Dateline Florida

By TIMES WIRES
Published August 15, 2007

HURRICANE CENTER TRACKS TROPICAL STORM AS IT MOVES WEST

Tropical Storm Dean in the eastern Atlantic is forecast to become a hurricane by the end of the week. Dean was about 1,000 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands on Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Sustained winds were about 40 mph, and the storm was moving toward the Caribbean at 23 mph. Dean has a good probability of becoming the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, said meteorologist Dennis Feltgen of the National Hurricane Center. Dean could strengthen into a Category 2 or Category 3 hurricane in four or five days, the center said. Tropical Storm Dean is the fourth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic season. The hurricane center also continues to monitor a tropical depression in the south central Gulf of Mexico which could affect the Texas coast.

Syrupy words won't save pecan pie

Rest in peace, pecan pie. Jason Forman, the pastry chef at Bern's Steak House in Tampa, has decided to retire that dish, along with eight other old favorites, from the restaurant's legendary dessert room. Eleven additions come aboard with a new menu on Tuesday, include a dulce de leche liquid-center cake, pistachio orange-blossom baklava and Forman's personal favorite, chocolate-chip cookie souffle. The menu revision, which also adds sugar- and gluten-free options, is only the restaurant's second since its founding in 1956, Forman said. He doesn't anticipate many complaints: "I'm implementing things in the new menu that will blow the pecan pie out of the water."

Cancer Society goal to shine on pate

This will help him stand out in Washington: Keeping a promise to a local chapter of the American Cancer Society, Rep. Gus Bilirakis plans to shave his head at the Florida State Fairgrounds Friday evening. Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, had pledged to shave his head if the society's Southeast Hillsborough chapter met its 2006-07 fundraising goal. It did, so he is.

Correction

The Tampa Port Authority has no outstanding stormwater bills with the city of Tampa. Because of outdated information provided by the city, a story Monday was incorrect on this point.

[Last modified August 15, 2007, 00:16:02]