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How helping Ukraine helps US, too | Letters
S. Korea will consider supplying arms to Ukraine after Russia, N. Korea Pact | June 22. I was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and immigrated to the United States 25 years ago. As an adult, I have served in the U.S. military, one tour as an adviser in Kyiv. I understand the Russian weapons described in one recent report, and how to counter them.
The Fishes Act is crucial to speed disaster relief to American fisheries
Your federal government is broken, and Florida’s seafood sector is paying the price for Washington’s dysfunction. While nearly everyone agrees that Washington should quickly deploy resources and assistance after natural disasters wreak havoc on coastal communities, right now it takes up to three years under current regulatory processes and a maze of red tape before federal fishery disaster relief is approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Office of Management and Budget.
DeSantis vetoes bill over vacation rental regulation
TALLAHASSEE — After an alliance of strange bedfellows urged Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto a bill that would preempt local governments from regulating Airbnbs and other vacation rentals, he quietly did just that on Thursday evening. But the fight is far from over. Cities and counties campaigned against the...
Live updates: Biden and Trump in their first 2024 presidential debate
PolitiFact is live fact-checking the first 2024 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump at 9 p.m.. CNN is hosting the debate at its Atlanta studio. There will be no audience, and CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate. The debate is airing across broadcast and cable channels, and will stream for free on CNN’s website.
Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov snubbed by media, peers at NHL Awards
Nikita Kucherov’s record-setting season propelled the Lightning to the playoffs, but it wasn’t enough to earn him either of the league’s two most outstanding player trophies. The Lightning forward was one of three finalists for both the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award, but was...
Not just Fox News: NBA named in Tim Burke leaked videos case
Tampa media consultant Tim Burke, who is accused of illegally accessing unaired Fox News footage, also obtained video from the NBA, attorneys confirmed in court Thursday. Burke, 45, was arrested in February on accusations that he and a co-conspirator used “compromised credentials” to access and save private commercial broadcast video streams, then disseminate specific clips. The 25-page indictment said that included video from an unnamed “National Sports League.”
Jason Bartlett will be rooting for Yandy Diaz to break his Rays record
ST. PETERSBURG — The plaque is upstairs at Jason Bartlett’s house in the Naples area, commemorating the 19-game hitting streak he had for the 2009 Rays that stood alone for nearly 15 seasons as the team record. Until Wednesday, when Yandy Diaz tied it, with a chance to...
Tampa City Council members vote to give themselves $20,000 raise
TAMPA — Two years after Mayor Jane Castor’s administration first proposed hiking salaries, City Council members have agreed to follow the recommendation. A majority voted on Thursday to give themselves a more than $20,000 annual pay raise, or a nearly 40% boost. “It’s not just about us,” said...
Parkland shooter signs away rights to his name. Now, just one survivor owns it.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Anthony Borges now owns Nikolas Cruz’s name, according to his lawyer. As part of a negotiated civil settlement between the gunman and the teenager who survived multiple gunshot wounds at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Cruz cannot so much as grant an interview without the written consent of a young man he tried to murder on Feb.
Rays at the halfway point: ‘We’ve got work to do’
ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays’ performance through the midpoint of their schedule was technically slightly worse than half-bad, given their 40-41 record. The predominant question now, as they start the second half Friday, is whether they are equipped to improve enough to reach the playoffs for a sixth straight season.
Why is Gov. DeSantis so hostile to the arts?
Some people are ignorant and proud of it. Ron DeSantis is one of those people. The man recently vetoed almost every pitiful penny of arts and culture funding in the state budget. Museums, music, youth programs, treasures such as Tallahassee’s Young Actor’s Theater — which trained stars like Alison Miller of “King,” Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Tony Hale of “Veep” — historic houses, Black heritage centers, performing arts spaces, dance companies, kids’ music programs, even renowned institutions such as the Ringling Museum of Art, one of the few places in Florida where visitors can see works by Old...
Crash blocks multiple lanes of southbound I-275 in St. Petersburg
Multiple southbound lanes of Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg were closed Thursday afternoon after a crash. The crash was reported about 3:50 p.m. at 28th Street South, just before Exit 19 at 22nd Street South, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. Traffic cameras from the Department of Transportation showed...
St. Petersburg pushes final Rays stadium vote, workshop back a week
St. Petersburg needs more time before City Council members vote yay or nay on a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays and surrounding redevelopment known as the Historic Gas Plant District. City spokesperson Alizza Punzalan-Randle confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times in an email that a workshop and a...
Pasco deputies investigate after man found dead at I-75 rest area
Pasco deputies are investigating after a man was found dead at a rest area on Interstate 75 in Wesley Chapel. The man was found at a rest area on southbound I-75 on Thursday afternoon, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. There is no threat to the public, and the rest area remains open, according to the news release.
UF will close July 5 to 'celebrate our nation's freedom,' Sasse says
The University of Florida announced an extra holiday on July 5, “in the spirit of celebrating our nation’s independence,” a news release said. The university announced classes would be canceled and the university would be closed the day after Independence Day. Departments were advised to plan for the surprise closure.
Florida Supreme Court: Pinellas must pay taxes on land it owns in Pasco
Counties must pay property taxes on land they own outside their borders, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday, putting to rest a nearly decade-long dispute between two Tampa Bay counties. The case centered on 12,400 acres of ranch land that Pinellas County started acquiring in north Pasco County in the...
Report names man found dead in New Tampa, outlines evidence in murder case
Tucked away in the woods next to a self-storage facility in New Tampa, police last week found a dead body riddled with bullet holes. The body was heavily decomposed, and pieces of skull lay shattered nearby, Tampa police noted in an arrest report. A lanyard hanging around the man’s neck contained a Florida driver’s license that helped investigators identify him as 35-year-old Andre Dyke.
UF professors OK proposed ‘Great Books’ major — with some reservations
The University of Florida’s faculty senate is advancing two proposed majors in the school’s newly established think tank and college the Hamilton Center: “Philosophy, Politics and Economics and Law” and “Great Books and Ideas.”. Not every faculty member is happy about it. The senate last...
DeSantis said he cut Florida’s arts funding over ‘sexual’ festivals
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis cited “sexual” festivals in Orlando and Tampa as the reason he vetoed more than $32 million in arts funding across Florida this month. “You have your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the Fringe Festival, which is like a sexual festival where they’re doing all this stuff,” DeSantis said during a news conference Thursday.
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