Don’t blame Mike Cheezem for the demise of the Belleview Biltmore

We all lament the passing of the White Queen of the Gulf as the Belleview Biltmore was known. But if we are going to blame people for its demise, don’t blame developer Mike Cheezem and don’t blame the Belleair City Commission. They are not to blame. The downfall of the Belleview Biltmore began many years ago when it passed from the hands of Bernard Powell – a man who put his heart and soul into the hotel for decades. Sadly, the several owners who followed him mainly took from the hotel – cutting corners on maintenance, reducing staff and stiffing valued vendors – so much so that people the hotel depended on for goods and services would no longer deal with its owners - having been left with so many unpaid invoices. The demise of the cherished hotel did not happen overnight but rather over the last few decades at the hands of many – sad.

Around the bay:

1. Apparently the state of New York did not find former school superintendent Mary Ellen Elia’s skills as wanting as did the merry band in Hillsborough County. She was appointed Commissioner of Education for the state of New York. Good for them - and what a needless loss for the bay area.

2. Speaking of education, a generation of Clearwater High graduates were saddened to hear of the passing of Dorothy Bowes-Nee who was the smiling face at the front desk of the school for so many years. It seemed she knew every student who ever passed through CHS’s hallways – a truly sweet lady.

3. One more CHS note – congratulations to the very special gals and guys who comprised the Class of ’60 on their 55^th reunion this past weekend.

4. The city of Clearwater continues to dither with red light cameras while multiple Florida cities realize the error of their ways and dump the things. And eight states have enacted prohibitions against their use. Additionally, two states have had court decisions that could lead to a refund of all fines incurred by the cameras as well as court costs; however both are under appeal by the states and their camera vendors. But the future of the cameras does not look bright.  

5.In light of the disturbances on Clearwater Beach over Memorial Day weekend, you’ve really lived in Clearwater a long time if you remember back when the city commission debated banning “3” license plates (the then symbol for Hillsborough County) from Clearwater Beach.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. Note to Reuben Amaro, a really nice guy. You don’t say “the fans don’t understand the game”. A lot of us do understand the game and even those who don’t would be offended by your comment.

7. We don’t expect major league umpires to look like tri-athletes but a few of them should be yanked off the field for their own good. One is Fielden Culbreth, a major league crew chief who is officially listed at 225 pounds but probably is more in the 275-300 range. You look at him and you can’t help think of John McSherry who died on Opening Day in 1996 while working a game in Cincinnati.

8. Upon polling our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of three, old cranky people) about the FIFA crisis, we found they thought FIFA was (a) a girl’s grunge band; (b) an expensive perfume; (c) a poodle grooming salon. (Margin of error – this week 100 per cent).

9. Milwaukee Brewers reliever Will Smith, recently suspended for eight games for “modifying” the ball, needs to be a little less obvious about where he stashes his chemicals (on his forearm). He should take lessons from Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry and Don Sutton – the masters of the art.

10. Oddity: This summer’s general convention of the Episcopal Church will be held in Salt Lake City – the worldwide headquarters of the Mormon Church.

Actually, our valued reader had a few other ideas…

(Editor’s note: the quartet of baseball improvement ideas that ran in this space the past few weeks could feasibly be adopted - these others – not so much).

1) Bring back the bullpen car… but make it a Ferrari. 2) If a player makes an error, he is removed from the field until the next out is recorded. This will create the equivalent of a hockey power play and increase scoring. 3) I don’t believe I’m going out on a limb in saying that nobody likes the infield fly rule. 4) When the bases are empty, the batter has the option of running toward first or third base after a batted ball. If he gets on safely, first and third base then are swapped for the rest of the half-inning, meaning the base paths will operate clockwise instead of counterclockwise. 5) Don’t let pitchers shake off more than one sign. 6) Invoke the “You got us into this mess, you’ll get us out of this mess” rule — no pitching changes in the middle of an inning.

Next week, we will feature his ideas for improving the game of rugby (see disclaimer above).