If you grew up in the Tampa Bay area, there are names form local news that will stick with you forever. Gail Sierens, Bob Hite, and Dick Fletcher, to name a few. I’m sad to report that Dick Fletcher, the long time weatherman for WTSP, died yesterday (2/26/08) at the age of 65 from a stroke he had on February 18th, 2008.. Dick had worked for the CBS station as their chief meteorologist for 30 years, which means he was the only weatherman I ever knew for the affiliate.

He was a legend in the Tampa Bay area, and he had a huge local following. He’ll be missed.

The news of Kim Sjostrom & her new husband, Teddy Efkarpides, made it to our paper this week. The Davie, FL couple had been married only an hour when Kim passed out and died at the wedding. Kim was diabetic, so when she passed out during the first dance with her husband, her family went to get sugar for her…turns out it was heart disease that killed the 36 year old elementary school teacher.

Kim wanted her own version of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” (I watched that last night!) and even played the movie while she was getting ready for her big day. What a tragedy!

Ladies, let me ask you a question. When you take a shower, do you then proceed to walk around your house naked? Do you undress and position yourself in front of windows? Or do you make sure that you’re protected from the view of folks outside your home?

A Tampa man was arrested early Tuesday morning for peeping in a window of an apartment. He was looking at a woman who had just finished shower. Now don’t get me wrong - we should be able to parade around naked in our own homes without attracting the attention of a voyeur, but is that a reason to leave the drapes open, especially when it’s dark, and ANYONE can see inside your home?

Buy a clue, and secure your home and curtains to stay safe.

All of USF is pumped up about the big football game this weekend, but there are some students over at USF in mourning. A 19 year old USF student, Rachel Futterman, passed away earlier this week from bacterial meningitis. The illness is rate, but can be fatal. It’s not easily transmitted, but is more common among schools and college campusus. Friends and students who were in contact with Rachel are being treated as a precaution.

If one good thing came of her death, it’s that many students at USF are now being vaccinated against the disease. It’s sad that it takes a tragedy like this to make people aware of bacterial meningitis, but hopefully this news will prevent other deaths.

At 2pm today, the sentencing hearing for John Couey will commence. If you’re living under a rock, John Couey is the animal who took 9 year old Jessica Lunsford out of her bed in rural Citrus County, violated her, and buried her alive. His family members assisted him in covering it up. Death is too good for this man. I want to see him go to jail, because I know what ‘regular’ prisoners think of people who prey on children. A little jail house justice would be the best thing in this case.

Couey’s lawyer attempted to portray him as a childlike oaf during his trial by having John color in a coloring book, but the ploy didn’t work.

A 15 year old living in Germany (which explains the grammar) made this video about Jessica and 2 other little girls who were killed. Mark Lunsford, Jessica’s father, is the man pictured with long hair, crying. I can’t say enough about the strength he’s shown though all of this. Many people in Florida have asked him to run for public office and he turned them down. He’s an amazing person.

A few years ago, my friend Laura had a scary experience involving carbon monoxide in her home. Thankfully, Laura and her husband had installed carbon monoxide detectors in her house, and they were able to evacuate in time. I’m pretty sure that most carbon monoxide issues inside homes normally come from furnace issues, which obviously, isn’t an issue in Florida. But in the paper this morning, there was an article about a Tampa family being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after they left a car idling in their garage for EIGHT HOURS! (Ok, accidents happen, but how the heck do you forget to turn your car off?) Salvatore Gagliardo is still being treated, but his wife and child are home safe. The couple woke up when the 2 year old awoke crying and saying he didn’t feel good, and they got out in time. That is one lucky family, because the story could have had a much more tragic ending.

It proves that we should ALL have carbon monoxide detectors in our homes - furnace, or no furnace!

I missed hearing about Sam Santilli last week when he was hit by lightning in Treasure Island. We don’t typically get news from that area in my paper, but I was saddened to learn today that Sam, who was a 16 year old Hillsborough High student, has died from his injuries. Sam was at the beach with his mom last Friday when he was struck.

That’s a somber reminder for us all. If you see lightning, get inside. Stay away from the water, the pool, high objects, don’t hide under a tree - just go INSIDE. Unfortunately, it sounds as if this all happened to quickly for Sam and his mom to seek shelter inside.

Here are some tips for lighting safety:

• Watch for storms. They can spring up and move in very quickly in Florida, especially in the summer time.
• If you’re outside swimming, on the water, playing sports, at the beach, etc, and hear thunder, it’s time to pack it in. If you can hear the thunder, you’re close enough to be struck by lightning.
• Stay computers and avoid using other electronics during storms.

I just saw on TBO.com in their breaking news section that there’s a huge fire at the Best Western Hotel near Waters Avenue and North Dale Mabry Highway. And I mean huge - it’s a 4 alarm fire! Streets around that area are closed - it’s sort of close to where my sister works, so I hope she planned to stay IN the office today for lunch. I’m glad I’m not out in that mess!

The President was in town yesterday, and those of you around the airport at lunch time may have noticed AirForce1 coming in - hard to miss those Apache helicopters hovering around! For most of us, the visit wasn’t a big deal. A bit more traffic and hassle getting around town perhaps. The President spoke at MacDill, so I’m not even sure if he saw the protesters out on Gandy and Dale Mabry.

If you watched American Idol a few years ago, you probably remember seeing contestant Jessica Sierra on the show. The Tampa resident was one of the big hits on the show’s 2005 season, and it was nice to see a local girl making it. She’s had some success with her music since then - recording new songs, appearing in People, and entertaining the troops in Iraq.

Now Jessica is making news of a different kind, as she was arrested this weekend in Tampa and charged with assault. Jessica reported hit a man over the head with a glass at the Hyde Park Cafe, and then the police found cocaine on her when she was booked. Oops!

Definitely not the kind of publicity the people of Tampa were counting on from this 21 year old.

Did you know Florida law allows sex offenders with a child to visit a school campus where their child attends? And in some cases, those visits are unsupervised, allowing the sex offender to roam freely? I didn’t, but I’m fired up about it now. Read my latest entry at The Florida Blog to find out more.

Ban Sex Offenders Who Are Parents From Coming To Florida Schools Petition

How about those crazy Christmas Day tornados? We didn’t even realize anything had happened until my mother in law called to ask us if we were ok. The worst damage was centered at SR 52 and I-75 in Pasco County, right around the Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club. Last I checked, 100 homes were damaged in that area.

The wind was so bad here on Christmas Eve that our lights were blown off the roof. Jim ended up going up there in the rain yesterday to take the rest down. Thankfully, only a few bulbs broke so we’ll be able to re-use those strands next year.