By Adam C. Smith, Times Political Editor
Saturday, April 28, 2012

TAMPA — Okay, Mitt Romney, it's time to step up for Florida.

Florida Republicans revived your candidacy in the Jan. 31 primary. They've donated more than $7 million to your 2012 presidential campaign. They're hosting your nomination bash at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. And without Florida's 29 electoral votes it's nearly impossible for you to win the White House.

So now Florida Republicans are expecting you, Mr. Presumptive Nominee, to lean on the Republican National Committee to ease off Florida's penalties for breaking party rules by holding a January primary. They want at least 99 Floridians seated at the Aug. 27-30 Republican National Convention in Tampa, though the RNC has lopped Florida's delegation in half to 50.

"We've asked the Romney people to go to the RNC,'' said Peter Feaman, a Republican national committeeman from Boca Raton. "If we can't have all our delegates, can you at least seat all of us and allow us in the convention?"

No other swing state has as many electoral votes as Florida, and with that mega battleground status comes a hefty sense of entitlement. That explains why so many party activists gathered in Tampa for the state GOP's quarterly meeting this weekend sounded utterly confident they ultimately will escape the strict penalties promised by the RNC.

On Saturday, party leaders approved a full slate of 99 delegates and 96 alternates, two from each of the state's 25 congressional districts and the rest at-large choices by the party chairman. If the RNC sticks to its penalties, the state party in June or July will revise the list to designate the 50 official delegates.

"The reality is Mitt Romney is not going to have Florida be penalized. We're the battleground of all battleground states," predicted A.J. Matthews, a state committeeman from Hillsborough and a delegate representing congressional District 11.

Orange County GOP chairman Lew Oliver agreed: "There's an expectation that Mitt Romney will fix it. I would guess what they do is allow 99 people to be credentialed and be able to go into the convention but not necessarily cast a vote."

That's what happened four years ago, when the state party also violated the officially sanctioned primary calendar by setting Florida's primary in January. Ultimately all 114 Florida delegates had prime seats in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., but half of them were designated nonvoting "honored guests."

The Florida GOP activists' expectations for the Tampa convention put former Massachusetts Gov. Romney in an awkward position. To press the RNC to indemnify Florida is sure to antagonize hundreds of party activists from other states who complied with the rules though they would have preferred to have earlier primaries.

The Romney campaign declined to comment on the matter Saturday.

Nor is it certain that the presumptive nominee can even persuade the RNC to back off. Florida is a now a two-time offender, and in January the RNC's rules committee made clear how annoyed it was with Florida's primary date. The panel tacked on additional penalties for the convention's host state, including fewer guest passes, "reduced priority" hotels and reduced priority floor seats.

"The rules committee has made it clear the rules will be enforced," RNC spokesman Matt Connelly said when asked about the potential for mercy on Florida's delegation.

GOP activists have been joking about the Florida delegation being assigned to a hotel close to the Georgia line, but their commute should not be excessive. Every hotel blocked off for the convention is in Pinellas County or Hillsborough County except for Saddlebrook Resort Tampa on the Pasco County line, according to Ken Jones, president of the Tampa Bay Host Committee.

Florida Republican Party chairman Lenny Curry said he remains optimistic that a compromise will be worked out.

"Penalizing the grass roots because of something the Legislature did doesn't make sense. (A legislative-led committee set the primary date.) We need these people in the trenches as involved and engaged and motivated as possible,'' said Curry, noting that he continues to make the case to the RNC. "If you push on a wall long enough eventually you get through, or you find a way to go around it or over it. But I can't tell you it's moved much so far."

In a state with more than 4 million registered Republican voters the access that a few dozen activists have to the convention is hardly make or break for the election. The local party officials who tend to earn the delegate slots can make a lot of noise, but the truth is many of them spend more time attending functions than actually knocking on doors, manning phone banks and getting candidates elected.

Republican leaders in the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott knew of the promise for penalties by setting an early primary, but they insisted it was much more important to ensure America's biggest battleground state had significant influence on picking the nominee. Romney handily won Florida's primary, though the bruising campaign continued in full force for more than two months before he was acknowledged as the inevitable nominee.

"People are coming to the realization now that a lot them are going to be left out of the convention and they're not going to be able to participate in it as much as they wanted,'' said Pinellas County state committeeman Tony DiMatteo. "It was sold that the penalties would be worth it because Florida would be the determining state. In effect, (grass roots activists) took one for the team and then Florida was not the determining state."

Others suggested that even without floor passes the convention in Tampa will be a blast for rank-and-file Republicans.

"Who wants to be on the inside? If you've been to a convention, you know it's so crowded and claustrophobic in there, and there's going to be so much to do all day long on the outside of there ­— symposiums, grass roots training, big speeches," said Cindy Graves of Jacksonville, president of the Florida Federation of Republican Women.

Among other things, her group is working with Saks Fifth Avenue on a fashion show for 300 women.

Gov. Scott on Saturday predicted Florida will be accommodated for one reason: "You have to win Florida to win the presidency."

But Sharon Day, national committeewoman from Fort Lauderdale and co-chair of the RNC, was not as optimistic.

"I never say never, but it will be tough," said Day, noting that Florida is a two-time primary calendar offender and the vast majority of state parties complied.

"They're responsible for their actions," she said of the state party. "And we're a party that believes in personal responsibility."

Adam C. Smith can be reached at asmith@tampabay.com.

By Dan Sullivan, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2012

NEW PORT RICHEY — When a Tarpon Springs man was pulled over Saturday in New Port Richey, he tried to convince officers that he was one of them, according to police.

Joseph Rainier, 53, was driving north on U.S. 19 about 2 p.m. in a white Jeep Cherokee, police said, when New Port Richey police Cpl. Donald Velsor clocked him going faster than the 45 mph speed limit.

Upon being pulled over, Rainier asked to speak with a police supervisor. Velsor replied that he was a supervisor, police said.

Rainier then flashed a gold shield resembling an official Florida Department of Law Enforcement badge, police said. "You're in trouble," he told the officer.

When Velsor asked to see the gold shield again, Rainier refused, police said. Velsor asked Rainier to get out of the car. Again, he refused, police said.

Rainier was later removed from the vehicle and taken into custody. He was booked in the Pasco County jail on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence.

By Dan Sullivan, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2012

CLEARWATER — Firefighters evacuated about 40 homes in the area of Betty Lane N and Palmetto Street about 8:40 p.m. Saturday night after a car crashed into a gas line in the area.

The driver of the car lost control and came to rest on top of a 6-inch high-pressure natural gas line, causing the line to leak, officials said. No one was injured in the crash.

The driver of the car fled the scene, officials said.

Gas was flowing freely from the line for about 40 minutes before being plugged, said Clearwater public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts. Firefighters evacuated homes within a four block radius.

Authorities also blocked traffic on nearby roads. Clearwater Gas System was notified and responded. Authorities remained at the scene after 10 p.m. as the car was lifted off the gas line to ensure no further leaks.

Residents were allowed back into their homes at 10:45 p.m. after the car was removed.

By Justin George, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2012

TAMPA — With the Republican National Convention four months away, restaurants are marketing menus and hotels are advertising amenities. But private security firms, lawyers and bodyguard training companies are relying on something else to sell their services.

Fear.

"The RNC is coming. … Is your security ready for it?" says a mailer to 5,000 downtown businesses from a Lutz security installation company. "At the 2004 RNC there were 1,800 arrests, in 2008 there were 800 arrests. What kind of mayhem will Tampa see in 2012?"

A former Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy is offering "armed executive personal security and transportation" on his investigations and security consulting company website, while a Tampa insurance claims adjustor has been circulating a news release explaining how he thinks companies should protect themselves in case mayhem manifests.

"People tend not to think about security until it's too late," said Craig Sheridan, president of CMS Technologies, which sent out the mailers. "I'm not trying to use it as a scare tactic as much as I am trying to get it on people's brain. ... I think everybody needs security. It's better to protect yourself before something happens."

Of the 50,000 visitors expected in Tampa for the RNC, police have said about 15,000 will be protesters.

Businesses that routinely hire off-duty law enforcement officers will be out of luck during the convention when all local officers will be on duty, Tampa police Capt. Brett Bartlett told members of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Tampa Bay recently.

Last week, Tampa police had 116 off-duty jobs — which can include special events, escorts and construction site traffic control — a total number that police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said varies greatly week to week.

But thus far, downtown businesses aren't scrambling to install more security cameras or hire bodyguards.

Sheridan's company, which customizes security systems to fit homes and businesses, has done about 25 free consultations since sending out a first wave of mailers but has landed just two installation jobs.

No one has asked for a bodyguard yet from Reder Investigations and Security Consulting LLC, which is advertising armed escort services for the RNC.

"I'm a small two-person agency," retired Hillsborough Sheriff's Capt. Rod Reder said, "so if it doesn't take off I don't have 20 starving employees."

Dick Tutwiler, a Tampa loss consultant and public insurance adjustor for more than 29 years, hasn't received a slew of calls either after putting out a news release warning downtown businesses to check the fine print in their insurance policies before the RNC. But he said he's not trying to gain more business — his job focuses on losses after disasters. He just wants to add his expertise to the public discourse over security preparations.

"All I'm saying is take a look at your insurance coverage just like a hurricane in case it happens," Tutwiler said. "Am I expecting to get any business out of it? I hope not. I really hope not."

If he hopes to gain anything from the self-promotion, he said, it's recognition that he's a knowledgeable insurance adjustor when or if disaster occurs.

One business that reports to be drawing plenty of interest riding the coattails of the GOP convention is ASI Consultants & Associates. The Fort Lauderdale bodyguard training firm has been advertising three-day sessions to professionally train and license bodyguards with as many as six certifications and prerequisites to get RNC-related security jobs.

"With the eyes of the world focused on the city of Tampa, security for the city public officials and political dignitaries will be a top priority," says ASI's online ad. "Therefore professionally trained and licensed bodyguards will be a necessity for this event."

The firm partnered with Tampa's S1 Investigative & Protection Services to hold a training session in Tampa last weekend for nine people. Each participant paid $499 to learn how to get clients in and out of cars quickly and safely, cover and evacuate dignitaries, locate "safe havens" during shootouts, drive in motorcade fashion and use a Taser.

The session was in such demand that ASI owner Bill Ferrell, who served 27 years with the Florida Highway Patrol and other agencies, had his Web page designer remove the online listing for the event once the small-class training session was full.

"I've gotten probably about 40 phone calls," Ferrell said. "We actually had that class filled within the three weeks of advertising it, and we actually turned down some people."

The next session is scheduled for late May in Fort Lauderdale for 12 students. Ferrell is still accepting applicants.

While some of ASI's newly minted bodyguards are being trained to prevent mayhem at the RNC, local lawyers are preparing for trouble — and letting everyone know they'll be available to handle the aftermath.

"Considering the probable crowds, protests and road blocks, the situation on the ground downtown will inevitably create the perfect storm for increased car accidents and pedestrian accidents with possible injuries and the need for emergency medical attention," reads the website for Tampa law firm Winters & Yonkers. "Anyone — whether from the Tampa area or from out of town — involved in a motor vehicle accident with property damage or personal injury should discuss their legal rights and possible remedies with an experienced local Tampa-area car crash attorney."

Justin George can be reached at jgeorge@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3368.

Times staff
Saturday, April 28, 2012

Even the Tampa Police Benevolent Association aims to make money off of the Republican National Convention, selling specially-designed police and deputy commemorative badges, pins and coins for the event.

The $65 badges and $10 coins made by a badge maker for the Secret Service and Pentagon can be purchased individually or as a $75 set that includes a lapel pin. The police badge features Tampa City Hall, the city's seal and American and Florida flags while the deputy version includes similar elements in the familiar star shape of a Sheriff's Office badge.

Official law enforcement badge numbers can be engraved on both, and the badges are only available to current, retired and reserve law enforcement officers, said Greg Stout, president of the Tampa Police Benevolent Association.

Both Tampa police and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office have approved the badges, but only Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor has authorized them to be worn by sworn Tampa police and reserve officers during the convention, Stout said.

Due to "operational security," the badges are not available to civilian law enforcement employees until after the convention, Stout said. So far, the police association has sold a "couple hundred," he said.

By Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2012

ARLINGTON, Texas — Rays manager Joe Maddon has shown he doesn't have a problem intentionally walking Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton, even with the bases loaded.

That holds especially true now, with the 2010 MVP leading the league in homers and RBIs.

"Josh has been so darn hot," Maddon said. "Let's just go to the other guy."

But when the "other guy" is Adrian Beltre, Maddon acknowledges it's not a "warm and fuzzy" feeling. Beltre showed why Saturday, belting a three-run homer in the seventh to break open a close game as the Rays fell 7-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 49,197 at Rangers Ballpark.

With two outs and Tampa Bay down three, Maddon had Burke Badenhop walk Hamilton to put two on for Beltre, who made them pay in a big way.

"It was just a down-and-away sinker that was up a little bit," Badenhop said. "But you can't afford to be remotely up here. It's tough."

So was the loss for the Rays (13-8), whose six-game win streak ended, defensive miscues leading to a close game getting away.

Jeff Niemann had struggled against the Rangers but was encouraged after going 52/3 innings Saturday. It didn't look good early as he gave up a leadoff walk to Ian Kinsler then a double to Elvis Andrus Hamilton followed by knocking both in with an opposite-field single.

Niemann, who said he was overthrowing in the first, settled down, holding Texas to three runs (two earned).

"To be able to turn the tide and not let it snowball on us, it's a good thing," he said.

Problem was, Rangers righty Colby Lewis was better, continuing his stronghold on the Rays, against whom he is 4-0 with a 3.47 ERA in the regular season. Maddon said they had great at-bats and hit several balls hard. But they mustered only a solo homer by Matt Joyce in the second.

Niemann helped himself in the sixth, darting off the mound to grab a Michael Young grounder and starting a 1-6-3 double play, looking like a quarterback rolling out and throwing on the run.

"It was a good pass," shortstop Elliot Johnson said. "And we completed it."

But the turning point came on the next play, when Johnson bobbled a Nelson Cruz two-out grounder in the hole and couldn't throw him out, allowing a run to score.

"I didn't anticipate the hop coming up as it was going to," Johnson said.

The Rays made another defensive miscue in the seventh, when catcher Jose Molina — with runners on first and third and one out — tried to pick off Mitch Moreland at third. Maddon said he thought Molina had a good shot at getting him. But the throw bounced in the dirt and off Moreland, allowing him to score.

Andrus stuck out. But the ensuing intentional walk to Hamilton set up Beltre.

"We're so used to making these spectacular plays or really above-average plays," Maddon said. "But when we don't make it, it kind of stands out."

But what has been evident in the first two games of a series matching two of the league's top teams, the margin for error can be small.

"It's going to be who blinks first in all these games with two teams who are evenly matched," Niemann said.

"We're both good."

Times staff
Sunday, April 29, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG — A police sergeant shot and seriously wounded a suspect early Sunday who resisted capture and threatened the officer with an axe handle, authorities said.

The suspect, Anthony J. Stahley, 27, of St. Petersburg, was taken to Bayfront Medical Center and was in critical condition after undergoing surgery. The name of the police sergeant has not yet been released.

St. Petersburg police say the incident began after 2 a.m. when they received a call from a man who said he had been robbed of his bicycle by a suspect who was carrying a large axe.

An officer arrived at the scene, 1040 18th Ave. N, and found the suspect riding the bike in a nearby alley, authorities said.

The officer tried to catch the suspect, St. Petersburg police said, but he broke free.

However, police said, the suspect moments later threatened another officer who had arrived as back-up with the axe handle.

That sergeant fired at the suspect "several times," according to police.

Jim Grittner, 44, who lives near the scene on 11th Street N, was dozing on his living room couch with his cat when he heard a speeding car, then what sounded like a crash.

"We sprung up then heard the 'bang bang bang," he said later Sunday morning.

His wife, who was sleeping in another room, also heard three shots. The couple looked out the window and saw cruisers everywhere. Several minutes later, they went outside.

They saw a man writhing on the ground just outside their fence.

"I heard the guy wailing that he'd been shot," Grittner said.

Grittner said he later realized that the crash he heard was the police cruiser slamming into a fence.

Authorities later learned that the suspect, Stahley, was on probation for aggravated assault after his arrest for threatening a neighbor with a baseball bat in 2010.

The sergeant has been placed on routine administrative leave while the shooting is reviewed.

By Keyonna Summers and Kameel Stanley, Times Staff Writers
Sunday, April 29, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG — A sergeant lauded for his role in the Hydra Lacy Jr. officer shootings has been thrust into the spotlight again after he shot and seriously wounded a robbery suspect who threatened him with an ax early Sunday, police said.

The suspect, Anthony J. Stahley, 27, of St. Petersburg was taken to Bayfront Medical Center and was in critical condition after undergoing surgery.

St. Petersburg police say the incident began after 2 a.m. when they received a call from a man who said he had been robbed of his bicycle by a person carrying a large ax.

An officer arrived at the scene, 1040 18th Ave. N, and found the suspect riding the stolen bike in a nearby alley, authorities said.

The officer tried to catch the suspect, St. Petersburg police said, but he broke free.

However, police said, the suspect moments later threatened Sgt. Karl D. Lounge, who had arrived as backup, with the ax.

Police described the ax as large, with a 3-foot yellow handle.

Lounge fired at the suspect "several times," according to a police spokesman.

Jim Grittner, 44, who lives near the shooting scene on 11th Street N, was dozing on his living room couch with his cat when he heard a speeding car, then what sounded like a crash.

"We sprung up, then heard the 'bang, bang, bang,' " he said later Sunday morning.

His wife, who was sleeping in another room, also heard three shots. The couple looked out the window and saw police cruisers everywhere. Several minutes later, they went outside.

They saw a man writhing on the ground just outside their fence.

"I heard the guy wailing that he'd been shot," Grittner said.

Grittner said he later realized that the crash he heard was a police cruiser hitting a fence.

Authorities later learned that the suspect — Stahley — was on probation for aggravated assault after his arrest for threatening a neighbor with a baseball bat in 2010. According to state records, Stahley, of 1715 12th St. N, pleaded no contest to the felony charge and a judge agreed to withhold adjudication if he successfully completed a two-year probation.

Stahley's past also includes guilty pleas for theft and marijuana possession, Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show. Adjudication was withheld in those cases as well.

Lounge, 45, was placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is reviewed — standard procedure when an officer shoots someone. Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said he would not answer additional questions about the shooting, including whether a Taser was available, until the review was complete.

• • •

In late 2008, the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office cleared Lounge in the fatal shooting a month earlier of a distraught man armed with a machete and a .45-caliber pistol.

The office said Lounge was justified when he shot Roberto Garcia-Lara, 46, with an automatic rifle. Four officers testified that Garcia-Lara had aimed the pistol at Lounge before Lounge shot him three times.

Lounge joined the city's force in 1990 and has been a sergeant since 1999. According to the Pinellas County's Fraternal Order of Police, he is the union's vice president. He currently works as a patrolman and squad supervisor on the midnight shift.

Lounge was among 16 officers who received the city's Medal of Valor for their efforts to subdue Lacy, who shot and killed St. Petersburg Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz and Sgt. Thomas Baitinger during a Jan. 24, 2011, police standoff.

Lounge also supervised Officer David S. Crawford, who was fatally shot while questioning a teenage prowler just four weeks after the Lacy standoff.

The line-of-duty killings, which occurred during a 28-day span, were the city's first police casualties in 30 years.

Times news researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report.

Times staff
Sunday, April 29, 2012

ODESSA — A 20-year-old man died after losing control of his car Saturday night and striking a tree, deputies said.

At 11:28 p.m. Saturday, Joshua S. Zukelman was driving a 2006 Mercedes-Benz north on Boy Scout Road when he lost control of the vehicle while rounding a curve south of Echo Lake Drive.

He veered off the roadway, hitting a tree near the entrance of the Echo Lake subdivision.

Zukelman, of 11430 Trotting Down Drive, was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office was still investigating the crash.

Times staff
Sunday, April 29, 2012

PLANT CITY — Police were investigating a shooting early Sunday morning that left one person wounded.

The shooting took place at 6:42 a.m. at 1501 E Ohio St.

One person was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds, police say. The person's name and gender were not released by police.

Detectives with the Plant City Police Department Major Crimes Unit were gathering evidence at the scene.

The victim's condition was not available.

By Terry Tomalin, Times Outdoors-Fitness Editor
Sunday, April 29, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG — Defending champion Filip Ospaly didn't worry about the swim or bike legs of Sunday's St. Anthony's Triathlon. The 36-year-old from the Czech Republic is used to coming from behind.

"I always feel strong on the run," he said after winning in a course record of 1 hour, 45 minutes, 50 seconds.

"I've been in this sport for more than 20 years, and the strategy still seems to work."

The triathlon drew the largest pro field in the 29-year history of the event with 84 world-class athletes — some of whom will be headed to the 2012 Olympics in London — racing along St. Petersburg's waterfront.

Ospaly, the 2006 European champion and 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympian, picked off runners one by one during the final leg of the Olympic distance triathlon. He averaged 5:02 per mile over 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) despite the humidity after swimming .9 miles (1.5K) in rough water and biking 24.9 miles (40K) along the blistering blacktop.

"I just got back from Israel and the European championships," said Ospaly, who finished 19th there. "So the heat didn't bother me at all."

Australian Joshua Amberger, 23, was the first man out of the water. He covered the new swim course, which paralleled North Shore beach, in 18:00. Hot on his heels was Cameron Dye, 28, the 2010 St. Anthony's champion from Boulder, Colo.

Amberger, who would finish fourth, got out in front on the bike but soon found himself in a pack with Dye and Ben Collins, 29, of Seattle who delivered the fastest bike time of 53.09. But in the end, it came down to the run.

"I think I went out a little too hard in the first 5K," said Dye, who finished fifth in 1:47:01. "I just couldn't keep them off."

Collins, who graduated from Columbia with a degree in mechanical engineering, finished second, nine seconds behind Ospaly in 1:45:59, which also broke the course record of 1:46:10.

"It is not the first time that Filip has passed me on the run," Collins said. "He's solid."

Collins has his sights set on the Olympic trials May 12 in San Diego.

"This was a good way to get the cobwebs out of my head," he said.

Timothy O'Donnell, 32, of Boulder, who was coming off Ironman 70.3 wins in Puerto Rico on March 18 and Galveston, Texas, on April 1, also broke the record, finishing third in 1:46:04.

"I wish I had a little more real estate to try to make up some time on the run," said O'Donnell, who finished the run in 31:38.

"But there were some great runners out there. This was just an unbelievable field this year."

In the women's race, defending champ Sarah Haskins sailed, finishing in 1:56:55 to shatter the course record by 50 seconds.

"I was out there on the run when people started yelling, 'Sprint! Sprint! You'll break the record,' " she said. "So I sprinted."

This is the fourth St. Anthony's victory in five years for Haskins, 31, of Clermont. She was followed by her training partner, Alicia Kaye, 29, also of Clermont, in 1:59:16.

"If I am going to lose, I don't mind losing to Sarah" Kaye said. "She is such a great athlete and an even better friend."

Terry Tomalin can be reached at tomalin@tampabay.com.

By Will Hobson, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, April 29, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG — Authorities were searching near Egmont Key for a missing paddleboarder from Tampa after his board was found Saturday night.

The board washed up near the north entrance of the Manatee River, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, and someone turned it into the Holmes Beach Police Department. The board contained the wallet, car keys and cell phone of Jeffrey Comer, 50.

Tampa police checked Comer's Harbour Island apartment and found he wasn't there. His car was discovered near Fort De Soto Park, the Coast Guard said.

Several local agencies were searching Sunday evening for Comer, who police said is a competition paddleboarder with no known medical issues, near Egmont and Mullet Keys.

Anyone with information about his location was urged to call the Coast Guard at (727) 824-7506.

The Ledger
Sunday, April 29, 2012

LAKE WALES — Christopher Whaley told detectives he sat in his bedroom Saturday night and planned out everything.

An argument he had with family members during a trip to Daytona Beach that day left him enraged. He wanted to stay. They wanted to go. When he arrived home at the Enchanted Grove Mobile Home and RV Park, detectives said, Whaley decided to kill his grandmother, Barbara Denmark, in the home they shared, then walk to his aunt's home in the same park and slay more relatives.

Whaley, 23, grabbed two knives and found Denmark bathing in her tub, detectives said. With a blade in each hand, he slashed and stabbed at the 69-year-old woman, detectives said, leaving her with at least 25 wounds.

The last words she said persuaded him not to follow through with the plan, Whaley told detectives. "I love you," she said.

"That shows the love of a grandmother," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "Certainly those wouldn't have been my last words."

Whaley dialed 911 after the attack. He was charged with first-degree murder.

By Amy Sherman, PolitiFact Florida
Sunday, April 29, 2012

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, has been urging the public to sign his petition calling for the Keystone XL Pipeline as part of his efforts to promote more domestic drilling.

"I have always said that I would be for drilling," Mack said at an event this month promoting the petition. "But I think that's an issue the state should have a say in — in determining how far it's going to be off the coast of Florida. We ought to allow the state to have a say in that decision."

We decided to put the issue to our Truth-O-Meter: Was Mack mischaracterizing his own past statements when he said he "always" was for drilling?

We soon found that when then-state Rep. Mack ran for Congress in 2004, he pledged to maintain the ban on drilling off Florida's coast.

In 2005, Mack issued statements criticizing a plan to allow drilling closer to Florida, saying that it would hurt Florida's "pristine" or "fragile" coastline. He described the proposal as "risky" and "reckless." And he called himself a "longtime opponent of drilling off Florida's coast."

Yes, Congress needed to take action to lower gas prices, he said then. "But allowing drilling off Florida's pristine coastline won't reduce America's pain at the pump."

Until about 2006, the Florida delegation had nearly unanimous bipartisan opposition to drilling, said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida, who has tracked drilling legislation since the 1990s.

In June 2006, a vote was held on the Deep Oceans Energy Resources Act, to create a smaller, 50-mile buffer on Florida's coast. Fourteen of Florida's 25-member House delegation voted in favor of the smaller zone, but Mack voted against it. He said he voted that way because an amendment wasn't included in the bill that would have given Florida control over drilling decisions.

In December, the House overwhelmingly voted for a bill considered a compromise: It opened up 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to drilling while protecting Florida's 125-mile buffer. Mack supported that, saying, "Without enacting these protections, Florida faced a precarious future on the question of drilling off our fragile shore."

Flash forward to the summer of 2008. Consumers were angry about $4-a-gallon gas, and the phrase "drill, baby, drill" was a Republican mantra. Presidential candidate John McCain called for lifting the federal moratorium along the Outer Continental Shelf and giving states incentives to lift the ban. Some Republicans, including then-Gov. Charlie Crist, who was a contender to be McCain's vice president, and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., ditched their previous opposition. And so did Mack.

He explained his change of mind in a June 17 press release: "For years I have said states should have the right to decide whether or not they want to allow drilling off their shores. But circumstances have changed, I have changed, and I believe the people of Florida have changed. We're facing a serious energy emergency, and we need to take real steps to bolster our energy independence and security."

Then came the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill in 2010. Mack took a cautious approach, saying before a decision is made on banning offshore drilling, the country must understand what went wrong. But generally, he still supported offshore drilling.

Mack campaign spokesman David James acknowledged that Mack's views have "evolved" on drilling.

Mack has supported drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and favors building the Keystone XL pipeline, James said in a statement. "At the same time there's no dispute that Connie has always wanted to make certain that we protect Florida's shores. That hasn't changed. But four years ago, in the summer of 2008, Connie announced that his position with respect to drilling off Florida's coast evolved as our national energy security needs changed, too."

In 2012, Florida's congressional delegation remains split on more drilling off the coast of Florida. "We have never gotten back to a unified front of opposition against expanding drilling," Ferrulo said.

Mack said, "I have always said that I would be for drilling." But that misrepresents his actual record on a high-profile state issue. In 2005, he repeatedly said he was against allowing drilling closer to Florida's shores. We rate his statement Pants on Fire!

This item has been edited for print. To read the full fact-check, visit PolitiFact.com/Florida.

By Molly Moorhead, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, April 29, 2012

$3.73 a gallon.

Three-seventy-THREE! For one lousy gallon, one milk jug's worth of gasoline.

The cost of a fill-up? Don't even get us started.

Whose fault is it?

Keystone. China. Obama. PolitiFact has heard it all. Since the beginning of this year, we've checked more than a dozen statements and ads about gas prices. In most every case, we've found politicians oversimplifying their attacks, or just plain getting the facts wrong.

Did you hear the one about the single-day gas protest in 1997 that forced prices down overnight?

Well, it never happened.

In reality, the price of gas is determined by a litany of complex and shifting factors (Brent derivatives, anyone?), few of which you'll hear mentioned in 30-second political ads. But politicians are interested less in cause, more in effect.

The effect in this case: your anger.

Just on Friday, a handful of demonstrators gathered during morning rush hour along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Tampa, waving signs at passing commuters declaring "Change at the Pump" and "Obama Unfit for Unleaded."

The Republican Party of Florida organized the rally, the first of several planned across the state.

"This is people's pocketbooks," party chairman Lenny Curry said. "This president has not focused on the economy. It's too late to throw Band-Aids on it."

Between now and November, expect plenty of discussion and promises about gas prices.

We heard one from Tennessee Rep. Stephen Fincher, who said the United States could drop the price of gas to $2 a gallon by opening just one Alaskan reserve to drilling.

Fincher, a Republican, said the figure came from studies.

Except no studies say that.

And no one has a crystal ball.

And for gas to hit $2 again, the price of crude oil would have to plummet by half.

PolitiFact's ruling: False.

Or how about this one: 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, now a commentator for Fox News, recently charged that President Barack Obama's "refusal" to grant permits for offshore drilling is causing pain at the pump.

But PolitiFact found 140 permits for new deep-water wells that have been issued since the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

Truth-O-Meter says: Pants on Fire!

Obama is the primary target in this clash, but he doesn't get pinned with all the blame. Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson recently fingered speculators who gamble on the oil markets at the expense of the rest of us.

"One statistic is really telling: The share of the oil market controlled by speculators has more than doubled over the past 10 years," Nelson wrote in an April 16 POLITICO opinion piece. "At the same time, gas has gone from $1.56 a gallon to an average of $3.90 or more a gallon."

PolitiFact found that noncommercial trading on the oil markets — people betting on future oil prices without actually purchasing the commodity — has increased significantly. But is it driving up the price?

One expert told us that volatility is how speculators make a profit.

"If the price is the same every day, they can't make money," said Sean Cota, outgoing chairman of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, which represents gasoline stations, convenience stores and heating oil businesses.

But the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which has chronicled the growth of crude oil futures contracts, cautions that a link between volatile energy prices and speculators is unproved. Part of the problem is that most activity goes on in the over-the-counter derivatives market, which is less transparent.

The statement ultimately rated Half True.

Let's move on to this whopping claim from the American Energy Alliance, an industry-backed group that's airing TV ads in Florida:

Gas prices have doubled, its ad says, because "Obama opposed exploring for energy in Alaska. He gave millions of tax dollars to Solyndra, which then went bankrupt. And he blocked the Keystone pipeline. So we will all pay more at the pump."

First, Alaska. Obama opposes drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an area preserved to protect birds, plants and animals such as caribou, polar bears and gray wolves, as well as their habitat. But his administration has approved plans for drilling in other parts of Alaska, including one that could let Shell sink new rigs in two Alaskan offshore areas as soon as this summer.

Next, did the collapse of Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer that got millions in federal loans and then went belly up, contribute to high gas prices?

That tank is empty. Same goes for the link to Keystone XL, the proposed pipeline extension to carry oil-sands crude from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries, which Obama delayed. Experts say it's plausible that Keystone's construction could reduce future gas prices, but to say a pipeline proposed in 2008, originally scheduled for completion in 2013, has anything to do with gas prices in 2012 — well, it's just plain wrong.

On the Truth-O-Meter, that translates to False.

The upshot: We're being gouged and duped at the same time. And while it would be hard to give up our cars, we can at least tune out the dubious sound bites.

These fact-checks have been edited for print. Read the full versions at PolitiFact.com.

By Will Hobson, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, April 29, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG — A Clearwater woman apparently drowned in shallow water at Fort De Soto Park on Sunday morning, according to authorities.

Michelle Dresser, 56, had been floating and paddling near the North Beach picnic area, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said, when a lifeguard noticed about 11 a.m. she had flipped face down.

Dresser had been at the beach with friends. She was unresponsive, according to the Sheriff's Office, and was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where she later died.

The investigation was ongoing, but deputies said there was no evidence of foul play. The Medical Examiner's Office will perform an autopsy.

By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, April 29, 2012

Tampa Bay's two veterans hospitals have changed a much-watched measure of their performance by increasing from 30 to 120 days the time a patient must go without an appointment before being placed on a waiting list, interviews and documents obtained by the Tampa Bay Times show.

Critics of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs say the change is part of a wider VA trend of fudging statistics showing how well facilities serve veterans.

The VA denies the charge.

But at James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, a switch from 30 to 120 days this month left the hospital's waiting list for outpatient appointments much improved. It dropped from March's 4,981 patients to 1,800 this month, Haley figures show.

The VA Medical Center at Bay Pines in Seminole increased its waiting list threshold from one to four months in late 2010, earlier than Haley, Bay Pines said.

Bay Pines' waiting list has trended downward as well since late 2010 because the hospital went to the 120-day time frame, said Bay Pines spokeswoman Faith Belcher. Bay Pines' list hit 326 in October 2010, climbed to 1,408 in December 2010 and fell steadily most of 2011, VA figures show. This month, Bay Pines has 269 veterans on the waiting list.

Officials at the hospitals, and national VA officials, said the facilities are not violating VA policy, which no longer mandates any specific time frame for placement on waiting lists.

Critics of the VA said the agency has a long history of toying with its performance measures and not quickly scheduling appointments. Earlier this year, the VA inspector general said the VA had overstated how quickly veterans in need of mental health treatment were evaluated. (Haley and Bay Pines figures during the last year show very few patients encountered delays in getting mental health care.)

"This is a typical practice by VA hospitals that are not making their numbers," said Gordon Erspamer, a California lawyer who has represented several veteran advocacy groups.

If the VA is late providing care, he said, "Then the VA redefines the meaning of late. … It makes things easier to accept more delay. And the VA is largely insulated from any accountability."

Officials at the two hospitals said they strive to treat patients as soon as possible. They said the statistics show they are successful at doing so.

"It is our goal to be able to see every patient when that patient wants to be seen. As a result, we very closely monitor our underperforming areas and teams meet weekly to discuss ways to make improvements," said Belcher.

Hospital officials said the waiting lists are a small proportion of all the patients they treat. At Bay Pines, for example, 100,000 appointments are scheduled a month.

The waiting lists are about more than bragging rights. Called Electronic Waiting Lists, they are used by every veterans hospital in the nation to measure performance and allocate resources.

More importantly, the lists allow hospitals to identify and help veterans who might be unable to get a timely out­patient appointment with a medical professional. All agree the lists are critically important.

While the VA said the waiting lists are generally used only for new patients, the lists at Bay Pines and Haley have included established patients.

Mark Ballesteros, a VA spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the waiting lists are monitored daily. He said the list's "target time frame" is "generally understood, but not mandated, to be within about 14 days."

In 2007, the VA was roundly criticized after the agency's inspector general found the VA had repeatedly underestimated wait times for wounded veterans and forced many to wait more than 30 days.

The inspector general said the VA had falsely reported to Congress that it scheduled 95 percent of its appointments within 30 days of a patient's requested date. The true figure was actually 75 percent, a report said.

In 2010, documents show, the VA changed national policy on waiting lists. The VA simply eliminated the 30-day threshold for veterans receiving VA benefits because of a service-connected wound, injury or condition.

Carolyn Clark, a Haley spokeswoman, said Haley after 2010 "continued to use the 30-day measure as a way to track those veterans so they could be seen earlier if an opening became available."

Officials at Haley and Bay Pines said the numbers on waiting lists are extremely variable. A doctor taking a vacation, said Bay Pines' Belcher, can affect the numbers.

Regional VA officials ordered Bay Pines, Haley and other Florida VA facilities in a memo earlier this year to comb their waiting lists for patients who had been placed on them in error. Some veterans, it was thought, were being placed on the lists even when they were not awaiting an appointment.

"It is important that we have an accurate measure … as it affects the perception of access," the memo said.

The errors "made it seem like the list was being inflated," Shella Miller, Haley's chief of health administration, said in an interview. "There were more people on the (list) than there should have been."

But it also appears that Haley did more than just correct errors on the list. It ended the practice of placing veterans on the list after 30 days.

A March 30 email to a wide variety of staff at Haley, including those who schedule patient appointments, said waiting lists "will only be used for patients, new and established, whose appointment cannot be scheduled within 120 days from the patients' desired date."

Haley and Bay Pines officials said they decided on 120 days because that was the default time frame in VA software used to schedule appointments.

William R. Levesque can be reached at levesque@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3432.

By Andrew Meacham, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, April 29, 2012

MADEIRA BEACH — For seven years, a group of merchants and residents in this beach community have tried to erect a statue to honor fallen fishermen. They wanted it in John's Pass Village, by the channel through which the world's top-producing grouper boats passed on their way out to sea.

Many never came back.

On Sunday, a closely knit — if sometimes divided — fraternity of commercial and recreational fishermen, politicians and those merchants celebrated as the efforts paid off. To shrieks, cheers and some tears, a drop cloth surrounding 6-foot statue, The Hand of Fate, fell.

"It's a triumphant day to have this completed," said Mark Hubbard, who runs a charter boat business out of Hubbard's Marina and is the driving force behind the Florida Fishermen Lost at Sea Memorial. "The people who lost loved ones motivated us."

The statue presents a ghostly image: a tiny boat leaning precariously on a gathering wave, cradled in a blue-green hand rising from the sea.

The monument honors fishermen of all types from West Central Florida who have perished at sea. The statue rests on a 5-foot concrete base, on which the names of nearly 150 lost local fishermen going back nearly 80 years are inscribed.

The Times compiled the basis of the list two years ago, 142 names going back nearly 80 years. A half-dozen more have been added since.

They range from the crew of the Xios, a sponge fishing boat that left Tarpon Springs in 1933 and was never seen again, to Tampa Bay Buccaneer Marquis Cooper, whose 21-foot boat capsized 70 miles off the coast in 2009.

Among the many who addressed a jubilant crowd Sunday was a subdued Nick Schuyler, the only survivor who was in the boat with NFL players Cooper, Corey Smith and former University of South Florida football player Will Bleakley.

Schuyler reminded the crowd to follow basic safety procedures. "It's about being prepared and cautious of the elements," said Schuyler, who was found weak and shivering atop the boat 40 hours after it capsized. "And educating as many as possible so that they don't have to make the same mistakes as myself and my friends did."

The Outdoor Arts Foundation and the John's Pass Village Merchants Association contracted with Seminole artist Robert Bruce Epstein to pull off the project. The entire effort cost $50,000, and they have raised $40,000 so far.

Also working hard for years was Shirley Costello, who runs a cleaning business. In 2005, her son, Mike Costello, 29, disappeared with a mate, John Molina, 42, while fishing for amberjack.

Molina's body was found, but Costello's never was. Like many others who have lost family members at sea, Shirley Costello spent years wondering what happened, or if her son could still be alive.

In a crowning moment of the festivities, Shirley Costello and her husband, John, pulled the cover off the statue as if they couldn't wait a second longer.

"I am so excited it finally happened," she said. "Our fishermen up there that we lost are just singing and dancing and so happy that we are finally acknowledging them. We are proud of them, and they haven't been forgotten."

Schuyler, who apart from his talk watched quietly, later said he appreciated being part of the event.

"I think it's awesome for people to gather around who have lost somebody — to be a part of it, I'm honored. It'll never be okay, but this is one of those things where you kind of sit back and take it all in."

The monument means something for the town, too, riven over the years by a series of conflicts between fishermen and the city. Commercial fishermen have seen their own numbers dwindle due in part to government restrictions.

The Hand of Fate goes up in the same spot where previous efforts failed. In the 1980s, Bob Spaeth, an owner of Madeira Beach Seafood Co., paid for a sign at John's Pass Village to memorialize fishermen lost at sea.

Somehow, the sign disappeared during remodeling.

To Spaeth, the permanent reminder and tribute signifies a reverence for an industry that has supplied this area and beyond with seafood, even as it teeters under financial pressure.

But for the real estate slump that spared any redevelopment, the area's commercial fishing houses might not be here at all.

"We have a heritage that nobody else has and can claim," Spaeth said. "And I think it's finally come around that people are looking back at history and saying, 'Man, this was a fishing village. We have a hell of a history. Maybe we should try to keep it.' "

Andrew Meacham can be reached at ameacham@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2248.

By Stephanie Wang, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, April 29, 2012

TAMPA — Emotional testimonies ringed downtown's Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.

Love should not hurt.

Love is not abuse.

Never again.

Written on T-shirts hanging on clotheslines strung around the park, those messages came to life Sunday as survivors of sexual violence and their supporters spoke out at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay's annual Take Back the Night.

The day marked "a celebration of transformation" for Cynthia Clark, a survivor of sexual abuse who gave the Tampa Bay Times permission to print her name.

Working with the Crisis Center, her perspective has shifted from victim to survivor.

"It's no longer, 'This is something that happened to me,' " said Clark, 37, of Davis Islands.

She stomps her foot and shouts: "It's, 'This is what I did! This is how I healed!' "

In the time since the episode happened in another state, she has met her husband and moved to Tampa.

Her husband, 40-year-old Courtney Connell, was among 273 men who took a pledge not to remain silent on sexual abuse.

"It builds the commitment," Connell said. "It's more than just saying it."

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Ian Beckles led the pledge alongside Tampa Bay Lightning CEO Tod Leiweke, Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan and former state Rep. Jim Davis.

Take Back the Night has outgrown its roots in Hyde Park, said Marilyn Bray, the center's outreach and empowerment coordinator. The annual event drew more than 100 volunteers and about 80 collaborating organizations to Hixon park this year.

"We're all in this together," Bray said. "We don't have to suffer in silence."

A statistic repeated throughout the day: One in four women experience some form of sexual violence. For men, it's one in six.

Tampa police Chief Jane Castor called upon the community to spread the understanding that violence against women is unacceptable.

"It's everyone's responsibility," she said.

University of South Florida student Matthew Rooney felt inspired to take up the cause.

"It's really a men's issue," said Rooney, 28, a volunteer with Men Stopping Violence Against Women. "It's up to us to speak up and stop the violence."

At Sunday's event, hundreds reveled in a flash mob and followed survivors in an empowerment march around the park, past law enforcement officers standing watch in front of their vehicles with the lights flashing.

During a candlelight vigil, survivors and supporters guarded their lights carefully against the wind to spread a flame from a single candle.

At the end of the night, some survivors took turns standing at a microphone, letting their words amplify into the big city space. Through poems and stories, they spoke of rape and survival.

People lingered late, past dusk, to listen. When they left, they walked past the clotheslines of T-shirts again, the messages still strong.

To a woman named Karen, her family scrawled in purple marker on a shirt:

"We are so proud of you. You won, you walked away & stayed alive for us."

Stephanie Wang can be reached at swang@tampabay.com or (813) 661-2443.

By Danny Valentine, Times Staff Writer
Monday, April 30, 2012

TAMPA — A 44-year-old woman was hit by a pickup truck and killed early Monday while crossing E Hillsborough Avenue near Harney Road, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The incident happened shortly before 6 a.m.

Charles Eddison Dart Jr., 45, of Tampa, was driving a Ford F-150 west on Hillsborough in the outside lane when he struck the pedestrian, who was walking from south to north. She died at the scene. Authorities have not yet released her name.

Dart was not injured.

The investigation was ongoing Monday morning.