And local scientists are looking for more people to listen close - and then tell them what they heard - as part of the Frog Listening Network.
The Hillsborough River Greenways Task Force started the network five years ago to keep track of the type and number of frogs and toads that live locally, said task force director Laura DeLise.
Frogs are "very sensitive to even the slightest environmental change, whether it's water quality, pollution in the air, loss of habitat . . .," said DeLise, who lives in Bayshore Beautiful.
So, if they aren't hopping or splashing, something's wrong with the ecosystem.
The task force focuses on balancing development and natural habitat in the Hillsborough River watershed. The network, modeled after several national programs, has about 50 hard-core listeners in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
The Frog Listening Network offers classes for school, civic and neighborhood groups. For information, call Laura DeLise at 813 495-5285 or e-mail her at hrgtf@tampabay.rr.com
To hear frog calls for yourself, try these Internet sites:
Swing vote kills Largo's sweeping human rights rule
LARGO - The vote could have gone either way.
In the days leading up to Tuesday night's meeting, three City Commission members said they supported a controversial human rights ordinance, and three said they opposed it.
The swing vote: Jean Halvorsen.
"I didn't even think about how I was going to vote until I heard everything last night," Halvorsen said Wednesday.
Her "no" vote was the difference in a 4-3 defeat of the proposal, which would have protected residents from discrimination based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. It would have been the broadest human rights law in the Tampa Bay area.
Religious leaders spoke against it. Pinellas County Commissioner Calvin Harris, Pinellas County School Board chairwoman Linda Lerner and Largo High School principal Barbara Thornton voiced support, as did several people who identified themselves as transgender or gay.
Those who voted against it said the city wasn't ready or didn't need such an ordinance.
No harm from dumping phosphate waste found
Scientists monitoring the dumping of waste from the Piney Point phosphate plant into the Gulf of Mexico have seen no adverse effects so far, they announced Wednesday.
"To date we have found no Red Tide or other toxic algal blooms," Gabe Vargo, one of the scientists from the University of South Florida monitoring the dumping since it began last month, said during a conference call.
Mitch Roffer, a Miami-based oceanographer hired to monitor the dumping for the fishing industry, said he agreed that so far there is no apparent problem. But the findings did not satisfy activists, who worry that dumping the ammonia-rich waste into the Gulf of Mexico will create an environmental disaster.
"The evidence is far from conclusive in either a positive or a negative way," said Joe Murphy, who is in charge of coastal issues for the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club.
Two years ago the owners of the Piney Point plant just south of the Hillsborough-Manatee county line abandoned it. They left behind ponds full of acidic wastewater.
Rains have pushed the water level so high that the state Department of Environmental Protection feared it would spill into Tampa Bay, so DEP officials persuaded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to let them treat hundreds of millions of gallons of the waste to lower the acid content, then dump it into the Gulf of Mexico. The dumping begins about 120 miles from Pinellas beaches.
Aging Weeki Wachee attraction donated
WEEKI WACHEE - The city of Weeki Wachee now counts mermaids among its citizens.
The shareholders who have reaped profits from running the Weeki Wachee Springs tourist attraction over the past four years have agreed to donate their company to the city.
The investors hope to get a tax credit for their donation, which some officials have said could be worth as much as $1.5-million. And the city will gain control of the company's profits, which will be spent on repairs to the aging Florida landmark.
The arrangement comes at a crucial time in the 56-year history of Weeki Wachee Springs, an attraction whose claim to fame is its underwater mermaid shows.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District, which owns the spring itself, the 440 acres surrounding it and the buildings on the property, had set an Aug. 12 deadline for Weeki Wachee LLC to repair and improve the park's aging infrastructure or risk losing its long-term lease.
Sunday alcohol rules are drawing attention
The talk of spirits on Sunday lately is more of the distilled variety than those found in hymnals.
After St. Petersburg voted to ease its Sunday "blue law," moving the ban on alcohol up to 11 a.m. from the longstanding - and countywide rule - of 1 p.m., other cities started to take note and consider relaxing their rules.
The latest is Tampa, where City Council members Rose Ferlita and Shawn Harrison raised the prospect Thursday of letting the taps flow at 11 a.m., not the current 1 p.m.
They had the backing of airport officials, who pushed for even more latitude for the sale of alcohol at TIA bars. The airport wants to be able to start selling drinks at 7 a.m.
Meanwhile in St. Petersburg, city officials were surprised last week to get a memo from the county attorney's office saying the city had no right relax a countywide rule.
City officials said they are confident they had the proper authority, and Karen Seel, chairwoman of the County Commission, said she considers it a local issue.
In short . . .
CLEARWATER - Organizers have decided to drop the much-maligned preferred seating section at this year's Clearwater Jazz Holiday in Coachman Park. The experiment last year, in which people paid $25 for up-front seating, was a failure, said Jane Olds, president of Jazz Force, the volunteers who organize the festival.
HOMOSASSA SPRINGS - A chance encounter with manatees at the Cincinnati Zoo sparked an inspiration for actor, author and composer John Lithgow that will soon become a boon for Florida manatees. On Sept. 13, Lithgow will perform at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park and sign copies of his new book, I'm a Manatee, with proceeds going to the Save the Manatee Club and projects at the park.
Coming up this week
The Dade City Commission will vote Tuesday on whether to abolish its police and fire departments. By getting the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and Pasco County Fire Rescue to take over, the cash-strapped city will save on overhead and insurance.
The presidents of the state's universities expect to make a final decision on enrollment caps at a meeting Friday in Orlando. The cap could freeze 2004 enrollment at this year's levels, shutting the door on tens of thousands of high school seniors. The presidents have said they can't accept additional students if state lawmakers refuse to pay for them. Meanwhile, the board that oversees Florida universities last week said it will not allow enrollment caps next year, promising instead to seek funding for at least 9,700 new students.
- Compiled by Times staff writer Sharon Kennedy Wynne
