The California criminal trial of Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Charles Cope was indefinitely continued after a pretrial hearing Thursday. The clerk of court's office in Monterey County, Calif., confirmed that Cope's Feb. 25 trial was taken off the court calendar after lawyers in the case sought a continuance. The case's next pretrial hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27. No new trial date is set.

Monterey County prosecutors could not immediately be reached for comment. One of Cope's attorneys, Robert Merkle, had earlier said Cope would seek a routine continuance as both sides prepare for trial.

Cope, who is on paid leave of absence pending trial, faces five misdemeanors related to an incident in which two women accused him of trying to enter their hotel room last year. Cope also faces noncriminal charges from the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, which could seek his removal if he is found to have violated judicial canons.

Ex-council member says break-in may be message

ST. PETERSBURG -- Vandals kicked in the door to the office of accountant David Welch, and the former City Council member wonders whether drug dealers were trying to send him a message.

Nothing was taken from the office at 1601 16th St. S in the break-in early Wednesday.

Welch thinks the culprits might have been retaliating against him and his son, Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch, who is among local black political leaders who have taken a stand against drug dealing after recent attacks on police officers.

Asked whether he thought the burglary was related to that, Ken Welch replied, "Absolutely. No doubt in my mind."

NAACP president Darryl Rouson has taken the same public stance as Welch, calling for police to put lawbreakers in jail.

Just a block from Welch's office, police investigated a possible burglary early Wednesday at the NAACP's St. Petersburg office.

Rouson said police found the NAACP's front door open after the Welch burglary call. Rouson isn't sure whether the building was burglarized.

"It could have been innocent," he said. "They said they found the front door open, and the side door looked like it had been jimmied and the dead-bolt was not engaged."

Rouson also said he or another NAACP officer could have accidentally left the building unlocked.

School notifies parents about student's illness

ST. PETERSBURG -- A Gibbs High School student has been diagnosed with meningococcemia, an infection of the blood. It is contagious but not through casual contact.

On Thursday, a letter was sent to parents about the student, who was not identified. Ron Stone, a school district spokesman, said the student was being treated at home.

Symptoms of meningococcemia include fever, chills, malaise, low back and thigh pain, muscle aches and a rash.

"We have been assured by the Pinellas County Health Department that they are in the process of identifying contacts considered at risk of acquiring this bacteria," the letter says.

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