Wow, the weird weekend news just sort of rolled right on over into last night and this morning. Summer. Recent new moon. Go figure.
The city of Clearwater got itself a cute new "arson dog" yesterday, when 14-month-old Lab/hound mix Sophia was sworn in at a City Council to-do alongside a dozen new paramedics and the city's new fire inspector. Remember: An "arson dog" is trained to detect accelerant in suspected cases of arson. The "arson dog" does not actually commit arson.
Got an injured 3-foot juvenile alligator on your hands? A Lakewood Ranch Wawa convenience store would like to remind you that a Lakewood Ranch Wawa convenience store is not where you drop off your injured 3-foot juvenile alligator, thanks so much. (I wouldn't have thought anybody needed to be reminded of that.)
A state trooper arrested a 28-year-old Clearwater man for reportedly doing 140 mph on U.S. 19 during the early hours of Sunday morning. C'mon — is there really a stretch of U.S. 19 in Clearwater where traffic is sparse enough to get up to 140 mph, even at 3 a.m. on a Sunday?
And finally, the Bay area continues to be plagued by vehicle burglaries that are usually due to a combination of poorly reared teens and people still leaving their vehicles unlocked. Thieves in the New Port Richey were recently caught on video, and Wesley Chapel was also hit (again) over the weekend. Lock your vehicles, please. No amount of unlocked vehicles will turn the Bay area of 2018 into rural Wisconsin of the early '70s, sorry.
This article appears in Jun 14-21, 2018.