A weekly look at the Tampa Bay area and national politics from a conservative viewpoint – plus a helping of sports and lifestyle items. Warning: not everything printed here should be taken at face value.

Florida’s bloated Constitution

As was mentioned here a few weeks ago (TBRR 3/31/19), the 232-year-old U.S. Constitution contains a relatively few 27 amendments while the Florida Constitution ratified in 1845 has a whopping 140 – many of them that have no place in a constitution. Our American forefathers made that mistake only once in 1919 and erased that mistake in 1933 (Prohibition). Meanwhile, Florida continues to load their Constitution with similar stuff (the most recent medical marijuana). Next up, among others, is a drive for solar power. Things like solar power might seem like a good idea at the time but if we change our direction on power generation, it becomes very difficult to remove it from the Constitution. Rep. Rick Roth is pushing legislation to make it not so easy to willy-nilly change our Constitution in the future. It’s a common sense approach that deserves passage.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff 

1. Craig Kopp, the GM of WMNF was right to resign his position - just as right as the station’s board of directors was wrong in rescinding his firing of news director Rob Lorei. Real radio doesn’t work that way. You hire a GM to run the operation and then stay the heck out of the way – unless the bottom line isn’t there. Hobby radio, as in the 24^th rated station in the market, obviously, works differently.

2. We think we heard it the first time at a meeting about ten years ago – “this is how we did it in Michigan.” That came to mind when we recently heard about “Michigan left turns” as the savior for the Gulf to Bay and Belcher intersection. What works in a state less than half our size doesn’t necessarily work in Florida. Keep trying guys.

3. You may not recognize the name Jerrie Cobb, who passed away last week at age 88, but you should have. She was the first woman to qualify as a U.S. Astronaut in 1961. But the glass ceiling at NASA kept her out of space. It wasn’t until 22 years later when an American woman, Sally Ride, went into space. The first woman in space, Russian Valentina Tereshkova, is still going strong at age 82.

4. Idle thought: the express line at Publix and similar stores should have a sign to this effect: “You must be able to count to ten to use this lane.”

5. This submission comes from, in her words, “Official Old Broad aka as Unofficial History Contributor”. “You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you ever quaked in your boots while appearing before the legendary Judge Bird. (Editor’s note – she is actually a very lovely lady who has lived in Clearwater all her life).

Sports, the media and other stuff:

6. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. We wish major league baseball could come up with a better way to honor Jackie Robinson rather than every player in baseball wearing 42 for a day. Isn’t that why we retired the number?

7. NHL News: Well that was certainly stinky.

8. PGA News: Well that was certainly a welcome surprise!

9. Number of the week – 13 (years old) – the youngest age at which a recording artist hit number one on the music charts shared by Stevie Wonder (Fingertips) and Donnie Osmond (Go Away Little Girl). The youngest females to top the charts were “old maids” of 15 - Little Peggy March (I Will Follow Him) and Brenda Lee (I’m Sorry).

10. In the sixth week of our countdown of great players (see back story in TBRR 3/10/19), we consider great ballplayers who wore #6. It’s basically a two-man race. It’s the pride of the Tigers Al Kaline who burst on the scene as a 20-year-old versus Stan the Man. Great as Kaline was, it’s hard to compete with Stan’s .331 career average – and his home court advantage – having owned the original Hilton Hotel on south Clearwater Beach.

North Ward – imagine the possibilities

The Clearwater City Council hasn’t excited anyone with their first quarter labors – save one item –their decision to purchase North Ward School on North Fort Harrison Avenue. So many longtime residents, both former students and those who were not, feared the attractive school would fall to the wrecking ball. Other communities have turned similar classic schools into unique retail operations, Franklin, N.C. comes to mind, restaurants or arts venues. The next step is for the council to establish a blue ribbon committee of local residents to weigh the options and not, please, turn the school’s future to some out of town consultants. There is great potential in that little schoolhouse.

Next Up: He started as #6; Comic Strips we loved; Disney on $3.50 a day

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