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Forward thinking
An entirely subjective look at the week ahead
By COLETTE BANCROFT
Published January 2, 2006
DON'T FORGET TO WRITE
Congress convenes in Washington on Tuesday with plenty to do. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have called for hearings into the administration's snooping, and the House is set to vote on the Senate's slash-the-safety-net budget. Tuesday is also National Write to Congress Day. They work for you, so let them know how you feel, not just on Tuesday: Find your representative's e-mail and snail mail addresses at www.house.gov your senator's at www.senate.gov
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Had he not followed the usual tragic arc of American celebrity, Elvis Presley would be celebrating his 71st birthday on Sunday. But plenty of folks will be celebrating it for him at Graceland, his home turned theme park. Find out about all the concerts, tours and Elvis bingo at www.elvis.com Can't make it to Memphis? The Largo Cultural Center offers a show by Elvis tribute artists at 2 p.m. Sunday; call 727 587-6793.
STORY TIME FOR GROWNUPS
Starting Thursday and continuing through Jan. 25, NPR's StoryCorps national oral history project opens its Airstream trailer at St. Armands Circle in Sarasota to record interviews by pairs of Tampa Bay area residents. Some of the stories air on Morning Edition; all go to the Library of Congress. Some grousing has been heard about the site selection, but hey, what's more all-American than a shopping mall? To make an interview reservation, go to www.storycorps.net/participate or call toll-free 1-800-850-4406.
STANDING UP FOR A DOWNED CITY
A hearing is scheduled for Friday in New Orleans on whether the city can proceed with plans to demolish 2,500 flood-damaged buildings without their owners' permission or a court order. Activists filed suit last week to halt the bulldozers. For heartfelt evocations of a city like no other, look into My New Orleans, a new collection of essays by such fans as authors Roy Blount Jr. and Andrei Codrescu, musicians Wynton Marsalis and Charmaine Neville, and restaurateurs Ella Brennan and Paul Prudhomme.
BAY AREA BIRTHDAYS
Several celebrities with Tampa Bay area ties mark birthdays this week. Jim Bakker (The PTL Club), whose extramarital tryst in a Clearwater Beach hotel room in 1980 seriously sidetracked his career as a televangelist, turns 67 today (and he's back on the air, offering tchotchkes like a Sword of the Apocalypse for a $200 donation). On Tuesday, rocker Stephen Stills, who attended Tampa's Plant High School back in the 1960s, will be 61. And on Thursday, former Buc Warrick Dunn turns 31.
- COLETTE BANCROFT, Times staff writer, 727 893-8435 or bancroft@sptimes.com
[Last modified December 30, 2005, 09:38:04]
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