Florida Gov. Charlie Crist shakes hands with his supporters after holding a candidate qualifying event for the U.S. Senate in Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg Thursday afternoon, where he announced he’d be leaving the Republican party to run as an Independent.
Last September, Derrick Humbert was tased around midnight in Bradenton and dead less than an hour later. Melissa Ramsey, the mother of his three children, with whom he lived for 12 years, goes through the evidence box and pauses to look at the blood-stained T-shirt with burn marks believed to be from a taser that Humbert was wearing the night he died. The police and the medical examiner’s office have distanced the taser from having anything to do with his death.
And a portrait of the family left behind.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee spoke to a packed gymnasium at Northside Christian School in St. Petersburg to present his case for Christian education and why it is important for the future of this nation. After sitting in with the Northside Christian School jazz band during “Jump, Jive and Wail” Huckabee leans over to sign autographs for some of the students.
All-in-all, a fun, unexpected picture from a guy at a podium assignment. I’ll take a surprise like that anyday.
One of the highlights of Gulf Blvd. is the Postcard Inn on the Beach, an old Travelodge that has been remade into a chic retro getaway on St. Pete Beach now known for its cool vibe and affordable prices. I got to explore it’s bright colors and throwback styles for a Weekend cover story. If you’re planning a trip to the Florida beaches, this spot is highly recommended. Hell, I may go stay there for a few nights and play tourist in my own town.
If you’re not familiar with the Darfur/Darfur work, you should be. As a part of a cool Eckerd College African initiative, we got the traveling exhibit displayed locally for a month.
Dozens of people stand in the parking lot, watching a mulitimedia presentation of the Darfur/Darfur exhibit projected on the exterior wall of the Florida Holocaust Museum. Wednesday night (April 7) is the final night of the multimedia show being played outside, it runs from 8-10 p.m. The exhibit which features photos taken in Darfu by former U.S. Marine Brian Steidle and photojournalists Lynsey Addario, Mark Brecke, Helene Caux, Ron Haviv, Paolo Pellegrin, James Nachtwey, Ryan Spencer Reed and Michal Safdie is accompanied by Sudanese-inspired music and will still be shown inside the Florida Holocaust Museum through April 30.
Mimi Hipps was on her way back to the Hilton after eating dinner downtown with her granddaughter Mayori Hipps, 7, when they were drawn into the beautiful, haunting Sudanese-inspired music blaring over the loud speakers. So the the pair pulled the car into the parking lot at the Florida Holocaust Museum to watch a mulitimedia presentation of the Darfur/Darfur exhibit projected on the exterior wall building. “It’s really sad, and really unfortunate,” said the elder Hipps, a history buff who used the images as a teaching tool to educate her graddaughter. “The holocaust may be over, but genocide is still happening around the world,” she told her.
Patti Reed has started Patti Kakes, a takeaway window in a Tyrone Gardens strip mall, serving up doses of pink sugary goodness in the form of yummy cupcakes, Amish-made ice cream and more. After a few hours at Chuck E. Cheese with his mom and brother, Jacob Coleman, 4, of St. Petersburg was treated to a strawberry ice cream cone, which he quickly devoured. Reed watches, as Coleman runs around with his toy rocket after ice cream.
The meatloaf cupcake is best served warm. It’s a delicious concotion of Reed’s homemade meatloaf topped with horseradish mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese and bacon, for $2.95.
Best cupcakes ever folks. Seriously. If you’re in St. Pete, GO!
Her store is at 970 58th St. N, St. Petersburg.
Found a feature courtesy of Facebook. Saw a bunch of my friends were planning on attending this event. We needed something for the next day’s paper, so I decided to check it out. In the end, word got out that it would be shutdown, so only a dozen or so dedicated to the cause showed up to play. Still better than a kid at the beach.
Nina Beeman, 22, of Tampa, gets pummeled with pillows during the inaugural April Fools Day St. Pete Pillow Fight outside of the Bank of America building in downtown St. Petersburg. Mandy Moore, 24, of St. Petersburg (not pictured) adapted this event from the Great San Francisco Valentine’s Day pillow fight, which she attended with her sister this past February. She used social networking sites like Facebook to spread the word, and at last count 177 people were confirmed to be attending, with another 279 listed as maybe attending. By the 7 p.m. start Thursday evening, only about 15 people showed up, armed with their pillows, after a rumor that it was being shut down because Bank of America didn’t sanction it was also circulating on the Internet. “In San Francisco, everyone was all smiles. Nobody was fighting, everybody was having a good time. Even the cops who stood by and watched because they knew it was all in good fun,” said Moore. “I really just wanted to recreate that feeling here.”
