Eric Ward – Page 6 – SaintPetersBlog

Tampa town hall meeting on race brings out raw emotions

Published on April 30, 2015 in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by Mitch Perry

Two nights after Baltimore burned in anger at the death of Freddie Gray, the young black man who died in police custody there, mass demonstrations were held in cities like Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Denver; New York City; and Minneapolis on Wednesday night. No such protests occurred in the Tampa Bay area, but Baltimore was very much on the minds of the overflow crowd that crammed into a conference room at the Ferguson Law Center in Tampa. The subject was the…

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Mitch Perry Report for 4.20.15 — Tampa’s Bicycle Blitzkrieg

Published on April 20, 2015 in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by Mitch Perry

Happy 420 Day. There have been some interesting stories being produced by our friends over at the Tampa Bay Times over the past week. The paper returned to its coverage of Doug Hughes yesterday. Hughes is the Ruskin postal worker who hoped to raise awareness about the influence of big money in politics by violating national airspace to land his gyrocopter on Capital Hill. And while there has been some discussion about campaign finance reform in the wake of his actions,…

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Council members mostly OK with Bob Buckhorn decision to hire within TPD for new chief

Published on March 13, 2015 in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by Mitch Perry

Of all the relationships that a big-city mayor has, the one with their police chief is considered paramount. Last summer in St. Petersburg, Rick Kriseman alienated some City Council members who felt they deserved more of an opportunity to weigh in on a replacement for outgoing chief Chuck Harmon. The mayor then surprised everyone by chucking his four finalists and picking Clearwater Police Chief Tony Holloway to lead the SPPD. Now it’s Bob Buckhorn’s turn. Although the recently re-elected mayor…

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