The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 13

Hunter's Green Jackson Heights Seminole Heights Sulphur Springs Tampa Palms Temple Terrace Terrace Park USF area THE TAMPA TRIBUNE Wednesday, November 23, 1994 elect ead commission KJJUIMULI II m.u Nbrraaii to -VI' I I and fashion magazines that have adorned a table in the commission's waiting room will be replaced with Popular Mechanics and Field Stream. After his selection, Norman said he will still concentrate on serving his district, tro," Norman said. "What's gotten me here is fixing roads and paying attention to those sorts of things." Phyllis Busansky, who was denied the gavel last year after serving as vice chairwoman, was voted in as vice chairwoman again. That puts Busansky in line to become chairwoman for the second time in 1996, the last of her eight years on the commission. She can't run for re-election to her current seat because of term limits.

Ed Turanchik nominated Sandra Wilson See COMMISSIONERS, Page 2 ceeded Joe Chillura Jr. by a unanimous vote of the seven-member commission. His colleagues put Norman, a big football fan, in a good mood by also giving him their seat on the Tampa Sports Authority. The sports authority, which operates Tampa Stadium, is in the spotlight as Hillsborough officials decide whether to spend tax money potentially tens of millions of dollars to improve the stadium to keep the Buccaneers in Tampa. Norman joked about the commission regaining a male majority with Chris Hart taking Jan Piatt's place.

At four men to three women, Norman predicted the decorating Politics dominate crucial authority appointments for the stadium and the port. By FRANCIS GILPIN Tribune Staff Writer TAMPA Jim Norman, a lobbyist in Tallahassee for the Salvation Army, was named chairman of the Hillsborough County Commission Tuesday after taking the oath of office for his second term. Norman, 40, a Carrollwood Republican who represents northwest Hillsborough, suc DayView Daniel Ruth Norman which includes the Keystone and Lutz areas. "You don't run for county commissioner to bring about world peace or conquer Cas- Theatre battle drags on No end is in sight in the county's effort to move or close the adult-oriented Todd Theatre. KyL lk -A 1 -J; rv, i JJ4 Jf -raaa .1..,., By DOUG STANLEY Tribune Staff Writer TAMPA Nearly two years after a county-imposed deadline for moving or closing the Todd Theatre, the adult-entertainment house remains open.

The fight over whether the county can force the Todd out continues to drag on in the courts and promises to for some time. Circuit Judge Guy Spicola, acknowledging that whatever his decision is it will be appealed, has directed attorneys on both sides to write proposed orders for him to consider by Dec. 12. At the close of a series of hearings, Monday's lasting five hours, the judge asked for orders detailing findings of fact, the law supporting those facts and proposed rulings. Spicola said he would do the same and from the three hoped to craft a final order that would be clearly understood by appellate judges.

The theater, at 13417 N. Nebraska is asking for a temporary injunction blocking the county from forcing the business to close or move. County commissioners, citing an ordinance first adopted shortly after the Todd moved to its present location, ordered the Todd to close or move in April 1993. The ordinance gave the Todd and other adult businesses until March 1993 to close or to move at least 2,000 feet away from church-See PLENTY, Page 3 TODD CH APPELTribune photos Busch Gardens ushers in a new ice age with its show "Hollywood Live on Ice." Ice show brings Tinsel Town to Tampa By ERIN LASKOWSKI Tribune Correspondent NORTH TAMPA Hiktt new show puts O'Hara, -i -f Bach meets Louie-Louie It's a thought Last night four middle-aged men came to Tampa for a few hours and left with a couple million dollars in their pocket. Is this a great country, or what? Meanwhile, the Mandarins who hold some of the greatest sway over the affairs of this city, are fretting and pacing and nail-biting their days away in an effort to figure out a way to come up with $200 million to keep the most inept professional sports franchise since the Christians were 150-point underdogs to the Lions from becoming another city's laughing stock.

To assist in this noble effort, various politicians are talking about providing upwards of $70 million (and we're only in the early talking stages yet) to make Tampa Stadium a place of such glory even a Christian wouldn't mind going mano a mano with a Lion there. If you figure an average ticket price of $40, the 50,000 Voodoo Loungers who gathered together last night at Tampa Stadium left the Rolling Stones a $2 million tip. That's not too shabby for a rock group that reportedly already has grossed in the neighborhood of $69 million on their current tour. Is any of this wrong? Immoral? Criminal? Of course not. The Bucs, for better or mostly worse, are important to the community mostly as a marketing vehicle to attract tourists and corporate relocations looking for a professional sports identity, even if it's the identity of Dagwood Bum-stead in shoulder pads.

Lousy marketers And the Stones, bless their hearts, are Certainly entitled to haul in whatever people want to pay to see them. How and where any of us spend our money is always a matter of priorities. In this city those priorities have hundreds of millions of dollars being tossed about to keep the Bucs buckling in Tampa and the Stones rolling in and out of town lugging sackfuls of cash. Meanwhile, 88 musicians who comprise the Florida Orchestra have been forced to dig into their own pockets to keep their livelihoods and one of the city's crown jewels of culture afloat. Priorities.

If the Florida Orchestra fails to come up with $1.7 million by the end of December it's "Requiem" for the group. To help ease the orchestra's operating budget deficit, the musicians agreed to forgive a debt owed to their pension fund, totaling $370,000 or more pointedly $4,200 for each player. How is it in a community that will move heaven and earth to keep the worst football team in sports from going away, virtually nothing is being offered to prevent one of the finest orchestras in the region from folding? How is that there can be found tens of millions of dollars to renovate Tampa Stadium, tens of millions of dollars more to build multimillionaire George Steinbrenner a spring training facility and tens upon tens of millions of dollars to build the Tampa Bay Lightning a hockey arena yet the Florida Orchestra gets treated like a Franklin Street Mall panhandler? A simple and obvious answer is: Nobody gives a flying fig about the Florida Orchestra. Fair enough. And perhaps that attitude is the orchestra's own doing.

They may be spiffy musicians, but they're lousy marketers. The Dead Carusos? Maybe, just maybe if the Florida Orchestra was more in tune with the common man; made more of an effort to reach out to the classical musically-challenged, maybe it wouldn't be in the financial fix it's in. Obviously a name change wouldn't hurt. The Florida Orchestra it sounds so Wag-narian. Something a bit more peppier, more Generation X-ish, might be in order.

How about Bachs Rhythm Hounds? The Dead Carusos? The Crash Test Carnegie Halls? The Moody Fugues? And you have to believe if the band occasionally lightened up and performed its own unique classical versions of such toe-tappers as: "Louie-Louie," "Sexual Healing," "The Lady Is A Tramp," or even that country favorite "My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend and I Miss Him," surely a few more seats would get filled. Leather jackets would be a nice touch too. But it doesn't look good. The clock is ticking. The Bucs are on the block, and the Chamber of Commerce types would rather attend brewery openings than attend to an orchestra's closing number.

And what should that tune be? What would be a fitting final aria for Tampa's cultural climate? Why not, "Take This Orchestra nd Shove Backstage "is basically chaos," said McBride, 28. "There are costumes flying everywhere." Ginger Friedenberger, 29, has been skating since she was 8. She has worked her eight costume changes into a timed science. "It took a lot of rehearsal to get it down," Friedenberger said. "You drop things on the way as you are walking." Greg Bonin, 30, and Karyl Kawaichi, 33, are the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of the ice rink.

Partners for seven years, Bonin and Kawaichi performed in the Ice Capades for 10 years and perform a series of lifts and spins during the show. Shirley Temple and Dracula on stage at one time. No, it's not "Gone with the Good Ship Lollipop" or "Interviewwith a Southern Vampire." It's Busch Gardens "Hollywood Live on Ice," a 35-minute tribute to Tinsel Town's stars. After two years of planning, seven weeks of renovations to the Moroccan Palace and five weeks of nonstop rehearsals, the show premiered Nov. 4, said Michael Worrall, I The 14-skater cast of "Hollywood Live on Ice" includes former national competitors and veterans of Ice Capades tours.

entertainment area supervisor. And in less than a month, "We've had more positive letters regarding this show than we have about anything," Worrall said. The fast-paced show was choreographed by former Olympian Randy Gardner and Karen Kresge. Its cast of 14 professional skaters includes former national competitors and veterans of Ice Capades touring shows. The show consists of several movie shorts enacted on a 43- by 35-foot rink on stage.

Special effects include a curtain of rain cascading from ceiling to floor during "Singin' in the Rain." Movie thriller monsters and a chorus line of dancing skeletons also take the ice as the show slips down Hollywood's timeline. "There's a lot of trust there," Bonin says of his skating relationship with Kawaichi. "We both rely on each other to be there." In another skit, Lauren Pritchard dons a pair of red ruby ice skates while portraying Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz." Pritchard, 28, was winner of the junior nationals in 1982. Several skaters performed in Busch Gardens' previous show, "World on Ice," including "Hollywood Live on Ice" director Albert Lucas, who was the juggler in the previous show. The show can be seen daily at 11:30 a.m.

and in the afternoon at 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30. Additional shows may be scheduled on the weekends. Starting with a tribute to the silent film era, the show progresses through the age of movie magic up to the suave moves of the British agent James Bond. A glitzy finale with set changes and costume changes on stage wraps up the show to the tune of "Hooray for Hollywood." Two singers accompany the skaters while video screens mounted on both sides of the stage show memorable movie footage. Because of the number of costume and set changes in the show, Worrall said the backstage crew came up with a choreography of its own.

Kim McBride, who began skating at 9, makes seven costume changes throughout the show. Daring lone robber hits armored car By PAULO LIMA Tribune Staff Writer NORTHDALE Bobby Blo-omquist had just pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot when a well-dressed man bolted in front of his Chevrolet Monte Carlo and hurried into a waiting car. Something wasn't quite right about the man, though. He was wearing tennis shoes with the dark slacks, dress shirt and tie. The man had just robbed an armored car courier who was leaving the store at 14941 N.

Dale Mabry Highway, said Hillsborough County sheriffs Lt. Ted Gibson. Investigators said the man sat at a booth in the store's snack bar and about 11 a.m. ambushed the courier as he headed out of the store with the money. The man walked up to the courier, stuck a snub-nosed revolver into his chest and took the guard's gun and a bag of cash, Gibson said.

Deputies would not say how much money was taken. The robber then ran out the front door into a parking lot crowded with holiday shoppers. "We had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting him," said Blo-omquist's wife, Lisa. "You could see it in his face that he was scared to death. He was so nervous, he kept missing the door handle.

"And when he got into the the car he was screaming at the driver, 'Go, go, An observant witness memorized the car's license number. Authorities traced Florida tag QLA See ARMORED, PagfvZ Zoo's WildLights kick off Yule season at Lowry Park 5X' Lowry Park workers Janna Miller, left, and Jeff Morey work on the lights for a larger than life Santa, which will be part of the zoo's WildLights. By NANETTE WOITAS Tribune Staff Writer NORTH TAMPA Sheep, goats and other petting zoo animals will don their gay apparel and lead a parade through the park Friday night to kick off Wild-Lights, the zoo's second annual holiday light festival. Gates will open at 6 p.m. The parade, which will escort Santa to his throne in the park, is set to begin immediately after Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman flips a switch to light the displays at 6:15 p.m.

"People will literally be enveloped in the sights, smells and sounds of the holidays," said Lowry spokeswoman Deborah Carr. "The zoo is an absolutely magical place at night with the lights glittering pff the water on the lake." It will be the largest extended light display in bay area, Carr said. All profits go to help pay operating expenses at the zoo's Florida Manatee Hospital and research center. The hospital, which takes in injured manatees, is the only nonprofit facility in the United States of its kind. Last year, it cost the zoo about $497,000 for food, medical supplies and rehabilitative care.

The five resident manatees are, by far, the park's biggest eaters, munching 26 cases of Romaine lettuce every day, said Linda Reiber, who is in charge of preparing food for all 1,600 zoo inhabitants. However, WildLights guests shouldn't expect to see the park's See LIGHTS, Page 5 Kit TODD L. CHAPPELTrtbune photo.