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    Tampa Bay briefs

    By Times staff writers

    © St. Petersburg Times,
    published September 4, 2001


    TGH helicopter lands with generator problem

    TAMPA -- An emergency helicopter used by Tampa General Hospital was grounded Saturday night after losing generator power, Tampa Police said.

    The helicopter was responding to a one-car accident at N Amberly Drive and Tampa Palms Boulevard about 11:10 p.m. A woman suffered a fractured pelvis in the accident.

    The helicopter was forced to land in the southbound turn lane of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard when a panel light indicated one of the two generators was losing power, said hospital spokesman John Dunn.

    Federal Aviation Administration rules say both generators must be operational at all times, he said.

    The victim was transported by a rescue car to University Community Hospital. Police did not provide her name. She was in stable condition Sunday.

    The helicopter should be ready within a couple of days, Dunn said. In the meantime, the hospital can call on helicopters it leases in Inverness and Sebring. Tampa General also has a mutual aid agreement with BayFlight, which flies people to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, he said.

    Carjacker crashes after fleeing troopers, FHP says

    TAMPA -- Minutes after carjacking a vehicle Sunday, a 44-year-old Tampa man was arrested when he crashed the car while fleeing Florida Highway Patrol troopers, authorities said.

    About 7:50 a.m., Robert Hicks entered the car of Walter Thomas, stopped at a red light at 21st Street and Columbus Drive, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

    Hicks demanded money from Thomas, 70, then struck him and pushed him out of the car, authorities said.

    Soon after, Hicks ran into a highway patrol road check. When asked for his license, Hicks sped north on Morris Bridge and was caught after crashing the car south of Fowler Avenue, FHP Sgt. J.A. Williams said.

    Hicks is being held without bail in the Hillsborough County Jail on Orient Road. He faces several charges including carjacking, breaking and entering an auto, cocaine possession, fleeing and eluding, drunken driving, DUI with property damage or injury, driving without a valid driver's license, leaving the scene of a crash and resisting arrest.

    Phone calls subside, but fish kill remains

    CLEARWATER -- Authorities got fewer phone calls Monday about the stench of dead fish in Old Tampa Bay, but the problem remained.

    What appeared to be hundreds of dead fish floated in the water west of the Bayside Bridge. Biologists think the fish kill was caused not by Red Tide, which has affected counties south of Pinellas, but from lower levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, which is typical of Florida summertime conditions.

    "Summertime is when we have a lot of fish kills in Florida," said Gary Morse, public information director for the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It's usually due to low oxygen content in the water. That kills fish."

    Officers collide while responding to accident

    ST. PETERSBURG -- A car crash Monday on the Howard Frankland bridge resulted in a second accident -- this one between two law enforcement officers responding to the call.

    Injuries were reportedly minor, and authorities were sorting out the details. But according to Pinellas County Sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha, this is what happened:

    About 4 a.m., the Florida Highway Patrol got a call about several vehicles involved in an accident. There was reportedly a fight going on between some of the occupants, and the FHP asked the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office for help.

    Sheriff's Deputy Tom Singleton was driving toward the accident in an eastbound lane of the bridge. Behind him was an FHP car. Singleton slowed, and tried to pull into an emergency lane in the center of the span when a sport utility vehicle cut him off. In avoiding the vehicle, Singleton's cruiser collided with the FHP car behind him, driven by Trooper Anthony W. Palese.

    The FHP cruiser then clipped a van before coming to rest against a concrete barrier. The occupants of the van -- Deborah Mitchell and Danile Eggleston of Belleair Bluffs -- sustained minor bruises.

    Singleton bruised his arm in the crash. The trooper was cut on his head and was treated and released from Bayfront Medical Center.

    Power outage keeps WUSF-Channel 16 off air

    A suspected electrical short has knocked WUSF-Channel 16 off the air, and the public television station could be out of action until Wednesday.

    Operators discovered the problem when they tried to begin broadcasting at 6 a.m. Monday, said Bill Buxton, the station manager. Engineers worked on the outage throughout the day, but to no avail.

    While he was hopeful the necessary repairs could be made late Monday or early Tuesday, Buxton said it may take until Wednesday. Any serial programs will be shown when the station regains its broadcast capabilities.

    "We will do everything we can to get back as soon as we can," Buxton said.

    He said the problem appears to be in the transmission line that runs from the transmitter to the antenna that is at the top of the station's broadcast tower.

    Woman drowns in Pinellas Park lake

    PINELLAS PARK -- A 60-year-old woman drowned Monday in the lake of a mobile home park.

    Police officials said injuries to the woman's head indicate she may have been hurt when she entered the water at the Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park at 9301 49th St. Her body was found at 7:48 p.m.

    Officials were withholding the victim's identity late Monday pending notification of next of kin.

    Storm drops almost an inch of rain in 30 minutes

    A small but feisty storm brought a wet and windy end to the Labor Day holiday late Monday, dropping nearly an inch of rain on downtown St. Petersburg in about a half-hour and bringing winds as strong as 45 mph.

    The storm cell formed east of Ruskin in Hillsborough County and gathered strength over Tampa Bay as it moved northwest. It hit shortly after 11 p.m. at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg, dumping 0.9 inches of rain by 11:35 p.m.

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