Two little Panhandle towns outfoxed their much-bigger counterparts and snapped up Florida Water Services in a roughly $500-million offer in the state's largest private utility deal.

There was already a $450-million deal in the works for Citrus, Polk and Nassau counties to make history as the overseers of a system that affects 250,000 people in 27 counties, including water and sewer systems in Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. But the "dithering" and "arrogance" of the officials involved cost them the deal, said Brooksville attorney and Florida Water representative Joe Mason.

So how did the Panhandle towns of Gulf Breeze -- only 6,200 people -- and Milton, about 20 miles north, pull together the stunning, half-billion-dollar deal? Simple. Gulf Breeze's municipal bond work has become a cottage industry during the past 17 years.

The beach town borrows tens of millions of dollars at a time, then lends smaller amounts to other governments for a fee.

Lawmakers, watchdog groups and the spurned counties are talking of lawsuits and investigations into what they say is a suspicious deal that could lead to higher water and sewer rates while moving control farther from customers.

Fake reef may help Citrus whoopers survive

CHASSAHOWITZKA -- More than 95 tons of shell was dropped in the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge this month to create an artificial reef that might save the endangered whooping crane.

Last winter, one of the few survivors of the history-making flock that was guided by ultralight plane to Florida left a protected pen to roost in a shallow creek. It was a fatal mistake: A bobcat pounced on the hapless crane.

The Chassahowitzka Five, as the remaining cranes came to be known, returned to Wisconsin in the spring, marking the first time in a century whooping cranes had fully migrated in North America.

Now a new batch of whoopers is being trained to follow ultralight aircraft to Florida, with an expected departure of Oct. 7. To solve the bobcat problem, researchers devised a simple, but technically challenging plan.

Using helicopters, about 95 tons of natural shell material was dropped to create a reef intended to keep the cranes from straying from the pen, which will be enlarged to 3 acres from 1 to accommodate 17 birds, about twice the number that left Wisconsin last fall.

Clearwater aquarium suffers money crunch

CLEARWATER -- The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is battling a wave of financial and attendance problems and officials hope public support will keep it afloat.

The aquarium has a $150,000 budget deficit. Officials are asking the community to help pull it out of debt.

Officials say the sharp decline in tourism after last year's terrorist attacks is to blame for the aquarium's financial difficulties. A drop in ticket sales in the past several months -- coupled with the increasing amount of money the aquarium spends to rehabilitate sick or stranded animals, such as sea turtles, dolphins and whales -- has left the facility scrambling for money. "It's not a crisis," said Dennis Kellenberger, the aquarium's executive director. "It's a crunch. We need to have a grass roots-type campaign to get the community involved."

Other local animal attractions, from the Lowry Park Zoo to the Florida Aquarium, are also hurting this year because of rising costs and the drop in tourism.

Couple accused of making foster care a family business

PORT RICHEY -- To workers in the state's struggling child welfare system, the Gourlays are a godsend. They are one of the few families that want foster children, the kids nobody else will take.

But to the Forest Lake Estates Neighborhood Association, Steven and Corinna Gourlay are deed restriction violators who are "making a business of taking in foster children."

"I understand they aren't doing it for free or out of love, that it's a business," said association attorney Donald R. Peyton.

The Gourlays have five foster children and four children of their own. The nine children range in age from 2 to 15.

To cover the expenses of the five foster children, the state pays the family $2,028 a month, or about $405 a child. And that's where the neighborhood association takes issue.

The association isn't backing down, even though there was an outpouring of support -- including free legal help -- for the family since the Gourlays' story was reported in the St. Petersburg Times. A deadline passed Saturday, and the family said it had no intention of making any changes.

In the meantime, child welfare officials have expressed concern over the precedent that could be set.

Owner of nude club wants naming rights deal, too

TAMPA -- With the grand opening set for Oct. 19 for Tampa's new streetcar stations, only a few of the naming rights for the trolley stations have been sold to local businesses.

The system hopes to grab tourists unloading from cruise ships or arriving for a convention.

Those are exactly the people strip club owner Joe Redner wants to grab for the Mons Venus on N Dale Mabry Highway.

City Council member Rose Ferlita said Redner should be given an opportunity to buy one of the station names.

Meanwhile, a deal with the Tampa Tribune to name a streetcar station was approved Thursday by the council. It says the Tribune will give the streetcar operators $125,000 worth of free advertising to name a station. However, Tribune marketing director Amy Chown told Editor & Publisher that news of the deal was "premature" and said the newspaper has not agreed to give free advertising.

Redner said he would pay $150,000 -- in cash.

If the Tribune won't accept the deal, Redner might get to buy the naming rights to the station. If not, Redner said he would prefer the station by the Tampa Convention Center.

In short . . .

-- SPRING HILL -- Spring Hill Fire commissioners turned to a consultant to conduct an internal investigation of rape allegations against three firefighters. The move comes after the woman making the allegations said the Spring Hill Fire Rescue District could not conduct an objective investigation of the firefighters.

-- BROOKSVILLE -- West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes have infected dozens of animals throughout the Suncoast, and the Florida Department of Health has upgraded Pasco, Hernando and Pinellas counties to medical alert status. The virus was found in chickens, horses or crows in all three counties. Seven confirmed human cases of West Nile have been found in Florida this season, with no deaths. Symptoms are flu-like, including headache, fever, fatigue, dizziness, weakness and confusion. In severe cases, West Nile causes encephalitis or brain inflammation.

Coming up this week

-- The bay area will get a visit from the White House next week when first lady Laura Bush visits Tampa for a rally Tuesday held by Women for Jeb, supporters of the first lady's brother-in-law, Gov. Jeb Bush. The governor, his wife and the first lady will be on hand at the rally, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel. Admission is invitation-only. For information, call the Pinellas County Republican Party headquarters at (727) 773-1093.

-- Citrus County Judge Patricia Thomas on Thursday is to consider a motion by John-Henry Williams, late baseball star Ted Williams' only son, who seeks to have his sister Bobby-Jo Ferrell's challenge of his father's estate dismissed for technical legal reasons. The effort to remove the Red Sox legend's body from cryonic freezing could collapse anyway because Ferrell is struggling to pay the legal bills from the case, according to her lawyers.

-- Compiled by Times staff writer Sharon Kennedy Wynne

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