Friday, May 24, 2013
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office announces increased patrols on the roads and waterways through the holiday weekend and life vest loaners at Dunedin Municipal Marina.
Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies are focusing on the roads and waterways looking for impaired drivers and boaters over Memorial Day weekend. Deputies are stepping up enforcement efforts between Friday, May 24, and midnight Monday, May 27, to reduce injuries and deaths associated with holiday traffic and boating crashes in Pinellas County, according to a sheriff's news release. The sheriff's marine and environmental lands deputies are loaning life jackets to to children at various locations throughout the county and checking boat safety equipment inspections on all vessels stopped over the weekend. Locations for loaner vests are: Sheriff's deputies will have personal floatation devices on board to disperse as needed. Life vests should be…
The reading and math results are in for Pinellas County and the state as a whole. Here are the results for Largo and the county.
More than half of Pinellas County's third-graders read at or above grade level – at 56 percent. Only 48 percent of the district's third-graders scored at or above grade level on the math portion of the FCAT. The reading results overall place Pinellas third-graders on pace with their peers across Florida. They were 10 points behind Florida third-graders in math. Here is the percentage of Gulfport Elementary third-graders at or above grade level in reading and math: Scores on the third-grade FCAT are numbered from 1 to 5, with 3 the minimum for students to be considered at grade level. Students who score "1" are at risk of being held back. In Pinellas schools: Florida’s passage rates have dropped after exams were changed and a more rigorous …
Monday is Memorial Day. Here's a look at a couple of Memorial Day events in town.
Memorial Day Family Fun Fest Memorial Day Sunset Ceremony Looking for more things to do? Check our event calendar. If your event is missing, please add it. Sign up for the Largo Patch email newsletter to get our top local headlines, blog posts, announcements and event listings delivered to your inbox.
Ten people in Florida have already lost their lives this year in boating accidents, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The organization wants people to practice the following safety tips.
As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reminds boaters to stay safe while out on the water. Ten people in Florida already have lost their lives this year in boating accidents, according to wildlife officials. “FWC officers are committed to keeping people as safe as possible, but we need your help,” said Col. Calvin Adams, director of the FWC’s Division of Law Enforcement. To report people who are operating boats dangerously, call 888-404-FWCC or text Tip@MyFWC.com. Visit MyFWC.com/Boating. Sign up for the free Largo Patch email newsletter to stay connected to your community.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Cigar City Brewery has found a way to stand out as a unique brand in a diverse and fast growing craft beer market. Sponsored by Grape-Nuts.
About this sponsorship: In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains. In just four years time, Joey Redner has gone from beer enthusiast and upstart brewer to an award winning craft brewer that will produce 25,000 barrels of ale in 2013. Son of the famous Mons Venus owner, Joe Redner, the 40-year old craft beer connoisseur has taken his sales and his connections with the beer community to the next level in recent months. Last March, he visited the nation's capital in an effort to lobby lawmakers for a tax cut for brewers that would save him around $100,000 this year, money that …
As our armed forces come home from the Middle East, the local Veterans Affairs benefits office is being stretched.
Our veterans are now facing a new enemy at home – long wait times for disability claims. The waiting times started increasing in 2010 when U.S. troops were withdrawn from Iraq, causing a dramatic uptick in first-time filers, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting. The data found that in most regional VA offices, not only did waiting times increase, but they vary dramatically by location: about a year and five months in Baltimore, Maryland compared to four months in Fargo, North Dakota. The national average now stands at about 11 months, which is dramatically higher than in 2009 when it was four months. The backlog of veterans at the St. Petersburg area office waiting on a disability claim to be reveiwed has increased from no …
Here are discounts for active, reserve and retired members of the military that are being offered through Memorial Day weekend.
As Memorial Day weekend draws near, here are five discounts for people who serving or have served in the U.S. military. 1.) Florida’s state parks provide discounts on annual passes or free annual passes through the month of May. The offer is for those who currently serve or who have served in the military branches. The discounted Florida State Parks Annual Entrance Pass is available for purchase at any Florida State Park staffed ranger station. 2.) Any active duty, retired or drilling reservist or National Guardsman can get two free Florida Aquarium admission tickets for themselves and a guest during Memorial Day weekend. Additional family members (up to 4 people) can receive $10 admission. Tickets must be purchased at the Florida Aquarium…
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office wants to ensure that background checks are done on buyers, as required by county law.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office plans to monitor sales at a Largo gun show this weekend to make sure mandated background checks are conducted. The enforcement is a result of a series of articles by the Tampa Bay Times that looked at how Pinellas and other counties with mandates in place do not routinely ensure the background checks are carried out. Do you think that background checks should be conducted at private gun shows like the one this weekend in Largo? Let us know in the comments below. Admission is $9 to the Two Guys Gun Show to be held Saturday and Sunday at the Minnreg Building, 6340 126th Ave., Largo. According to an announcement for the show, it will feature "nearly 300 available tables of guns, knives, and accessories." …
Two drivers were traveling on Gulfport Avenue "at a high rate of speed" when they lost control of their bikes, authorities said.
A Largo man and another man were hurt when their motorcycles crashed late Wednesday night in Gulfport, authorities said. The two riders were traveling east on Gulfport Avenue at a high rate of speed as they approached the curve at 59th Street, according to Gulfport Police. One of them, a Suzuki driven by Marcello Ciampolillo of Belleair, slid out of control. That caused the driver of the other Yamaha motorcycle, David Heyveld of Largo, to also slide out of control. Both men struck the south curb of Gulfport Boulevard, east of 59th street and suffered "significant injuries," according to Sgt. Robert L. Burkhart. They were taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where they were in stable condition, authorities said. Sign up for the Largo Patch …
The more than four pound lump of fur and food was removed from 'Ty’s’ stomach after a nearly two hour surgery Wednesday.
It is Vernon Yates’ biggest baby. Ty is a nearly 400-pound big cat, most easily recognized as a tiger. Ty is the son of Hobbes, another tiger Yates had until it died. The tiger family has been a majority part of Yates’ 60 years. “This tiger means more to me than any cat that I have” he said. So, Yates was distressed when he found a four-pound, football-sized hairball was stuck in Ty's stomach a few weeks ago. *** Yates founded Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Largo in 1980. It is the only big cat rescue center in Pinellas County. Yates might best be known in the Tampa Bay area as the trapper of the Mystery Monkey. The small rhesus macaque was on the lam for nearly four years with sightings from Carrollwood to Clearwater before being …
Paul Byrne
10:28 am on Friday, May 24, 2013
Great article. Craft beer in Florida is about to get much more interesting. Check out Brew Hub www.thebrewhub.com to learn more. more ›