Florida

One lane of an eastbound ramp leading to the Courtney Campbell Parkway has been reopened a day ahead of schedule, state Department of Transportation officials said.

But the announcement comes with a caution for drivers: The reconfigured ramp now offers a different alignment and is bordered by concrete barriers. DOT officials say drive carefully.

The ramp lane, on eastbound State Road 60, had been closed for more than a week. Today’s announcement boosts eastbound traffic flow to two lanes.

Casey Cora, Times staff writer

PORT RICHEY — A woman crossing U.S. 19 died Tuesday after she was struck by a motorcycle, Florida Highway Patrol officials said.

Laurie Darcy, 46, of Port Richey was walking west across U.S. 19 at San Marco Drive about 8:30 p.m when she crossed a southbound lane and was struck by a Suzuki motorcycle driven by 46-year-old Dale Hartley Jr., according to an FHP news release.

Darcy was taken to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, where she was pronounced dead. Hartley, also of Port Richey, was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

FHP officials say the crash remains under investigation. Troopers are asking any witnesses to contact Cpl. K.W.

(Read the full post about ‘Port Richey woman, 46, killed crossing U.S. 19′…)

.We now have additional evidence supporting previous claims. The additional evidence is a letter from the Canadian High Commissioner stating that the Government of Barbados had offered Kingsland Estates Limited $22 million. The payment was not made due to “internal differences among the various owners of Kingsland Estates”!! Nobody complained! Were people “persuaded” not to complain, or was everybody who knew about the “deal” perfectly happy with it? Mrs. Knox was kept in the dark about this $22 million offer. The external auditors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers Eastern Caribbean Firm, never mentioned this particular offer in the audited financial statements. (Read the full post about ‘Barbados Government expropriates Kingsland land but does not pay!’…)

Hurricane Daze

Tropical Storm Fay started out as an uneventful day off school for most Tampa Bay area students, but then stuck around to cause harm, even loss of life, with excessive flooding. We hope you and your family remained safe during the storm. Click on the comment button below to tell us about your experiences.

CLEARWATER - Two teenage sisters were injured Sunday when their personal watercraft suddenly exploded in the Intracoastal Waterway north of the Memorial Causeway.

Tiffany M. Davis, 16, was piloting the 1999 Polaris water craft, and her sister Heather N. Davis, 19, was riding as a passenger when the explosion occured at 12:30 p.m.

The sisters, both of Clearwater, had been stopped by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Richard Bennett near the Seminole Boat Ramp because they were not wearing life jackets.

Bennett ticketed the young women and directed them back to the boat ramp because neither had boater identification cards with them.

(Read the full post about ‘Clearwater sisters injured when water scooter explodes’…)

TAMPA — The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says James Patrick Fry, 47, of 3011 Gandy Blvd., is listed as the registered owner of an SUV found engulfed in flames early Saturday morning with a body inside.

Detectives are still waiting on laboratory and DNA analysis from an autopsy to confirm the victim’s identity.

Firefighters found the vehicle in flames about 2:10 a.m. near Taylor and Skewlee roads.

(Read the full post about ‘Deputies name owner of burning SUV that contained body’…)

ST. PETERBURG — While cooking breakfast Sunday morning, a man left his stove to rest on his couch for a few minutes.

When he woke up his house was ablaze, according to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue officials.

The fire broke out a little after 7 a.m. in a wood frame house at 2501 44th St S.

Lt. Joel Granata said the firefighters were met by a young man in his 20s who ran from the house frantically pointing toward a fire in the kitchen.

The firefighters put out the flames quickly, but the house suffered extensive damage and will have to be condemned.

(Read the full post about ‘Sleeping cook’s house burns down’…)

SEFFNER — A Seffner man is in critical condition after being shot once in the torso with a handgun today. Detectives are questioning his roommate, whom they say was the shooter, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokesman J.D. Callaway said.

An adult male shot his roommate, who was in his early 20s, at their house at 1116 Melrose St. at about 2:45 p.m., Callaway said. Charges have not been filed, as the detectives are still questioning the man, Callaway said.

The victim was taken to Tampa General Hospital in critical condition.

The roommates’ names are not available yet, Callaway said, and he didn’t know the events that transpired before the shooting.

(Read the full post about ‘Seffner man in critical condition after shooting’…)

TAMPA — Headlining band Stone Temple Pilots didn’t perform at the Ford Ampitheatre last night, and fans were told at the concert that the band’s no-show was due to bad weather.

A note on the band’s Web site states that they were stuck in Ft. Lauderdale due to inclement weather and couldn’t make it to Tampa in time for the show. "This is completely out of our control at this time," it read.

Speculations about other reasons for the cancellation were plentiful Saturday, as some fans noted that Tropical Storm Fay was affecting northwest Florida, not the route from Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa. Some even wrote on fan sites that they think they saw several of the band members and their tour buses in Tampa before the show.

The band’s Aug.

(Read the full post about ‘Stone Temple Pilots a no-show in Tampa on Friday’…)

Estwick Ebenezer Deane had many descendants. Here are some notables:

• a former Barbados Senator
• a medical doctor
• a lawyer
• a Barbados Scholar and Engineer
• some prominent business persons

While they are known in Barbados, none of the above are world famous. Who is the one and only world famous Deane? . The search for the famous Deane Google searches for specific names in the family did not reveal much beyond the local blogs, except for one name mentioned in Wikipedia. I went to Namepedia.org, and clicked on the “Real people” tab. (Read the full post about ‘Search Reveals World Famous Barbados Deane!’…)