Among the comments and e-mails received this week, Alex Pickett won kudos for reporting the plight of the soon-to-be-evicted; Wayne Garcia got a wet slap for revealing (however ironically) his aquaphobia; and a SoHo hater questioned Wade Tatangelo's taste in bars. On the blogs, commenters assessed the changes at the St. Pete Times, while Max Linsky (reporter/ editor/ corporate something-or-other) mourned the impending loss of a favorite restaurant, and new intern Ben Fry offered advice to the Bush administration on how they could improve his liquid assets. And speaking of liquid, the waterfront bar battle continues. Friendly Fisherman, Café Dufrain and Cajun Café on the Bayou were in the lead at press time; if your favorite still hasn't made a dent in the standings, vote at tampa.creativeloafing.com/waterfront before May 28.

Re "Out with the old," by Alex Pickett, May 14: It is really nice to see that we have one investigative reporter in Pinellas County that cares about the low-income elderly and handicapped. Maybe the St. Petersburg Times should hire you. They certainly have no one on their payroll now that appears to care. One of their reporters has been attending most of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority Meetings, for more than a year, and not one article regarding this has appeared under his name. But, oh yes, that reporter is a big supporter of tearing down the Tropicana domed stadium and building the winged monstrosity on the waterfront. And developers of the upscale condominium and shopping area that is to take the place of the Dome certainly don't want all of those poor elderly and handicapped folks running around their fancy redevelopment in their discount-store clothes and their walkers or wheelchairs. It might hurt their condo sales.
M. Diane Hodson, via e-mail

Re "Don't go in the water!" by Wayne Garcia, May 7: Wayne, are you really that big of a pussy? Or did you write this article to justify your own phobias? I can only imagine what you'll write next; "Don't go outside!" because y'know, you might be mugged, beaten, shot, hit by a car, or attacked by wild dogs.
Roger

Re "Down on the Corner," by Wade Tatangelo, May 14: Wade, why do you like SoHo so much? I can't stand it. I can't stand the shallowness and douchebaggery. … At SoHo, I paid $5 a beer (Miller Light) just to have my bartender disappear for 15 minutes. At Coppertop (in Temple Terrace), the bartender remembered my name, remembered what I was drinking and made chit-chat AND had more customers than the one in Hyde Park. … I will not be moving to SoHo soon.
Gigglecream

From "Mr. Bush, how about an alcoholic stimulus package?," posted on blurbex.com May 19: The hell with the rising price of gasoline; here's the real news: Beer prices are steadily climbing. With the cost of everything else rising as well, some of us have been able to just grin and bear it, taking solace in our beer. But (sigh) with beer prices going up too, we may be in some real trouble. Where are our leaders on this issue? Come on, Mr. Bush, how about an alcoholic stimulus package?
Ben Fry

Re "St. Pete Times launches flagship," thepoliticalwhore.com, posted May 19: Don't you just love it when newspapers gut their content and then tell readers that they're doing so to serve us better? Talk about spin … Yeah, that's exactly what I want from my newspaper — less news! less features! And they wonder why they're losing readers.
Reality Czech

From "Con Trey to close May 30," posted on eatmyflorida.com May 16: Just down the street from CL's Tampa office, Con Trey dishes up above-average food for below-average prices. But the real draw, the reason the place wins awards, is father-son team Carlos L. Nieves Jr. and Sr. Here's what I wrote about Carlos the Second back in '05:

He's the anti-telemarketer, full of personality and warmer than your grandma. When he asks how you're doing, he genuinely wants to know. When he says good luck, he actually means it.

That's not a knock on my grandma. The guy's just nice. And he and his dad were still nice when I walked in today, even as they talked about closing Con Trey after 18 years. According to Nieves Sr., the building has been sold and the new owner wants him out. He's looked around for new locations, but rents are too steep, so there are no plans for a Con Trey 2. He's not planning a farewell celebration, either. "The way it came about," Sr. says, "we're just gonna wave goodbye." Make sure you grab a Cuban before they do.
Max Linsky

This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.