TOP OF THE WEEK:

There were few surprises in last week’s local primaries. As expected, retiring State Rep. Ed Hooper easily defeated incumbent County Commissioner Norm Roche in the Republican primary. Dave Eggers emerged out of a crowded field to take the Republican nomination for retiring County Commissioner Susan Latvala’s seat. The two Latvala’s who were running, Susan’s former husband Jack and his son, Chris, both cruised and will most likely be a father-son combo in the Florida legislature come November. And now it’s official – we can get ready for potentially the nastiest governor’s race in recent history between two candidates both with tons of baggage.

Around the Bay –

1. Recent study shows corruption more likely in state capitols far away from the geographic center of the state. Same study shows the geographic center of our state and, presumably the best place for the capitol, would be Brooksville. We’ll take the corruption, thanks.

2. The appointment of a new baseball commissioner is good news for Ray’s fans. Probably the last thing Rob Manfred wants on his resume is that he oversaw the relocation of a franchise during his first years in office.

3. Quote of the week: Howard Simon, head of the Florida ACLU, “These (decisions on medical pot) are medical decisions to be made by doctors about what is best for their patients; it is not a role for politicians”. Perhaps Mr. Simon missed the pronouncement by the Florida Medical Association that they oppose the medical pot amendment.

4. A few weeks back, we gave Duke Power a pass on some of the blunders made by their predecessor, Progress Energy - big mistake on our part. Duke manages to arouse the public by extending their meter reading periods resulting in higher bills – during the height of the summer heat! It’s a minor irritation for many of us but a major problem for lower income families and individuals. Just who is this company’s PR advisor?

5. The hands down winner of Pinellas County Grinch of the Year is the guy in Dunedin (we purposely don’t use his name to avoid him being exposed to even more ridicule) who has filed about a half-dozen complaints about a kid’s lemonade stand – a stand the rest of the neighborhood embraces. File this one under “intelligently choose your battles.” By the way, the attendant publicity spiked the kid’s sales so the Grinch had to put up with even more traffic at the stand.

The Diamond, the Media sand Other Stuff –

6. Beloved former Bucs coach Tony Dungy says he will no longer use the team name Redskins on his broadcasts. The same Dungy who said a few weeks ago he would not want a gay football player on a team he coached. A little bit of hypocrisy, Tony?

7. Breaking news: possible terrorist threat averted at recent Ray’s game when Swiss Army knives are confiscated from two men ages 68 and 80. Come on Rays, use some common sense.

8. This item was in agate type in sports sections a week or so back. It should have generated front page headlines. Dick Bavetta is retiring as an NBA official – here’s where it gets significant – after 39 years at age 74. Bavetta refereed 2635 games – never missing a game. Imagine running up and down the court at age 74 while so many of us moan and groan about spending a half-hour at the gym. A resident of Ocala, Bavetta should be a model for us all.

9. Our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of three old, cranky people) wants to know what constitutes going too slow in the left lane – five miles over the speed limit, or 10, or 20? (Margin of error 11.5 miles per hour).

10. While the local network stations ran their regular programming, Bay News Nine had a chance to distinguish themselves during last week’s primary and failed miserably. Instead of reporting on local races, they dithered around breaking down county voting trends in two very lopsided gubernatorial races while not even running trailers on important county and judicial races.

IN CLOSING:

A few years back, people were disappointed when State Senator Jack Latvala chose not to run for an open Congressional seat and we wound up with very week representation on Capitol Hill. But by continuing as a State Senator, Latvala has done more good for this area than virtually any other politician. His recent face-off with Duke Power over extended meter reading periods (see 4 above) is the latest case of a man who truly looks out for his constituents.