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Letter to the editor

Dunedin woman, 38, dies in apartment fire

By Times Staff Writers
Published January 27, 2008

Christina Foley was struggling to get money to fix her car, which broke down a few weeks ago.

Money was so tight, her power was cut off and neighbors said she used candles for light.

Authorities are still investigating whether one of those candles sparked the fire that claimed Foley's life at about a quarter past midnight Thursday at her apartment, 1017 Michigan Drive E,

Dunedin firefighters found Foley's body just inside the front door. She was 38.

The fire is believed to be an accident, said Dunedin Fire Marshal Bill McElligott. The smoke detector did not have a battery. A neighbor tried to rescue Foley but was unsuccessful, he said.

A cat found inside the apartment died. A chihuahua was revived by firefighters. No one else was injured.

Tamara El-Khoury, Times staff writer

Renovated bus garage opens as jail annex

It's a metamorphosis on 49th Street.

Take a vacant county bus garage and add $3-million in renovations.

Voila: a minimum-security jail.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday showed off its new 256-bed annex just north of the existing jail.

The first 240 inmates, who will move in today, are made up of inmates assigned to work details and those involved in the Project New Attitudes life skills program.

One of the main benefits of the extra space, officials said, is that it helps alleviate overcrowding at the jail's main facility.

But the annex also improves security by keeping the work crew inmates separate from the general population. That cuts the number of work inmates who go through the main compound and reduces the number of outside vehicles that come by to pick up and drop off workers.

Jonathan Abel, Times staff writer

CLEARWATER

Largo company buys prime downtown spot

This is the type of downtown news city leaders want to hear.

Now that Clearwater has finished a $10-million project to revitalize Cleveland Street, a local developer has scooped up an acre at the eastern end of downtown with the goal of bringing in new tenants.

Rule Development of Largo a few weeks ago spent $1.2-million for the acre bounded by Cleveland Street, Myrtle Avenue and Park Street. The purchase price was about the same as the assessed value.

That corner now is home to an Avis car rental operation, the Wicker Shack, which sells patio furniture, and two empty buildings.

"We're working with a lot of interested and potential people to put on the land," said Rule Development marketing developer Alexandra Bouyoucas. "Right now, Clearwater is the place to be as a developer."

Mike Donila, Times staff writer

SAFETY HARBOR

Outgoing vice mayor criticizes 'faction'

Most Safety Harbor residents are honest, decent and forthright.

But there is a "virulent, cowardly and ethically bankrupt faction" that will do anything to get its way.

So said Vice Mayor Kathleen Earle in a highly unusual and highly charged speech during her last meeting on the City Commission on Tuesday night.

At times appearing to hold back tears, she described going through a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation, which found no wrongdoing, into whether she had lived in the city long enough to legally run for office.

"This claim is an outright lie ... and it's an action that I cannot ignore," said Earle, who announced in November she was resigning for family reasons.

The speech was the first time that the existence of last year's FDLE investigation was made public.

At one point, Earle read from the FDLE's investigative report, which said former Mayor Pam Corbino had her lawyer talk to someone who was believed to have damaging information against Earle.

Neither Corbino nor Gary Jones, who made the complaint that led to the investigation, returned calls for comment.

Eileen Schulte, Times staff writer

[Last modified January 26, 2008, 21:22:31]