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Man accused of lewd acts with two girls

ST. PETERSBURG - A worker at an after-school program at Grace Lutheran Church has been arrested and faces two counts of lewd and lascivious battery.

Kevin Clark, 21, was arrested Thursday and held in lieu of $70,000 bail.

Police said Clark met two girls, ages 13 and 14, at the after-school program at 4301 16th St. N, and began communicating with them via computer.

"The friendship eventually led to Clark committing lewd and lascivious acts with each girl on different occasions," police said in a statement.

Grace Lutheran School principal Gary Dresser said, "We're doing everything we can to make sure" that such incidents do not occur. He said Clark had undergone a background check. "We do that faithfully," he said.

Criminal records from Pinellas County and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show no previous arrests for Clark.

The school said in a written statement that it learned of the allegations Wednesday and reported them to authorities.

"The worker will not be allowed back on school property," the statement said.

TAMPA - Kwane Doster's life ended abruptly Dec. 26 when the star Vanderbilt University football player was shot while sitting in a car near Ybor City.

The Tampa City Council voted unanimously Thursday to help his name live on.

The Council asked the city parks department to look into renaming the Southwest Port Tampa Community Center at 7506 Morton St. in Doster's honor.

Doster, 21, grew up in Port Tampa. He graduated from Robinson High in 2002 and earned a scholarship to Vanderbilt, where he majored in human and organizational development and dreamed of a career in the National Football League.

"We had a shining star in our community," said Council member Kevin White, who represents the district where Doster was shot and made the motion to consider the name change.

TAMPA - The Gasparilla Invasion and Parade will be held one week earlier this year so that it won't conflict with the Super Bowl.

The Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla announced Thursday that the route for the parade stays the same, but the date was changed to keep the Gasparilla events on separate weekends from the Super Bowl, which this year is the first Sunday in February.

The invasion kicks off at 11 a.m. Jan. 29 from the south end of Hillsborough Bay. The Gasparilla Parade of Pirates starts at 2 p.m. at Bay to Bay and Bayshore Boulevard, goes north to Platt Street Bridge and then east on Channelside to Florida Avenue, north to Jackson Street and east on Jackson, ending at Morgan.

--For information, call 813 353-8108 or www.gasparillapiratefest.com