Getting back to the basics [Times photo: Mike Pease] As the focus on youth sports intensifies, parents choose the YMCA's football program, a kinder, gentler alternative to Pop Warner.

August 27, 2000

Should I finally join the cell phone world?
"I will be right there to rescue you, my sweet princess! I just cannot remember where I put my toolbox. Call AAA, just in case. And honey, do you remember where I put my golf clubs?" I imagine he replies.

Don't railroad east-west road project
Thank you, Metropolitan Planning Organization Chairman Richard Glorioso, for demonstrating both the wisdom and the courage to impede a grandstand play by Tampa City Councilman Shawn Harrison and Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman on Aug. 22.

Volleyball season heats up quickly this year
TAMPA -- The prep volleyball season tips off this week, but a couple of area coaches hope their teams will already be in mid-season form when the matches begin Tuesday.

'Tell them Chris is a hero'
A 13-year-old boy hears the distress calls of an elderly woman who has fallen in her house. His quick action gets paramedics to the scene.

Residents board rejects crackdown onportable basketball goals
The Residents Advisory Committee is expected to take up the issue in the next two months.

Stein Mart appeases residents, gets council approval
Loading at the store will be limited to between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Teen talks of experience at leadership conference
One week can change your life. That's what Wharton High School senior Anthony Donatelli had to say about his experiences at the Rotary Club's "Seminar for Tomorrow's Leaders."

Boundary proposal would divide children
The school system has proposed its boundaries for a planned elementary school, and they may not be to parents' liking.

Suggestions for names sought for new schools
Three new schools are scheduled to open in North Tampa in fall 2001, and so far they don't have names.

After debate, platforms of School Board candidates seem similar
The four embrace the same issues -- class size, teacher salaries, school violence -- and none would comment on a controversial school-split.

Residents examine student assignment plan
A group at Sickles High School hear about a proposal that officials hope will achieve voluntary desegregation.

School calendar
PTA COUNCIL MEETING: The Hillsborough County Council of PTA-PTSA will hold its first general council meeting of the school year at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at Leto High School, 4409 W Sligh Ave. Topics include council budget and the Florida PTA State Convention, Nov. 3 to Nov. 5 in Orlando. For information, call Linda Applegate at (813) 627-0212 or Penny Dean at (813) 962-7146

Week in review
PARENTS SUE OVER SCHOOL BUS TRAGEDY -- The parents of a 10-year-old boy who was killed by a motorist after being dropped off at the wrong bus stop on Lutz Lake-Fern Road 5 miles from home have filed a lawsuit against the school district and the bus driver. In the wrongful death lawsuit, Kimberly and David Martin accuse the Hillsborough school district and bus driver Linda Moore of negligence.