Harborfest takes place in Downtown Norfolk in Town Point Park. More than 200,000 people are estimated to attend this FREE weekend long event. The event begins with a “Parade of Sail” where the boats cruise down the Elizabeth River to downtown Norfolk. Visitors are able to go aboard authentic Tall Ships. While walking around you can get lots of great food and watch live music acts by local and nationally known artists. That’s where the video comes in. It’s a group called “Juice”, similar to Southeastern University’s “FX” team or the nationally known group “Stomp”.

(reading on iphone/bb watch video here.)

Florida State Fair – Feb. 5-16

Florida Strawberry Festival – Feb. 26-March 8

Greek Festival of Polk County – Feb. 13,14,15 (I have gone to this event for the past 13 years if not longer. Great food and time. Looking to try something new? This is your event!)

Ribs on the Ridge – Feb. 21, Haines City. (Missed The Lakeland Pig Fest? Try Ribs on the Ridge.)

Wild Game and Steak Dinner by Lakeland South Rotary – Feb. 20

Pancake Festival – Feb., 14, 7:00am-7:00pm

Know of other events, festivals or food events coming up in the Orlando, Tampa or Winter Haven area? Leave a comment so we all can know and go!

Yes – that headline says April 15. Your tax forms must be in the mail by midnight tonight.

Apopka Cops say that the house being used for a reality show was once used to broadcast live sex acts for an adult entertainment Web site. Can’t you imagine the idiots behind this? “Hey, we got this house sitting here – we need to use it to get rich and famous!”

In Haines City, work on the North Sixth Street streetscaping project has been postponed because of paperwork requested by Florida’s Department of Community Affairs. Meanwhile in Winter Haven, Third Street between Avenue A Southwest and Avenue E Northwest is undergoing a face lift as part of that city’s continuing effort to improve the downtown. The work is expected to take the rest of the year.

Mulberry Police Deputy Chief Jody Beaudry was arrested Monday on charges of sexual battery and engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a minor. FDLE investigators say in 2004, Beaudry threatened to revoke a 16 year old girl’s probation if she did not have sex with him. Sounds like rape to me.

A Ledger editorial notes the Bush Administration’s terrible EPA record.

Compared to 2007, Sun ‘n Fun President John Burton said that daily attendance during the week was down 5 percent or 6 percent each day for the first four days of the six-day event. There was no dropoff in deaths surrounding the event.

Media General’s Florida Communications Group is offering voluntary buyouts to about half its 1,326 employees, including those with The Tampa Tribune and WFLA, News Channel 8. They are trying to reduce staff and other costs in a difficult economic environment in the Tampa Bay area, said John Schueler, president of Florida Communications Group, which oversees the operation of The Tribune, WFLA, TBO.com and other Florida media outlets.

The book The Land is about the son of a prosperous landowner and a former slave whose white father raises him openly in post-Civil War Georgia. The book includes use of the N-word. After a parent’s complaint, a committee of school administrators, parents and teachers from Turner Elementary School in northeast Hillsborough County said The Land by Mildred Taylor was “above the maturity level of elementary students” and will donate the book to a middle school, school officials said Monday.

Tampa Tribune Editorial: In scoring and hosting championship games, Tampa has been outstanding. But Orlando is investing a billion dollars in sporting venues and other facilities, and are on the way to building commuter rail. Tampa needs to stay ahead of Orlando.

That’s it for now. Feel free to go finish your taxes.