The Way I See ItBy cj pollickClearwater Community Sailing Center Expansion - A contract for $270,000 was awarded to R. Krueger Construction Co., Inc., for expansion of the current Sailing Center building on Sand Key. The 3,300-square-foot, two-story addition will be constructed as an addition to the current building. This new construction will add more classroom facilities and meeting space for weddings and corporate meetings. The Clearwater Community Sailing Association will be responsible for day-to-day operations and management. City Of Clearwater Looks For Artists - Clearwater's Public Art & Design Program is looking for three Tampa Bay area artists who would participate in a plan that would showcase selected sculptures to be placed in the central median planters in the downtown Cleveland Street District. A $4,000 honorarium will be paid to those artists selected for the program. According to Clearwater city planners, they are looking for professional artists from the Tampa Bay area to participate in this downtown program that is expected to begin in July. Interested people should call Christopher Hubbard at 727-562-4837 for more information. Indian Rocks Beach Moves Forward - The new city commission at Indian Rocks Beach claims the atmosphere will be different at IRB City Hall, more peaceful, they say. Time will tell. Nevertheless, the new city manager did report that the recent IRB city audit report substantiated erroneous budget forecasting estimates regarding city revenues. The error in projecting city revenues by last year's city management staff meant that city numbers appeared "short," which, according to the city manager, they were not. Thus, no missing money - - only flawed budget prognostications by some previous city officials. Next year's city budget? Citizens of IRB should expect, and most likely will receive, careful financial planning by the current city commission and staff, especially since there might be a $3 million shortfall in revenues (due to property tax cuts.) As expected, there are alleged post-election complaints. Those types of things occur when a losing party has reason to believe the election included some campaign items that might not have complied exactly with Florida campaign laws. In cases where something minor is alleged by the complainant, and found to be true by State investigators, a fine is typically imposed on the party committing the error. It is indeed rare to observe an elected official ousted due to a minor campaign infraction. Pinellas County Seat Up For Grabs - Pinellas County Commissioner Ronnie Duncan announced he would not seek re-election. Thus, a coveted county commission seat is available. Interested? Join the growing list of potential candidates including several former and current elected officials. Sex Offender Runs For Mayor - Brian Sliter of Wilmer, Texas, hopes that voters will overlook his 2004 arrest while trying to have sex with a 15-year-old girl. Sliter is serving probation as a part of his plea deal with state prosecutors. The election is to be held on May 10th. Another sex offender in Brighton is being sought by police for offensive acts involving an 8-year-old girl who had strayed from her mother while shopping at the local food supermarket. The alleged sex offender being sought is Gerald Krouth, age 47, who has a prior sex offender record. If you are concerned about the locations of possible sex offenders in your area, you can search their locations by using the Internet - - start by looking for sex offenders in your city. Do we have them in our local cities? Yes, you might be surprised to know how many live in our local towns. Drifter Kills Hiker In Hills Of North Georgia - Hiker Meredith Emerson, 24, was killed by a drifter while hiking in the well-traveled hills of north Georgia. Gary M. Hiton, 61, stalked his victim, and as she walked back down the trail, he jumped her with a knife. After the subsequent arrest, the attacker confessed that the young woman fought the attacker with all that she could muster, "she fought back the entire time . . . I punched her many times to finally overcome her," said Hilton to the police. She was later tied to a tree where she continued to mislead the attacker for three days until he finally killed her. Why did Hilton attack her? "She was a woman... and I wanted her credit cards." Hilton is also wanted in Florida for decapitating a woman on December 15th. What should be the punishment for this man? Life imprisonment? March Madness - WOW, Davidson beat Georgetown 74-70 - -Washington State beat Notre Dame 61-41 - - West Virginia defeated Duke 73-67. In the Sweet Sixteen, North Carolina will play Washington State, Louisville versus Tennessee where the winners of these games will play in the Final Four. Kansas plays Villanova, Wisconsin plays Davidson, winners play for a final four birth. Stanford plays Texas and Memphis takes on Michigan State, winners reach the final four, and finally, Stanford plays Texas while Memphis plays Michigan State, winners reach the final four. March Madness? Perhaps we should expect a few upsets in the Sweet Sixteen and maybe a team such as Davidson, school enrollment 1,800, might play for the NCAA basketball championship . . . and win. Pittsburgh And Philadelphia Restaurant Owners Send A Message - If you were raised in either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, you know that folks in those places are "true-blue" Americans. Yes, many of the citizens of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia can identify with family members that landed at Ellis Island and learned to speak broken English as soon as possible. English was spoken with a distinct European accent in many neighborhoods during the 1950's and 1960's and most of those families had family members that proudly served their country during WWII. Duty, honor and country was something esteemed by those hard-working people. Interestingly, there are two restaurant owners in Pennsylvania (and perhaps more) where issues of patriotism made national news. In one case, the owner of a restaurant at North Versailles (10 miles southeast of Pittsburgh) currently displays a large sign that proclaims things like, "Welcome to America, we speak English" and "Our fathers fought for this country, and our officials are giving it away!" At the other side of the state, the owner of a Philadelphia restaurant posted a sign that was questioned by city officials and resulted in a city vote to allow him to continue with the sign. It read, "Please order your food in English-- English is spoken here." Some liberal-minded people felt this restaurant sign was discriminatory to people who did not speak English. However, it was reviewed and ruled upon by the city as acceptable. No other legal contest is planned by opponents. Proud to be an American? Yes. What about those two restaurants? Both busy and successful.
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