Blurbex

As you’ve no doubt read by now, the Pinellas-Pasco State State Attorney’s Office has cleared St. Petersburg police officer Terrence Nemeth in the shooting of 17-year-old Gibbs High School student Javon Dawson after the young man allegedly pointed a gun at Officer Nemeth when police arrived to break up an out-of-control graduation party.

Officer Nemeth is still on leave. Dawson’s family is calling the decision a travesty of justice. The Uhurus are making veiled threats of “consequences.” Just yesterday, after protesters descended on his office, Gov. Charlie Crist asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to do its own review of the case. But, if everything reported so far is correct, there’s probably enough evidence here, including DNA and gun residue, to show Dawson did fire a gun at the party.

But there’s an interesting aspect of the case that could have larger consequences for St. Pete in the future.

Take a look at the St. Petersburg Times’ special report on the shooting, and you’ll find a copy of Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe’s memo to St. Pete Police Chief Chuck Harmon that outlines the results of the investigation. In that memo are the names of witnesses that came forward and talked to the state attorney’s office about the shooting.

If you recall the climate surrounding the shooting in June, police and investigators had an extremely difficult time finding witnesses for the case, despite the fact that some 250 kids were present at the graduation party where Dawson was shot. This spurred all types of commentary on the no-snitching code that’s prevalent in many black communities here in Tampa Bay and across the nation.

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office finally convinced some witnesses to talk, and now, their names are splashed on the Times website for all to see. That includes any Internet-savvy gang members that investigators say Dawson was affiliated with.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

As a rule, I always err on the side of “the more information, the better.” Sometimes revealing names and confidential information on a subject might be uncomfortable, but that’s our job as journalists.

But if I look at this from another point of view, as someone who regularly goes into communities that are hostile to fact-finding folks like police investigators and journalists, I worry this could have a negative effect on future investigations. If witnesses know their names will end up in print (or on the Web), will they still come forward when the next shooting happens? I’m not faulting the Times — I can’t say for sure if I would or wouldn’t do the same thing — but I am surprised the state attorney’s office didn’t redact any names from the report. Just two weeks ago, I was stonewalled by the SPPD for just trying to get a police report of a 2-year-old art theft. Now, a state agency has released the names of witnesses and perhaps put them in danger.

Again, I’m not passing judgement, only curious on the conversations that did (or did not) go on about the ethics of publishing these kids names.

What do you think?

(Photo Credit: Beard Papa)

I’m sure you’ve read the sad accounts of Whaley’s Market closing in South Tampa. (Our own CL music critic Wade Tatangelo even devoted a Top 10 to them). But one neighborhood is not content to wallow in pity over the independent grocery store’s demise.

Residents of Seminole Heights are begging Whaley’s to relocate to their side of town. Seminole Heights doesn’t have a neighborhood market — it’s something they’ve wanted for years. So, the Official Unofficial Seminole Heights blog bought Whalley’s website address and is promising free advertising on its website. They’ve also put a call out to other residents and blogs to spread the word.

Check out the call to action here.

So, it finally happens: Airport security has gotten so ridiculous, and we’ve become such fearful little hamsters, that by the end of the year, we’ll all be submitting to electronic strip searches.

I don’t want to linger on the civil liberties questions raised by the Tampa International Airport’s purchase of four body imaging machines. It wouldn’t do much good anyway, TSA already purchased them.

But if you still believe TSA’s good intentions, let me point out three things that seemed to slip by St. Petersburg Times reporters.

First, a quote by our local Transportation Security Administration spokesman John Van Dyke:

“Our goal is to be proficient with them before the Super Bowl,” in Tampa in February, he said.

Mr. Van Dyke seems to imply that these will help keep Tampa and her tourists safe during the Super Bowl. But those scanners would only scan travelers leaving Tampa, not those coming in for the event.

Second, another TSA spokesman, Christopher White, tells the Times that they will protect passenger’s privacy:

Images are deleted after viewing, and officers can’t “save, store, print or transmit” them, said TSA spokesman Christopher White.

Then tell me — how did the Times get a photo for the front of their Metro section? This is not even going into the fact that nearly everyone has cell phone cameras these days.

Third, White claims the images are detailed, but do not show nudity:

He describes the images as robotic, like someone in a tight-fitting leotard. “You can see detail, but it’s not a naked picture,” White said.

So, do you mind telling me what those nipple-like dots are on the breasts of the woman pictured on the Times website?

That’s the question progressive District 55 voters should think about before they vote in their August 26 primary. Human rights activists uncovered a 2-year-old video of State Rep. Darryl Rouson on a local talk show and sent it out to media this week that shows the former NAACP president making some inane comments about same-sex adoptions and gays and lesbians in general.

From the video, which CL’s PoHo posted here):

“I think it is wrong to allow adoptions of children by gay and lesbian couples. It sends a wrong message early to a child during formative years that’s hard to overcome just by sitting down and talking to them. …”

“I think lesbianism and homosexuality is morally wrong. The law is supposed to discriminate sometimes, in some respects, it is supposed to discriminate against social order and anarchy.”

In a response to the video, Rouson told the Times he’s “evolved” since that 2006 taping of Florida This Week.

In an interview with me last month, I asked Rouson if any of his values had changed since he changed from a Republican to Democrat to run for the Florida State House seat 55. Here’s an excert:

Did you switch parties for political expediency or a change in your values?

My values have remained constant and consistent for the last 20 years. The ones who are most harping about the political party change are those who feel the most threatened by it. And that is my opponent. No one in the Democratic Party is angry or criticizing the 50,000 change in registrations that’s been occurring over the last several years. In fact, the Democrats are celebrating that, for the first time in 50 years, because of the influx of new registrations of Democrats, we now lead in party affiliation in this county. So, to me it’s a little disingenuous to try and attack me only on that.

In contrast to Rouson’s past comments, his primary opponent, the Rev. Charles McKenzie, has long advocated for gay and lesbian rights. In my interview with him in May, McKenzie did mention his position on human rights. He’s a longtime fixture in progressive circles and also sits on the board has been involved with the Florida ACLU, which supports same-sex adoptions.

So back to the main question: Do you think Rouson’s newfound tolerance is heartfelt, or just a political ploy?

Snapped a photo of this little piece of illegal art earlier today on Second Street North and Central Avenue. It’s allegedly a calling card left by the Southern California band OPM, who stopped by Jannus Landing last week on their tour with metalcore outfit Hed PE.

According to Ultimate-Guitar.com, this tag earned OPM frontman John Necro (aka John Charles Edney) an arrest by St. Petersburg Police. He spent a few hours in jail and was released on $1,000 bail (see mugshot here).

“I find it kind of ironic that Saint Petersburg, FL, home to the Salvador Dali museum, could be so insanely uptight about spray painting,” Necro says in the article. “In some areas Graffiti is regarded as a form of art worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions, but obviously the state of Florida feels differently.”

Yep, graffiti is against the law here. I thought that was half of the fun.

Someone should’ve told that to Erotic Lounge owner Bill Schramm (left), who was arrested this weekend by St. Petersburg Police after they found a naked man suspended (quite happily) from the gallery’s ceiling during a risque art show.

According to the Times article, Schramm’s bad day started with an enormous penis statue he had installed in front of his Grand Central District gallery. Responding to a complaint, police told Schramm to remove the penis. He refused, citing “art.”

Fast-forward a few hours: gallery patrons are drinking beer and viewing various erotic paintings and sculptures when police descend upon the storefront. Schramm tries to prevent an officer from entering and he’s slammed to the ground and arrested. The police walk inside, demand identification from patrons and then discover a nude model hanging from the ceiling in some sort of harness.

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Despite the efforts of some community activists, it looks like the huge Confederate Flag  at I-75 and I-4 will still fly.

As the Confederate Flag Dude himself told me last month: “The flag is going to be flown. As long as I have breath in my body and am able to function and articulate. And even if I’m gone, it doesn’t make a difference, the flag is going up.”

So, I think those opposed to the flag need to think beyond trying to change the minds of those proclaiming “Southern Heritage.” They need to think of a suitable response.

Enter: the Alleycat Players.

The local arts group wants you to submit your own flags that define the South.

From their website:

We’re accepting artists’ submissions in both digital format and as physical fabric art creations. We’re going to create an art exhibit that combines displaying the fabric art flags with large-scale projections of the digital creations.

We will be accepting artwork and forming alliances with other artistic/cultural groups for this project through May of 2009, and will be arranging our exhibition for June-July 2009.

Create flags that are representative of our better selves and our varied traditions, and we’ll fly them all!

Something tells me the Confederate Flag Dude is not going to like this …

(h/t to Calebism)

Today is the last day to register to vote in the statewide August primary. There’s umpteen different primary races this year — state house, school board, county commission — and you want to have a say (Keep your eye out for future CL election coverage closer to the primary).

If you think you are registered, but not sure, call your county’s election office to check (Pinellas County residents can check online here). If you just moved within your county, you can call and change your address. Otherwise, go online or head to the library to fill out a new application.

Here’s the links to the election offices:

Pinellas County

Hillsborough County 

Consumer Alert!

Just got a call from a friend of mine with a weird charge on her bank account. It shows up on her bank statement as “Source Limited” and charged her $9.60. She put the company name in Google and it looks like she’s not alone.

I’ve had this happen to me before, and if you buy anything online, I’m sure you have too. If you’re unlucky like me, you didn’t notice for four months and it was a real bitch trying to dispute the charges.

Most of the time these companies are legit, but use some deceptive tactic to get your credit card number. They claim you subscribed to their debt protection service, ringtone downloads, etc. just by clicking on some link or checking a box while you were checking out.

Then there are the companies that are simply fronts for credit card theft. Attorney generals in several states have ongoing investigations into these companies.

Either way, I’m convinced there is a special place in hell for the operators of these scam artists.

So check your statements for this Source Limited company (it looks like several Florida people have been affected) and check with your bank or credit card company on how to get the charges off your account. (Some tips here.)

Anyone else have similar stories?

Remember Pirates, that porn flick that gained local notoriety when reporters found out some of the scenes were shot at the St. Petersburg Pier? The groundbreaking 2005 Digital Playground film made history as the most expensive porn ever produced and is still one of the industry’s top selling movies.Well, Digital Playground will soon release a sequel — Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge — in September and the online buzz is the movie will break the standard porn mold again.

According to press releases, producers spent nearly $10 million on the project and it features all sorts of CGI special effects. There’s also a long list of adult actors, including Pirates original cast member Jesse Jane and award-winning star Belladonna (these links aren’t safe for work).

Check out a preview here (oh, and this link is work-safe).

11:30 a.m. at the Fourth Street Salvation Army. A dozen other XL pro-stadium shirts joined this one.

Got this from the Darden Rice campaign for Pinellas County commissioner:

Darden asks Rene, “Where’d ya get that yard sign?”

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Yard signs are among the most visible parts of a campaign – and so are their hiccups. The Darden Rice campaign posted a picture today of her opponent’s misspelled yard sign …

“There are just some details you have to get right,” said Darden Rice. “Especially the name of the job you’re asking voters to hire you for.”

Here’s that photo:

Now, do you think former St. Petersburg City Councilmember Rene Flowers has to pay for those signs?

But the real question I have is this: Is a misspelled yard sign really that big of deal to voters? As a Pinellas County resident — with all the issues facing us like taxes, crunched budgets, crime — would a yard sign really make or break your support for Flowers? Or does it make Rice look petty?

 Shout outs to some local bloggers:

• St. Petersblog rips into Progress Energy CEO Jeff Lyash and the “community” effort to find the Tampa Bay Rays a spot for their new stadium.
• Want to see some more theater shows, but your wallet is empty? David Jenkins has an idea on how you can get in for free.
• Pelicans’ Last Supper on Sticks of Fire.
• Lenny Bruce recollections over on Pushing Rope.

In this week’s Urban Explorer, I tackle local art theft and profile a couple artists whose artwork was stolen, literally, right off the wall at a gallery and restaurant.

It’s not a rare occurrence. Talk to any prolific artist and most likely they’ll have a story or two about pilfered paintings.

As I reported the piece, I thought about the good it could do to get pictures of the stolen art into the public eye. So, if you read the online version of the story, there are photos of the stolen pieces I wrote about.

But there are only two photos so far. If you’ve had art stolen, I’d like to post your photos, too.

So, if you have a digital photo of your stolen artwork, go to the Creative Loafing You Shoot page and upload the photo via Flickr. Once received, we’ll post the photos on the story’s web page. Just think of it as a digital milk carton. And, hopefully, it’ll lead to the reuniting of you and your work.

In case any of you were hanging on the edge of your bungalow, tossing and turning in your sleep, at the mere possibility that the (mostly) loved Seminole Heights Starbucks might close …

You can stop holding your breath. It’s not closing. (h/t to Seminole Heights Blog.)

Whew.

(And here’s a few words from someone who really could care less.)

I’m a little late on this post, but I can’t ignore it. Last night, at the St. Petersburg Council Of Neighborhood Associations monthly meeting, neighborhood leaders voted on an issue I first brought you back in December: the split of the Bartlett Park Neighborhood Association.
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A few days ago, I ripped into TBO.com’s commenters as the worst in the area. I (quietly) received a few whispers and e-mails from people agreeing with me. Yes, differing opinions — even caustic ones — are great for media, but out-and-out libel, racism or cruelness? Those kind of commenters can quickly turn readers off from a website or blog.

I’m not the only one to think so. Time writer Lev Grossman recently editorialized on these hostile trolls, highlighting a guest blogger for the Stranger, an alternative weekly out of Seattle, who abruptly quit her gig because commenters had become too cruel. But it’s not just newspapers, he writes, but everything on the web from Flikr to YouTube:

A random example: on June 11, a user called way21337 uploaded a video to YouTube. It’s titled My new gerbil, and it shows, in fact, a black-and-white gerbil snuffling around cutely in somebody’s hand. It is 11 seconds long. By press time, it had acquired 102 comments. Let’s take a look! They begin with NewTyhuss, who writes, “sweet!” Things start going south with comment No. 4: “id hit it.” (Good one, ZRace67!) After a week, we’re down to eldergod: “why dont u shove that gerbil up yur ass and quit posting stupid videos.” bwalhof writes, “kill yourself. fast.” And so on.

Grossman sums up my feelings fairly well:

The horribleness of commenters isn’t really a mystery: Internet anonymity is disinhibiting, and people are basically mean anyway. Nor is it a mystery why the people who run websites put up with commenters: the economic model for Internet content is based on advertising, which means it’s based on traffic volume, and comments mean traffic. They’re part of the things that make online publishing work. TIME.com enables comments on its blogs, including mine.) It’s just hard to tell whether they’re ruining the Web faster than they can save it.

(As for the Stranger blogger, looks like she’s back up with a little extra dough from her employer …)

There’s some good news on the preservation front:

The City Council has approved a proposal of Saint Pete Preservation Inc. to preserve some of the Crislip Arcade, one of three arcades left in the city.

From my earlier story on the nine most endangered buildings in St. Pete:

Over the decades, St. Pete has lost many of its early commercial arcades, or open-air shopping corridors. The Crislip Arcade — one of only three left in the city — may be next. The 82-year-old arcade was built during St. Pete’s ’20s boom, and like other arcades, is regarded as a precursor to pedestrian malls and modern shopping malls.

In 2006, 601 Central LLC bought the entire north side of the block and moved out several small retailers in order to build condos. Soon after, the housing market tanked and the block has sat empty since. But on May 1, the developer requested a demolition permit from the city, which is pending.

But due to the efforts of SPP, the developer now must follow some strict rules on how they go about demolishing the building, including:

• No demolition permit will be issued until the developer has financing and has submitted their full development plans.
• The final development will include a ground level arcade that replicates the original.
• Preservation groups must be noticed before demolition so they can grab any historic tiles, blocks, etc.
• A historical marker will be posted on the site.
• An American Historic Building Survey must be completed that documents the history of the building, archives blueprints and photos.
• The Crislip Arcade logo will be remain on the new building.

In an e-mail to supporters, SPP president Will Michaels points out that the application they filed helped halt the demolition process of the Crislip Arcade. He writes:

Saint Petersburg Preservation originally filed an application to landmark the Crislip.  We were advised by City staff that this was the only way to stop the imminent demolition of the building. Although demolition procedures had been initiated, the owners and buyers did not have the permitting or financing in place to actually begin
construction.  Too often in the past historic buildings have been demolished, only to leave a vacant lot in place for years to come.  While SPP has agreed to withdraw the landmark application, were it not for filing it the demolition would have proceeded and none of the ten points in the agreement would have happened.

And though SPP wishes the whole building could be saved, they’re happy that some concessions were made. Plus, since a new demolition permit could take years to procure, perhaps there is hope that another investor will come in, buy the building and find a profitable re-use for it.

This good news comes after the owners of the First Baptist Church announced they would retain that downtown historical building’s facade instead of demolishing the whole structure.

Maybe we’re finally getting somewhere with preservation after all …

This story falls into the “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” catagory:

Last week, Virgin Mobile and the National Network For Youth embarked on a web campaign to raise clothing donations for homeless youth. Yawn, right? So to ratchet up support for the benefit, they encouraged the young and altruistic to post strip tease videos on their website. The more views on their stripping posts, the more donations of new clothes they’d provide. The website name says it all: Strip2Clothe.com (go ahead, I’ll wait).

Their slogan is just as catchy: “Take off yours, we donate ours.”

Not surprisingly, a firestorm ensued, most notably by some of the charities under the NN4Y umbrella.

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

“Strip2Clothe” has sparked outrage among NN4Y’s own members. Some groups say they were never consulted about the concept and are appalled by the idea of young people stripping as a means to get clothes for other young people. The organizations’ names have since been taken off the site.

“It was a shock to everybody,” said Trudee Able-Peterson, coordinator of outreach services at StreetWorks, a Twin Cities collaborative of outreach programs. “This is the message we send kids? That my granddaughter, who’s 17, should strip to provide clothes for other kids?”

Rebecca Lentz, a spokeswoman for Catholic Charities, called it “distasteful and inappropriate and exploitative. We never authorized this nor were we ever approached to be involved.”

At first glance, the concept seems a little edgy and innovative. But then you start thinking about all those homeless youth that are on the street because of sexual abuse. While full nudity is prohibited, there is no limit on ages. Hmmm … on second thought, maybe having young people strip on the web for all sorts of pedophiles is not such a good idea.

The Star-Tribune reports the folks at Virgin Mobile and NN4Y are re-evaluating the concept, too. But they haven’t ended the campaign.

So, what do you think? Were the folks at Virgin (oh!) thinking outside the box, or are they a bunch of pervs?

Now that the Rays have abandoned plans for a waterfront stadium at the Al Lang Field site (for now), preservationists and community leaders are once again petitioning the city to preserve the site as a park.

At tomorrow’s 8:30 a.m. St. Petersburg City Council meeting, councilmember Jeff Danner plans to introduce a resolution to designate the Al Lang Field site as “Downtown Center Park.” The resolution is supported by the city’s Council Of Neighborhood Associations and St. Pete Preservation Inc.

Will Michaels, a CONA board member and president of St. Pete Preservation Inc. sent out an e-mail to members today:

Designation of Al Lang as part of the park zoning will prevent condos and other large buildings from being built on the Al Lang site. It would still allow a Ray’s major league regular season stadium to be built on the site, although that would require a referendum to be approved. The current small spring-training Al Lang stadium may remain on the site. This could be used for high school, college, or Little Leagure baseball, or for cultural activities (plays and concerts), or a new permanent location for the popular Saturday Morning Market, etc. The small Al Land Stadium fits the site and still provides green space and views of the bay for the public. One of our most precious assets is our Downtown Waterfront Park. Placing Al Lang under the downtown park zoning will further help to preserve the Waterfront Park for future generations.

Last year, I reported on residents’ push for this waterfront protection. But the day after I filed my story, the Rays came out with their own plan for the site, completely changing the narrative.

CONA president Barbara Heck already wrote the City Council supporting the resolution, but Michaels says all concerned residents need to contact the City Council to show their support.

(Photo courtesy of Tim Baker)