Week in review

PROPANE TANKER CRASHES ON VETERANS RAMP: A propane gas tanker veered out of the northbound lanes of the Veterans Expressway on Thursday morning, slamming into a southbound pickup. The body of the propane tanker ripped away from its axles, hurtled over the expressway wall and plunged onto an entry ramp at Ehrlich Road.

The driver of the propane truck, Ronald C. Pugh, 63, of Citrus Park was killed instantly. Also killed was 44-year-old Nancy J. Smolsky, the pickup truck driver. No other drivers were injured.

The 2,600 pounds of propane in the gas tanker did not explode. A small fire broke out but was quickly extinguished. But 3 miles of the expressway, from the Gunn Highway exit to the Hutchison Road exit, were closed in both directions for much of the day. Firefighters and emergency response workers spent hours draining the propane gas out of the truck, said Ray Yeakley, public information officer for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

The expressway's northbound lanes were reopened in the afternoon. It wasn't until shortly after 7 p.m., nearly 12 hours after the accident, that the southbound lanes were reopened.

The Veterans Expressway has only intermittent barriers to prevent cars crossing into oncoming lanes. The gas tanker veered through the median just before such a barrier.

The tanker crash was the second accident involving a Bay Cities truck in recent months.

AMBLER ALLOWED TO RUN: Republican Kevin Ambler will remain on the Nov. 5 ballot in Hillsborough County. Leon County Circuit Judge Ralph L. "Bubba" Smith refused Wednesday to throw Ambler off the ballot, saying the four citizens who filed suit in an attempt to remove his name could not show any evidence that Ambler is in violation of the state's "resign to run law."

Ambler was a board member of the Northdale Special District and did not resign until well after he filed to run for House District 47. Four voters in the district alleged that Ambler was in violation of the law because he failed to resign from the special district board before qualifying as a candidate for another office.

Ambler, a lawyer who practices commercial and business law, is opposed by Democrat Michael Steinberg and Libertarian candidate Robert Schwartzberg. Steinberg did not file the lawsuit, but said he believed Ambler was in violation of the law.

Peter Antonacci, the Tallahassee lawyer who represented Ambler, noted that the law has been amended several times since its adoption in 1970, most recently in 1991.

Smith called the special district "a glorified homeowners association" with no taxing authority and questioned how anyone could consider its board members to be exercising the sovereign power of the state. The resign to run law says certain public officials have to resign one office to seek another if the terms would overlap.

"There are no facts to support the conclusion that Mr. Ambler was an officer that would be affected by the law," Smith said.

Ambler said he resigned from the homeowners association Oct. 18 because he is moving to Lutz this month. He will still be living in the House district.

GIRL RAPED IN LAUNDRY ROOM: Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies were searching last week for a man who raped a 15-year-old girl Thursday morning inside a laundry room at an apartment complex. Investigators said the girl was accosted about 6:45 a.m. as she walked through the parking lot of the Forest Lake Apartments,12202 N 22nd St. They said the man brandished a black pistol and forced her into a nearby laundry room, where he raped her before fleeing.

Deputies searched the area and tried to track the man with canine units but had no luck. Anyone with information was asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200 or CrimeStoppers at (800) 873-TIPS.

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