Posts tagged "Tampa Bay"

Florida mother giving 2-year-old son the gift of a second chance at life

This Mother’s Day, a Florida mom is giving her son a special gift.

Melissa Ranieri is giving her 2-year-old son Evan a kidney — and a shot at a normal life, Fox 13 in Tampa Bay reports.

Evan’s kidneys are underdeveloped and he has been fighting since he was born; he spends a lot of time hooked up to dialysis machines, the station reports.

“It’s really difficult. The first couple of times, you can’t really put it into words. But we’ve grown accustomed to this,” Melissa Ranieri told Fox 13 of the treatments.

The kidney transplant is scheduled for this month, and Evan’s dad is thrilled his wife is an organ donor match for their son.

“I think it’s unbelievable, the fact that we’ll be able to go swimming, something like that. He can’t get wet. Stuff like that is just awesome,” Paul Ranieri said.

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Alone Atop The Mountain – Bayoubuzz.com

London Fletcher called 2012 the most fun season he's had since winning the Super Bowl in 1999 with the Rams. Hunter Martin/Getty Images. With the retirement of Tampa Bay defensive back Ronde Barber this week, the NFL lost one of its consummate …
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Florida woman who rode manatee arrested

A Florida woman who was photographed riding a manatee in Fort De Soto Beach, near Tampa Bay, in September, was arrested Saturday on a misdemeanor warrant, authorities said.

Ana Gloria Garcia-Gutierrez, 53, of St. Petersburg, was arrested at a Sears store where she works on suspicion of violating the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Witnesses in the area at the time notified law enforcement of the incident and were able give deputies a description, including photos, of the woman and her location in the waterway.

Garcia-Gutierrez turned herself in on Oct. 3, after pictures of her riding the endangered sea mammal were released to the media by law enforcement authorities.

During an interview with deputies, Garcia-Gutierrez admitted to touching and riding the manatee, claiming she was new to the area at the time and did not realize it was against state law to touch or harass manatees.

The Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act reads in part, “It is unlawful for any person at any time, by any means, or in any manner intentionally or negligently to annoy, molest, harass, or disturb or attempt to molest, harass, or disturb any Manatee”.

Gutierrez was released on $1,500 bail, according to The Associated Press. The maximum penalty is a $500 fine and six months in jail.

Tampa Bay’s mystery monkey bites woman on back

Wildlife officials in Florida say the mystery monkey of Tampa Bay bit a woman during an unprovoked attack in St. Petersburg.

Florida Fish and Wildlife spokesman Gary Morse says the woman was sitting outside Tuesday when the monkey bit her on the back.

The Tampa Bay Times (http://bit.ly/TfZIhE) reports the incident was reported to wildlife officials, who sent a trapper to the area.

The wild rhesus macaque has become famous in the Tampa Bay area. It has a Facebook page and has been featured on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report. The elusive monkey has been spotted numerous times in the Tampa Bay area in recent years.

Officials have warned the public against feeding the monkey. Officials believe the monkey was cast out of a colony in Silver Springs near Ocala.

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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.

Tampa Bay Bucs Oppose Super Bowl Champion New York Giants: Fan's Preview

In facing the reigning Super Bowl Champions, Tampa Bay opposes a talented team that stumbled in a 24-17 season opening fall to the Dallas Cowboys. With an opponent hungry to get back to winning ways, the Bucs must still elevate play from last week's …
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GOP officials scrap first day of convention, citing Tropical Storm Isaac

Republican officials abruptly announced plans Saturday evening to scrap the first day of their national convention, bowing to a threat posed by Tropical Storm Isaac, churning toward Florida.

“Our first priority is ensuring the safety of delegates, alternates, guests, members of the media attending the Republican National Convention, and citizens of the Tampa Bay area,” party chairman Reince Priebus said in an emailed announcement that followed private conversations involving presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign, security officials and others.

Priebus added that forecasters have predicted that convention-goers “may encounter severe transportation difficulties due to sustained wind and rain” on Monday, the day the convention had been scheduled to open.

The announcement said that while the convention would officially be gaveled into session on Monday as scheduled, the day’s events would be cancelled until Tuesday.

That meant Romney’s formal nomination would be postponed by a day, from Monday to Tuesday, but the balance of the four days of political pageantry and speechmaking would go on as scheduled.

The former Massachusetts governor campaigned in battleground Ohio during the day, pledging to help women entrepreneurs and innovators who are eager to create small businesses and the jobs that go with them. It was an economy-themed countdown to the Republican National Convention taking shape in a city already bristling with security — and bracing for a possible hurricane.

“Women in this country are more likely to start businesses than men. Women need our help,” said the Republican presidential challenger, eager to relegate recent controversy over abortion to the sidelines and make the nation’s slow economic recovery the dominant issue of his convention week.

The former Massachusetts governor campaigned with running mate Paul Ryan in battleground Ohio as delegates arrived in Florida by the planeload. Across town, technicians completed the conversion of a hockey arena along Tampa Bay into a red, white and blue-themed convention hall.

The announcement made the GOP convention the party’s second in a row to be disrupted by weather. Four years ago, the delegates gathered in St. Paul, Minn., but Hurricane Gustav, slamming the Gulf Coast, led to a one-day postponement.

In that case, party officials rewrote their script to make President George W. Bush’s speech into a video appearance, and to cancel plans for Vice President Dick Cheney to appear before the delegates. Both men were unpopular at the time.

Four years later, there was no immediate sign that Romney’s forces would do anything other than squeeze two nights’ of platform programming into one. Nor did it appear the postponement would cost them much, since the television networks had already announced they would not be carrying any of Monday’s events live.

There was no hint in the announcement of a postponement of plans to evacuate the roughly 2,000 delegates eager to nominate Romney and Ryan as their ticket for the fall campaign.

“Federal, state and local officials assure us that they are prepared to respond, if needed, and the scheduling changes we are announcing today will help ensure the continued safety of all participants – our foremost concern,” the announcement said.

“We are also committed to keeping the delegates and guests of the convention well informed about the situation, and we will continue providing updates in the hours and days ahead.”

Despite the disruption, Priebus said, “we are optimistic that we will begin an exciting, robust convention that will nominate the Romney-Ryan ticket.”

Ex-Tampa Bay area principal charged in fatal rampage; fired 5 years ago over drug arrest

Authorities say the former Tampa Bay-area middle school principal charged in a rampage that left two dead and nine others injured was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reported that 45-year-old Anthony Giancola was taken into custody Friday afternoon and charged hours later with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Giancola lost his job after a drug arrest five years ago, and told reporters then that he needed to “get my life together.”

On Friday, authorities said, he stabbed several people at a group home for the hearing impaired — killing at least two. He then allegedly drove his car into a crowded porch and brutally attacked a couple who ran a nearby motel.

Tampa Bay prepares for upcoming Republican National Convention 2012 security

The City of Tampa has evolved as a premier locale for such events recently, such as Superbowl XL111 in 2009, and several other Superbowl games in prior years. The advent of Tampa hosting the Republican National Convention is novel; however, …
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NFL Teams Most Likely to Improve in 2012

Every NFL season, one team wins the Super Bowl and the other 31 don't. Which of those 31 teams has taken the biggest step toward postseason glory so far? Some teams, like Tampa Bay and Indianapolis, have nowhere to go but up.
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2012 Atlanta Falcons Schedule Features Tough Road Back to Playoffs

Look at those last six games: at Tampa Bay, vs the Saints on a short week, at Carolina, vs the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, at the Detroit Lions (the Matt Stafford/Calvin Johnson show), and ending at home against the Bucs.
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