[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer] Brandon Frazier, 10, of Westchase practices for his fifth appearance in the USA Roller Sports national championship competition. Brandon's events are boys singles, elementary pairs and figures.

On a roll
A local academy is sending 14 skaters to the national championships for artistic roller skating, a sport without the cache of ice skating but equal in competitive spirit.

An unlikely politician
Shawn Harrison was once a shy, reserved teenager, but the City Council member is now considered the face of New Tampa - and his aspirations are even higher.

Calendar
A lookat what's happening this week

Film crew upsets homeowners
A 10-day shoot by two University of Florida film students turned into six weeks of bedlam according to a complaint to the Tampa Palms tax district board.

Guru of golf
TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Mike Stevens, a Tampa golf pro for three decades, gives lessons in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Sarasota counties.

For Latino youths, it's a day of their own
At Saturday's Latino Youth Summit, organizers hope to come up with HIV and drug abuse prevention ideas as they entertain kids.

Politics, passion and painting
Persecuted in Cuba, Carlos Manuel Soto and his family fled to the United States - where people, to his astonishment, actually buy his paintings.


Front Porch
Room for palettes, palates
Artist Victoria Pierce Fricot made the corner of her dining room her studio.

Homes
Make his day - just stay away
Driving uninvited onto the heaven the Durrances have nurtured for three decades will earn you a long cold look.

Lutz
Proposed mixed-use development draws a crowd to zoning hearing
Critics object to including a gas station or fast food restaurant to the project at U.S. 41 and Cypress Lane. Supporters say it would be good for Lutz.
Solutions are as snarled as the traffic
Fixing the problems on Sunlake Boulevard won't be easy as political and planning roadblocks pop up at almost every turn.

Neighborhood notebook
Soccer association makes changes
TAMPA PALMS - The New Tampa Soccer Association is revamping its youngest divisions for the upcoming season, de-emphasizing winning and encouraging sportsmanship.

Northdale
Neighbors hope to reel in speeders
A petition will soon be circulating in Mountain Springs to install speed humps, but not everyone likes that idea.

Odessa
Dam is dead in the water, for now
Rising waters cause a delay in finishing a dam project at Lake Armistead and Rocky Creek.
More acres to triple project's new homes
Land purchases will allow Grey Hawk, an upscale development in Odessa, to offer 181 homes, developers say.

Out & about
Folk music at the Dome
It's a double header of folk music tonight at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa's UU Dome.

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