Dateline Florida

By Times Wires
Published January 8, 2008

Orange barrel alert for Dale Mabry

If you're one of the 76,000 souls who drive the rickety section of N Dale Mabry Highway between Waters and Fletcher avenues in Tampa every day, get ready for delays. The nearly 3-mile section of roadway will soon be resurfaced. Starting Monday, the state Department of Transportation will begin the $5.17-million project, which includes the Busch Boulevard ramps, sidewalk construction and other improvements. Work is scheduled to last six months. Single-lane closings will be from 8 p.m. until 10 a.m. for northbound traffic and from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. for southbound traffic. Double-lane closings for northbound traffic will be from midnight until 7 a.m. and southbound from 10:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.

Where's Barney Fife when you need him?

Here's a description of the Tampa Bay area's latest bank robber: a slender man in his 40s with a black ball cap and collar-length brown hair who coughs a lot and apparently has a case of the nerves to rival Woody Allen. St. Petersburg police say the man walked into a SunTrust Bank at 6300 Central Ave. at 9:34 a.m. Monday but apparently got the jitters as he approached the teller. He said he had forgotten his ID and scurried out of the bank. About an hour later, police say, the same man apparently worked up enough nerve to rob a Bank of St. Petersburg at 3065 34th St. N. Police say he fled in a white sport utility vehicle. Anyone with information, call police at (727) 893-7179.

Manatee deaths down by 100 in 2007

Manatee deaths dropped by 100 last year after hitting a record high in 2006, according to early data released Monday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

By the Numbers: 

317 Number of manatees killed statewide in 2007 (eight in Pinellas; four in Hillsborough; two in Pasco; one in Hernando, a calf that did not survive long after birth)

417 Number of manatees killed statewide in 2006

73 Number of manatees killed by boats, down 19 from 2006

91 Number of manatees killed in Lee County, the most of any county in 2007, with 14 killed by boats

52 Number of manatees killed statewide by Red Tide

[Last modified January 7, 2008, 23:44:05]