Somehow, another weekend has snuck by. Hard to believe, no?
But not without incident(s).
Here are some of them.
Friday, May 29
In the latest effort to rekindle ties between the U.S. and Cuba, the former takes the latter off its list of states that sponsor terror. U.S. Rep Kathy Castor is in a meeting with the former Cuban consul when she hears the news and, needless to say, is pretty happy about it. Now if only there were something we could do about that whole embargo thing…
The Tampa Bay Lightning beats the New York Rangers 2-0, which means the team will compete for the Stanley Cup. Mayor Buckhorn and Lightning fans appeal to Pope Francis to begin canonization proceedings for owner Jeff Vinik.
Saturday, May 30
Environmental groups across the state rally to urge lawmakers to do what voters asked them to do via Amendment 1: use money set aside to buy and protect sensitive lands to — surprise! — buy and protect sensitive lands.
The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Anaheim Ducks, which means the Hawks will face the Bolts in the Stanley Cup Championship. It also means transplants from Chicago will be agonizing over the next few days. Also, it means two Garth Brooks concerts scheduled at Amalie Arena this weekend have been cancelled to make room for the series. Garth Brooks fans appeal to Mayor Buckhorn to begin eviction proceedings for the Lightning.
Sunday, May 31
At a time when tensions between police and the communities they patrol are deep-seated, St. Pete honors the Courageous 12, a group of 12 African-American St. Pete police officers who challenged the segregation-era status quo of the 1960s. The city holds an event to honor them at the Carter G. Woodson Museum. Things are kinda different now — St. Pete and Tampa both have African-American police chiefs now, and have before — but kind of the same, as the cities are still pretty divided along racial lines.
Much to the joy of both tea partiers and liberals, Congress lets the controversial provisions of the Patriot Act expire at midnight Sunday night/Monday morning, but don't expect them to stay that way too long. A compromised bill that would let now-illegal surveillance practices like warrantless wiretapping resume could pass the Senate as early as Tuesday morning (it already passed the House).
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2015.