ST. PETERSBURG -- A 30-year-old woman and her 7-year-old cousin were taken to hospitals Tuesday evening after lightning struck near them. The two had been at separate houses next door to each other in the 900 block of 21st Street S when a lightning bolt hit about 6:30 p.m.

Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Paramedics thought the two were not directly hit by lightning but were "splashed" with electricity when the bolt hit the area during an evening thunderstorm.

The woman, Melinda Brown, had been walking out to her car outside 943 21st St. S, relatives said. Brown told paramedics she felt numb in one leg. An ambulance took her to Bayfront Medical Center for treatment.

The 7-year-old girl, whose name was not available, had been inside the house next door at 9491/2 21st St. S, authorities said.

The girl's father drove her to All Children's Hospital as a precaution.

Police identify woman who drowned

PINELLAS PARK -- The woman who drowned Monday night in a lake in her mobile home park has been identified as 64-year-old Roberta Luthens.

Luthens' body was found about 7:45 p.m. Monday in the Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park at 9301 49th St. N. Luthens, who lived in the park, may have been in the water for about an hour, police said.

Luthens had suffered a head injury, but police think her death was an accident.

"Our investigators have pretty much ruled out foul play," said Pinellas Park police Lt. Sandfield Forseth. "It's possible she slipped off the dock and hit her head on something that caused the injury." An autopsy was to be performed on Luthens late Tuesday afternoon. Results were not available.

Stetson law school bids for downtown building

TAMPA -- Stetson University College of Law announced late Tuesday that it has submitted a bid to buy the old Tampa Police Department building on N Tampa Street.

Details of the proposal were not immediately available. However, a news release from Stetson indicates the school wants to buy the property and develop it as a law school campus "with a wide variety of educational and community services." The amount of the purchase offer was not provided in the release.

"We are very excited about the prospect of establishing a campus in downtown Tampa," law school dean Gary Vause said in the prepared release.

The old Police Department site, near a bend on the Hillsborough River north of downtown, was the centerpiece of a failed city proposal to lure Florida A&M University's new law school last year. Orlando ultimately was chosen for the FAMU law school.

The Police Department moved from the 40-year-old building several years ago to a new headquarters downtown. At the time, workers complained the 85,000-square-foot building had asbestos problems, was infested with rodents and insects, and had mildew. The air quality brought complaints that it might be a "sick building."

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