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News & Notes
Tampa Bay and Beyond
By TIMES STAFF
Published December 17, 2005
Giving free information not a cost-free process
Millions of people have used Wikipedia, the free internet encyclopedia created by Jimmy Wales, above, of St. Petersburg. Its accuracy has been questioned because anyone can contribute entries. But will they contribute money, too? Wales announced a three-week fundraising drive on Friday to keep the project going. "Every donation we receive from an individual or an organization helps us bring free educational content to millions of people, including those who cannot afford print encyclopedias and dictionaries," Wales said. If you feel so moved, you give online at Wikimediafoundation.org.
Better call Crockett and Tubbs on this one
Whether or not you think St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker deserved a big raise, at least taxpayers knew ahead of time. Miami taxpayers were blindsided Thursday by the City Commission's vote to give Mayor Manny Diaz a raise of more than 54 percent, from $97,000 to $150,000. "I was shocked . . . just sort of speechless," Diaz said. "It's a good policy to give him a raise. It's a bad policy to do it this way," said City Commissioner TomDas Regalado. He voted for it anyway.
March was more than madness for manatees
March was a bad month for manatees this year, with 85 deaths reported, more than double the number for any other month, according to figures released Friday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Red Tide, memorably bad this year, was blamed for 40 of those deaths. The commission reported 358 manatee deaths this year through November, including 13 in Pinellas County, 14 in Hillsborough, five in Pasco, two in Hernando, and 15 in Citrus.
OVERHEARD
"In a year when they just announced that they have $3-billion in extra revenue coming in, it seems rather tragic that we're launching a massive experiment with people's lives."
- Karen Woodall, a social services lobbyist in Tallahassee who represents a coalition of advocacy groups opposed to a bill Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law Friday that will privatize Medicaid services in two Florida counties as pilot projects for the state.
[Last modified December 17, 2005, 07:35:11]
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Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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