School calendar plan: one religious holiday
By TIMES WIRES
Published February 7, 2007
TAMPA - Good Friday is the only religious holiday recognized in the latest version of Hillsborough's controversial school calendar.
But the idea of treating Christians differently from Jews and Muslims divided the committee of teachers, parents and school administrators who are making calendar recommendations.
"I think that opens a can of worms," said Leigh Crosson, a teacher at Bevis Elementary in east Hillsborough, during the committee meeting Tuesday.
It marked a reversal of the group's stance in the fall, when it proposed a calendar recognizing no religious holidays.
Necropsies indicate 17 whoopers drowned
The 17 young whooping cranes killed in last week's strong storms drowned, according to preliminary necropsy results.
It was also not known how crane No. 615 escaped the top-netted enclosure at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. Wind or surge might have opened the gate slightly, but the pen was intact when the dead cranes were found Friday afternoon, said Joan Garland, outreach coordinator for the International Crane Foundation.
Reports on Tuesday placed No. 615 soaring above waterfront habitat in inland Citrus County.
"That's a good sign," Garland said. "We're just going to treat him like a released bird."
County decides to sell old hospital for $1.1M
BROOKSVILLE - The Hernando County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to sell the old Brooksville hospital for $1.1-million to investors who plan to build an assisted living facility.
The decision ends months of hand-wringing about the fate of the vacant 11-acre hospital complex, which costs the county nearly $50,000 a month to maintain.
Since last year, the County Commission considered converting the hospital into a new government center, but cost estimates topped $20-million.
Pinellas to ease rules for fortune tellers
CLEARWATER - Pinellas County will soon ease regulations on fortune tellers, psychics and palm readers.
Under an ordinance approved in 2000, astrologers, palm and card readers, and fortune tellers who charge for their services are required to submit fingerprints, undergo a background check, provide photographs and pay a fee in order to get a license.
But the county has gotten few complaints about bogus or abusive fortune tellers and has never successfully brought a case against somebody for noncompliance.
Brown-Waite to serve on House Page Board
BROOKSVILLE - U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, a friend of disgraced former congressman Mark Foley, was appointed Tuesday to the revamped House Page Board.
The page program came under scrutiny after it was revealed in the fall that Foley had sent inappropriate e-mails and messages to former pages. House members decided to overhaul the board, adding a former page and page parent to the mix.