Congratulations to both teams for taking the Road To Tampa Bay!  The Dr. Pepper ACC Football Championship game will be held Saturday 1pm at Raymond James Stadium!

After five different schools were represented in the first three ACC Championship Games, the 2008 edition is a rematch of the 2007 contest.

There are a bunch of  events leading up to the actual game, so take a look at the schedule to find out where to be seen. Also, visitors to the area may want to take a look at the official fan guide to find out where the stadium and other things are.

Finally, someone shined a light on these hustlers. Sunday’s St. Petersburg Times featured an exposé of a firm that has long been selling developers the “expert testimony” they need to destroy our natural resources.

“For years, Florida’s largest environmental consulting firm, Biological Research Associates, has helped private companies win government permits to pave over wetlands and destroy wildlife habitat.”

I have had to fight against B.R.A.’s sellout-scientists several times, and I can tell you it’s enormously frustrating for citizens to work our tails off putting together the facts & figures to make a case for saving some of our precious natural resources, only to have the developer trot out these pole-dancing “experts” to say that those natural resources don’t exist, or that paving them over won’t hurt them a bit, or whatever.

The Times reports a few of the most egregious examples of B.R.A’s role in environmental destruction across the state, including one in Hillsborough county in which

“B.R.A. reported finding no wildlife habitat on a development site, only to have county officials discover more than 100 acres still being used by wildlife.”

But there have been several instances where B.R.A was involved, and are not included in the Times’ report.

One local case which particularly infuriated me was not mentioned in the Times. The developer wanted to destroy gopher tortoise habitat on a skinny spit (300 feet wide!) of pristine sand pine scrub, sticking out into the middle of the Little Manatee River at Mill Bayou, just to build a couple dozen houses. Hundreds of citizens and several local & state environmental groups voiced their opposition, and even the National Humane Society sent a letter from Washington D.C. opposing the project for the sake of the 20 gopher tortoises living on the site.

B.R.A. argued for the destruction of the exceedingly rare sand pine scrub habitat, claiming the gopher tortoise population was not worth saving. They also pushed for an exception to our rules protecting native trees along the river. And they testified under oath that there were no listed plant species on the site. But there were.

Before the hearings, I visited the site with a couple of bona fide professional biologists and a Tampa Tribune writer whose subsequent article included photographs of the endangered plants. The listed species (Tillandsia Utriculata, endangered, and Garberia Heterophylla, threatened) were clearly visible from the road. At the hearings, I spoke about these plants, as did an honest, unpaid biologist. Yet B.R.A’s scientists testified that there were no listed plant species!

I can’t tell you how galling it is for citizens to be speaking truth to power at these hearings, only to have paid experts used to deny the truth. (The developer eventually won the Mill Bayou rezoning case, though citizens won a few concessions.)

Other local issues involving B.R.A., but not in the Times’ report include:

• Little Harbor’s request to pack condos onto a site at the mouth of the Little Manatee River. Although this project will pave shut the only riverfront doorway in a critical wildlife corridor between nature preserves, fragmenting habitat for the families of bobcats, foxes and otters which I have personally seen there, B.R.A. discounted all this wildlife as “ruderal species,” and went on to testify that the wildlife didn’t use this corridor, even though I submitted photos of trails which the wildlife used so frequently they were worn down like little highways.
• The Cypress Creek Town Center project, now embroiled in a Sierra Club lawsuit for impacts to wildlife and extensive wetlands damage at the headwaters of the Hillsborough River. B.R.A. seriously underestimated the number of gopher tortoises at this site, claiming there were only 10 while citizens protested that there were over 30. After the developer was granted permission to move the tortoises, it turned out they actually needed permits to relocate 50 of the rare tortoises. Citizens maintain that dozens of tortoises and other listed species have now been buried alive by the developer in midnight(!) excavations.
• B.R.A. was on the side of the developers who tried to eliminate our EPC wetlands protections last year. B.R.A’s Drew Sanders spoke against EPC in a Tribune article, which went on to reveal inaccuracies in his statement regarding EPC’s role in a B.R.A. project.

While other paid consultants have been known to slant the facts to benefit their clients, B.R.A.’s reputation is abysmal. I’ve often heard words like “biostitute” used to describe them, but it’s time their sleazy tactics were spoken of publicly:

•  Inglis Town Commissioner Ed Michaels calls B.R.A. “biostitutes” — a word combining “biologist” and “prostitute” — explaining, “They’re for hire.”

•  others in the environmental consulting industry say B.R.A. has long been known to put its clients’ demands ahead of accurate science.

•  B.R.A. “is considered kind of a black hat in the consulting business,” said Ray Ashton, a longtime consultant from the Gainesville area. “You can make it really good for your clients by skirting the rules and endangering the resource.”

Hopefully, once everybody knows which consultants lack credibility, their testimony will become worthless, and consultants with integrity will be hired more often, so environmental decisions can be made based on the facts, not the best “expert testimony” money can buy.

For the uninitiated, TampaBLAB was a creation of Brett Glisson of Addled Brain fame, another blog that also disappeared for a while.

In one of those “wouldn’t it be cool…” discussions, I mentioned to Brett that I’d like to see a website that simply published all local bloggers’ efforts.  He made that happen, and called it TampaBLAB - short for Tampa Bay Local Area Bloggers.

At the time, a big bunch (150+) of local bloggers signed up and upon publishing at their own site, saw their words of wisdom automatically generated on this other BLABby website.  Readers of TampaBLAB got the first few sentences of an article, and could magically (by clicking a link) be transported to the originator’s website.  Readers saved time by going to a single blog collection, bloggers saw increased traffic from BLAB readers, and all was well in the local blogosphere.  But then, tragedy struck.

Ok, maybe not tragedy, but sh*t happened, and Brett was unable to give the BLAB all the attention it needed.  It began to look a little haggard.  I offered to take it over.  But then, tragedy struck again more sh*t happened.

And the BLAB sat.

And sat.

Bay area blogs came and went, while BLAB just puked up article after article from the existing roster of bloggers.  No new blogs were added, and abandoned bloggers were not deleted.  The database began piling up with year old posts from bloggers who were no longer blogging, and from sites that no longer existed.  It was beginning to be quite the junk drawer.

And then the site got hacked.

That straw broke the camel’s back, and I enlisted the help of our good friend John Fontana to get the thing revived and back in shape.  And did he ever!

Go look at the layout of the new, improved, TampaBLAB 2.2, and then leave a comment here, telling John what a great job he did.

Now, if you are a blogger, go read about how TampaBLAB works, submit your blog to TampaBLAB, read the TampaBLAB admin blog, put the BLAB on your blogroll, and please consider writing a post about the website.

If you are one of those who like to read various local blogs, you may save time by finding all of them in a single place.  At least go check it out, and if you find it to your liking, please consider adding TampaBLAB to your list of reading materials.

And as always, we welcome your opinion and suggestions on what you see there.

Tour headquarters will be in the 1920s era “Club Morocco Nightclub and Casino” which is now the Student Center at Florida College at 119 North Glen Arven Avenue. Admission is $15.00 and there will be two trolleys available which will be picking up folks at the Student Center and returning them.

The theme for this year’s tour is “Mediterranean Revival meets Mid-Century Modern”, and we will have seven 1920s era Mediterranean Revival buildings, and for the first time in the history of our tour we’ll include three of our 1950s-1960s Mid-Century Modern homes. The city has some great buildings from this era.

A slide show of the buildings on the tour can be found here (click on the side bar on the left to start): http://ttpreservation.jalbum.net/2008%20Temple%20Terrace%20Hm.%20Tour/

For more information, visit the 2008 Temple Terrace Historic Homes Tour website, or contact Tour Chair Leitha Bowles at lebow007 [at] yahoo.com or 813.732.six941.

We here at sticks are thankful for living right here in Tampa Bay.  For all we find to complain about, there’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be.

We are thankful for local heroes that can be found all over Tampa Bay.  The St. Pete Times has an example of one such hero - April Eastman helped a confused woman get back where she belongs.  Hey April!  Thanks for making Tampa Bay a great place to live!

We are thankful for local artists in all mediums, along with their supporters, promoters, and those who employ them.  All of you do a large part to make Tampa Bay a more interesting and fun place.

Thanks goes to local entrepreneurs, too.  Your passions and expertise bring all sorts of wonderful goods and services right to our doorsteps.  You also keep many of us employed, so that we can enjoy those goods.

A small bit of thanks to the athletes that make up the Tampa Bay Rays, the Bucs, and the Lightning.  You guys all do your part to provide an escape from the day-to-day nonsense, and it’s nice to have local pro teams to help the greater Tampa Bay community join together now and again.

Thanks also to local journalists at both dailies, the neighborhood and alternative weeklies, and all of the television and radio stations, who do the real job of digging up local news.

Thanks too, to the politicians in Tampa Bay, who really put up with a bunch of nonsense in the name of public service.  All of you do so much that the public never hears about, and we thank you.

Thanks goes out to all the independent bloggers in Tampa Bay.  They unearth great stories that we would never otherwise know about.

A big heap of thanks to all of our contributors here in the Sticks.  They certainly increase the quality of stuff found around here, and their time and effort has been invaluable.  A special shout-out to contributor and pal John Fontana.  He has done a wonderful job in making Sticks of Fire look the way it does. My sincerest thanks to you for taking your valuable time and talent to make this spot on the web look great.

I also want to thank all of the readers here. That people come and read about what we find out about Tampa Bay is still nothing short of amazing to me.  I hope all of you have a great day, every day.

Finally, we are thankful for all of our friends and family.  My wife and her daughter have made my life everything that it is, and my little girl is the love of my life.  Both kids’ other parents are wonderful, too.  All of them, along with our moms, dads, grands, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters and all of our many friends certainly continue to make our life an interesting path.

We wish each an every one of you a happy Thanksgiving, and hope your day is full of smiles.

If there is something you are thankful for, and would like to share it with us, please let us know about it in the comments.

Lazydays RV ain’t sellin’ no tour buses.

Without Walls may soon be without walls.

Target is off target, Circuit City already filed for bankruptcy, while Best Buy, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus are expecting the worst.

Young families are not moving to the peninsula and Pinellas may close five elementary schools.

There is plenty of office space available.

And in your suburb?

Nearly 30% of all Florida mortgage holders are upside down.  You can probably find a foreclosure in every Florida neighborhood.  Except near a military base.  Even then, house prices are down about 20% in Pasco.  You can now rent instead of buying a condo, or get a brand new house starting at $99,000.

Neighbors are maintaining the yards at abandoned homes.  I mean, if they even bothered to build the homes.  And cities are buying up those abandoned homes.

People make questionable decisions that allow them to take the up-front money that costs them a bunch in the end.  And your original mortgage may have been sold to another lender.

What realtors don’t want you to know - in spite of small instances of stabilization, prices are still falling (and may take seven years to reach the value of 18 months ago).

At least gas is under $2 (under $1.75 in Seffner!), but we still aren’t going anywhere for the holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T are working to keep that from happening again, as they are adding a big bunch cellular antennas all over Tampa:

All three major cellular carriers are rushing to put up more cellular antennas downtown and around Raymond James Stadium, Ybor City and various hotel districts, to double calling capacity before the National Football League’s biggest game.

In addition to improved cell service, some West Tampa crosswalks are getting some needed attention too.

And if you want to hear some Christmas music while gearing up?  Just head on over to the AM dial - 1470 AM is all Chirstmas music for the time being.

Public education is paid for by taxpayers, and public educators and administrators must teach our children under the watchful eye of all of us.  Luckily, some of us pay a bit more attention to the goings-on, and I’d like to point those watchers out to you.

Blogs by Local Teachers:

• Suzie Creamcheese writes The Wall - “This blog has been designed to give the teachers and employees of the Hillsborough County School District an outlet to vent, rant, and most importantly share information and suggestions… “
• The Goader writes Eskay Espresso - “I teach high school students various subjects in social studies. A common thread that runs through all of my lessons is one of citizenship. Participation and cooperation are necessary for citizens to live in communities. Both require an informed individual who knows enough to make thoughtful decisions.”
• School board member April Griffin writes Sound Off And Be Heard - “I represent all Hillsborough County schools and voters… I represent you. Tell me what you really think.”
• Longitudinal Observer writes Motel Special Ed - “My reason for this blog came about because one of my children was, by virtue of his existence, sent down a different path for his socialization process. Through the course of his life, we had the benefit of numerous people and a public system that provided him his opportunity for success. For those I will be eternally indebted to. I am here because they were there for him, and he can not thank them. Through the course of his life, we had the inopportunity to be subjugated to a few people and a public system fraught with deceit, disingenuity and contempt. I am here because there are few who can or will stand up to them.”
• Public Education - Politics, Business and Education - “How Politics and Business Obstruct Education”
• PRO on HCPS - Poor Richard’s Observations - “Connecting the Dots for those who do not see the big picture.”
• Fred is a High School Teacher in Tampa Bay, and writes Fred’s World.
• Sisyphus used to write Uniting for Quality Education in Hillsborough, FL (HCSD) - Teachers are bound by our code of ethics to speak out when we know of harmful practices and procedures to our students. This is why I WAS here.  Editor’s note - this blog has been abandoned, but I include it on this list, in the hopes they decide to come back.

Blogs by others interested in the subject of education:

• USF Professor Sherman Dorn writes at Sherman Dorn - Work to understand how schools have been social institutions - “In addition to writing books on dropping out and accountability, Sherman Dorn is the coeditor of books on school communities and Florida education policy, the author of several articles and book chapters on the history of special education, and several pieces on academic freedom in higher education.”
• Lee Drury De Cesare’s Casting-Room Couch - Lee is not a current teacher, but a frequent critic of SDHC and MaryEllen Elia.
• The Gradebook - St. Pete Times education blog.
• Teens @ the Library - not really critical of HC public schools, but these kids go there.

Finally, a couple of related websites.

• Hillsborough County School Board
• Superintendent MaryEllenElia
• Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association (aka “the teacher’s union”)

If you have any interest in education or what’s going on in local schools, go visit each of the above blogs.  Also, if you happen to know of any other websites that focus on K-12 here in Tampa Bay, I’d love to learn about them.

You do realize that if he wins, he will never shut up about it.