Dateline Florida

By Times wires
Published November 2, 2007

To the faithful, the Virgin Mary is everywhere

A seashell changed her life - a seashell, that is, that looks like the Virgin Mary, head tilted and hands in prayer. Nancy Kelly McCabe, 51, told the Palm Beach Post that a week after she found the shell in August, she was evicted and forced to move into the cabana behind her ex-husband's Wellington home. Well, that move lead to a reconciliation, and a holistic doctor she found soon after helped with some medical woes she was suffering from. "Everyone I've shown this shell to, they just think it's incredible, that it's much better than the depiction of the Virgin Mary that was on the tortilla shell or on the grilled cheese sandwich that was on eBay," she says. " It's changed my life, a whole 180."

November: Time for cool and dry

Put away your umbrella. November is the driest month of the year in the Tampa Bay area. It also brings lower temperatures thanks to northerly winds that will bring drier and cooler air, said Mike Clay, Bay News 9 chief meteorologist, adding, "We don't see a chance of rain coming any time soon." Weekend highs will be in the low 80s, with a low of 70 tonight, 62 Saturday and 58 by Sunday.

If ever there were a Precious spider

Just when you thought the Tate family of Tampa couldn't get any more national exposure, along comes Precious Tate, a 4-year-old chihuahua. Precious won Scariest Costume in the national Howl-O-Ween photo contest, sponsored by Pet Butler. The itsy-bitsy spider is owned by Jeanne Tate, sister-in-law to Tom Tate of Tate Brothers Pizza fame. Tom Tate and his family lost their house to a plane crash, only to have it rebuilt by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

City will keep opinion to itself

St. Petersburg is ditching a plan to tell voters it'll cost them $248,000 if council incumbent Jamie Bennett is beaten by "New Election." The state Division of Elections said it wasn't a good idea to present a letter that may influence votes. Bennett's opponent dropped out and his name has been replaced on the Nov. 6 ballots by "New Election."

This may sting

Pop music critic Sean Daly got his flu shot Thursday. His realization: He needs better nurse jokes. Check his "Shot of Love" playlist at blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic.

[Last modified November 2, 2007, 00:59:49]