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Letter to the editor

Small increases coming for water bills

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 20, 2007

COUNTYWIDE

If you get your tap water from Pinellas County Utilities, expect a modest increase in your bill. Tuesday night, the County Commission approved two water rate increases, one to take effect in February and a second next October. With both increases in effect, county customers now paying $4.04 for 1,000 gallons of water will pay $4.28. That's roughly a 6 percent increase - less than the 12 to 13 percent annual increases of the last five years. The extra income will be used to renew infrastructure and to build a planned water blending plant in the northern end of Brooker Creek Preserve.

CLEARWATER

Got a question for a judge?

A panel of local judges will discuss "The Judicial System from the Judge's Perspective" and answer audience questions during the first session of the Clearwater Bar Association's 2008 People's Law School. The program is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 10 in the fine arts auditorium of the Drew Street campus of St. Petersburg College. The People's Law School will continue weekly at the college on Thursdays through April. Participants may attend as few or as many sessions as they wish, free of charge. No registration is required. Future topics include:

- Jan. 17 - How a jury trial really works.

- Jan. 24 - Criminal law.

- Jan. 31 - Independent court system.

For a complete schedule of classes, visit clearwaterbar.org/law.html.

LARGO

Youth counselor faces sex charges

A 24-year-old youth counselor at Largo Wesleyan Church was arrested Tuesday, accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl he met while volunteering at the church. Matthew Crisostomo of 401 Rosery Road NE was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery. Largo police Lt. Mike Loux said Crisostomo met the girl in April or May while counselling and developed a relationship with her. The two became sexually involved a few months later, police say. Recently, the girl's mother mentioned to her daughter that she had heard rumors about the relationship. The daughter admitted to the sexual contact, and the girl's mother contacted police, officials say. Loux said that Crisostomo also admitted to the relationship. Crisostomo was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of $40,000 bail.

[Last modified December 19, 2007, 21:41:45]