Janelle Irwin - page 190

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn only faces one challenger so far in his re-election bid. And he’s fundraising her under the table. Buckhorn has brought in $183,129 in just two months while his opponent, activist Becky Rubright has only raised $300. Rubright’s contributions come from just four people. Activists Amos Miers and Samantha Bowden contributed $50 each and Sharon Rubright, presumably a relative, donated $100. Another individual kicked in the other $100. Buckhorn brought in more than $80,000 during the month…

Keep Reading

The group Connect Tampa Bay and its executive director Kevin Thurman worked tirelessly to pass the Greenlight Pinellas transit referendum that failed on the ballot last week. The defeat is bitter, but in an email, Thurman vows to move forward. “While [the] hard work didn’t mean victory last Tuesday, our work together will be why we win Hillsborough in 2016,” Thurman wrote in a lengthy email Wednesday morning. He’s talking about shaky plans in Hillsborough County to place a referendum…

Keep Reading

Congressman David Jolly helped eight veterans today– and countless others in the future. For weeks, he and his communications director Preston Rudie have been planning to rehab a short-term housing facility on Fifth Avenue North where veterans stay while receiving treatment at the Bay Pines VA hospital. Most of those who use the facility run by Boley Centers are battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Beginning this morning, more than 100 volunteers organized by Jolly and his staff started ripping up concrete,…

Keep Reading

Michael Guju won’t be running for re-election for his post as president of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee. The first person to announce running to replace him was current vice-chair Nick DiCeglie. Diceglie has owned the waste management company Solar Sanitation since 1996 after growing up in the business. DiCeglie sits on several other boards throughout the county, including the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commercy, Indian Rocks Beach Planning and Zoning board and Leadership Pinellas. DiCeglie said he decided…

Keep Reading

Since today is Veteran’s Day, what more appropriate announcement to make than proclaiming November Florida’s Hire a Veteran Month? That’s what Rick Scott is doing this week. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and the CareerSource Florida are encouraging businesses and community leaders to tap the value in hiring veterans whose service in the U.S. armed forces have given them unique skills. Through their military service, veterans were taught leadership, maturity and dedication. “As we continue to work to make…

Keep Reading

Ed Hooper thought he’d be making plans to join the Pinellas County Commission right about now, but he’s not. That’s because last week he was narrowly defeated for the District 2 seat by Largo Mayor Pat Gerard 51 percent to 49 percent. “I thought I would be one or two points ahead,” Hooper said of his loss Tuesday. He attributes his loss to a few things. First, gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist led governor Rick Scott by about 40,000 votes in…

Keep Reading

The National Christian League of Councils is asking the St. Petersburg Police Department to start wearing cameras on their uniforms to capture footage of on-duty interactions. Sevell Brown, NCLC director, will present the idea at Thursday’s City Council meeting. In the wake of the Ferguson, Missouri police shooting that left an African-American teenager dead and a city in unrest over what some saw as excessive force by officers, Brown plans to highlight the benefits of wearable cameras. In a PowerPoint…

Keep Reading