Red light cameras doomed in Clearwater

Submitted by Laura Byrne, Reporter

Thursday, July 21st, 2011, 10:15am

Clearwater, Florida -- The red light cameras aren't even up and yet they are facing a certain doom in Clearwater.

Clearwater city staff are recommending council members ax the city's "Red Light Camera Safety Program due to the uncertain regulatory environment that currently exists in Florida" and the "confusion as to the effectiveness of red light cameras".

If city council members put the brakes the controversial cameras, they'll join the St. Pete Beach which voted to end its red light camera program last month.

The plan was to install the cameras at Gulf to Bay & Belcher and Belcher & Sunset Point. The city only got as far as collecting bids from vendors. Redflex Inc, American Traffic Solutions and Gatso made the short list.

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Dascaloja Puppeteers to delight youngsters at Main Library

Submitted by Kip Michalak, Associate Producer

Thursday, July 21st, 2011, 9:08am

Dascaloja Puppeteers to delight youngsters at Main Library

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Clearwater Library's own Teen Troupe, The Dascaloja Puppeteers, will perform at the Clearwater Main Library, 100 N. Osceola Ave., Thursday, July 21 at 10:30 a.m.

The puppets will present folktales, modern stories, songs and skits. The performance is recommended for children ages 6 and older.

For more information about summer reading programs or to register, call (727) 562-4970 or visit www.myclearwater.com/cpl.

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After 12 years, murder suspect finally faces trial

Submitted by Noah Pransky, Reporter

Thursday, July 21st, 2011, 12:22am

After 12 years, murder suspect finally faces trial

PINELLAS COUNTY, Florida - An alleged murder that went unsolved for nine years will finally be prosecuted next week when the trial of Robert Temple Jr. starts Monday.

Temple, 61, is accused of stabbing his wife, Rosemary Christiansen, to death in 1999 before leaving Florida with his girlfriend. That woman, Leslie Stewart, turned him into authorities nine years later after cutting a deal for immunity and leading police to the spot on her father's North Florida farm where Christiansen was buried.

"My crime was saying, 'OK, I'll help you get rid of the body,'" Temple said from the Pinellas County Jail, where he spent approximately two hours with 10 News. "I tried to do it as nice as I could. I put wedding pictures in there, pictures of her kids."

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pTEC to graduate 150+ summer session students on Thursday

Submitted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 20th, 11:49 am

Pinellas County, Florida -- More than 150 students are expected to participate in the Pinellas Technical Education Centers (pTEC) summer graduation ceremony, Thursday, July 21, 6 p.m., at the Countryside Christian Center, 1850 N McMullen Booth Rd., Clearwater.

Tarpon Springs Mayor David Archie will be keynote speaker. Archie has served as mayor since March, 2010, five years as vice-mayor, and also served on the Board of City Commissioners. He is currently executive director of the Citizens Alliance for Progress.

India Welch, singer and daughter of a pTEC staff member, will perform the national anthem. Susanne Crawford, graduating from the Interior Decorating Services program, member of the National Technical Honor Society and a Largo Chamber of Commerce Student of the Month honoree, will deliver the student address.

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Pinellas County jail inmate dies

Submitted by WTSP Web Staff

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011, 12:55pm

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) - Officials say a Tampa Bay area man being held at the Pinellas County Jail died after collapsing during a basketball game.

The sheriff's office reports that 32-year-old Mario Quntray Burks had been playing basketball with other inmates for about two hours Monday when he collapsed in the jail's recreation yard.

He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy will determine the official cause of death, but investigators say it doesn't appear suspicious.

Burks was booked into jail July 1 on a federal marshal hold.

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Local schools collect 7,000 books for tornado survivors

Submitted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 19th, 10:13 am

Dunedin, Florida (via Pinellas County Schools) -- Pam Metz-Easley, principal of Curtis Fundamental Elementary in Dunedin, grew up near Joplin Missouri, a school district of about 7,000 students. When the May 22 tornado hit, she felt driven to do something to help replenish the elementary school libraries that were damaged.

She organized a book drive for gently used books to be donated for classroom libraries at these schools. When other elementary schools heard about the book drive, many offered to lend a hand. Soon books were pouring in from district schools including Clearwater Fundamental Middle, Belcher, Dunedin, Woodlawn, Curtis Fundamental and Leila Davis.

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Delayed landing would mean shuttle booms for Bay Area

Submitted by Grayson Kamm, Multi-Media Journalist

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011, 9:20am

St. Petersburg, Florida -- If you want to hear the sonic booms of the last-ever space shuttle landing, hope for just a little bad weather.

If it happens right on time, the Thursday morning return of Space Shuttle Atlantis from the final space shuttle mission ever would bypass the Tampa Bay Area almost completely.

If it's heading for an on-time 5:56 a.m. touchdown at Kennedy Space Center, Atlantis would cross right over Naples and then fly north-northeast, passing just west of Lake Okeechobee.

The chances of hearing the landing shuttle's twin sonic booms as it passed overhead would be nearly nonexistent for anyone except folks in Hardee, DeSoto, Highlands, and extreme eastern Polk counties.

So pray for perhaps a quick splash of rain at the runway. A brief weather delay could prompt Mission Control to delay and try again 90 minutes later.

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