Despite a punctured lung and broken ribs suffered after a boat struck her near Fort Myers in April, Iona delivered a 60-pound calf zoo staffers named Lowry. He is the first to be born there.

After Lowry's birth May 17, zoo veterinarians operated on Iona to relieve the pressure in her chest. They also treated her repeatedly with antibiotics for infections that kept appearing throughout the year.

Lowry now weighs 240 pounds and is 5 feet 7 inches long. Zoo staffers think he will survive Iona's death, although in the wild calves stay with their mothers for two years.

The zoo has seven other manatees it is treating in its hospital for injuries ranging from blunt trauma to stress from the cold. Once well, the manatees will be released.

Yankees owner buys home in South Tampa

TAMPA -- New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner recently bought a home in South Tampa on the Palma Ceia golf course, records show.

The two-story home, which lists a sale price of $3.8-million in November 2000, includes seven bathrooms, a fireplace and spa, according to records.

Steinbrenner declined this week to discuss the purchase.

Fire in hotel traced to space heater

ST. PETERSBURG -- A downtown hotel sustained minor damage Tuesday after a space heater caught on fire in one of the apartments.

At least 50 people were evacuated from the Randolph Hotel, 200 Fourth St. N, during the fire, said St. Petersburg fire Lt. Chris Bengivengo. No one was injured, and the fire's origin is not suspicious.

The 12:45 p.m. fire was contained to an apartment on the third floor. The building's sprinkler system, as well as the work of firefighters, helped save the building from more damage, Bengivengo said. Black smoke spilled through the attic vents as onlookers watched from the street. The estimated cost of damage is about $20,000.

Resident struck, robbed in garage burglary

ST. PETERSBURG -- A resident in Historic Kenwood was struck in the head and robbed of cash as he called police to report two men trying to break into his garage. The robbery happened at 5:13 a.m. Tuesday at 2250 Seventh Ave. N, said Dan Bates, police spokesman. The victim was calling police on a cellular phone with a description of the suspects when he was struck with a crowbar.

Man victim of carjacking by bike rider

ST. PETERSBURG -- A man on a purple bike carjacked the owner of a 2001 Toyota Corolla at gunpoint Monday night.

Xin Jia Chen, 35, was walking to his car in the parking lot of Emerald Bay Apartments at 3844 36th Terr. S when he was approached by the suspect, police said. The suspect held a chrome gun to Chen's chest and demanded the car keys. No one was hurt, and the car has not been recovered. The car has a temporary license tag: B300155.

Chen described the assailant as a 19- to 20-year-old black man who weighs 160 pounds and stands 5-feet-10. He was wearing a black or dark green hooded jacket and dark pants.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (727) 893-7780.

Rape, stabbing suspect surrenders to authorities

TAMPA -- A man wanted in the rape of an 18-year-old girl and the stabbing of a 40-year-old woman turned himself in Tuesday morning.

Sorrell Eugene Huff, 31, walked into the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Operations Center on Eighth Avenue in Ybor City around 7:30 a.m. and waited in the lobby until he was arrested.

Detectives said Huff beat and raped the 18-year-old girl, an acquaintance, over two hours at her home Sunday night. He cut her face with a pocket knife, tied her up and put her in a closet. Before he left, he pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her.

From there, investigators said he went to the workplace of a 40-year-old woman, where he stabbed her and punched her before running away.

The names of both women were withheld.

Huff has been charged with sexual battery, two counts of aggravated battery, false imprisonment and aggravated assault. Huff, who has been arrested 25 times since 1987, was already wanted on a contempt of court charge. He is being held in county jail without bail.

Officer suspended after prisoner's early release

TAMPA -- Terrance Bernard Green's luck had just about run out last October. The 36-year-old man with a long criminal record had no more second chances and was headed to state prison on charges of burglary, grand theft and cocaine possession.

Suddenly, he was released from Hillsborough County Jail and told to go home.

Green's temporary release was an administrative mistake by detention officer Cpl. Richard Sherin, a Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs investigation has found. Sherin has been suspended for five days as punishment.

He ordered Green's release on Oct. 4, 2000. The error went unnoticed for seven days, when it was discovered by the clerk's office. Green was found two days later and taken back to jail. On Oct. 31, Green was finally taken to state prison to serve a two-year sentence.

Employee faced firing for inmate affair questions

TAMPA -- A Sheriff's Office employee working at the Morgan Street Jail resigned rather than answer questions about her affair with one of the inmates there, officials said.

But had Paula Owens not resigned in October, she would have been fired for having the affair and lying to her superiors about it, according to an Internal Affairs report released Tuesday.

Owens worked as a community service officer at Morgan Street Jail, a civilian position that has direct contact with many of the jail's federal inmates. Miami resident Alfredo Carratala, 36, has been in the jail since February on federal drug dealing charges. Investigators connected the two through 413 collect calls to a cellular phone between Aug. 30 and Oct. 31, 2000.

When confronted by Internal Affairs detectives, Owens tried to invoke the Fifth Amendment, which applies only in criminal investigations. When detectives told her she had to answer their questions or be subject to dismissal, Owens walked out.

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