Week in Review

SCHOOL BUS CRASHES ON THE WAY TO ADAMS: Blake Wheeler didn't know what to think Thursday when his school bus went out of control. "The bus just went crazy," the sixth-grader said. He said the driver was tossed to the floor as the bus knocked down a small tree in the median of Bearss Avenue and rolled through the oncoming lane. The bus nearly plowed into a house at 2525 Bearss Ave. before it came to a halt. "Everybody was on the floor," Blake said.

None of the 14 students from Adams Middle School was seriously injured. Blake, 13, suffered a sprained left ankle, but he was the only student who required medical attention.

Bus driver Katrina Pernini, 26, said she thinks something was wrong with the bus. It is not the one she normally drives. "I was trying to straighten the bus up, but the wheels weren't turning the way I was steering," she said, adding that the brakes didn't work either.

The bus had just pulled off Lake Emerald Boulevard and made a left onto Bearss Avenue when it spun out of control, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder said. It struck a small tree and some bushes in the median and went across the westbound lane of Bearss.

PHONY 'INVOICE' FLAGGED: The "invoice" from "The Judicial System" looks authentic, with columns of numbers, a due date and even sales tax added. But Hillsborough County says it is illegal, and you shouldn't pay the $37.84. Investigators last week were looking for the Carrollwood man they blame for sending it.

"We know that he has sent out over a thousand" based on invoice numbers, said Jim Sudberry, director of the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency. The "invoice" claims to be for a certificate that "guarantees you employment and ownership of your real estate."

Sudberry's agency said the mailings "may be preying upon" property owners' concerns after media coverage of Don Connolly, who bought numerous slivers of land around the Tampa Bay area that were crucial to the use of larger properties.

Sudberry said the fake "invoices" were mailed by Rafael Maurell, 36, of Carrollwood. The mailings appear to have targeted Maurell's own ZIP code in western Carrollwood, plus the Keystone ZIP code, Sudberry said.

Law enforcement records show a series of arrests of Maurell over the past two years, including a charge of kidnapping his 55-year-old mother for a day in 2000. All charges were dropped except for a car theft case, in which Maurell was acquitted by a jury.

"What we're really looking for is someone who has sent money to him," Sudberry said. "That makes the prosecution of the case more attractive." Such people should call his office at 903-3430.

USF HIRES RESEARCH VP: The University of South Florida has hired internationally recognized scientist M. Ian Phillips as its new vice president of research.

Phillips, a professor of physiology and functional genomics, is the associate vice president of research and graduate programs at the University of Florida. He starts Jan. 31.

"Dr. Phillips is an accomplished scholar, researcher and administrator," USF President Judy Genshaft said. "His background makes him the perfect fit for our emphasis in bio-engineering and the life sciences."

Phillips will be responsible for developing and enhancing research in a program that last year brought in more than $207-million in contracts and grants. That's up from $65-million a decade ago.

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