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Week in review

By Times Staff Writer
Published January 30, 2005

I TAKE THEE ... UNLESS IT MESSES UP MY ALIMONY: Last summer, Beth Rice and Stanley Blacker invited more than 50 friends and family to Las Vegas. She printed programs and T-shirts that read: "Vegas Wedding Weekend, June 10-13, 2004."

The two exchanged rings. Blacker stomped on a glass, a Jewish wedding tradition. A rabbi talked about "formally consecrating" their love and asked them to repeat vows that began, "I betroth you to me always ... " They settled into Blacker's $500,000 Westchase home, paying bills from a joint bank account.

Are they married? Michael Rice, Beth's ex-husband, certainly thinks so.

When the couple divorced in late 2001, he consented to pay $5,000 per month in alimony for five years unless one of them died or remarried.

Michael Rice says his wife is remarried. She says she isn't because she never got a marriage license.

Surrounded by attorneys, the former couple argued the point in court Wednesday.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Robert Foster ruled that Beth Rice was entitled to the alimony payments.

The judge pointed out that Beth Rice and Blacker cannot legally file a joint tax return, receive the other's Social Security benefits or enjoy other common aspects of marriage.

After the hearing, Michael Rice shook his head, thinking of writing those $5,000 checks. "It's going to disgust me every month," he said.

THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee has announced all kinds of changes his first few weeks in office - the smoking ban for new employees, the command staff, fitness requirements, even the minimum educational level and age for new deputies.

At this weekend's Gasparilla parade, another change debuted: Several new Sheriff's Office patrol cars, outfitted with the new design created at Gee's request.

The cars feature a wave of green and gold along the side, with a large sheriff's star. The word SHERIFF appears in larger letters than in the current design, covering the front and rear doors of the car. Every car also has a small American flag on the side.

The cars in the parade are new vehicles purchased for the 2005 budget year. As more cars are bought over the next few years, the design will be put on those, too.

Still up for debate: possible changes to the Sheriff's Office uniform. The current uniform, dark green pants with a gray stripe down the side with white shirts, has been in place since 1964.

USF STUDENT KILLED IN CRASH: Rikki Leigh Lewis, a 21-year-old University of South Florida student, dreamed of one day living in New York City. That dream died last Sunday when she was killed in a car accident.

Tampa police said Lewis was eastbound on Fowler Avenue in a 2000 GMC SUV that evening when another woman violated the right of way and turned onto Fowler from N 51st Street.

Lewis swerved to avoid hitting the woman's 2001 Honda SUV, but she lost control of her vehicle and it rolled over. Lewis was thrown from the GMC, and she died at the scene. She would have graduated from USF in May with a bachelor's degree in business marketing.

[Last modified January 29, 2005, 09:18:06]