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Briefs

Take time to stop and smell the odors

By Times Staff
Published May 16, 2006

If you like rare plants that stink when they bloom, it really doesn't get better than this. This week at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, an Amorphophallus gigas is expected to put on a stunning show of size and smell. Its botanical cousin, Amorphophallus titanum, attracted 2,000 people to the gardens for a previous bloom. Both are large tuberous plants from Sumatra. This newest plant may have a smaller bloom but a stronger stink. The smell, likened to rotting flesh, has a simple purpose: attract dung and carrion beetles for pollination. Time of full flowering is unknown, so call (941) 366-5731.

Rapper T.I. wins round in court

As promised, Atlanta rapper T.I. showed up in court Monday in Tampa to clear his name. Probation officials said the musician was overdue in completing 215 community service hours for battering a law enforcement officer at University Mall in 2003. Not so, said the attorney for the rapper also known as Clifford J. Harris. "Mr. Harris is continuing to do an extraordinary amount of community service" in Atlanta, his attorney said. "Into the thousands." The judge dismissed the alleged violation, ended Harris' probation and let the 25-year-old and his entourage go.

TIA runway reopens ahead of schedule

Tampa International Airport's busiest runway has reopened six days ahead of schedule after its contractor completed a $13.4-million construction project in just 25 days. The closure of the north-south runway on the west side of the airport diverted traffic over neighborhoods in South Tampa and north of the airport, raising noise levels considerably. Using the west-side runway allows departing traffic to get out over open water and away from neighborhoods more quickly.

[Last modified May 16, 2006, 06:28:04]