Daily Loaf

Steve Kornell with Democratic Committeewoman Linda Lucas at Shackleton's.

It was a mixed bag for gay voters last night. The vote to preserve marriage equality came up short in Maine, but great strides were made in local elections — including St. Petersburg’s City Council race.

Steve Kornell, one of the most impressive candidates in any local race this season, won his St. Pete council seat by a surprisingly large margin — 59.46% to 40.54% — over his opponent, Angela Rouson. He is the first openly gay person in the history of the city to be elected to public office. Like Kevin Beckner, the first openly gay Hillsborough County Commissioner, Kornell brought qualities to his candidacy that transcended issues of sexual orientation: strong community involvement, great campaign preparation, specific ideas and a sharp mind. His election, like Beckner’s, is a heartening sign of progress — even though St. Pete voters elected a new mayor who, like Rick Baker, refuses to march in gay pride parades. (Bill Foster was making sympathetic noises about domestic partnership benefits toward the end of his campaign, though, so there may be some hope there.)

Kornell was not the only LGBT candidate making history last night. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday the St. Petersburg City Council reversed itself from its previous vote two weeks ago, and voted 5-3 to allow for the vacating of the north sidewalk in front of BayWalk, per the request of its owners, along with  Mayor Rick Baker, mayoral candidate Bill Foster, the editorial page of the St. Petersburg Times, and other figures of the city’s establishment.

Councilmember Herb Polson reversed his vote.  We hope to be able to speak with him later today to learn why he changed his mind from two weeks ago.

The activist group St. Pete for Peace, whose demonstrations against the war in Iraq have been blamed by the business establishment as one of the reasons why BayWalk has struggled in recent years, is coming out swinging.  The group says they will be holding a demonstration tonight at 8:30 p.m.

The group says on its website:

In addition to being on the sidewalk we will also be marching in the crosswalk.  It’s ironic that we had not protested at Baywalk in seven months and offered not to protest there for another 12 months. But now, due to the city council resolution, which was meant to stop us from being at Baywalk,  we will once again hold regular protests there.

News coverage last night focused on the fracus that erupted after the vote came in. The anger and disappointment amongst the activist crowd in St. Pete was palpable in the video, shouting comments in the chambers such as “Too big to fail,” “You’ve just driven a stake through the Constitution” and “City of fascists.”

The Reverend Bruce Wright disgustedly walked out saying, “You’re so full of shit it’s ridiculous.”

Here’s video of reaction to the council’s vote: Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Builder goes green with their eco-friendly homes in Terrace Park, Tampa- One company, Rising Force Construction, has undertaken the task of creating affordable, energy efficient homes that promote sustainable living in Terrace Park, an established neighborhood just south of the University of South Florida.

Two more screenings scheduled for Fresh: New thinking about what we’re eating- You now have two more chances to see this new film about what’s wrong with the mega-industrial food industry.

Hope springs from tragedy: A city rebuilds to become better, stronger and greener- Greensburg, Kansas rebuilds to be an all green city. Vote in their green home design competition!
Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s the day St. Petersburg voters put their long, looooooong primary out of its misery. Once all the votes are counted, we’ll have narrowed ten mayoral candidates down to two, with the final outcome to be determined by the general election November 3 — unless one of the ten gets more than 50 percent of the vote, in which case we’ll have a winner (highly unlikely). We’ll also have a clearer picture of who the final contenders (or winners) will be in three City Council districts, and a yes or no on a City Charter amendment deeming that the Pinellas County Canvassing Board canvass all St. Pete elections instead of the city (which could be a money-saver for St. Pete).

After the break, a full list of candidates. To find your polling place, go to the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections site. And here’s a link to past Creative Loafing coverage of top contenders in the mayoral campaign.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

IMPORTANT: If you received a mail-in ballot but have decided to vote today instead, BRING THE MAIL-IN BALLOT WITH YOU to the polling place so the elections officials know you aren’t trying to vote twice. Otherwise your vote today will be treated as provisional — counted only after its validity is confirmed, which likely won’t happen till after all other votes have been tallied. Read the rest of this entry »

St. Pete’s about to get what Tampa has had for years — a poet laureate — and we’re happy to report he’s one of us. Peter Meinke writes the “Poet’s Notebook” column for Creative Loafing, and in a proclamation today from St. Petersburg City Council, he will be named the city’s first poet-in-chief.

The title of “poet laureate” is derived from the Latin word for “laurel,” as in laurel wreath, the traditional emblem of victory. The distinction has been awarded to poets since the 17th century in England, where there was much ado recently about the fact that a woman had finally been named to the position. The U.S. selected its first PL in 1986, Tampa gave James Tokley the title in 1996, and now, finally, there’s St. Pete, whose selection of a poet laureate was spearheaded by a Poynter Institute-based group called City of Writers that aims to enrich the town’s literary culture.

So what’s a poet laureate do? Well, that’s sort of up to the titleholder himself, says Meinke, who expects that readings will be part of the (non-paying) job. But he’s taking it all with a grain of salt. Read the rest of this entry »