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    Tampa Bay briefs

    By Times staff writers

    © St. Petersburg Times, published October 28, 2000


    Four injured, one dead in head-on collision

    HUDSON -- A 16-year-old girl died and four other people were critically injured in a head-on crash at sunset Friday.

    The crash of a white sport utility vehicle and a car happened about 6:40 p.m. on Hicks Road, a few hundred yards north of Veterans Memorial Park.

    There were four teenagers in the car and a 52-year-old man in the SUV, officials said.

    Sarah Marie Stevens, 16, of 7615 Mako Drive, Hudson, died in the crash. Grace Fields, 17, and Patrick Marble, 14, who live at that same address, and Sheena St. Pierre, 17, of 7941 Gulf Way, Hudson, all suffered serious injuries.

    In the SUV, Dennis Ray Cook, 52, of 10301 Hudson Ave., Hudson, was seriously injured.

    It is unclear how the crash happened. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.

    Envelope examined by FBI to see if it contains virus

    ST. PETERSBURG -- First came the police. Then came a hazardous materials team. And finally, the FBI.

    All because of a mysterious envelope that arrived in the mail Friday at a medical office in St. Petersburg. Workers at the office were worried it might contain a virus they had been warned about, authorities said. FBI agents took the envelope away Friday for testing. It was unknown whether it contained anything hazardous.

    Authorities were called about 2 p.m. to Updegraff Lasik Vision at 1607 Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) St. N. Little information was available about what happened. The doctor's office and the FBI would not comment. It was not clear Friday whether the incident was linked to an Internet hoax that appeared earlier this year.

    Politicians to encourage voter turnout at march

    As part of a statewide campaign to increase voter turnout, residents are invited to the "Arrive with Five" kick-off at 8 a.m. today at Williams Park, First Avenue N between Third and Fourth streets, St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg City Council members Rene Flowers and Frank Peterman, along with state Sen. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, state Rep. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, and Democrat state Senate District 21 candidate and former Education Commissioner Doug Jamerson, will march to the Supervisor of Elections office to encourage people to vote by absentee ballot or bring five friends or family members with them to the polls Nov. 7. For information, call 323-5690.

    Dentist pleads not guilty in shooting

    TAMPA -- The Countryway dentist accused of shooting a man during a neighborhood dispute appeared in court Friday on charges of second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and carrying a concealed firearm. Randy Puryear, 40, pleaded not guilty in one of the first of what will likely be many court hearings stemming from the Sept. 10 shooting. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. Investigators say Puryear brought a gun to the 11000 block of Fox Creek Drive about 4:30 p.m. and confronted 39-year-old Jemale Wells, who had broken up a fight among neighborhood kids that had involved the son of Puryear's girlfriend. Deputies said Puryear and his girlfriend, Sherri Toney, who are white, shouted racial slurs at Wells, who is black, before the two men grappled for Puryear's gun. The gun fired, hitting Wells in the abdomen. He died after surgery. Puryear originally faced a manslaughter charge. After reviewing the case, prosecutors increased the charge to second-degree murder.

    Woman finds blue pill in butter

    Kim DeFrancesco was cooking dinner at her friend's house Thursday when she sliced through a stick of butter and heard a strange crunch.

    Curious, she picked up the stick and looked. There, imbedded in the center, was a tiny blue pill.

    "I was in shock," the Spring Hill resident said Friday. "Then I pretty much freaked out."

    Authorities from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration office in Tampa are now investigating the incident involving the Mid America Farms brand butter bought Thursday at a Spring Hill Circle K. Store officials said Friday that they are pulling the product from any of the company's 417 Florida locations that carry it.

    "And we will pull it from all of our shelves (nationwide) if it is determined we need to," said Paul Oves, vice president of public affairs of Tosco, the company that owns Circle K.

    No one who ingested the butter was seriously harmed. But DeFrancesco's friend, Kim Logan, says her 6-year-old daughter had some of the butter on her noodles before they discovered the pill. Afterward, the girl started acting strange, laughing at the "hats on the ceiling fan." Logan's 4-year-old son had diarrhea after having some of the butter on pancakes but suffered no other effects, a Hernando County sheriff's report said.

    After finding the first pill, the women discovered a second one on Logan's kitchen floor near where they had been preparing food.

    Officials do not know what drug, if any, the pills contained.

    Neither the women nor authorities say they know how the pills got into the butter. The packaging did not appear to be tampered with, the women said.

    The manufacturer of the butter, Pennsylvania-based Keller's Inc., was notified of the incident Friday and is investigating.

    Poodle breeder guilty of 190 counts of cruelty

    TAMPA -- Almost two years after authorities seized more than 400 dogs from toy poodle breeder Alice Holt, a judge Friday found her guilty of 190 counts of animal cruelty.

    Judge Denise Pompano ordered Holt, 63, to repay $198,000 to the county for the cost of boarding and treating the animals, and $5,300 to the Tampa Police Department for its investigative costs. She also banned Holt from owning or breeding animals during 10 years of probation and ordered her to perform 50 hours of community service.

    When police officers entered the Toyland Pet Resort at 2501 E Diana St. in January 1999, they found dogs, some shivering and wet, crammed together in outdoor cages. Ultimately, most of them found homes through a local poodle rescue group.

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