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By TIMES WIRES
Published September 11, 2006

Pinellas schools plans $187-million spending hike

LARGO - The Pinellas school system plans to spend $187-million more than it did last year under a proposed 2006-07 budget expected to be approved Tuesday.

The public is invited to air their views about the budget to the School Board at 7 p.m. at district headquarters, 301 Fourth St. SW in Largo.

The district's property tax rate will be $8.21 for every $1,000 of taxable assessed value, which is 2 percent lower than last year's rate. But tax bills should be higher for most residents because property values are up about 20 percent countywide.

Teacher arrested on child porn charges

TALLAHASSEE - A private school teacher faces 100 charges of possessing child pornography after he gave a student a CD containing a picture of a naked girl on a beach, leading to his arrest, authorities said.

Richard D. Saunders, 54, had taught at Maclay School for 23 years and has been suspended indefinitely, headmaster Bill Jablon said.

Saunders was held Sunday in Leon County Jail with bail set at $5,000, a jail spokeswoman said.

Saunders, who took pictures of athletic events and dances for the school, gave a student a CD with photos from a volleyball game late last week that contained the image, Jablon said.

The images appear to have been downloaded from the Internet, and there is no reason to suspect that they were of students at the school, Sgt Tim Baxter said. The current charges stem from one CD, Baxter said.

2 killed, 2 wounded in home invasion robbery

EUSTIS - Masked gunmen burst into a Central Florida home, killed two men and seriously wounded two others, authorities said.

Kison Evans, 32, of Eustis and Anthony Bernard Blunt, 35, of Mount Dora died from gunshot wounds Saturday, Eustis police Lt. Danny Provencher said. Two other men, whose names were not released, were treated for multiple gunshot wounds at a hospital. They were listed in stable condition Sunday after surgery, police said.

No arrests have been made.

Coast Guard evacuates three from cruise ship

KEY WEST - A 75-year-old man who apparently suffered a stroke was evacuated from a cruise ship Sunday, along with two other passengers with injuries from separate minor falls, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The passengers were evacuated about 1 p.m. from the Carnival Glory as it passed 8 miles south of Key West, Ensign Michael Bell said.

Anthony Ciccone was hospitalized in stable condition, officials said.

A 27-year-old woman broke her wrist as she attempted to catch herself after stumbling on the ship, and a 63-year-old woman dislocated her shoulder in a fall in the shower, Bell said.

The cruise ship was not affected by the earthquake Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico, Bell said. The cruise ship was on schedule to arrive today at Cozumel, Mexico, according to a statement from Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines. The Carnival Glory departed Saturday from Port Canaveral for a weeklong Caribbean cruise.

Attendant dies after struggle with patient

CHATTAHOOCHEE - An attendant at the state's largest mental hospital collapsed and died after a struggle with a patient in the facility's unit for the criminally insane, authorities said. James Smith, 52, of Gretna, apparently died from a heart attack Thursday night after coming to the aid of a co-worker, authorities said. Smith had worked at Florida State Hospital for more than 32 years. The name of the patient was not released because of state privacy laws.

Smith, whose nickname was "Bear," broke up an altercation Thursday between the patient and a fellow employee in a maximum security unit reserved for treatment of patients found incompetent to stand trial, said Erin Geraghty, a spokeswoman with the Department of Children and Families. The other employee suffered minor injuries.

[Last modified September 11, 2006, 02:15:07]