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Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 114

Publication:
Tampa Bay Timesi
Location:
St. Petersburg, Florida
Issue Date:
Page:
114
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

dimes mm THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1992 NORTH PINELLAS EDITION St. Petersburg, Fla. Cao tiax issoos omake the grade? FACES IN THE CROWD JACQUIN SANDERS School funds rally set Parents of the 90,000 students in Pinellas will have the chance to send legislators a "report card" ranking tax reform issues. By WILMA NORTON Time 8tff Witt legislators, telling them what tax reform issues are most appealing. "They're saying, 'We don't know what you want us to campaign coordinator Ilona Siegel said.

"My feeling has always been that we elect them to figure those things out. So we'll let them know we are watching (and that) we want them to find a way to fund education on a stable, permanent basis." The report card forms are being distributed by all county PTAs. Parents are asked to check the options they most agree with for finding money for education: Close sales tax loopholes and exemptions. Develop a new or revised corporate tax. Revise existing homestead exemptions.

Allocate lottery funds directly to school districts. Collect delinquent taxes. There's no category for a state income tax because raising that issue would be too controversial, Siegel said. There is a space for other options and for the voter to fill in a name and address. Schools are being assigned weeks to mail their letters, to spread the mail throughout the rest of the session.

To get a copy of the form, contact PTA presidents at each school, Siegel at 733-0298 or county President Laurie Ulbrich at 726-2762. A group called Democratic Choices plans to rally in support of adequate financing for education at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Workplace, 10900 U.S. 19 N. State Rep.

Mary Brennan and Pinellas School Board member Linda Lerner are to speak. For information, call Theresa Richardson at 898-2015. Last year, the PTAs tried mailing legislators paper plates, announcing that schools should get their slice of the budget pie. This year, the Pinellas County Council of PTAs is more direct. It is asking parents to mail a report card to Blazing the frail Kids urged to hop on bus fcswu J'CO The PSTA is using free rides, discounts and pizza parties in an effort to get middle school students to become regular bus riders.

By LISA GRACE LEDNICER Time Staff Writer 1 Never mind that more Pinellas folks drive than hop a bus, or that it's cool to have a car when you're a teen-ager. The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is trying to woo middle-school students to mass transit. The company is giving book covers, posters and a video to social studies classes in all county middle schools, public and private. One of the ideas is to get kids to take the bus to the mall and the beach enough so that by the time it i i .1 Timet photo JIM OAMASKE Largo Police Capt. Tom Knapp, center, takes the torch police along U.S.

19 near East Bay Drive. The Florida Law Wednesday and runs with sheriff's deputies and Pinellas Park Enforcement Torch Run benefits the Special Olympics. President trails at the bars All day Tuesday, in sports bars all over the civilized world, the soul-searching went on and the terrible uncertainty. That evening, when the faithful customers looked up from profound study of their own beers, would they see their beloved basketball or only the president of the United States delivering his State of the Union address? At Sneaky's Sports Bar Grill in Largo, owner Al Gannon looked dubious and a little hostile. "I'll put on anything anybody asks for," he said.

"But remember, sports is my livelihood." "Is Sneaky here today?" I asked. "There is no Sneaky," he said. "It's just a catchy name for the bar." They didn't like the Bush-basketball question any better at O'Keefe's Restaurant in Clearwater. "I can't answer because I've been on vacation," said bartender Libby McGowan. But later she got the go-ahead from her leader, part-owner Garth Duquesnay, and spoke eloquently on the subject: "Whatever Bush says, all my customers will have it figured out in advance.

They know it all. Did the tight end miss his block, did the forward miss his pick, did the president cut the right tax? My customers even know what the lottery number's gonna be." But would the president play O'Keefe's? "If the customers want him, sure," said Duquesnay. "But on one of the smaller sets. Not on the big 7-footer." But presidential stock absolutely soared at another distinguished bistro Sweaty Eddie's Sports Bar and Grill in Clearwater. "Sure I'll put on the president," said bartender Ed Livingston.

"It's going to be great entertainment. Showcasing Bush! They've been building it up for months, like a Super Bowl." What if the customers want basketball? "They'll want this more. This is their lives." Suddenly a customer piped up from half a dozen seats down the bar. "I just got laid off. Look at me, I'm what everybody's talking about.

Young, middle class and laid off." "I'm making less money than I did before the recession," said another man. Then they all went silent, watching the TV glumly as one 300-pound wrestler landed a fearful blow to the canvas an inch from the head of another 300-pound wrestler who writhed in pain from the near hit. "I can't wait to hear the president," said bartender Livingston. At the First National Bar in downtown Clearwater, assistant manager Susan Goldstein was looking forward to the speech. customers will love it.

They're all into politics." Meanwhile presidential ratings prospects nose dived at Ringside Cafe in St. Petersburg. "I expect we'll be watching the Bulls," said bartender Jody Gray. And if somebody asks to turn off the game and watch the president? Gray smiled her wise bartenders smile. "I'd work it out between them," she said.

"I can usually do that." After the president's speech, I called around to see who watched what. The boxscore: All-basketball The Ringside and 0 'Keefe's. All-Bush Sweaty Eddie's and First National Bar (the latter with an asterisk: there is no cable TV in downtown Clearwater, so no basketball was available on the bar's sets). Special situation: Sneaky's. "Two guys asked for the president, so we turned it on for them," said waitress Chris Cook.

"No, there were no problems with the other customers. That's what's nice about having eight TV sets." Sneaky's official count: Hockey watched on four TV sets; basketball on three; Bush on one. 'Dream come true' for reunited family 1 If'JLi After years of red tape and disappointment, a Largo woman finally gets her mother, two brothers, a sister and nephew on an airplane out of Vietnam. "I'm so happy! It's a dream come true," Ms. Allen said.

The five family members arrived at Tampa International Airport about midnight Friday. They were greeted by about 30 of Ms. Allen's friends and neighbors who were toting three video cameras, balloons and a huge banner bearing a welcome message in Vietnamese. The family boarded an airplane for the first time in their lives Jan. 21 and traveled three days from Long An, Vietnam, which is about 40 miles southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, formerly called Saigon.

Their journey took them from Long An to Thailand, Japan, Seattle, Dallas and finally Tam- Please see FAMILY Page 13 By LAURA T. COFFEY Timet Correspondent A. LARGO The balloons decorating Trang Allen's living room say "Showers of Happiness." Ms. Allen said she cried showers of tears when she was reunited with her family from Vietnam after almost 19 years of separation. Timet photo JOAN KADEL FENTON The family, clockwise from left, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Thuy Thi Nguyen, Trang Allen, Son Van Nguyen, Hoanh Huu Nguyen and Thiet Thi Nguyen in Ms.

Allen's home. they're adults, they won't be so eager to drive there. "Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders are starting to get more freedom than elementary-school children," said Sharon Munley, PSTA's marketing and sales coordinator. "They have the education to make choices. That's why we're hitting this age group so they know there's some options." Andrew Butler, 12, says he rides the bus on weekends and says it's fun.

"If you don't have a ride, it's the only way to go," he said. "It's not like a school bus. You can talk, and it rides smooth." Kolleen Keller, an eighth-grader at Southside Fundamental Middle School, says she rides the bus to the mall about once every two weeks. She doesn't mind, she said, but when she's old enough, she'll drive. The 14-minute video replaces a slide presentation the PSTA used for several years, Munley said.

In the video, a fictitious astronaut named Carol Johanson tells a group of kids on their first trip to outer space about how she decided on her profession. It was all due to the day she was forced to be uncool and ride the bus, she says. She meets an elderly man whose daughter is preparing for a shuttle launch. Johanson goes to the launch and decides she wants to be an astronaut, as well. She takes the bus to the library and reads everything she can about the space program.

"You know, sometimes I wonder how my life would have turned out if I hadn't taken the bus that day," Johanson says in the video. She also learns that too many cars pollute the environment and it's a pain in the neck to find a parking space. The video was produced by a company in Clearwater. It is dedicated to Christa McAuliffe, the New Hampshire teacher who was killed in the Challenger explosion six years ago. Students will receive coupons for free rides and student ID cards for discounts, Munley said.

Pizza Hut will give a pizza party for the class that racks up the most rides in a certain period of time, Munley said. TIMES DIGEST Man charged with Oldsmar bank theft Thomas G. Wester of Tampa is charged with robbing a First Union branch Tuesday. Time Staff Writer Opinions sought on area human services TARPON SPRINGS Residents are invited to comment on what human services are needed in their communities at a public forum scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Tarpon Springs Community Center, 400 Walton Ave.

The program is sponsored by the Pinellas County Interagency Committee on Planning and Evaluation. The information serves as a guide for planning and financing for a variety of county agencies. Another public forum is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Clearwater City Hall Annex, 10 Missouri Clearwater. For information, call the Health Council of Pasco-Pinellas at 576-7772.

Middle, high school report cards to go out Pinellas middle school students will receive their mid-year report cards today. High school students will receive their cards Friday. The cards for elementary and exceptional education pupils went out last Friday. Two Pinellas women to receive honors United Way will honor Candace Tremmel of Seminole and Patsy C. Dunlap of St.

Petersburg tonight, Page 3. Beware scam artists posing as police Police are warning people to beware officers who demand money. A man and a woman, posing as officers, are making elderly people their targets, Page 3. 3:10 p.m. Tuesday at the First Union branch at 3180 Tampa Road, she said.

A man armed with a handgun went into the bank and demanded money. Leaping over the counter, he emptied a cash drawer. When the robber drove away, someone saw him and his car, which was described as a 1988 Buick. The license tag of the car was traced to a Tampa address, Pasha said. Authorities in Hillsborough were alerted.

Early Tuesday evening, Wester was arrested near his home by a Hillsborough sheriff's detective. Wester is being investigated in connection with several bank robberies in Hillsborough, but no additional charges had been filed Wednesday. OLDSMAR A man suspected of robbing an Oldsmar bank was arrested in Tampa on Tuesday night after a witness supplied authorities with the license tag of the robber's car. Thomas G. Wester, 56, of 3920 Grey St.

in Tampa, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and armed bank robbery, said Pinellas sheriffs spokeswoman Marianne Pasha. Wester was being held without bail in the Hillsborough County Jail, awaiting transfer to the Pinellas jail. The robbery occurred about Mm.

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