CRYSTAL RIVER -- Led by an ultralight aircraft, 12 young sandhill cranes have passed the halfway point of a 1,250-mile odyssey across seven states and are expected to arrive in Citrus County in about a week.

When they touch down, the birds will have blazed a migratory trail for an endangered relative, the whooping crane.

Researchers intend to lead a flock of whoopers to Florida next year, an initiative that has been compared to the efforts to save the bald eagle.

There will be two stops in Florida. The first will be at Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, where the sandhills will spend a few days so the test run for the whooping cranes can be evaluated.

Eventually the sandhills will move, either by truck or by air, to their winter home at St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve in Crystal River.

Sex offenders corralled on Halloween night

NEW PORT RICHEY -- As Pasco County children went trick-or-treating Tuesday night, law enforcement acted to round up the most unsavory elements on the streets.

Sheriff's deputies and probation officers went in search of 32 known sex offenders, in an effort to make sure they had no contact with the thousands of Pasco children out on the streets celebrating Halloween.

The final tally: four sex offenders were arrested on five charges, 16 were contacted and were not doing anything wrong, seven showed up at the West Pasco Government Center for a special Halloween counseling session for sex offenders that was canceled last week after a lawyer challenged its legality, and five could not be located.

State probation officials had initially ordered every convicted child sex offender on probation to a mandatory counseling session on Halloween during the hours when most children would be out trick-or-treating. But the DOC abruptly canceled the program after a lawyer questioned it.

FAMU asks for more homework on law school sites

TAMPA -- Though a decision is expected in less than three weeks, Florida A&M University officials said Tuesday they want additional information from the cities vying to be the home of FAMU's new law school, including Tampa.

The university's site selection committee is asking for estimates of the minority applicant pool in each area, information about student housing, even the proximity of grocery stores and restaurants to the proposed sites.

Tampa boosters consider the request a positive sign that the school's future location is still an open question.

FAMU officials, however, have made no secret of their desire to have the law school in Orlando, which was the recommendation of the site selection committee in September.

The state Board of Regents will take up the issue in mid-November. Tampa and Orlando are considered the front-runners. Daytona Beach and Lakeland also submitted bids.

Dunedin offers Nielsen millions to stay put

DUNEDIN -- Dunedin has raised the ante in its bid to retain the city's largest employer, offering Nielsen Media and Research local, county and state incentives worth about $6-million.

Dunedin officials say they may have some competition in their bid to retain the television ratings company, listing Oldsmar, just a few miles east of Dunedin, and Atlanta, where Nielsen's parent company has an office.

Dunedin has offered $2.9-million in tax abatements and waived fees. Pinellas County and the state have combined to offer another $3.1-million in reimbursements, waived fees and suspended taxes.

On Wednesday, Dunedin Economic Development Director Bob Ironsmith identified more than $4-million in additional assistance that would be made available to the company if it agrees to stay.

Meanwhile, Oldsmar City Manager Bruce Haddock said his city isn't interested in "going head-to-head with Dunedin."

"But I think we have something to offer that Dunedin doesn't, and that's vacant land. That's probably the greatest advantage that we have compared to Dunedin."

Clearwater won't plunge into water plant decision

CLEARWATER -- Despite pleas from water managers, the Clearwater City Commission says it wants more information before taking the plunge on an $8.2-million reverse-osmosis water plant.

Mayor Brian Aungst tried in vain to encourage his colleagues to approve the design of the plant, to be built by Tampa Bay Water and then sold to the city.

Tampa Bay Water officials told the commission the region's water emergency requires starting work on the Clearwater water plant immediately -- without even a two-week delay.

Tampa Bay Water wants the water plant built to boost the city's water production, and add 2-million to 3-million gallons of new water to the region's water supply, since the water supplier faces impending restrictions to reduce its pumping in other areas.

The commission decided to reconsider the plant on Nov. 13.

The tap may run dry, Tampa leader warns

TAMPA -- Worried by the drought, Tampa City Council Chairman Charlie Miranda is warning potential developers in unincorporated Hillsborough not to rely on Tampa water should the long dry spell persist.

"We have no rain in sight," Miranda said at Thursday's council meeting, noting that if 3 inches of rain didn't fall by the end of the year, the area will have seen the driest year since 1890. "This is serious," he said, urging people to conserve by turning the water off while soaping up in the shower.

Miranda said that of the 440,000 people served by the Tampa Water Department, 160,000 live in unincorporated Hillsborough. Developers looking to build there should not count on Tampa for water, Miranda said, since the city must take care of its own customers first.

Dave Tippin, director of the Tampa Water Department, echoed Miranda's concern.

"People just go ahead and build all these complexes and things without coming to us first to talk about water supply," he said.

Suncoast Parkway critics not giving up without a fight

INVERNESS -- Undaunted by recent political and legal setbacks, Suncoast Parkway opponents went on the offensive last week, charging that the proposed second leg is based on bogus projections and will destroy the pastoral qualities of Citrus County.

The Suncoast Parkway is promoted as a high-speed, north-south alternative route to Interstate 75 and U.S. 19.

But more than 200 people attended an afternoon event last Sunday, and many of them signed letters to Gov. Jeb Bush, urging him to eliminate funding for the Citrus portion of the road.

They cited a recent Times article on a consulting company, URS Greiner Woodward Clyde of San Francisco, which originally estimated that the Suncoast would be so popular that it would generate $70-million in 2002 and $119-million in 2010.

In February, URS said the figures were closer to $14-million in 2002 and $31-million in 2010. The parkway would likely not pass a financial feasibility test if the revised figures were used.

"This area, hydrologically, is the crown jewel," said Beth Connor of the Sierra Club, which sponsored Sunday's gathering. The state, she added, could eliminate the need for the road by improving sections of U.S. 19 and 41.

Coming up this week

Tuesday is Election Day, and that means an end to all those political ads -- for a little while at least. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

On Thursday, a court hearing in Miami-Dade County will focus on the scientific and constitutional issues involved in the mass destruction of citrus trees in the state's battle against citrus canker. A judge on Friday continued the ban on cutting further citrus trees at least until the hearing.

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