State Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, is expected to be elected Senate president pro tem, and state Rep. Sandra Murman, R-Tampa, is expected to be named House speaker pro tem.

Brown-Waite will fill the largely ceremonial position under incoming Senate President John McKay, R-Bradenton. Murman will fill the similar role under new House Speaker Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo.

Rather than fight, pipeline companies to combine efforts

LAND O'LAKES -- Two natural gas pipelines were headed for public hearings, one to make landfall in Pasco County and cross Florida, and one that would hook up in Manatee County. Now the fight is over, and Pasco has been scrapped for Manatee.

The 678-mile Buccaneer pipeline was expected to start in Mobile, Ala., make landfall near the Anclote River and end near Cape Canaveral. The surviving pipeline, the 744-mile Gulfstream project, would start near Coden, Ala., cross the Gulf of Mexico to Manatee County and end in St. Lucie County. The Williams Co. and Duke Energy Corp., which owned the Buccaneer pipeline, have agreed to take over the rival pipeline in Manatee County.

It makes sense, company officials said, because the Florida market would support only one new pipeline, and Gulfstream had made more progress than Buccaneer. Both projects were awaiting final approval from regulators at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The cancellation of Buccaneer cheered Pasco County residents who opposed the project on safety grounds.

New rules considered for manatees' winter homes

CRYSTAL RIVER -- After a year of record manatee deaths caused by watercraft, federal regulators are looking at ways to keep away the curious crowds that flock to clear spring waters to get close to the odd-looking creatures that seek refuge there in winter.

In 1999, a record 82 of the mammals were killed by watercraft in Florida, topping the 1998 record of 66. Now federal and state officials have renewed discussions about a manatee sanctuary in the Homosassa Blue Waters and the possibility of new federal rules limiting public interaction with manatees in Kings Bay.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is preparing to ask the community about strengthened manatee protection rules at a public input meeting scheduled for 7-9 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Plantation Inn in Crystal River.

Allegations of ticket fixing to be examined in Belleair

BELLEAIR -- The State Attorney's Office is examining allegations at the Belleair Police Department that high-ranking officers may have fixed tickets for selected residents.

Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe has not decided yet whether to conduct a full investigation, but his lawyers and investigators are determining whether one is needed. Evidence of a crime would trigger an investigation, McCabe said.

The state attorney's involvement comes at the request of Town Manager Steve Cottrell and police Chief George Harmansky. Since Harmansky arrived in July, he said people have told him that tickets written by street officers were later "taken care of" by certain high-ranking officers. He investigated one such charge himself and determined it was unfounded. However, Harmansky still is concerned enough that he wants help from an outside agency.

School official's health was in question on Election Day

INVERNESS -- David Hickey, Citrus County's recently elected school superintendent, now acknowledges that he was not resting with his family the day before the election as he had earlier stated. Rather, he had been taken from a Crystal River hospital to one in Ocala by ambulance for a procedure to keep vessels in his heart open.

Hickey apologized for any confusion he might have caused and said he never intended to mislead the public about his whereabouts on the day before the election. During his hospitalization that weekend, he said, he had lost track of time and had been fuzzy on when certain events had taken place.

"The days just kind of run together," he said. "It's all a blur to me." Hickey and Superintendent Pete Kelly were locked in a close election battle, but Hickey said that he was not being intentionally vague about his whereabouts to a reporter to lessen any impact his health might have on his election chances.

Hillsborough School Board approves school choice plan

TAMPA -- Over the objection of its only black board member, the Hillsborough County School Board on Tuesday approved a sweeping school choice proposal that could halt more than a quarter-century of court-ordered busing.

With the move, Hillsborough joins a growing pool of school districts across the country, including Pinellas, which in recent years have adopted similar voluntary measures to achieve school desegregation.

The sole dissenter Tuesday was Doris Ross Reddick, the board's only black member, who had deferred a vote on the plan last week. In a measured but strained tone, Reddick said she could not vote for a plan that was unrealistic in its expections.

"I will let the situation speak for itself and let the judge do the rest," said Reddick, referring to Chief U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich, who will review the plan. Other board members said it was time to put the plan to the test in court, await the results and tinker with it later, if necessary.

Swimsuit issue will be limited edition for beach town

TREASURE ISLAND -- When you work beach patrol everyday, seeing women in bikinis is part of the job, but city officials have decided to take the cheesecake out of their recruiting material.

Personnel director Fred Turner said he was just trying to recruit police candidates when he published a posed photo of a uniformed detective with the city's sport utility vehicle on the beach talking to two women in bikinis.

"I wanted to show the beach, and I wanted to show that we had up-to-date equipment too," Turner said. Other pictures included officers on bicycle patrol, officers in a marine patrol boat and a former female sergeant handcuffing a man next to a squad car.

Turner and police Chief Joe Pelkington said the new recruitment efforts have paid off. The department has hired six officers this year and is only one shy of its full staffing of 21.

City Manager Chuck Coward changed his mind after a few eyebrows were raised. "I'm pretty sure I saw it (before it was published) and I didn't have a problem with it," he allowed. "But I think a football term is best here: Upon further review, I think it's inappropriate."

Coming up this week

As if the dry lawns weren't testament enough, Thursday is the official end of hurricane season. There have been 14 named storms thus far in 2000, eight of them hurricanes. In the Tampa Bay area, Gordon has been the most notable storm, coming ashore Sept. 17 as a tropical storm near Cedar Key. In what the National Hurricane Center defines as an average or normal year, there are nine or 10 named storms, six of them hurricanes.

The city of Seminole is poised for another string of annexations. If the City Council approves three ordinances at its meeting Tuesday and Dec. 12, the city will schedule a January referendum to add 2,410 acres and 8,615 registered voters into the city. Annexation is a hot topic in Pinellas County after the Florida Legislature gave Pinellas cities the power to make involuntary annexations in 1998, so long as they complete the annexations by June 2001.

- Compiled by Times staff writer Sharon Kennedy Wynne.

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