Metro I-4 News

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Current Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson is an incompetent boob, who can’t keep his own finances straight, much less run an election.
And there he was again Tuesday night, trying to explain computer problems that Hillsborough County experienced. It was a database communications glitch caused by vendor Premiere Election Solutions (formerly known as [...]

Tampa Police Chief Stephen Hogue says Tampa’s crime rate dropped 12 percent in the first six months of 2008 compared with last year.
During the first six months of this year, 9,126 offenses were reported in seven crime categories, 12 percent less than the 10,367 reported in these categories from January to June 2007.
The biggest statistical [...]

St. Pete cops call Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO):  Get this illegal immigrant guy, he’s a suspect in a rape in St. Pete.
HCSO Deputies get the guy on a misdemeanor.  Meanwhile, St. Pete cops called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asked for permission to hold the illegal immigrant further.  They get no response.
So the HCSO [...]

“Do what they did, you’ll get what they got.”
I am not sure that Tampa Bay needs to reinvent the wheel on its way to urban viability, but…
Many of the cities that have truly come back from the edge and become centers of creative post-industrial life are very different from the Tampa/St Pete metro area. They [...]

Apathy:
Main Entry: ap·a·thy
Pronunciation: a-pə-thē\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek apatheia, from apathēs without feeling, from a- + pathos emotion
Date: 1594

1: lack of feeling or emotion - impassiveness
2: lack of interest or concern - indifference

One out of six. Imagine any six people you know, and then consider that only [...]

Today is primary election day in Hillsborough County. Primaries determine who will run for each political party in November.  Please make sure your voice is heard.
The Tampa Tribune has a list of all the area races and candidates, and here are those primary candidates for Hillsborough County elections:
Property Appraiser

Rob Townsend (R)
Rob Turner (R)

County Commission, [...]

I know the only thing worse than hearing a fan whine about how the officials are cheating against their favorite team is hearing a fan whine about how the officials are cheating against their FIRST PLACE team.
But seeing not one, but two utterly heinous blown calls go against the beloved home town Tampa Bay Rays [...]

Each year since 2003, the City of Tampa has chosen a photographer to chronicle the city for The Big Picture Photographer Laureate Program.

The purpose of the project was to commission an artist to photograph and respond to life in the City of Tampa. The Photographer Laureate Program is inspired by historic photographic projects including the [...]

Just a real quick note to Sticks of Fire readers who use the Facebook:
Sticks of fire has it’s own Facebook fan page now!

Channelside Bay Plaza (formerly known as the “Shoppes at Channelside,” which was formerly known as “Channelside at Garrison Seaport”) is seven years old. The St. Pete Times says Channelside businesses are struggling, mainly because locals don’t frequent the place.
Nope - locals don’t go. But that is not the only thing - Channelside Bay [...]

Let’s quit pretending. Tampa isn’t a city. St Petersburg isn’t a city. Clearwater and all the other municipalities in the Tampa bay region are not cities in the traditional sense. Lacking a coherent functioning core and distinct boundaries (other than saltwater), they are, or have become, no more than jurisdictional regions.
The small urban cores of [...]

Does this place have an identity?
The middle child between bulky, demanding, big brother Tampa and quaint, cute, little brother Plant City, this third incorporated city in Hillsborough is just sorta there.
On the northeast side of the Tampa Bay area, Temple Terrace is strategically situated between three major interstates— I-4, I-75, and I-275.
Sure, there are gorgeous [...]

Investigative journalism is crucial.  In addition to exposing unethical immoral and illegal behavior, sometimes those journalists find simple (but expensive) stupidity and laziness.
Back in 2004, Greg Neal of Keystone Ventures envisioned a Tampa Sports Centre near Raymond James Stadium.  A couple of months later, HCC envisioned a retail complex including a hotel, conference center, restaurant, [...]

Oh boy!
In another one of those kooky quirks of scheduling, Tampa played host to both the Women of Faith Infinite Grace conference and the 2008 FetishCon this past weekend. One event featured appearances by Eden Wells, Kumi Monster and RubberDoll, the other featured Patsy Clairmont, Sandi Patty and Marilyn Meberg.  I’ll let you Google [...]

As of the latest forecasts, Tampa Bay is still within Tropical Storm Fay’s cone of uncertainty.
To be on the safe side, local governments have closed the schools and government offices for tomorrow, and other government-related services will not run, such as trash pickup, and early voting.

In Pinellas, A mandatory evacuation will go into effect on [...]