Robert Chillura Jr. was "playing with matches or a cigarette lighter and set a blanket on fire," Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ray Yeakley said Friday. The boy turned on a fan to extinguish the fire, but it didn't work. So he woke up his father, Yeakley said, and the pair escaped. But 18-month-old Michael Chillura died in the fire.

Donations for the Chillura family can be sent to North Lake Foods, attention: Billy Martindale, 5912 Breckenridge Parkway, Suite 1, Tampa, FL 33610.

Man found guilty in death of massage therapist

TAMPA -- A jury deliberated for most of the afternoon Friday before finding Ray Lamar Johnston guilty of first-degree murder for killing a massage therapist in her Seminole Heights home. Johnston, already on death row for a previous killing, now faces another death sentence. The jury will reconvene Oct. 18 to consider whether he should be put to death or serve a life sentence. They will make a recommendation to Circuit Judge Rex Barbas, who will have the final say on the sentence. Johnston, 45, who did not take the stand during the week of testimony, has said in the past that he was innocent. Nugent, 47, was discovered in her bathtub, beaten and strangled.

Democrats choose lawyer as fill-in for House race

TAMPA -- Republican incumbent Sandy Murman has been running unopposed for House District 56. On Friday, the Democratic state executive committee chose Henry Gill, 67, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor after Betsy McCoy Benedict's unexpected announcement that she was dropping out of the race.

New subpoenas issued in judicial snooping inquiry

TAMPA -- More subpoenas have been issued in the inquiry into Circuit Judge Robert Bonanno's presence in a fellow judge's office after hours in July.

Judge Greg Holder, who asked for the investigation after he learned of Bonanno's unscheduled visit, received a subpoena to appear before the grand jury on Wednesday.

His bailiff, Sylvia Gay, who found Bonanno, also was subpoenaed, as was another bailiff, Tara Pisano.

She is tangentially linked to the investigation through a separate investigation into an affair she had with another judge.

The subpoenas have been expected since Jerry Hill, the state attorney in Polk County who is conducting the investigation, announced that he would empanel a grand jury to determine if any laws were broken.

The grand jury heard the first witness, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent, on Tuesday and will reconvene Wednesday. Hill has already subpoenaed records from Pisano and Chief Judge Dennis Alvarez.

Bonanno was discovered in Holder's office after 5 p.m. on a Thursday in July. Holder's bailiff said she was startled when she let herself into the darkened offices and realized there was someone else inside. Bonanno didn't answer her calls at first and seemed to be trying to hide, she later reported.

Holder said it was widely known that he was out of town on military duty that day, and he called for an investigation. Bonanno's attorney, Ralph Fernandez, countered that his client was there to talk about courthouse business.

Court to review Medicaid contract cancellations

TAMPA -- A federal court hearing Tuesday will consider whether the state should be barred from canceling Medicaid contracts at six nursing homes and relocating 628 elderly or disabled patients.

U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore scheduled the hearing Friday at the request of lawyers for Vencor Inc., which owns three of the six homes.

Based on chronic inspection problems, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration on Monday canceled Medicaid contracts at Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Tampa, Abbey Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in St. Petersburg, Colonial Oaks Rehabilitation Center in Fort Myers, Crystal Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation in Thonotosassa, Magnolias in Pensacola and Greenwood Rehabilitation in West Palm Beach.

The state set a Nov. 1 deadline for Medicaid patients to move. That brought a federal complaint by Vencor claiming the forced relocation violated state and federal regulations. The state action also set off protests by residents and family members suddenly faced with relocating elderly relatives.

Woman accused of selling online but not delivering

LARGO -- The owner of an Oldsmar computer company was charged this week with stealing money from customers who bid for computers on online auction sites but never received them.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office believes Gail Grierson of Creative PC in Oldsmar stole $27,000 from at least 25 people throughout the world, including customers in Argentina, Canada and the United States, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Greg Tita said.

Sheriff's detectives continue to investigate, and other charges may be filed, Tita said.

Grierson, 45, of 2311 Old Village Way in Oldsmar was arrested at her home Thursday and charged with one count of grand theft for allegedly taking about $11,000 from nine victims.

Customers had complained for months to area law enforcement agencies about Creative PC and Cybercom Industries, a Pinellas Park business that told customers it was completing Creative PC's computer orders.

But the customers say no action was taken until the St. Petersburg Times published an article about the businesses in July.

Joyland complex closed for fire, code violations

PINELLAS PARK -- For 40 years, country music fans, dancers, roller skaters and politicians have gathered to party at the Joyland Entertainment Complex.

But now the landmark at 11225 U.S. 19 N in Pinellas Park is closed, at least for a few weeks.

City officials shut it down this week after finding so many "life-threatening" fire and building code violations that the structure had become "unfit for human habitation."

The city also ordered that the electricity be cut off until owner Walter Preston brings it into compliance with city codes.

Late Friday, Preston and city officials were negotiating over the possibility of leaving some of the electricity on so the building's security, computers and food refrigeration system could operate.

Preston said he is taking care of the problems and hopes to reopen in about three weeks.

Ex-manager at area clubs being investigated in Naples burglaries

The former manager of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and Tampa's University Club has been arrested near Naples and is being investigated in connection with a series of cat burglaries in which a naked man breaks into homes and wakes women in their beds.

Rob Wright, 47, managed the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in the mid-1990s before leaving in 1997. Before that, he managed the private University Club in Tampa.

Wright, of Estero, was arrested early Tuesday after Collier County sheriff's deputies watched him prowl around an East Naples gated community, peeking in windows.

Deputies searched Wright and his car and found a black ski mask, a monocular range finder, pruning shears, mosquito repellent and remote controls to open electronic gates at several gated communities.

Wright was charged with loitering and prowling and possession of burglary tools. He has since bailed out of jail, but he remains under investigation.

Detectives are trying to figure out if Wright is the so-called "Naked Burglar" believed to be responsible for at least seven recent break-ins in the Naples area. Wright has not been charged in those cases.

"When our officers observed him the night he was arrested, he fit the M.O. (method of operation) of those other cases," said Collier County sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Maturo. Wright has not been charged in those cases.

Offices open today for voter registration; Tuesday is deadline

The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 7 general election is Tuesday. All of Pinellas County's supervisor of elections offices will be open today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Offices are at the County Courthouse, 315 Court St., Clearwater; Election Service Center, 14255 49th St. N, Suite 202, Largo; and 501 First Ave. N (use Fifth Street entrance), St. Petersburg.

Residents also can register with elections officials at the Countryside and Tyrone Square malls from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.

For more information, call the elections office at (727) 464-3551 or visit its Web site at www.co.pinellas.fl/us/soe.

Mission accomplished, write-in voting office candidate pulls out

Clyde J. Walters Sr., an auto salesman and retired St. Petersburg police officer, on Wednesday officially withdrew as a write-in candidate for Pinellas County supervisor of elections.

He had already stated publicly that he did not want the job and that he had filed only to keep non-Republicans from voting in the Sept. 5 primary between Republicans Deborah Clark and Pat Baker.

Originally, that race would have been open to all voters because it featured candidates from only one party. But Walters' entry changed that, sparking controversy among some of the 340,000 voters excluded from that primary.

Clark was elected in the primary and would have faced Walters on Nov. 7. Walters' withdrawal means Clark, a 22-year employee of the elections office, is automatically elected.

Police arrest suspect in Pinellas burglaries

ST. PETERSBURG -- The recovery of a stolen van early Friday led to the arrest of a man whom police had been seeking for two months in connection with burglaries throughout Pinellas County.

Police arrested Richard Fazzini, 40, a transient, about 4 a.m. Friday at 600 38th St. S and charged him with grand theft auto, armed burglary and five counts of dealing stolen property, said Detective Ed Crandall of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Fazzini was held in lieu of $220,000 bail.

St. Petersburg police arrested Fazzini after they saw him sitting in a 1999 green Plymouth van outside the 38th Street home, said Officer Johnny Harris. Fazzini is wanted in connection with a number of burglaries, Crandall said. One of the most significant involves the removal of 22 firearms from a home at 8976 95th St. N. Police say Fazzini also took the van from that location.

Police have recovered stolen property that they have connected to Fazzini, most of which had been sold to local pawn shops, Crandall said. Officers still are trying to locate the owners of the property.

The case was still under investigation Friday night, Crandall said.

Man commandeers car, releases teen unharmed

ST. PETERSBURG -- A man pushed a 17-year-old driver into the passenger seat of her own car and then took her keys and drove away from a McDonald's restaurant Thursday afternoon, police said.

The victim was not injured in the incident.

The man approached the teen about 4:40 p.m. while she was sitting in her car in the drive-through lane of a McDonald's restaurant at 4595 34th St. S, said Officer Johnny Harris. The man then pushed the teen into the passenger seat and drove away.

The man made several stops -- at a Kash 'n Karry grocery store at 22nd Avenue N and 34th Street and again at the corner of 17th Avenue S and 16th Street -- Harris said. The man made a final stop at the intersection of Ninth Avenue S and 22nd Street, where he gave the keys back to the victim and walked away.

Police still are looking for the suspect, who was described as a black man about 30 years old, 5 feet 9, 140 pounds, with a beard and moustache. He was last seen wearing a black button-down shirt and blue jeans.

Largo man pleads guilty to murder, gets 50 years

LARGO -- A man who committed the city of Largo's first homicide in 1999 was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty and avoiding a trial.

Michael James White, 40, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault. He also was labeled a habitual offender because of his criminal record.

White previously had been convicted of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernaliaand possession of hashish, as well as burglary, aggravated assault, DUI and battery, records show.

In January 1999, police say, White got into a fight with two men in Largo about White's girlfriend, who was not present.

White was acquainted with the two men -- roommates David B. Loux and Viliamu Alo Malolo -- and went to Loux's house looking for his girlfriend. She wasn't there. White left, but came back with a .40-caliber gun, according to reports.

During the struggle, Malolo was shot and killed. Loux was shot in the wrist, and White was wounded in the leg.

Ex-officer charged with having sex with teen

ST. PETERSBURG -- A former St. Petersburg police officer has been arrested on charges that he had sex with a 15-year-old girl. Kenneth Leavail Smith, 36, had been with the Police Department for four years before resigning two weeks ago. He was arrested Thursday on a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. Smith, who lives in Largo, had been a community officer assigned to a St. Petersburg neighborhood between 31st and 34th streets S. Investigators say Smith met a 15-year-old girl in October 1997 while he was on duty along 34th Street S. Smith contacted the girl's father and left his work phone number and cell phone number, said Pinellas sheriff's Sgt. Greg Tita. Smith is accused of having sex with the girl at his home and at a Madeira Beach motel, Tita said.

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