20051129 - A black woman's brand new home in Riverview was vandalized
for the second time over Thanksgiving weekend, and this racist
messages were spraypainted on three walls. The carpets and clothing
were destroyed with bleach, all the furniture and artwork was ripped,
and holes were punched in many of her walls. The 36-year-old
homeowner, who has asked to keep her name and address anonymous, is
not sure if she will now move into her first home as planned. (Brian
Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051125 - Johanna Krynytzky, who dances under the name Xenobia,
performs a belly dance in the dining room of Zaeem Palace on Friday
evening. The restaurants hosts belly dancers every Friday and Saturday
night, as well as for some late-night private events. Zaeem Palace is
a Middle Eastern restaurant that sets a very handsome table in nicely
decorated rooms and serves high end middle eastern food. (Brian
Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051119 - Devin Coleman, 3, tries to catch some fake snowflakes on
his tounge inside the snow globe Saturday at International Plaza at
the Chronicles of Narnia / Santa display. The Santa set-up has a
corporate tie-in to the "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe" movie that's opening in a few weeks, complete with
behind-the-scenes movie clips. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051118 - Reggie Bass shows off his newly purchased grill—four upper
teeth with open face—at Gold Grills in Palm River. Paul Faucette of
Paul's Gold Grills used to be just a jeweler. Then he realized there
was more money in making elaborate gold grills than in rings and
bracelets. Now he makes gold teeth for a variety of characters all
over Tampa Bay, from high school kids to rap artists. Bars on the
inside of the shop separate the employees from the clientele. (Brian
Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051118 - Jose Melendez (left) tries on his new grill and shows it to
Kristin Faucette to make sure it fits correctly. (Brian Cassella / St.
Petersburg Times)
20051117 - With Hillsborough school board officials huddled behind
him, Windell Roberson, 54, celebrates winning the Ida S. Baker
Distinguished Educator of the Year award at a banquet Thursday night
by singing a song. The award recognizes contributions to minority
students and comes with a number of prizes including a cruise and a
$1,000 check. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051117 - Thom Stork, chairman of Visit Florida and CEO of the
Florida Aquarium. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051116 - Bono takes the stage with U2 at the St. Pete Times Forum.
(Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051112 - Flight Officer J.T. Martin (right) and Tactical Flight
Officer Dan Maguire pilot a police helicopter around downtown Tampa
while on patrol with the aviation unit on Saturday. Police say the
aviation unit's patrols are essential, offering a view from above that
you could never get with just ground patrols. And chasing someone by
air is safer than on the streets where other innocent people are
driving. The unit routinely flies 12-16.5 hours per 24-hour period.
The unit's aircrew's work 11.5 hour shifts with a two-crew overlap
during peak hours. The unit is nationally recognized as a trendsetter
in gaining and applying new technology. The unit currently utilizes
the Aerial Films Gyrocamâ systems, including; 2 Day/Night Vision
cameras, one Triple Sensor Day/Night/InfraRed camera, and a Broadcast
quality Day camera. All of these systems are capable of real time
downlinking to all of the District Stations, a mobile Command Post and
a Mobile Response Vehicle. This technology allows the Unit to be
effective at all times of the day and night. The Unit currently
operates three Bell 407 helicopters. Unit consists of 16 permanently
assigned personnel. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051112 - Tactical Flight Officer Dan Maguire refuels one of the
police helicopters, a Bell 407, in between flights on Saturday at
their station adjacent to Tampa International Airport. (Brian Cassella
/ St. Petersburg Times)
20051112 - The instrument panel is visible during a night patrol over
Tampa. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051111 - Tiffany Zivolich, 14, of Palm Harbor, gets her horse
Baywatch ready to ride in the stables of the Bob Thomas Equestrian
Center at the Florida State Fairgrounds on Friday evening. Zivolich,
who has been riding since she was 5, said she planned to participate
in several competitions with Baywatch including the Children's
Jumpers, a timed event. The Central Florida Hunter Jumper Show
includes various breeds of horses from throughout Florida who will
compete in both flat and jumping classes from Friday through Sunday.
Saturday and Sunday's shows begin at 8:00 a.m. and run through the
daylight hours. Guests should enter the grounds via the Orient Road
exit off I-4, and parking and admission are free. (Brian Cassella /
St. Petersburg Times)
20051110 - Chamberlain HS running back Kylan Robinson, a senior, has
come out of nowhere to become one of the county's best players. (Brian
Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051109 - Larreaion Harris (left), 4, and Avery Algere, 6, show off
their polaroids that Old Navy employees snapped for children who
visited the store Wednesday as part of the $100 shopping spree Old
Navy hosted for students displaced by Hurricane Katrina at WestShore
Plaza. The children are both from New Orleans and evacuated to Tampa.
Several shoppers commented that the photos were special because they'd
lost all their own photographs in their old homes and needed them to
build new memories. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051109 - Bayshore Christian outside hitter Adria Mullaney is
attempting to lead her team to a third straight Class A state
volleyball title. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051008 - "You forgot our creator who created you," Cynthia Forde
told school board members before the vote. "You keep saying he don't
exist. You ain't the boss. We are. We voted you in. You've got to
change your mind." Forde was one of several Hillsborough County
residents who spoke to the board before they voted to restore school
holidays for the Jewish celebration of Yom Kippur and the days around
Easter. Two weeks ago, following a request from a Muslim group to have
one of their holidays off of school, the board voted to remove all
religious holidays from the calendar. After an outcry that drew
national attention from conservatives, the board reversed their
decision Tuesday, but did not create a Muslim holiday. (Brian Cassella
/ St. Petersburg Times)
20051105 - Lisa Wilkins, the mother of four children struck in a
hit-and-run collision last April, gestures skyward while referencing
her two dead children during an impromptu press conference from
the passenger seat of a car after leaving Friday's 16-hour sentencing
hearing for the driver, Jennifer Porter, just before 2 a.m. Wilkins
was angry that Porter, who didn't come forward for several days after
the accident, received no jail time. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg
Times)
20051104 - Bruce Springsteen performs during his solo acoustic show
Friday at the St. Pete Times Forum. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg
Times)
20051104 - Hillsborough school superintendent MaryEllen Elia holds a
press conference at the School Administrative Center to announce the
she is recommending that Hillsborough County Schools go back to a
calendar like this year's, which provides days off near Christian and
Jewish holidays but not Muslim ones. An earlier proposal would have
eliminated the days off around Yom Kippur and Easter in response to a
request from Muslim groups to receive their own religious holiday. She
said she was not doing this in response to national media attention
from conservatives opposed to the move. (Brian Cassella / St.
Petersburg Times)
20051103 - Singer Dave Gahan performs with Depeche Mode on the opening
night of their tour at the St. Pete Times Forum on Thursday night.
(Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051103 - Chairman Mao's image has appeared on the side of a building
in downtown Tampa on the Kress Building. It is part of an movement
called "Obey the Giant" and is one of a number of public art displays
that have popped up around Tampa as part of the effort. (Brian
Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
20051102 - Aleks Ans (bottom) swims in practice on Wednesday
afternoon. Ans, 15, a sophomore at Newsome, is a standout swimmer on
the team. He said his best events are 200 breaststroke, 100
breaststroke and the 100 individual medley. (Brian Cassella / St.
Petersburg Times)
20051102 - Vicente Acosta (left) and Francisco Eugenio bake pan de
muerto together Wednesday afternoon at La Mordida bakery on N. Armenia
Ave. Pan de muerto is a special bread baked for the Mexican holiday
The Day of the Dead, celebrated on Nov. 1-2 in memory of deceased
ancestors. The small pieces of dough on the top of the bread represent
the bones of a skeleton. The celebration, whose roots are attributed
to several cultures including the Aztecs, is held both to honor the
dead and show that those living are not afraid of them. Many families
prepare alters in their homes with several special items, religious
symbols and photographs of their dead ancestors. La Mordida bakery was
preparing the bread with several special ingredients including a flour
called zempasuchitl and a seed called anis en grano. They planned to
make 1,600 loaves today after making 3,600 over the weekend. (Brian
Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)
