Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on 8th Av. in Ybor has become crowded. Since the Morgan St. Jail was closed, space is now needed for the Sheriff’s Administration and Operations. The EPC recently moved to Sabal Park, so HCSO wants to move into the place they are leaving. County Commissioner Ronda Storms wants the Sheriff to relocate to Falkenburg Road. Not because Falkenburg is a better choice. Not because it would be less expensive (in fact it would cost more). It’s because she does not want to contribute anything to what she calls “Y-bar City.” Her quote qualifies for entry into Storms Torrents: “I don’t believe the county government should support anything that goes on on Seventh Avenue.”

I don’t think Ronda can accept that Tampa (and Ybor) is within Hillsborough County. Just last month she sold out her own beliefs regarding the streetcar fatality, because it’s in the city. Anytime an issue comes up involving the city working with the county, I can picture her sticking her fingers in her ears and singing “La la la la la la la la la la, I can’t hear you. Blah blah blah, I’m not going to listen. You can keep saying things, but I can’t hear you. La la la…” You get the point.

Bad news, Ronda: Tampa is in Hillsborough County. Says so on this map. In fact, Tampa is the county seat of Hillsborough. The Tampa International Airport is run by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. Also, “tampa” is within the URL of the HCSO website. And don’t waste my money by demanding the sheriffs make a unnecessary move to Falkenburg Rd.

Emerge Tampa is looking for you to develop an advertisement to re cruit and retain young professionals to the Tampa Bay area. The best ad will be placed in print publications as well as on websites. The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce is giving $500 cash to the victor. All entries must be received by the end of this month. If you need more information, visit the Emerge website or call 813.276.9445

Posting has been light. Getting Blogger to work right has been next to unpossible lately, not to mention frustrating.

Speaking of local movie productions, Descansos began filming Saturday. The story features longtime actors Gary Busey, Tom Nowicki, and Charles Durning. Oh, and Cindy Taylor. Busey will be in Ybor City today and tomorrow. This is Tom Nowicki’s second visit to Tampa. He had a bit part in The Punisher.

Descansos is Spanish word referring to the flowers, crosses and other roadside memorials seen during your drives everywhere. There is no word if Tampa was chosen because of pedestrian death rates. The production company has also set up a website where these roadside tributes are memorialized online.

Rudy Poeschek made a name for himself around here by being an enforcer for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the mid 1990’s. Following the lead of another successful athlete in Tampa Bay, Poeschek was arrested Sunday. This guy let his five year old daughter ride in the car with no seat belt. He probably would have gotten away with it, except he hit a sewer drain while cornering. The impact flattened a couple tires and apparently caused him to whack his head. But much like opponents at the ThunderDome, that didn’t stop him. Rudy kept driving his car, right through a palm tree. Then three mailboxes. And another palm tree.

Assuming he didn’t want to spend any time in the Hillsborough County Penalty Box, he scrambled back to the bench, in this case a neighbor’s garage. Once discovered there, Poeschek showed he is still quite a conditioned athlete, running from deputies and circling a (unfrozen) pond twice. There are no reports that fans surrounded the lake cheering “RU-DY, RU-DY, RU-DY.” It was at this point that the officers decided to quit screwing around, and shot Rudy with their new weapon of choice, the TASER.

Just like in his days of hockey, Poeschek pays no attention to rules. He’s been arrested 9 times since January ‘03, and twice this month, mostly on charges that he has no clue how to drive a car.

Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, was born in Melbourne. He spent some time in St. Petersburg and Tampa in the 60’s even attending a few classes at St. Petersburg Junior College. He also took part in some acting classes at Florida State University before heading out to California to pursue a life of psychedelic weirdness. FSU recently found a 1964 propaganda public relations piece starring Jim Morrison. You can see the film at FloridaMemory.com.

Contrary to popular belief, Sticks of Fire was not the inspiration for Light My Fire. And LA Woman is not referring to the Lutz Area.

Speaking of films, Dwight Gooden is supposed to appear as a cop in the movie Batman Begins. It appears he was doing some research this weekend to get a feel for how cops act. He was arrested Sat. night. Police say he punched his ex-wife after she threw a phone at him (she missed). The incident happened on Harbor Island at 1am. Gooden was born in Tampa, and was once a baseball player too.

PopStat alerts us to Philippe Martinez’ efforts to create a vibrant movie scene here in Tampa Bay. Martinez moved his film studio to Largo, and wants to tap local talent for marketing, distribution, and even screenplays. Visit Bauer Martinez Studios website.

The gal has a GWBush bumper sticker. Another driver wants his thoughts known as well, so he flashes an anti-Bush sign at her. She flips him the ol’ number one. And he chases her through the streets, driving recklessly, causing safety issues. That was Tuesday, March 8. He was arrested.

The gal was merging into traffic. Unable to see clearly she came to a complete stop, waiting for traffic to clear. Another driver becomes irritated at her cautiousness and blows his horn. She flips him the ol’ number one. And he chases her through the streets, driving recklessly, causing safety issues. That was Tuesday, March 1. He was arrested today. If he was in such a hurry, why take the time to chase her all over town?

We still don’t know why the guy was shot on I-75 the other day.

A couple things here. #1. Be patient. Not everyone drives as well as you. #2. Be smart. There are plenty of places to have divisive discussions. “While driving in traffic” is not one of them. #3. Be tolerant. In the US, free speech is held dear. That goes for signs as well as bumper stickers. #4. Be respectful. Giving the middle finger is rude, childish, and apparently vitriolic.

We all have the same goal. We all have to get to work, or the store, or the ballgame. We all are just trying to make our way in this world as best we know how. The “idiot” in front of you that stops for no reason may actually have a reason. They’ll get going in a second. The “crackhead” taking 18 blocks to change lanes may be a teenager learning to drive. They’ll get over in a second. Give ‘em a break. Hell, give me a break.

This message brought to you by the letter K for Kindergarten.