Okay, now that things have cooled down a bit, the outside porch at Carrabba’s on Gulf to Bay is a nice spot to relax and dine – and what a menu!

Parking issues – the only way to go is up

It’s a tale of two cities but the tale applies to all of Pinellas County, one of the most densely populated counties south of Manhattan. In Dunedin, city officials are grappling with parking issues – whether to charge for downtown parking or stay (mostly) free. One of the things they are considering is a parking garage. The same holds true for Clearwater Beach, particularly its marina where parking plans have been all over the chart the last couple years – mainly because they permitted a new restaurant to come in without any additional parking (a story for another time). In both cases, it would appear a parking garage would be, in large measure, a solution. The marina has the space for a non-obtrusive garage; it would seem there would be similar space off the main drag of Dunedin. It’s a solution both cities need to seriously consider.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:  

1. Driverless transit buses in the bay area? We think we’ll pass. And don’t bother calling us when you develop the pilotless airliner.

2. Idle question: are we trying to stuff fifteen pounds into a five pound sack by looking at a Rays site in Ybor City?

3. She was probably best known for her work in TV’s Touched by an Angel. But music buffs will never forget her classic recordings like And That Reminds Me, Don’t You Know and Not One Minute More. Della Reese died last week at age 86.

4. Breaking news, the TBRR focus group (comprised of four, old cranky people) has added a fifth old cranky person – actually older and, arguably, crankier than the other four. Their first combined observation appears next week.

5. You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you remember Reddy Kilowatt the cartoon spokesman for Florida Power and other electric utilities across the country.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. Be honest, you have a contending team, who do you hire - Aaron Boone or Joe Girardi? As one long term Yankee follower put it, GM Brian Cashman wanted a yes man, not a manager.

7. Takeaways from NFL Week 12: The Atlanta Falcons win over the 4-7 Bucs keeps them in playoff contention, but they continue to show an alarming tendency to allow teams to get back into games. And on the college front, Dan Mullen was probably the safest hire for the Florida Gators, but we don’t see a Spurrier or Meyer-like run during his tenure. And the University of Tennessee’s football program, no make that athletic program, is a just a hot mess with too many outsiders telling the people in charge what to do.

8. We are sorry to report the end of StPetersBlog a, for the most part, conservative look at things emanating from St. Pete. The blog shut down last month with its editor now concentrating on another project – Florida Politics – worth a read.

9. Factoid, Al Capone, who profited immensely from the act, and U.S. Rep. Andrew Volstead, who gave his name to the Volstead Act, died within a week of each other seventy years ago.

10. Yet another acorn of wisdom from the 5:05 Newsletter: Hollywood is the only place where you are awarded a Doctorate in Political Science after completing your third movie.

The Thursday Evening Post

A favorite drawing that hung in our office for years depicted the office of The Thursday Evening Post with a printer approaching the publisher saying, “Boss, there’s no way we’re going to be able to get out the first issue before Saturday evening.” Which is a roundabout way of saying next week’s TBRR will be a little late – probably Monday night or Tuesday morning as your HB (Humble Blogger) and SW (Saintly Wife) take a much delayed vacation in New York’s Finger Lakes and the Shenandoah Valley. See you in about ten days!

SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK: Strong mayor for Clearwater?