News and notes
By Times Staff
Published January 24, 2006
MacDill puts brakes on cell phones, driving
MacDill Air Force Base is cracking down on a threat to public safety: cell-phone-wielding motorists. MacDill and other military bases are prohibiting motorists from using cell phones, unless the phones are hands-free. "Safety is the main concern," said Lt. Larry Vanderoord, a MacDill spokesman. The directive came from the Pentagon, he said. With 7,000 military and civilian employees at MacDill, the roadways can get pretty congested. Anyone caught using a cell phone while driving will be slapped with a traffic citation.
Just don't let 'em balance your checkbookOn Jan. 7, Tampa government and business leaders launched Lights on Tampa to showcase downtown with light-based art installations on six buildings. City officials declared the evening a major success that attracted 5,000 people. But now the Tampa Downtown Partnership says 20,000 to 25,000 people participated. "It's a loose estimate," acknowledged Christine Burdick, president of the Partnership. How loose? The range includes people who participated in Lights on Tampa unwittingly - for instance, by driving along Interstate 275 and looking at lighted buildings through car windows. Okay, maybe 25,000 was too high, Burdick said, adding, "I feel more comfortable with 15,000." Note to the Devil Rays: Count those drive-by fans with radios.
NEWS QUIZThe military isn't the first to restrict the use of cell phones by drivers. What states already have similar rules? (Bonus question: Which cities have done the same?)
OVERHEARD"She was just your normal little girl, very sweet, got along with anybody, so full of life. We just don't understand how it came to this."
--ANN ELLROD, referring to her granddaughter, Ronna Lynn Grubbs, who was shot in the head from the cross-fire from an apparent road-rage attack involving her grandfather and another man in the Panhandle town of Marianna. Police say she was shot by a man who her grandfather fought Friday when the two pulled off a road after following and passing each other for several miles.
ANSWERConnecticut, New York and New Jersey, according to the Boston Globe . (Cities: Chicago and Washington, D.C.)