Florida

On 3rd April 2008, the Daily Mail ran this article questioning Britain’s role in giving support to repressive regimes. Quotes are in boxes with a yellow background. David Milliband, the Foreign Secretary, was yesterday full of righteous anger in the Commons against this dictator who has ruined his country and tried to fix the elections (again).Who could have guessed that until recently this appalling person was succoured by successive British Governments? In 1994 he received an honorary knighthood from the Queen on the recommendation of the then Tory government. After this dictator has been succoured and praised by the British, now he is demonized and vilified. (Read the full post about ‘Did Both the British Government and the Queen Facilitate Evil Dictators?’…)

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A Holiday man was killed late Wednesday after the motorcycle he was driving collided with a car on U.S. 19, Florida Highway Patrol officials said.

Justin M. Harris, 29, 5545 Riddle Road, was driving a motorcycle north on U.S. 19 around 11:40 p.m. when the bike struck the left side of a two-door Volkswagen that had just turned right onto the highway from County Road 95, troopers said.

Witnesses told investigators Harris was speeding.

The impact threw Harris from the motorcycle. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Palm Harbor
Fire Rescue personnel. Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Harold Frear said Harris was not wearing a helmet.

The car’s driver, 43-year-old Nada Duheric, was taken to Mease Countryside Hospital.

(Read the full post about ‘Motorcyclist killed in Palm Harbor wreck’…)

A witness said the car came to rest pressed against an apartment building, its rear wheels off the ground. [LARA CERRI | Times] ST. PETERSBURG — A 14-year-old driver hit and killed a 5-year-old boy Wednesday evening at the Pinellas Point Apartments in St. Petersburg. Carlita Davis, 43, who lives in the apartment complex with her four sons, was sitting on her porch just after 7 p.m. when she heard the crash. She ran down to the scene and saw a blue Volkswagen Cabrio hit a concrete block wall for a second time, pinning the boy and causing the wall to collapse. Davis tried to get the girl driving the Cabrio to put it in park, but instead the girl put it in reverse and hit the accelerator, backing the car up into an apartment building. (Read the full post about ‘Child killed in crash’…)

ST. PETERSBURG - Raytheon Co. launched a website to address the concerns of nearby residents regarding the toxic plume migrating off its west St. Petersburg facility.

In a news release sent Wednesday afternoon, the company said the site provides timely information on the assessment report due this weekend to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Information on water use, community outreach and facility history are also explored on the site. The site can be found at http://www.raytheonstpetersburg.com

The launch of the site comes in advance of the community meeting Raytheon is hosting at its facility this Friday at 7 p.m. to discuss the key findings of the report.

(Read the full post about ‘Raytheon launches website to address plume concerns’…)

TAMPA — Staff at Tampa General Hospital mistakenly started performing a cardiac catheterization last week on the wrong patient, hospital officials said Wednesday evening.

The man was not harmed, and the hospital is conducting an internal investigation. Staff members failed to follow proper hospital protocol to identify the patient before the medical procedure, said hospital spokesman John Dunn.

A doctor "had inserted a catheter and was taking readings, but they hadn’t injected any dye," Dunn said. "It was very early in the procedure." In a cardiac catheterization, a thin tube is inserted in an artery and dye is injected to view blood flow in coronary arteries.

(Read the full post about ‘Tampa General starts procedure on wrong patient’…)

A day after a fight and shooting near Lake Worth High School sent one teenager to the hospital in critical condition, police on Thursday arrested a 17-year-old boy on attempted murder charges.

The incident, which Lake Worth police detectives say might be gang-related, took place at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday on Lucerne Avenue, shortly after students were released from school. As many as 20 people were involved, police said.

A white van leaving the scene led police on a chase onto Interstate 95 northbound to Forest Hill Boulevard, where it finally stopped. (Read the full post about ‘Police arrest teenager in Lake Worth shooting’…)

Beachgoers beware this weekend. The threat of rip currents will continue throughout the weekend, the National Weather Service in Miami says. East winds will remain at 10 to 15 mph, which can cause breaks in the sand bar that result in rip currents, weather service specialist Bob Ebaugh said. There is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms today through Sunday in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Related links Tips on how to spot and survive rip currents Multimedia Temperatures should remain in the 70s or 80s, Ebaugh said. If you go to a beach where there isn’t a lifeguard, don’t go into the water above the knees, Ebaugh said. (Read the full post about ‘Beware: More dangerous rip currents this weekend’…)

At a climactic meeting this Saturday, national Democratic Party leaders are expected to agree to count Florida’s presidential primary results and to seat the state’s delegation at the national nominating convention in August.

Once barred from the convention for holding primaries in January, Florida and Michigan are appealing to the Rules and Bylaws Committee.

Here are answers to key questions:

Q: What’s the most likely outcome of this meeting?

Related links

• Should Florida delegates be seated and counted at the Democratic convention?

  Yes No I don’t know

  • View current results

A: The committee is expected to vote to accept the Florida and Michigan delegations, but only partially.

(Read the full post about ‘Florida delegates likely to be seated for national convention in August’…)

With the tropics already starting to percolate — as evidenced by the emergence of Tropical Storm Alma off the coast of Nicaragua on Thursday — far too many residents along the U.S. coastline are ill-prepared to face a hurricane, a major poll shows.

Specifically, 56 percent of residents between Texas and Maine have no family plan, 67 percent have no survival kit and 85 percent have not bolstered their homes, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll.

With the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season officially starting on Sunday, the results troubled local, state and federal officials, who gathered at the National Hurricane Center in Miami-Dade County on Thursday to implore residents to make early preparations.

“It gives us some idea of the challenges we still face,” said Bill Read, the center director. (Read the full post about ‘Poll: Few in vulnerable areas are prepared for a hurricane’…)