35 years ago… November 30, 1971 – Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson, a Democratic senator from Washington state, kicks off his Florida campaign for the presidency in front of 600 at the Ramada Inn in Tampa. Jackson made it clear that he was staking his claim at the center of the Democratic Party, saying that it was [...]
Today marks the end of the 2006 hurricane season. Hurrah! Alberto and Ernesto gave everyone some tense moments, but this was largely a calm season. Now most of us have been left with a great amount of good fortune; those that prepared for far worse also have pantry full of hurricane supplies. As it turns out most [...]
Have you driven by the building that caught fire in Ybor? Of course you haven’t. The roads are still closed to traffic. The building burned down on Sunday night, and more than 50 firefighters turned out to battle the blaze. They were supposed to start tearing it down Monday, then demolition was slated to begin Tuesday. Today, [...]
5 years ago… November 29, 2001 – Tampa Mayor Dick Greco officially re-opens the five-block Franklin Street mall to cars for the first time since he closed it to traffic in 1974. City leaders, however, decided to preserve one tradition by keeping Franklin Street, between Kennedy Boulevard and Twiggs Street, closed to vehicles between 10:30 a.m. [...]
More crazy conversations from the classroom… One of my all-time best students, we’ll call him Kenny, and I started at Superior High School at the same time. I had him his freshman and sophomore year, missed his junior year because I tried out two other local high schools, and returned this year to see him graduate. Kenny, [...]
Back in October, we told you about the possible changes to Perry Harvey Sr. Park. Since we here in the Sticks love the history, we are usually all gung-ho about saving the past. And when we think of the past, we think of a hundred years ago past. Freed slaves settled here in 1865 and opened drugstores [...]
25 years ago… November 28, 1981 – A five-alarm fire at the Tampa Federal Savings and Loan Annex, located on the corner of Madison Avenue and Marion Street, destroys its customer service division, computer terminals and mailroom. The fire, which burned out of control for several hours, caused an estimated $300,000 in damage to the annex and [...]
Common wisdom is that you should always follow your first instinct. My own wisdom, apparently, is not terribly common. Earlier this year I predicted the USF Bulls football team would finish 6-6. In the comments to that post however, I left myself an out: It also wouldn’t be out of the question for USF to go 8-4, possibly [...]
10 years ago… November 27, 1996 – An accidental fire destroys Sweet Charity, an eclectic clothing store and teen gathering spot at 1533 E. Seventh Ave. in Ybor City. Fire investigator Al Alcala said the blaze started accidentally in an upstairs loft of the building when a candle was left unattended by two store employees. Forty [...]
