Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Around the bay

Not one, not two, but three magazines about St. Petersburg

By TIMES STAFF
Published November 27, 2006

Two new magazines have entered the market in downtown St. Petersburg, and another has undergone a redesign, giving the Sunshine City three full-size slick publications:

- Mayor Rick Baker is on the cover of Pete, the most recent entry into the market. In an editorial note in the inaugural issue, publisher Mike Shepard and associate editor Carly Hart write that Pete will be mailed to areas such as Pinellas Point, the Old Northeast, Snell Isle, Venetian Isles and downtown condos. Editorial content includes an interview with Baker, historic and current photographs of city landmarks, candid photographs of residents and a restaurant feature.

- Marilyn Armstrong is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Best in St. Pete magazine, a full-color publication whose focus is largely on arts and culture. Articles in the inaugural edition feature the Museum of Fine Arts, Albert Whitted Airport, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Academy Prep Center for Education and the new Croatian Native Art Gallery & Museum Collection. It also has a nightlife column and events calendar.

- Sterling Powell's CitiLife St. Petersburg represents a retooling of CitiLife magazine, which has been publishing for three years. Its focus is art, fashion and music, and features St. Petersburg's NoFoes on the cover, with profiles of other musicians inside. There are interviews with Ann Taylor, president of the St. Petersburg Museum of History's board of directors; Maria Emilia, executive director of Florida Craftsmen; and St. Petersburg fashion designer somegirl.

Yarn ... and cabinet hardware? It works

Sometimes there are so many people looking to get their yarn on, they're knitting in the aisles at Needles and Knobs. "It gets pretty crazy in here," said Audrey Dantowitz, who, with her husband, Eliot, opened the yarn and hardware store in September at 7213 Central Ave. Thursday nights are open-knit night and the couple often runs out of couch space and extra chairs. The shop has about 1,000 different kinds of yarn, as well as dozens of varieties of upscale cabinet hardware. The odd mix makes perfect sense to the Dantowitzes, who say customers shopping for one are inadvertently attracted to the other. The hardware appeals to those building or remodeling a home, Audrey Dantowitz said, and includes brands like Siro, Soko, Emenee and Top Knobs. Many of her customers are the designers she used to court before she had the store.

Take note of another disappearing job around here: court reporter 

One day they'll be there. The next they won't. But few will notice. Court reporters are a familiar, yet inconspicuous staple in Citrus County courtrooms. They sit up front, silently transcribing what everyone says. It's a grueling job, with intense training to learn how to type 225 words a minute. And they play an important role in the justice system as the stenographers make the official court record. But they are a fading breed. In six weeks, human court reporters will be a relic, replaced in many hearings by digital recording machines in Citrus County. Michael Cosmo, manager of Liberty Court Reporting in Inverness, said it crowds the market for other jobs outside the courtroom, such as recording depositions, civil matters and local government hearings. In general, the demand for court reporters is still high, but "we are losing some jobs," said Shirley King, a board member with the Florida Court Reporters Association.

[Last modified November 27, 2006, 06:54:13]