You know how in a bunch of superhero, sci-fi and action movies, the bad guy is some sort of evil genius or mad scientist who's on a quest to purge the world of the infection known as the human race? Man, some days, you just wanna stand next to that guy while he's on his back under the doomsday machine, waiting to hand him the next wrench he needs…
The St. Pete City Council voted 5-3 to reject the agreement negotiated by Mayor Kriseman that would allow the Rays to search for alternative stadium sites within the Tampa Bay area, and charge them for leaving the Trop before their contract expires in 2027. I guess you could say the mayor's [BASEBALL REFERENCE REDACTED] failed to [BASEBALL REFERENCE REDACTED] with the council, and only time will tell if the community [BASEBALL REFERENCE REDACTED].
The mayor of San Antonio (the one in Pasco, not the one in — eh, you know) was arrested for DUI in the wee hours of Thursday morning after being stopped for doing 71 in a 45 zone. I certainly don't condone drunk driving in any form, but if he was indeed operating a motor vehicle under the influence, at least it was happening where there's comparatively little to hit.
Florida regulators approved a proposal by Florida Power & Light to start charging its customers to cover its investment in fracking to produce natural gas. Given that the company would be using the money for the process, the equipment and the facilities, instead of having to lay out money of its own in order to generate profits, it seems like the only thing taking a fracking is the concept of customer service.
And finally, as the use of capital punishment continues to decline across the country, Florida remains among the top three states in terms of execution rates. Maybe if we put that in the tourism ads running up north in the dead of winter instead of the bikini babe on the pristine beach, we'd have fewer parole-jumping meth-head serial batterers flocking to our pay-by-the-week motels all the damn time.
This article appears in Dec 18-24, 2014.