“Special protection” – the Sheriff’s flawed hurricane re-entry program (first article in a series of three)

A review of the Pinellas Sheriff’s program for post-hurricane reentry found multiple security weaknesses, including allowing entry of people with arrest warrants while denying entry to most law-abiding Pinellas County residents.  The sheriff also contradicted his own agency’s published official information. The program has the force of law, and can remain in effect for weeks after the barrier islands have been officially declared…

Pinellas County suffers setback in labor case involving “unhiring”

Pinellas Circuit Judge Cynthia Newton yesterday denied two defense motions to dismiss the main counts in former county commissioner Norm Roche’s labor lawsuit against Pinellas County. The case involves Roche’s  sudden “unhiring” by County Administrator Mark Woodard after he had been offered and accepted a job at $14.26 per hour.  See the Guardian’s first story on this case to learn…

Zero net cuts means “we’re cutting”, says Oldsmar mayor Doug Bevis

At today’s PSTA board meeting, Oldsmar mayor and PSTA Board member Doug Bevis said that reallocating miles from some bus routes to other routes means “we are cutting”, even when the total number of miles remain the same. However, Bevis began his statement by acknowledging that he “gets kind of confused sometimes.” In this one minute of video, Bevis made statements that evoke…

St. Pete Police : only city residents can report crimes committed within the city limits

When a Guardian reporter probed how public agencies respond to citizens reporting a crime, a St. Petersburg Police Department (SPPD) employee erroneously told the reporter that you have to live in the city in order to report a crime committed  in the city. Hear the audio below. The call was made shortly before 10 A.M. on May 23rd. The…

High-profile local transit advocacy group dissolves after filing no federal tax returns for 3 years

In an official filing with the State of Florida, the Hillsborough-based transit advocacy group Connect Tampa Bay, Inc. (CTB) voluntarily dissolved itself on April 26th. This came 11 days after a Guardian reporter wrote Hillsborough county commissioners with evidence that CTB never filed any federally required tax returns. Announced Hillsborough County Commission candidate Brian Willis (pictured…

Carbon-rich Sierra Club event ends in thuggery, foul language, stalking – VIDEO

At the annual Hands Across The Sand event in Treasure Island, FL, the Suncoast Sierra Club used a helicopter to take aerial photographs. However, helicopters are powered by aviation fuel, which the Sierra Club labels a “dirty fuel”. A battery-powered aerial drone would have used 99% less energy. The Guardian repeatedly asked the Sierra Club asking why they didn’t use the much more eco-friendly drone,…

“Welcome aboard” means “you’re unhired” for that job you got. Seriously?

Let’s say you apply for a job, and the employer offers you that job. You accept, are fingerprinted and photographed, are assigned an employee number, sent a welcome package and told to show up for work. Would you assume you had a job? Pinellas County government says “not so fast”. Tracey Jaensch of the Ford Harrison law firm…

Transit agency promised 30% cuts, failed to deliver, refuses to comment

PSTA has not cut bus service since the defeat of Greenlight Pinellas, despite a written promise to do so. PSTA’s top leadership did not respond to multiple requests for comment on these findings.

Our first article causes big splash, none more surpised than us

— by Tom Rask The Tampa Bay Guardian’s first ever article (on the Times / Tribune) has been viewed by over 2,500 people in less than 20 hours. Many people contacted us offering supplemental information, which could lead to a follow-up article. We also reached out to the Times Publishing Company (publichers of the Tampa Bay…

Tampa Bay Times violated federal law, human decency

— by Tom Rask and Jim Bleyer– By firing more than 100 workers with no notice Tuesday in its acquisition of the Tampa Tribune, the Tampa Bay Times violated federal law. The Times could be liable for damages totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not into the millions. None of the Tribune’s 265 employees received…