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.

Leading off: Goodbye and thanks, Kate

After 33 years, Kate Kelly, CEO and the force behind the Kimberly Home Pregnancy Center is retiring. Through her tireless efforts, Kimberly Home became a model for what such an organization should be. Kimberly Home goes back over forty years, but frankly, it struggled until Kate came along. In her tenure, they built a headquarters building, temporary shelters for women with troubled pregnancies and established two thriving thrift centers to help fund their good works. We were privileged to serve on her board for a few years, and watched the center grow under her direction. Our community owes Kate a debt we can never repay. She will be greatly missed.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

The city of Clearwater suffered a large loss last week with the passing of Mayme Hodges. Mayme was a retired educator, former Clearwater city commissioner and just a beautiful person. We mourn her passing.

Our boy, Joe, is finding it’s much, much harder to run a campaign when you have an actual record, rather than just a bunch of promises.

As the Biden bunch still can’t get a handle on inflation, the Fed is saying interest rate cuts are coming, just not right away. The skeptic in us says count on the third quarter, just before election time.

Oh, and look for local gas prices to drop below three dollars just about the same time.

Related: the latest blow to the EV industry is Rivian’s “pausing” of a $5 billion plant project In Georgia to conserve cash.

The hits just keep on coming – another nearly $6 billion in student loan forgiveness, compliments of we the people.

If you have any doubts about what side you should be on in the Tik Tok argument, read former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s book, Never Give an Inch, in which he details in great length what is wrong with doing business with China.

Now that it’s officially Spring, do you remember ever suffering through a colder and damper winter than this year’s? Well, maybe 1977, the year it snowed in Clearwater.

So let us understand this Wendy, the longer the line, the more we pay for a Frosty? We don’t think so.

From the 5:05 Newsletter: Taylor Swift endorsed the administration's Green New Deal today before flying across the country to get a cup of coffee. (Side note – probably with John Kerry).

Born 100 years ago this week (March 27) vocal stylist Sarah Vaughan, winner of the Grammy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989.

Sports, media and other notes:

The enormous cheer you heard last Thursday night from 49 of our states was for relatively unknown Oakland University and their NCAA win over traditional basketball power Kentucky. Talk about a bracket buster!

Add Clemson to FSU as potential evacuees from the ACC. The Tigers have joined FSU in a suit over what the two schools claim are egregious exit fees.

MLB kicks off their season this week. Who will win? In the immortal words of former pitcher Joaquin Andujar, “You can sum up the game of baseball in one word, and that word is, 'You never know.”

Palindrome of the week: 62-26. That’s the amazing career win-loss record of Braves left-handed ace Max Fried. The good news for Fried is he is a free agent at the end of this season.

You’ve lived in the bay area (or anywhere else) a long time if you remember Clorets breath gum. A big seller in the 50s, it is now marketed primarily in Mexico, Canada, the UK and the Far East.

…one last thing: Election recap

In Clearwater‘s mayoral race, it was Bruce Rector in a landslide victory over former city council member Kathleen Beckman. Some, but certainly not all, of Rector’s over thirty point margin can be attributed to the Democratic Party’s decision not to have a primary to protect Joe Biden. But Clearwater voters overwhelmingly displayed their distrust of Beckman after several ethical missteps by the unabashed liberal Democrat. In the vacant Seat 3 race, Mike Mannino’s impressive margin matched that of the new mayor. Seat 2 now belongs to political newcomer Ryan Cotton who defeated incumbent Mark Bunker and another candidate with 42 percent of the vote. Two years from now, Cotton would have faced a runoff as Clearwater voters approved a ballot initiative requiring candidates receive a clear majority. On the surface, that seems like a good idea, but it is loaded with unintentional consequences as the electorate will discover in the years ahead.

NEXT UP: Channel 13; Mount Rushmore II; Let’s do it again!

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