Tuesday, April 2, 2013
President Herbert Hoover was the first to sign Tom Clooney's baseball. The former Palm Harbor resident is hoping President Barack Obama will be next.
Editor's note: This story originally ran in September 2012. We're putting it in the spotlight again to highlight the accomplishments one person can make. If you've ever doubted your ability to accomplish something, just spend a few minutes with Tom Cooney, 77, and you'll be inspired. Cooney, who lived for more than 30 years in Palm Harbor before moving to Clearwater, has been deaf since he was an infant. But his disability has not stopped him from making his dreams become a reality. Cooney has performed the National Anthem in sign language at the Super Bowl. He's met seven presidents. He's been the recipient of the national Thousand Points of Light award and Florida's Points of Light award for his service to the community. And along the …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Former Gov. Charlie Crist increasingly is blasting Gov. Rick Scott over how he is running the state of Florida.
The 2012 election is barely in the books and already Florida politicos are turning their eyes to 2014, especially Democrats hungry to take back the Governor's mansion from the Republicans. Increasingly, Democrats appear ready to embrace former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist as their best chance at winning in 2014. At the same time, Crist is taking a more vocal role in criticizing Gov. Rick Scott, even taking to Twitter to blast Scott's controversial decision not to extend early voting during the presidential election. Crist certainly is a topic of news and speculation across Florida. Here is a sampling: AS DEMOCRATS TURN TO 2014, CHARLIE CRIST EMERGES AS MOST VOCAL OPPONENT OF RICK SCOTT by Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald The populist…
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Incumbent David Root beat Sharon Hurst in the race for seat 3 on the East Lake Fire Commission.
East Lake voters decided to keep Fire Commissioner David Root in office despite a challenge by Sharon Hurst in Tuesday's General Election. Incumbent David Root, 55, beat Sharon Hurst, 55, with 58 percent of the vote. After the election, Root told East Lake Patch: "My win would not have been possible without the full support of the firemen, friends, volunteers and my family. Especially my wife Erin who worked tirelessly right up to the end of the day yesterday. It truly takes a "Group" effort for a campaign -even just a small one- to be successful. I believe the hard work the commission put in these past two years working closely with the union and the administration paid off and the results were reflected in the votes at the ballot box. …
Saturday, November 10, 2012
The Tampa Bay Times reports that President Barack Obama won the electoral vote in Florida.
Florida finally has a winner in the race for president. The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that President Barack Obama won all 29 electoral votes in the state of Florida. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Obama had 50.01 percent of the vote in Florida to Gov. Mitt Romney's 49.13 percent. According to the Florida Department of Sttate, Obama collected 4,236,032 votes to Romney's 4,162,174.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Dr. Johnny Johnson and Dr. Oscar Menendez used tooth costumes, a billboard and the Internet to let people know they wanted voters to get rid of commissioners who removed fluoride from the county's water. Their strategy worked.
Two Palm Harbor dentists' goal of getting fluoride back into Pinellas County's drinking water appears to be one step closer to becoming a reality. Pediatric dentist Dr. Johnny Johnson spent most of Election Day wearing a tooth costume at an East Lake polling location, hoping to convince people to vote Pinellas County Commissioners Nancy Bostock and Neil Brickfield out of office because the pair oppose having fluoride in drinking water and voted to have it removed. Prior to the election, Dr. Oscar Menendez paid for a billboard on U.S. 19 that also called for change. "Want Fluoride? Good Leadership? ELECT Janet Long & Charlie Justice for County Commissioner," it said. Voters apparently agree with the dentists. Brickfield and Bostock were …
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Florida once again has a race on its hands that is too close to call.
Even though Florida's 29 electoral votes won't make a difference in the outcome of the Presidential election, Florida once again has a race on its hands that is too close to call. President Barack Obama held a razor-thin thin edge over Gov. Mitt Romney, even as 200,000 votes were left to be counted in Florida. Obama won enough battleground states to win re-election even if he doesn't win Florida. All precincts have reported results, but provisional and absentee ballots still needed to be counted. That includes 9,000 ballots that were still being counted Wednesday in Pinellas County. It isn't yet clear when a winner in Florida's Presidential race may be declared. Obama held a 0.58% lead on Wednesday afternoon. If the margin falls below 0.…
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
A Palm Harbor voter was miffed after finding a Tampa Bay Times newspaper clipping inside her polling place. The editorial listed candidates the newspaper recommends along with voting suggestions for other items on the ballot including Florida's Constituti
Narcine Lambrecht angrily clutched a newspaper clipping after walking out of her polling place in Palm Harbor's large retiree community of Highland Lakes Tuesday morning. Lambrecht says she found the Tampa Bay Times clipping laying on a chair inside the poll where people were casting their votes. It was an editorial that listed the candidates that the newspaper recommends along with voting suggestions for other items on the ballot including Florida's Constitutional Amendments. "When I came out, I found a sheet of paper listing who the Tampa Bay Times has recommended voting for. It looks like straight Democrat all the way through and had "no" for all the amendments. I find it quite disturbing," she said. Lambrecht thinks that when …
President Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.
President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden were re-elected Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and his vice-presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan. NBC News called the presidential election for Obama around 11:15 EST. The president sent a message on Twitter at 10:14 saying simply, "This happened because of you. Thank you." The Obama campaign won the most expensive presidential race ever, with both parties raising about $2.6 billion. The race was filled with negative campaigning on both sides, from President Obama attacking Romney’s business experience with Bain Capital to Romney lambasting Obama’s handling of the economy. The race tightened during the final months of the campaign, with gaffes and surges …
Voters in Florida still have questions surrounding who gets the state's 29 Electoral votes.
President Barack Obama appeared on the road to re-election when he was declared the winner in Ohio. But a victory in the state of Florida was considered essential in order for Gov. Mitt Romney to win the seat. The eyes of the nation remained on Florida overnight as the margin between the candidates here remained less than 1 percent with many votes left to be counted. A recount in the state would be mandatory if the margin is one-half of 1 percent or smaller once all votes are counted. A recount would be easier than in 2000. Florida no longer uses punch-card ballots. All counties now use electronic voting systems. In the 2008 presidential election, the state voted for the Democratic candidate, and since the 1990s has voted for the overall …
Election results and local coverage of the state and national races on Election Day 2012.
In order to make life easier for you, we created this article where you will find all the info you need to know about how Florida voted in the Presidential election as well as races for the U.S. Senate and House and Florida Senate and House. Results are changing as precincts report. They are not final.
Wayne Ferguson
5:34 pm on Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Tom is a fine man. Remember him from Palm Harbor Littler League. Good luck on your quest, Tom. Wayne Ferguson more ›