Throughout 2017, we open each week with a dining suggestion (see back story in Jan. 1 Rants): With season upon us, sometimes you have to wait for a table, but it’s worth the wait at Cheddars at Roosevelt and U.S. 19. Terrific salads and plenty of home style meals along with our favorite - their grilled salmon.

Clearwater continues to play third fiddle:

The recent announcement that defense contractor CWU, Inc. was moving its offices and thirty employees from Clearwater to Tampa came as no surprise to folks who follow Clearwater’s economic development efforts – or the lack thereof. Adding insult to injury was CWU’s announcement they would be adding another twenty positions to their newly repositioned offices. There was a time when Clearwater had an aggressive economic development team who were proactive in visiting with key industries with the message they were from the government and DID want to help – or stay out of the way if that was in the best interest of that particular company. Many a job was saved from relocation by these visits not only by bureaucrats but policy makers who could carry a company’s concerns back to their fellow policy makers and get some action. Those lessons seem lost on Clearwater’s current leadership both appointed and elected. Cutting ribbons is nice, but they don’t keep well-paying jobs in Clearwater. It’s time to shake things up more than a little as the city council of the late nineties did in establishing a strong economic development team.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. It seems to be an ironclad rule, the smaller the community, the greater amount of political intrigue. For proof, look only as far as Madeira Beach and their total revamping of their governing body – not that it was a bad thing.

2. Idle thought: Queen Elizabeth is now exchanging diplomatic messages with her 12^th American President.

3. A salute to Clearwater city council member Doreen Caudell for refusing to meet with head scientologist David Miscavige unless it was in a public forum, and a Bronx cheer to city manager Bill Horne for keeping his five bosses out of the loop so long regarding the cult’s downtown plans.

4. In a related note, we find The Toronto Star is keeping its eye on the Sci-Ti situation – not sure why. But in a recent article, the paper refers to Clearwater as a “down-on-its-heels resort town”. Has the author of that tripe ever been to Clearwater, eh.

5. With so little local news coverage anywhere, why doesn’t Bay News 9 concentrate in that area instead of trying to channel MSNBC?

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. It’s our all-time favorite Tampa Bay Ray’s name – 6 foot 4, 280 (conservatively) pound pitcher Jumbo Diaz – recently acquired from the Reds.

7. Baseball trade rumors are fascinating but some like the one this week of Evan Longoria going to the Atlanta Braves are just nonsensical for many reasons. First, Longoria is the cornerstone of the Rays. Second, the Rays asking price would start with uber-prospect Dansby Swanson which would be a non-starter for the Braves.

8. Yet another snippet from the 5:05 Newsletter which no doubt caused a stir in Japan: President Trump’s rant about Nordstrom dropping Ivanka’s fashion line reminded me of how Harry Truman once threatened to slug a music critic who panned his daughter’s singing. We all knew Trump was going to have a Harry Truman moment and, so far, we are just lucky it was only this one.

9. With all our restaurant suggestions this year, our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of four old, cranky people) looks back at four restaurants they wish still existed. They are the elegant Siple’s Garden Seat on Clearwater’s bluff, the not so elegant but really good Robby’s Pancake House, and two other Gulf to Bay landmarks, Chief Charley’s and Young’s BBQ.

10. You’ve lived in Pinellas County for a long time if you remember the Joyland amusement park on U.S. 19.

One of five living survivors of the USS Arizona tells his story in All the Gallant Men

We were surprised to learn that the story of the ill-fated USS Arizona had never been told by any of its crew. Finally, last fall, Donald Stratton released a book that related the story as only a survivor of that date in infamy could. In All the Gallant Men, Stratton makes no apologies for his resentment towards the Japanese military (not its citizens) 75 years later. Who could blame him? Stratton was seriously wounded in the sneak attack and was saved only because a sailor on a nearby vessel ignored an officer’s order and threw a line to the blazing Arizona and saved six men from the flames. After an arduous recovery from his burns, Stratton was medically discharged but re-enlisted when he fully regained his health – serving again in the Pacific aboard the destroyer USS Stack until war’s end. You hate to throw around the word “great” too often – but this heartfelt telling of Pearl Harbor and beyond is a great book.

SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK: TAMPA BAY SPORTS – AL LANG FIELD AND BUCS TICKET PRICES