The Official Unofficial Seminole Heights Blog

The story of our taser man was picked up and is now running on the world news ap. This is the story from Canada.

Florida Lawyer Shot With Police Taser
Current World News - Toronto,Ontario,Canada

A Florida lawyer was the unfortunate recipient of a taser shot from a police officer after he got visibly upset during a code enforcement meeting.

Carl Roland Hayes,, 53 became upset when addressing the board, and was asked to leave.

He was defending his decision to install aluminum windows he’d installed at his Seminole Heights home, instead of the wood windows that are in accordance with historic preservation codes.

Upon being escorted out of the room, he reportedly slapped a police officer in the face, and was subsequently tasered and handcuffed.

Hayes was charged with 3 counts: battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and trespassing after warning.

Ironically enough, he is yet to retain a lawyer to defend him. http://www.currentworldnews.net/2008/11/27/florida-lawyer-shot-with-police-taser/

Bring your hot chocolate and enjoy a fun filled night.

TAMPA — A Tampa attorney was Tasered by police Wednesday afternoon during a meeting of the Tampa Code Enforcement Board. Carl Roland Hayes, 53, was addressing the board at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday about the aluminum windows he’d installed at his Seminole Heights home, when police say he became visibly upset and agitated. Tampa Police Lt. Ronald McMullen said officials asked Hayes to leave the meeting. As Officer Don Miller escorted Hayes from the meeting, Hayes slapped the officer in the face, McMullen said. Miller deployed his Taser gun on Hayes with no effect, he said. So, Miller “drive stunned” Hayes, placing the stun gun against Hayes’ skin, then he and another officer took the man to the ground, handcuffing him as he struggled, McMullen said. According to records, Hayes had been cited for installing aluminum windows at his home, 5115 N Branch Ave., rather than the wood windows required under historic preservation codes. He has been being fined $60 per day since Oct. 24 for not having the right windows. Hayes told the officials that replacing 19 windows with wood would cost $300 to $400 a piece. He hasn’t worked most of the year due to brain surgery and has lost half of his income as a result. “I am not wealthy and could only afford the aluminum windows for the back of my house, which are safer, more affordable and more efficient,” he wrote in an Oct. 31 letter to the Code Enforcement board. Hayes is being charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and trespassing after warning, McMullen said. He was booked into Orient Road Jail at 2:15 p.m.Wednesday. Years ago, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Daniel Perry recused himself from all of Hayes’ cases after Hayes accused the judge and his bailiffs of treating him differently than others because of his skin color.

From TCPalm: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/nov/27/tampa-attorney-tasered-during-code-enforcement-mee/

In a time of economic uncertainty, we reflect on the various blessings for which we are thankful. As we continually hear the gloom and doom of daily news, predictions and forecasts, we find solace in our ever supportive neighborhood, friends and family. Having grown up in
Seminole Heights, there are so many friends and neighbors that have become a daily part of our lives.  As a member a true neighborhood, we have the assurance that we have support, love and genuine caring neighbors to help us weather whatever tomorrow can bring our way. Only in Seminole Heights do you hear of a passionate group of people helping each other to better not only their homes or neighborhood but themselves as well. The rides to the doctor’s office, babysitting of children, mowing yards and so much more, all which make our neighborhood one to be thankful.

 

As we celebrate our gratitude, we extend our heartfelt thank you for making Seminole Heights one of the best places to live, for helping everyone, for being there today and tomorrow. On a more personal note, I would like to thank each of you for your continued support of the blog, for sharing your ideas and thoughts and making the new site a part of this great neighborhood.  Happy Thanksgiving To All!

From the OSHNA email group:

When: December 1st, 6:30 PM Where: Old City Hall, 315 East Kennedy Blvd, City Council Chambers What: Sangria’s will be presenting drawings of the restaurant they are proposing on Hillsborough Avenue, next to Starbucks. All residents are encouraged to attend and speak.

We hope to have pdfs of the finished drawings for your review on our website, www.oldseminoleheights.com, once we receive them.

From the Tampa Tribune. November 26th.

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - Walk, ride a bicycle or hop aboard an electric cart. Go green for the Southeast Seminole Heights Holiday Home and Garden Tour. The neighborhood is celebrating the season with an eco-friendly theme. The first 100 arrivals can pick up a shopper-friendly, recyclable green bag courtesy of Publix loaded with goodies such as water-saving shower heads and nozzles, tablets to check for toilet leaks and brochures with environmental tips. “To me, that’s the most exciting part,” said tour organizer Stan Lasater. Tasty morsels from some of the neighborhood’s eateries, including Bungalow Bistro and Ella’s, will be on sale along the way for a dollar or two. The tour, which took a holiday break last year, is back for its fourth year. There will be eight homes decked out in garlands, baubles and greenery, and the tour’s starting point — Seminole Heights Baptist Church — also will welcome visitors. Among the homes featured is a 1928 bungalow spruced up with garlands and a winter village scene on the mantel. “Just holiday decorations all over,” said Kristy Dell. She and husband Brian moved to Southeast Seminole Heights from an apartment in New Tampa more than three years ago. She is band and orchestra director at Wilson Middle School; he is band and orchestra director at Gaither High School. “We like older homes,” said Kristy Dell. “It was in relatively good shape when we bought it.” “We could live in it and do the work,” said her husband. With help from Kristy’s father, Gerald Leduc, they have done major overhauls of the kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen was gutted and redesigned with white bead board and painted in a soft “brick” color. Built-in cabinets and new countertops were added. Leduc turned an open nook into a breakfast spot with a table and built-in benches covered in red and white plaid. Outside, Leduc designed a garage to match the 1920s Craftsman bungalow style of the home. “We try to keep everything relative to the time period,” Kristy Dell said. The annual tours bring in the crowds, attracting between 700 and 1,000 visitors. The route is a loop of about three miles. Near the halfway mark between McBerry and 12th streets, the Business Guild of Seminole Heights will have a business expo to meet and greet tour visitors. A drawing also is planned. Electric carts from Green-Go’s Tampa Inc. will ferry people along the route. Donated bicycles will be available for people who like pedal power. They can be “rented” by leaving a driver’s license with volunteers at the church. One home on the tour is a modular home assembled on-site about three years ago. It’s in bungalow style and “really cute,” Lasater said. “If you’re driving down the street you’d never know it was a modular.”

IF YOU GO WHAT: Seminole Heights Holiday Home and Garden Tour
WHEN: 1 to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 7
WHERE: Tickets can be purchased the day of at Seminole Heights Baptist Church, 801 E. Hillsborough Ave.
COST: $10
FOR INFORMATION: www.myspace.com/ holidayhometour

From TBO: (http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/26/tavern-owners-hope-open-restaurant-seminole-height/)

Owners of a St. Petersburg tavern — The Independent — want to open a restaurant on Florida Avenue where Van Gogh Signs Displays and Graphics has operated since 2006. The restaurant would join a growing list of proposed or under-construction restaurants: Richy’s Themes Sports Lounge and Ella’s on Nebraska Avenue; and Sangria’s Spanish Tapas Bar & Restaurant on Hillsborough Avenue. A sushi lounge and pub could join Sangria’s in a rehabbed auto repair shop. Cappy’s Pizza and Bungalow Bistro opened within the past two years on Florida, near Van Gogh, 5016 N. Florida Ave. The Independent owners Veronica and John Vellines have a contract to buy the 1935 masonry building from Van Gogh owner James Ciaccio, pending Tampa City Council approval of beer and wine sales. A hearing is scheduled Jan. 15. The restaurant would be similar to The Independent but with a light food menu, probably seating about 40 people inside and 18 outside. The St. Petersburg tavern, 29 Third St. N., serves mostly Belgian and German drafts but also imported and microbrews in the bottle. Once the historical building in Seminole Heights is sold, Van Gogh’s chief executive officer, Keith Schaller, plans to move the shop.

From the SE Seminole Heights email Group.

For years litter has been a major issue with the city of Tampa. Unfortunately, there has yet to be a viable, long term option. It used to be taboo to litter. However, over the past few years, it seems to becoming the norm once again. While many try to say it is a socio-economic issue, I think it now tends to affect all levels of our society. Read On:

EAST TAMPA - Despite gloomy economic trends, groundbreakings for a bank and office building are good news in one of the city’s redevelopment areas.

A Fifth Third Bank branch is under construction on East Hillsborough Avenue in front of the Meridian Pointe Apartments. An April opening is scheduled.

On Taliaferro Avenue, off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Pro-Fit Development has started construction of the two-story Seminole Heights Professional Center, which is set to open in July. Both projects held kickoff ceremonies Nov. 12, each attended by about 40 people, including Mayor Pam Iorio, bank officials, Pro-Fit owners, East Tampa redevelopment staff and board members of the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership.

“We think it’s good business to be in East Tampa,” said Brian Keenan, president of Fifth Third Bank Tampa Bay. A full-service commercial bank has not opened in East Tampa in 30 years, city officials said. The bank is a vital link in reaching out to residents about “common sense reinvestment, doing things the old-fashioned way,” Iorio said. “How do you do that if there is no bank in your community? That is one of the keys to financial success.” The not-for-profit Corporation to Develop Communities in Tampa is a project partner.

“We want to make sure people who live in the area can get jobs,” said Ernest Coney Jr., the corporation’s chief operating officer. The corporation provides counseling, job training and placement, business planning, youth services and home ownership programs. It also builds housing in East Tampa.

One of its programs focuses on former convicts, seeking to place them in construction jobs. Coney said a few might find jobs on the bank’s construction crew. Pro-Fit’s groundbreaking was a family affair, with owner Terrance Bradford, his wife, Precious, brother Stanley Bradford Jr. as well as parents and friends in the audience. Bradford founded Pro-Fit more than five years ago and with partner John Dixon provides contracting, roofing, consulting and design services. “You truly represent the spirit of entrepreneurship in our country,” Iorio said. The 7,000-square-foot building, at 4007 Taliaferro Ave., is expected to create as many as 30 jobs when completed and will be Pro-Fit’s headquarters. The company plans an eco-friendly design and will seek certification from the Florida Green Building Certification Agency.

Space could be leased to businesses such as law firms, a fine art gallery or a title company.

http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/19/st-something-to-bank-on/

 

From The Tampa Tribune:

TAMPA- It was after 10 p.m. when 20 or so Seminole Heights residents filed into city council chambers for a rezoning hearing. Preliminary introductions by city land-use staff and the Hillsborough Planning Commission were quickly concluded for the proposed Sangria’s Spanish Tapas Bar & Restaurant.

As architect Roger Grunke set up his easel and pulled out his drawings for the project in historical Seminole Heights, council Chairman Tom Scott had one question: “Anyone in the audience in opposition?” Hearing nothing, he recommended a “Cliffs Notes” version from Grunke on how Larry’s 4X4 Auto Service, 512 E. Hillsborough Ave., would become home to Sangria’s, as well as a pub, sushi lounge and retail shops. The council got a Cliffs Notes of the Cliffs Notes. When several residents stood to speak at Thursday night’s hearing, Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena had a question: “Show of hands for everyone in favor?” Hands flew up; the council approved the rezoning. Seminole Heights had spoken. The next step is a second hearing, likely in December, before the city’s Architectural Review Commission, which gave a preliminary OK Nov. 5 and requested more details.

http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/19/st-sangrias-clears-hurdle/