Here’s what you may have missed, and what you need to know as you start winding down:
President Donald Trump called for a boost in infrastructure spending in a meeting with top U.S. airline executives today, promising to roll back regulations and remake the country’s transportation system. He also voiced support for privatizing America’s air traffic control system, according to a top airline industry lobbyist who was in the meeting. Tampa International Airport CEO Joe Lopano, who was one of six airport executives invited to the sit-down with Trump, said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times that the hour-and-a-half session focused mostly on infrastructure spending and efficiency.
A SWAT situation ended peacefully in Tampa this afternoon after a second-degree murder suspect, who had barricaded himself in a Tampa home, surrendered to authorities. The suspect, 28-year-old Raul Rodriguez Jr., surrendered to deputies and crisis negotiators after he barricaded himself in the home at the 8900 block of Navajo Avenue, deputies said.
As you head out for your drive home, check out our live blog for the latest traffic updates and road conditions across Tampa Bay.
Magnum Demolition of Wimauma was hired to uproot "Airstream Ranch," a display of seven silver travel-trailers that had been sticking out of the ground in a grassy field on Interstate 4 for a decade. Construction will begin soon on a new 17,000-square foot Airstream dealership that will rise where Airstream Ranch is now. The footprint and location of the modern, angular building made saving the display impossible.
President Donald Trump’s official counselor, Kellyanne Conway, was "counseled" after she told TV audiences to "go buy Ivanka’s stuff," the White House said today. Legal experts said Conway had broken a key ethics law banning federal employees from using their public office to endorse products. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said today that Conway "has been counseled," but offered no other comment.
Nik Wallenda says it was a "miracle" that his co-performers — including members of his "Flying Wallenda" family — are expected to completely recover after falling more than 30 feet during a high-wire stunt in Sarasota. Wallenda and circus officials said one of the performers may have lost their balance while practicing an eight-person pyramid. "Somebody may have fainted," he said.
Derrick Brooks, a nine-time All-Pro linebacker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a member of the pro football Hall of Fame, is Tampa’s Citizen of the Year. Each year the Tampa Metro Civitan Club bestows the honor at the Governor’s Day Luncheon at the Florida State Fair.
Amid a swirling controversy, the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board is meeting today to discuss the former executive director’s request to stay on the payroll through June so he can collect about $66,000 in unused vacation time. The emergency session will be the first time the agency’s governing board has met since Rodney Fischer announced his resignation Jan. 31 and asked to collect the 1,168 hours of vacation time he said he stockpiled over 16 years. Follow Mark Puente at @MarkPuente for updates.
Craig Fugate was never one to call attention to himself, so it’s fitting that tenure as the nation’s disaster response chief ended without fanfare. Fugate resgined as FEMA administrator just before President Donald Trump took office, a routine move for political appoinees. The acting head is Robert Fenton.
The Florida State Fair, annually one of the country’s first state fairs of the calendar year, runs through Feb. 20, with an outlandish number of shock-and-awe comestibles. Evidently we have introduced to the world such showstoppers as the Red Velvet Funnel Cake and the Pizza Funnel Cake. The thrill rides have nothing on these gut busters.
If you liked the World of Beer, you’ll probably get along fine at Park & Rec, the anchor in a trinity of First Avenue S businesses owned by Stephen Schrutt’s Hunger + Thirst Restaurant Group, which also owns Kings Street Food Counter a few blocks west on Central Avenue.Park & Rec is a game bar. Skee Ball, air hockey, basketball and a slew of vintage video games are available to play, including classics from Galaga to Mortal Kombat.
Afternoon update is a weekday feature from tampabay.com. Check in Monday through Friday for updates and information on the biggest stories of the day.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
