The St. Pete mayoral race has featured former Mayor Rick Baker doing a lot of shit-slinging over incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman’s handling of the Sunshine City’s sewage system, but a different kind of brown note sounded last night as ballots closed on the St. Pete’s six-person mayoral quasi-primary. Kriseman — who’d been written off by most (but not all!) pundits — actually garnered more votes than Baker. No one won more than 50 percent of the vote, though, which sets up a November showdown between the Ricks. Read Kate Bradshaw’s full report from the primary here.
Speaking of Rick Baker, his fellow Republican — Donald Trump — visited flood-ravaged Texas last night, and our friends at Death + Taxes have pointed out that “President Open Mic” could only think of one thing as he addressed survivors in Corpus Christi: turnout.
“What a crowd,” the president said. “What a turnout.”
*pause for facepalm*
This, after the failing New York Times reported that 45 compared Harvey-related flooding to “problems he experienced when managing his family’s apartment buildings in New York.”
Yes Cheeto-man, what’s happening in Texas is just like that — just like it.
Hurricane Harvey has sadly killed over a dozen people in the Lone Star State, and it has cost at least one local educator his job. WFLA says Kenneth L. Storey, a sociology professor at the University of Tampa, was “relieved of his duties” after posting this tweet:
In a statement, the University of Tampa said, “We condemn the comments and the sentiment behind them, and understand the pain this irresponsible act has caused. As Floridians, we are well aware of the destruction and suffering associated with tropical weather. Our thoughts and prayers are with all impacted by Hurricane Harvey.”
Other faculty members will take over Storey’s classes, but you can read his a-little-too-late apology here.
In other news, gingers are great at music as Ed Sheeran who played a sold out show at Amalie Arena in Tampa, proved Tuesday night. Read our review here.
This article appears in Aug 24-31, 2017.