Established in 2014, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of local and national politics, sports, lifestyles and Tampa Bay memories from a politically incorrect viewpoint.

First thing on our mind:

Remember when the only show trials you saw were in dictatorships and third world countries?

Leading off: Getting rid of rogue prosecutors

You look around the country and are disgusted with the likes of Fani Willis in Atlanta, Alvin Bragg in New York and Kim Foxx in Chicago. They and others have virtually decriminalized things like assault, theft, drug possession and other serious offenses. The pushback on Foxx’ free to roam policies has been severe enough that she read the tea leaves and chose not to run for re-election. But more remain, their campaigns funded by wealthy left wing radicals like George Soros, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s Dustin Moskovitz. But there is good news as reported by The Heritage Foundation’s Cully Stimson. In addition to Willis’ self-inflicted wounds, crime numbers in blue cities are catching up with the rogue prosecutors leading them to either resign like Foxx or be ousted at the polls by people fed up with the prosecutors winking at serious crime.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Clearwater lost one of its finest last week with the passing of 100-year-old Herb Brown. Herb was part of the Eckerd chain when he first came to Clearwater and later brought the Checkers chain to the bay area. In 1995, he held the prestigious post of President of Rotary International. Our condolences go out to the Brown and Arnold families.

Next weekend, Saturday, May 4 is Kimberly Home’s annual Walk for Life at Crest Lake Park (Pavilion #201B). Registration starts at 9 with the walk beginning at 10.

Related headline from the local left wing bi-weekly: “Florida is an abortion haven no more.” We can only add that is a good thing.

We learned recently that Governor DeSantis does not have a high approval rating outside of Florida. Tell me, do you care what folks in California or Oregon think about our governor?

Related: We tip our cap to the governor for his vow not to comply with the Biden administration’s messing with Title IX which would allow male participation in women’s sports.

The clock is ticking down on May’s expected St. Pete city council vote on the new Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium deal. Most are cautiously optimistic, but the vote is far from a slam dunk.

Biz note: On February 18, we reported that Nike was cutting 1600 jobs. For you conspiracists out there, this was long before the Caitlin Clark shoe deal.

This week in 2016: (May 3) The Tampa Tribune is purchased and shuttered by The St. Pete Times ending balanced reporting in the bay area.

Sports, media and other notes:

Related to the historical note above from the 5:05 Newsletter: The reason today’s newspapers are half the size they used to be is that they used to publish both sides of a story.

Even the most casual golf fan now knows the name Nelly Korda.

If Major League Baseball has half a brain, Hunter Wendelstedt will not umpire any more games at Yankee Stadium this year. If you missed it, simply google his name or that of Aaron Boone.

Tijuana Flats has closed 11 restaurants as it goes through reorganization. Half a dozen are in the bay area.

Rather than three luncheon guests this month, we choose three departed restaurants where we’d love to dine again – the elegant Siple’s Garden Seat, the less elegant Robby’s Pancake House and the even less elegant Morrison’s Cafeteria, but oh what egg custard pie!

…one last thing: MLB at the one month mark

At a point a few weeks back, the Miami Marlins had a record of 3-14. So, it would make sense to demote the starting pitcher responsible for two of those three wins. Max Meyer owns wins over the powerful Braves and Cardinals while compiling a 2-0 and 2.12 ERA in three starts. The official word is to lessen his innings. There are other ways to “lessen innings” rather than farm out your best pitcher. This from a franchise that has chased away terrific baseball people like Derek Jeter and Kim Ng over the past couple years and consistently finishes in the last three in attendance each year – a team that badly needs new ownership, a new location or both. Other first month MLB observations: the Braves are really good; we’re cautiously optimistic about the Indians; the Dodgers are barely over 500 – percentage that is, not payroll in terms of millions; the White Sox are pathetic as are the Rockies; Houston can’t be that bad, can they? We’ll see about that in our next update (June 2). Finally, there’s Cub’s reliever Luke Little (6’8”) who was forced to change gloves last week because his black game glove, which he’s used since A ball, has a small American flag on it. Our new favorite Cub.

UP NEXT: The first TV station; Disposable cameras; Prop bets

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