Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

On Seminole Heights Blog, Sticks and the Weekly Planet, much has been written about the newspaper wars between the Tampa Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times.

Monday night on PBS’ News Hour there was a story about Free Newspapers Changing the Media Landscape. Several major newspapers throughout the county are starting these free dailies to generate readership among the unread.

“Publishers across the country are trying to capture the disaffected or non-reader by producing free papers, supported solely by advertising: From the Metro Corporation papers in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York, to the Red Eye in Chicago, to Quick in Dallas, to the Colorado Daily in Boulder, to the Denver Daily News to Today’s Local News in San Diego, to the San Francisco Examiner, and others”

“And if they succeed as a business model, they have the potential of turning the traditional notion of paying for newspapers on its head. “

The younger generation does not read the newspaper. Since the paper is free, is in a easy to read tabloid format, and many times is a Cliff Notes version of the news, it appeals to that younger crowd who does not ordinarily read the paper. “People who use the Internet have been conditioned not to pay for what they get.” Although the papers are self supporintg via ads, there is some hope of crossover readership to the main paper.

This is occuring with TBT (Tampa Bay Times). The whole flavor and slightly irreverant tone is geared to appeal to that younger crowd.

So where is the Tribune in this? Rumors suggest they will start their own free daily.  Since they are second out of the gate will this effort flop? Previously they tried to come out with a version of the Weekly Planet and it tanked. Being a mainline stuffy paper they simply could not get hip.

However that was then, with different leadership. Under Janet Weaver, the Trib has made several positive changes, including a greater community focus (the Central Tampa section debacle aside). Can Janet be up to this challenge and create a competitive daily? Let’s see.

In any case we are the beneficiaries, as we will have more choices.

However, where will the Weekly Planet fit in all of this? Will they lose readers and advertisers to the two dailies? Or will their history as an “alternative” paper help to maintain current readership levels? 

40 years ago…

May 31, 1966 – Rep. Robert Mann, a Tampa attorney, announces his withdrawal from the race for speaker of the Florida House of Representatives during a Tiger Bay Political Club luncheon. Mann threw his support behind Rep. Ralph Turlington of Gainesville, but also declared his intention to pursue the same post in 1969.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

Once again, Lee Drury De Cesare was scolded by Patrick Mantiega.  This time, she resigned.  But she hasn’t quit writing.  The 73-year old and her bullwhip-like commentary can now be found on her own blog, Lee Drury De Cesare’s Casting-Room Couch.

Ms. De Cesare’s latest target is the School Board of Hillsborough County, and you’ll have to weed through the email trails she posts online, but buried within you’ll find priceless tidbits of hilarious opinion.

For those of you who have never read her column in La Gaceta (and you should have), Sue Carlton has a quick overview of De Cesare’s unique style of writing.

Sometimes in reading just the big newspapers you miss a lot of interesting or curious stories.

The Florida Sentinel Bulletin is a Tampa based, smaller paper that caters to the various African American/Black communities. It has a very small town feel to it. There are shout-outs to people celebrating birthdays and other events. News stories with a different coverage than the big papers. Sometimes more to the story, sometimes a different perspective. There is a good opinion section providing the readers with a more broad based black perspective.

Occasionally you get interesting stories such as one last week regarding a burial gone bad, or so the family says.

The funeral and burial has resulted in accusations of mutilation and fraud since last year. On Wednesday, the two sisters assembled at Memorial Park Cemetery for exhumation of their father’s body. They accused funeral director Tebby Singleton of allegedly switching coffins and mutilating their father’s legs to fit into a smaller coffin.

They also claimed the body was not in the original burial site. However, cemetery owner John Robinson denied that the body had been relocated… On Wednesday, the coffin containing the body of George Bogan was opened to prove to the sisters that the body had not been mutilated.

The coffin measured 6′10″ in length. Mr. Bogan was 6′ 31/2″ tall his daughters said.

After opening the coffin, Singleton raised the pants legs to prove that the body had not been mutilated.

Ms. Karen Bogan said, “I do apologize, but this isn’t proving anything to me. He needs to come up out of the ground. The suit we buried him in was too small. His legs should have been exposed.”

“Both sisters contend that their father was buried near a tree in the cemetery. “It was hot that day and we were trying to stand under the tree for shade,” Ms. Harriet Bogan said.”

I wonder if there is more to the story, some bad blood perhaps over some other incident.

Unfortunately the paper does not archive its stories on line. So because this wasn’t published right away, the story has been replaced.

Other small area papers include La Gaceta, The Penny Saver (Sulphur Springs), USF Oracle, and The Loop (Lutz). There are more, such as Tampa Bay Sun,  but finding them online sometimes is a chore.

My wife and I just happened to be in Brandon with empty bellies, so we decided to stop at Fuego.  Fuego is a new steakhouse that occupies the building formerly home to a TGI Friday’s that nobody was too upset to see close.

I knew nothing about this place, but had a clue that it was not a standard sit-n-order situation when the hostess didn’t provide us with a menu.  She attempted to explain the concept as we were walking, but I was too busy dodging well-armed waiters to concentrate.  Our waitress was kind enough to explain…

We were told this is a Brazilian style of eating, and I am in no position to dispute this.   The standard meal is a series of courses - soup, bread, salad, five different bowls of sides, dessert, and the main course - for $24.95.  The main course consists of a rotating stream of waiters serving different meats they cut at the table.  It isn’t for everybody.  We watched as a couple sat down.  Once they heard the deal, they immediately got up to look for a more standard format.

I thought it was a lot of fun. The breads include a bowl of small rolls that are easy to pop into your mouth or dip into the broccoli cheese soup.  A salad was fresh but nothing spectacular - think Olive Garden with no dressing and you’ve got it.  The sides were well prepared but overall pretty standard fare.  Rice, mashed potatoes, and black beans tasted good but not worth the price I was paying.  The fried yucca was good but the plantains were absolute heaven.

But the real attraction to any steak house is the meat, and in that regard Fuego comes through for you.  After your sides and three various dipping sauces arrive, you are told to signal the waiters.  Your drink coasters are green on one side and red on the other.  Flipping the coaster to reveal the green side draws the red shirted waiters with the skewers of steak, sausage, chicken wrapped in bacon, and pork loin to your table.

Dessert is oddly American I thought, cheesecake, chocolate cake, ice cream, etc. but they offer two different types of flan that looked excellent, although I didn’t have the room to sample them.

If you are in the Brandon area, and in the mood for something a little different, swing by and try it. But if you prefer your meals coming on one plate at one time or don’t care for the periodic interruptions by passing gauchos then it might not be for you.  Bring your appetite because although the food isn’t overly heavy it is unlimited and trying to sample all the choices will leave your belt groaning with effort.

GMAC insurance tested folks nationwide on the rules for driving. For the second year in a row, Oregon can boast of having the most knowledgable drivers. Florida not so much. The sunshine state ranks 40th. Go take the test.

105 years ago…

May 30, 1901 – A love triangle results in a mur der-suici de outside a boarding house on 1704 ½ Fourteenth Street in Ybor City. Morgan W. Kersey shot W.F. Bryant twice in the back for allegedly having an affair with his wife Annie, the landlady of the boarding house where Bryant resided. After shooting Bryant, Kersey then turned his pi stol on himself. According to Mrs. Kersey, her husband was jealous of Bryant and had sent word earlier in the week that he would k ill the two of them.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

Dr. Beach came out with his top beaches for this year, and once again (of course), Tampa Bay is represented.  You may remember last year that Fort DeSoto was named the top beach in the US.  This year, Caladesi Island ranks as America’s No. 2 beach.

Caladesi Island is just off the coast of Dunedin.  Enjoy a day there - it’s fantastic.