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Tampa Bay and beyond
Skateboarder says name is only his
By Times staff writers
Published December 9, 2005
The Florida creator of an aerial skateboarding move known as the "ollie" is suing several companies, including Disney and Sega, over the use of the word.
Alan "Ollie" Gelfand, 42, of Broward County, wants more than $20-million. "I'm just a skateboarder," Gelfand said. "I'm not a huge, mega corporation ... yet." Sega's lawyer calls Gelfand's claim bogus. But Gelfand's lawyer Scott Schlesinger says "ollie" belongs to Ollie, much as "Madonna" belongs to Madonna. "This is the guy's identity. This is who he is."
Airport revokes free parking privilege
Free parking at Tampa International Airport is a thing of the past for more than 60 former members of the Hillsborough County Aviation Board. They had received lifetime "Get out of Garage Free" cards. Some date back decades. The board voted unanimously Thursday to end the perk. Florida elected officials and Aviation Board members will get free passes while in office. The old system was "an abuse of privilege," said board member Al Austin.
That's weird science, students tell principal
A couple of students walked out of seventh-grade science and went to the principal after seeing their substitute teacher inhaling some white powder at his desk. "They said, "Miss Wright, he is doing something wrong in there,' " recalled Iranetta Wright, principal of Lake Shore Middle School in Jacksonville, who called authorities. Testing disproved 45-year-old Terry John Kappila's story that it was headache powder he was snorting because he couldn't find a cup to mix it with his coffee. He was jailed on a charge of felony cocaine possession - and was taken off the teacher sub list.
Like hurricane season, Epsilon is history
Tropical Storm Epsilon finally petered out over the Atlantic on Thursday, more than a week after hurricane season ended. "It's about time," the National Hurricane Center in Miami wrote in its final Epsilon advisory. It was the 26th named storm and 14th hurricane of the record-breaking season, which ended Nov. 30.
OVERHEARD
"That's something we're currently evaluating ... These are very, very difficult cases, and obviously we're disappointed in what happened in Tampa. We believed that this was a good case to bring."
- U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO GONZALES, discussing whether the government will retry former USF professor Sami Al-Arian on charges that ended in a mistrial.
[Last modified December 9, 2005, 01:18:14]
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