What a day, huh? Let's look back.
A former FSU student opened fire in a campus library, wounding three before being shot and killed by police. The gunman, identified as Myron May, left behind materials indicating his deep fear of "being targeted," and his desire to bring attention to the issue of "being targeted." MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. (Though probably not in the context May meant.)
Mike Nichols, the celebrated director who helmed such classics as Catch-22, Biloxi Blues, Silkwood, The Birdcage and, of course, The Graduate, died at the age of 83. Nichols leaves behind an esteemed body of work and an apparently endless litany of Mrs. Robinson jokes, the latest of which concerns Nichols himself being seduced by the Grim Reaper.
A West Tampa man, already on probation for battery, was arrested last night on charges including drug trafficking and manufacture of cannabis. Tampa Police said the man's grow operation, which included tapping an outside power line to provide electricity for the grow lights, was pretty clever — except for the part where he hand-loaded 25 pounds of pot into the back of his pickup truck, by hand, in plain sight.
A Tampa Bay Partnership survey showed that more than 90 percent of those who voted against Pinellas County's Project Greenlight public transportation expansion referendum did so because of the sales tax increase. When asked where else the money might come from, voters were split between "free space money from the socialist future" and "selling the organs of welfare lazies."
And, finally, the Tampa City Council yesterday approved more than $64,000 in incentives for two companies considering expansion in the area — in addition to $280K from the state for which these two companies, TTI Holdings and an unspecified tech venture known only as "Project Swordfish" (?!ugh?!), will be eligible. The total number of new jobs these potential expansions MIGHT create? 65. After starting out here in the area, both companies are also considering relocation.
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2014.