theater at the Straz Center, Tampa) Between the Buried and Me w/Animal As Leaders/Tesseract…
Live & Local Spotlight: Ybor Jazz Festival with Jim Morey Band, Tampa Bay Latin Jazz All Stars + many others
The second annual multi-day HCC-hosted celebration of Bay area jazz features a wide-ranging bill of talent repping the genre's varying styles, from Brazilian jazz to big band to New Orleans funky. According to its slogan, "There's Nothing Smooth About it!" which means a (thankful) lack of easy-listening contemporary fare. Each show opens with an intimate…
Policy debate
The city of Tampa weighs its insurance options ahead of the 2012 Republican Convention.
Marquis attraction
Fine performances highlight Jobsite’s take on the unsatisfying Quills.
Carpe dayum
My 11 year-old son’s first date leaves him more experienced than I was at 23.
The big beat of Microgroove
A new indie record store in Seminole Heights prepares for a December debut.
Participate in Haiti relief this weekend
Feeding Children Everywhere will work with The Crossing Church in Brandon and Celebration to package 500,000 healthy meals in a 3-day timespan to help the global fight against hunger. Feeding Children Everywhere has developed a way to package and send a nutritious meal across the world for only 25 cents. Thousands of volunteers of all…
Mayor Buckhorn on Occupy Tampa
Here Tampa Mayor Buckhorn answers questions about Occupy Tampa (and perhaps crushes the hopes of some in the Occupy Tampa movement that the city might eventually give them a park to "Occupy"). But a private park, no problem … hmmm: (Editor's Note: Kelly Benjamin reported on Occupy Wall Street for the first two weeks of…
Unresolved issues come back to haunt the BOCC
Pat Bean At Wednesday's Hillsborough County Commissioners meeting, the BOCC received a great amount of public input regarding some issues which the board has been dealing for several months. The Pat Bean Law-Suit against the county was one such problematic issue discussed.
DIY Green: Build a backyard greenhouse from old windows and found items
A ‘recycling’ project utilizing free or low-cost, used and easy-to-find materials.
Raw sensuality in La Figa: Visions of Food and Form (NSFW)
La Figa provides a visual feast that celebrates the diverse textures, shapes, and colors of both food and the human form.
Mitch Perry Report 11.2.11
It was a year ago tonight that Rick Scott was declared the next Governor of Florida. The woman who wanted that job, Alex Sink, spoke before an intimate crowd in Tampa last night, where she showed some spunk and spontaneity that was sorely missing during her campaign last year. Read the highlighted post to understand…
St. Pete Times name to go away in 2 months- will there be much backlash?
St. Pete Times CEO Paul Tash Subscribers to the St. Petersburg Times got a jolt this morning upon reading "A letter to readers" running down the left-hand column of the A-1 section from Times Chairman and CEO Paul Tash, announcing that after 119 years, the name of the newspaper that has been publishing as the…
Cynical and Southern: Why gay men should love the vagina
I have a proposition for us gay men. We march the streets and ask society to accept us. We lobby Washington and ask for equal rights. We hate being judged and ridiculed. Perhaps before we ask society and Washington to love and accept us, we must show some love and acceptance ourselves. Gay men, it’s…
Rainbow411 — Connecting the LGBT community with LGBT-friendly businesses
Each year, Greg Henchar asked his company for domestic partner benefits. And each year, they said no. He was with the company for 20 years, but finally the unspoken discrimination was too much. He felt pushed out the door. Victor Lopez served in the Navy for 20 years, careful to hide the fact that he…
Your private porn star: Carmen Valentina and Vicky Vette at home in Tampa
Carmen Valentina and Vicky Vette sit in comfy clothes sipping hot tea and coffee. Giant studio lights and a tiny digital camera duct taped to a tripod remain fixed on the couch where these women just had sex. Valentina, a short 20-something Latina, just joined Vette's online team of adult performers, The Vette Nation Army…
Part-time pornstars: Johnny and Jenni Coxxx
“Don't be so willing,” Steve instructs Jenni. “You have to pretend you’re being forced into giving him a blow job.” Jenni Coxxx (not her real name) is shy, even for a 19-year-old who is new to porn. The petite blonde who spent her early years in Hungary has no trouble posing for erotic photos, but…
