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By Times staff writers
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 31, 2001
Driver dies after car veers into wrong lane, deputies say
TAMPA -- A Thonotosassa man died Monday when he veered into the wrong lane to pass at least two vehicles on Harney Road and lost control, Hillsborough deputies said. Larry Eugene Dean, 53, of 11651 Round Table Way was driving east in his 2000 Hyundai about 10:30 a.m. when he blew through a four-way intersection, veering into the westbound lane and passing another eastbound vehicle, deputies said. Sheriff's spokesman Rod Reder said Dean continued driving at high speed on the wrong side of the road, passing a second vehicle as he went around a curve. Dean lost control, became airborne and hit a Tampa Electric Co. pole. Dean died at the scene. Reder said an investigation is continuing.
TAMPA -- Employees of the Environmental Protection Commission discovered a man's body in the Hillsborough River on Monday morning. The body was found about 8 a.m. near 8004 N Taliaferro in Sulphur Springs, and divers retrieved it from the water. The unidentified man was described as white and in his 40s. Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said the body showed no obvious signs of foul play.
CLEARWATER -- When the ceiling and hundreds of gallons of water came crashing inside the Buddy Bi-Rite on Friday afternoon, they didn't dampen the store's spirit.
Hours after standing water took out a roof, $100,000 in inventory and a $400,000 building, a recreational vehicle dubbed the payment center drove up. The RV has taken up where the Buddy Bi-Rite rent-to-own furniture and appliance store, 1641 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., left off.
Company managers quickly scouted a temporary home for the store in what was the 6,000-square-foot All Cards 2/$1 in a nearby strip mall and hoped to open a showroom there in mid August, said Joe Gazzo, director of operations for the Tampa-based company.
CLEARWATER -- Interim City Manager Bill Horne, set to become city manager officially once the City Commission approves his employment contract Thursday, has lowered his requested annual salary from $130,000 to $120,000.
But on top of his proposed $120,000 salary, Horne's contract would entitle him to a one-time bonus of $10,000. The extra funds would compensate Horne for serving as interim manager for a year before being chosen recently to do the job indefinitely.
LARGO -- Despite a call from terrified employees, Largo police failed Saturday to investigate a man who allegedly threatened to kill the black manager of a KFC restaurant.
It marked the third day within the past week the man had made racist comments about African Americans, according to store employees.
Each time Largo police were summoned to the Walsingham Road restaurant, employees gave officers detailed descriptions of the man and his car.
But a police report was never filled out, and an investigation was not launched until the St. Petersburg Times made inquiries Monday.
The captain of the department's patrol unit said he remains unsure whether a crime was committed. He said the man -- whom he would not identify -- has a criminal record and a history of offensive behavior.
Dorothea Beane, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Stetson University College of Law, said police should have investigated Saturday's encounter immediately.
"These types of incidents should be reported as soon as possible," she said. "It's important because you don't know what type of individual this is. Making threats is a dangerous activity, and there are statutes that criminalize making the threat."