On Tuesday, a jury found Reed guilty of a felony that could put him in prison for 30 years, but the case had little to do with fires. Prosecutors charged Reed, a felon, with carrying a firearm.

Police found an unloaded .25-caliber handgun in his pocket as he left a small blaze that started in an unoccupied building on E Seventh Avenue on June 11, 2000.

Reed's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Melody Dietsch, told jurors that Reed had taken the gun away from his brother to keep him from using it that night. Reed's brother had gotten into an argument at a bar near Nebraska Avenue, she said.

It took jurors about 10 minutes to find Reed guilty. Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett will sentence him Monday.

Prosecutors plan to bring arson charges against Reed for the fire on E Seventh Avenue.

Authorities said they saw Reed leaving the blaze and matched several footprints near the burning building to his tennis shoes. They also found a lighter on Reed, who smelled of smoke, they said.

According to a Fire Department report, Reed told authorities he had nothing to do with the blaze. Fire officials continue to investigate about 40 unsolved arsons in Tampa Heights, Fire Department spokesman Bill Wade said Tuesday.

Officials think more than one person might have been starting the fires.

School Board suspends two Hillsborough teachers

TAMPA -- The Hillsborough School Board suspended two teachers Tuesday, one charged with bringing a gun to Tampa International Airport and another charged with sexual battery of a child. Suspended were Lewis Elementary teacher Carl H. Heidenreich of Pinellas Park, who was arrested April 14 by the Pinellas Sheriff's Office and charged with committing sexual battery on a child; and Burnett Middle School teacher Joseph M. Robinson, 44, who was arrested on April 21 by airport police and charged with carrying a concealed firearm.

Boy charged in theft, crash of stolen van

ST. PETERSBURG -- A 13-year-old boy stole a van early Tuesday and crashed it, rolling it several times outside Tyrone Square Mall when a sheriff's deputy tried to pull him over, authorities said.

The Ford Aerostar van overturned about 5:20 a.m. in the parking lot south of Sears, deputies said. The boy wasn't wearing a seat belt but suffered only a broken tooth and a laceration.

He was treated at Bayfront Medical Center before being booked into the Pinellas County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of grand theft auto, reckless driving, fleeing from police and driving without a license.

The boy's name is being withheld because of his age.

School Board renews with charter school

TAMPA -- School Board members renewed a contract with Terrace Community School on Tuesday despite concerns about a declining number of black students in the three years since the charter school opened.

The board approved a 10-year contract by a 6-1 vote. The school topped the county last year in fifth-grade math tests of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, and its eighth-graders ranked first on reading and writing tests and second on the math test.

Candy Olson voted against the renewal because of concerns about the length of the contract and worries about future funding, as well as about diversity.

Several board members said they felt better about the school's drop in black enrollment after they were told by administrators of efforts to attract more African-Americans. The school opened with a black enrollment of 13 percent, but it dropped to 8 percent this year, said Nancy Kirk, a founder.

The school, which is moving from a renovated strip mall to the Museum of Science and Industry in the fall, expects a 13 percent black enrollment in its 240-student population.

This year, the Terrace Community School has 160 students in grades five through eight. It focuses on the basics, such as reading, math, homework, respect and discipline.

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