Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Bayciti reports that Mayor Pam wants to change the name of Zack St. to Arts Avenue. Justin feels the name is less than stellar, so he’s holding a contest, and wants you to come up with your own suggestion. The best will be chosen and the winner will get some… Uh, well, I’ll let him tell you. Have a great weekend!

It looks like Connie Burton will be evicted because her son got caught selling drugs while living with her in public housing. The activist was also recently relieved of her volunteer radio show, Straight Talk at WMNF for consistently promoting the International Peoples Democratic Uhuru Movement, who have also had their share of trouble in the past, and disrupted a church function this week. Burton is a member of IPDUM and the African Peoples Socialist Party, who offers their take on the issue when it first came up in 2003.

The law firm aligned with Erin Brockovich plans to sue Hillsborough County and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for knowingly allowing Coronet in Plant City (map) to exceed safe pollution levels.

DebWire noticed a Weekly Planet cover story about google maps satellite feature that everyone is going crazy about. I recently made a note of it, as did Adam. Apsey didn’t need google maps, he has his own photos of Busch Gardens from above (he loves that place!).

Anyway, the WP article points out some wacky and interesting things people have found nationwide, and includes links right in the story. One of the more interesting sites mentioned is Google Sightseeing. That blog is collecting shots of tourist spots you can visit without leaving your chair.

Chapel Perilous found the newest Men’s Health ranking: Happiest Cities. Tampa ranks as fifth most depressed. That bums me out.

We may be in trouble, here. Since Jim Norman found it so easy to blow off the school construction shortfall, the entire Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners has now seen fit to ignore our stormwater problems. Ronda Storms noted that with more rainfall expected, and reduced groundwater pumping, the situation could get even worse. But she voted against a proposed stormwater fee increase anyway. Jim Norman said “I don’t believe [the fee increase] is the way to go.” In fact the Hillsborough County BOCC unanimously voted to quit talking about any silly stormwater tax, and opted instead to do nothing. I am confident that Norman has a strategic plan for those residents who find themselves in flooded neighborhoods: “hope it doesn’t rain.”

This morning’s Tribune brought with it a surprise. The local rag can now be mentioned in the same breath as the New York Times and USA Today.

It seems that Trib reporter Brad Smith was canned resigned. His latest story about the evils of tow trucks, and the local industry in general was displayed prominently on page one yesterday. It turns out the article was likely inspired by a recent personal experience, a journalistic no-no. Smith also manufactured his own “facts” to a) give the impression he was not there, b)garner more sympathy for those who get towed, and c) encourage more animosity toward tow truck drivers. The Tribune’s apology and Brad’s new employment status ran today, and the story has been banished to neverwasreallywrittenland. This link works no better. The St. Pete Times found out about it quickly.

When I read the story yesterday, it struck me as not quite right. After a night of “club-hopping,” especially if a friend has to park my car, I’m not going to ask about “who regulates Pete’s Towing.” But this is Tracey Sievertson. She was a reporter for Channel 28, and now runs a Media Training company. So I didn’t spend much time on it, and moved on.

I’ve had my car towed. The towing companies do have the upper hand, and charge ridiculous amounts of money to get your car back. And it’s frustrating. Enough so that I never want to park in a “no parking allowed” area ever again. And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?

But tow trucks are not the issue. Smith used his position at the newspaper to give the towing company a hard time after Pete’s sent him and his new friends jumping through hoops, and paying big money. My guess is he was more interested in impressing his new friends than he was in screwing the wreckers or even getting a big story. But until Brad comes out and says it, we won’t really know why he wrote the story.

Brad Smith is a decent writer. But he certainly showed bad judgment submitting this story for the Tribune. Because the paper has a reputation to uphold, this simply could not be tolerated. If he had written this story as a blogger, he would not have had to lie about Sievertson’s involvement, and could have safely written the story in the first person, since he was there, and there would be no question as to his motivations.

Brad, if you read this, I invite you to use this space as an outlet for your side of the story. Email me.

This Sunday, ABC will air a special 2-hour version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. This installment features the story of James Dolan, who was blinded by a bizarre shooting event at the Radio Shack where he worked. Lexington Homes built Dolan’s new house in record time – 79 hours. Publix threw in a bunch of groceries, and many other local businesses contributed to the effort. Local affiliate WFTS is producing a one-hour live preview show at 6pm, followed by the double-length episode. Watch it after you visit with Bud.