[Editor's Note: Linda Hersey was busy covering Election Day festivities in St. Pete this morning, so her Morning Report is a little bit belated today.]
Is anyone ever really shocked when the electric bill goes up?
But a monthly increase of $9 from Duke Energy does seem high. That is the average hike that customers in the Tampa Bay area are likely to see starting Jan. 1.
The reason? Two nuclear plant debacles — the seriously flawed Crystal River Plant and the Levy County project, which failed to move forward. Most of the $5 billion cost is being passed on to consumers, under a plan approved by state regulators.
Tampa Electric also got permission from the state to raise its rates on Nov. 1 by $5.68 per month. The rates will go up again — by $1.35 — starting Jan. 1. The utility cited fuel costs as a reason.
Tampa Electric, a subsidiary of TECO, and Duke Energy both charge more than Florida Power & Light, the state’s largest utility.
Casting for votes: Today is Election Day for several big tunas in St. Petersburg seeking local office, as well as for Winter the Dolphin, as Clearwater voters decide whether the sea mammal will get an expensive new home on city land.
Clearwater residents are deciding whether the city should offer a 60-year lease to Clearwater Marine Aquarium, seeking to build a $160 million complex for Winter the Dolphin, its marquee attraction, as well as its other marine creatures. The land is on the city’s waterfront.
In St. Petersburg, the race for mayor has been drawing the most attention, with incumbent Bill Foster running against challenger Rick Kriseman, a former state lawmaker. While the race is supposed to be nonpartisan, each candidate has received help from his respective party.
Foster is a GOP’er endorsed by Gov. Rick Scott, and Kriseman has the backing of Scott’s challenger in the 2014 governor's race, Democrat and former Gov. Charlie Crist.
In City Council races:
• District 2: Lorraine Margeson, a neighborhood activist, is running against incumbent Jim Kennedy, who has raised substantially more money than his challenger. Last weekend, Margeson used a bullhorn and her vehicle to reach voters in a final appeal.
• District 4: Civic leader Darden Rice has enjoyed a strong lead in her race with Carolyn Fries, a past president of the Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association, according to polling results. She also has raised $119,000 — a City Council record — and has an enthusiastic group of supporters. She is a strong supporter of universal recycling and a rail/mass transit initiative.
• District 6: Karl Nurse is projected to win easily in a race against Sharon Russ, who has never held elective office, though she previously ran for Mayor and Pinellas County Commission. Nurse is the City Council chair.
• District 8: Amy Foster is running against Steve Galvin. Foster, who is not related to Mayor Bill Foster, has broad-based support, including from the Pinellas Stonewall Democrats, Community Health Care, Electrical Workers Local Union 915 and two union groups associated with the Florida Service Employees International Union.
Police chief’s new trigger finger: Take notice. If Tampa’s police chief gives the finger, chances are she will want it back.
Chief Jane Castor took ownership this past weekend of a prosthetic fingertip to replace the top part of her right pointer finger, which was severed above the knuckle while she was on her boat.
The chief has been sans fingertip for four months, which forced her to learn to pull the trigger of her police-issued handgun with her middle finger. Although she did not have to use her sidearm in the line of duty, the chief had to learn just in case.
More routinely, she has been typing at her computer minus her right index finger.
This past weekend, she was fitted with a fake finger from Westcoast Brace & Limb, which even was able to match her real fingerprint, according to the Tampa Bay Times. On Monday, the press got to see the new finger firsthand.
The most astonishing part for the police chief and her family is that the prosthetic looks so much like the real thing, right down to the acrylic fingernail.
