1 man killed, another injured crossing State Road 60

TAMPA -- One man was killed and another was in critical critical condition after being hit by a car on State Road 60 Saturday night.

Just before 9 p.m., an elderly women driving a Mercury car east of State Road 60 struck two men who were crossing just south of Falkenburg Road, said Sgt. Steve Gaskins of the Florida Highway Patrol.

One of the men died on State Road 60, the other was taken by ambulance to Tampa General Hospital, with serious injuries and is being treated for trauma, said Ray Yeakley, a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman.

The driver and her passenger were not hurt, Gaskins said, and authorities were still working to determine who was at fault.

Names of the victims will be released after authorities contact their next of kin.

--Robbyn Mitchell, Times staff writer

Tampa man shot in the head, shooter on the loose

VALRICO -- A man was shot in head Saturday afternoon following an argument with a drug dealer, deputies said.

Troy Absher, 36, of Tampa went with his girlfriend to buy drugs from Nathan McReynolds, 32, at his home at 507 Murcott Place, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office release.

When they arrived, McReynolds and Absher spoke to each other while sitting in their own cars and the conversation escalated until McReynolds got out of his teal green GMC Conversion Van, walked over to Absher's window and shot him in the head, the release stated. McReynolds drove away in the GMC.

Absher was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he is undergoing surgery.

McReynolds is wanted for aggravated battery with a firearm.

--Robbyn Mitchell, Times staff writer

Tire blowout causes interstate crash

WESLEY CHAPEL -- A tire blowout caused a Mack truck to hit a guardrail and overturn on southbound Interstate 75 this afternoon, temporarily closing the highway.

Driver Prem Ramanand, 57, was airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital with serious injuries, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Troopers closed part of the interstate because of a fuel leak caused by the crash, which happened at 3:40 p.m. about a mile south of S.R. 54 near Wesley Chapel.

The truck was traveling southbound in the outside lane when the front left tire blew out, the FHP reported. The truck swerved to the left, hit a guardrail and overturned, coming to rest in the median.

--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

Driver crashes through Port Richey building

PORT RICHEY – A little before 9 o’clock Saturday morning, Steven G. Reverdes somehow lost control of his car and crashed through a building, according to a release from the Florida Highway Patrol.

The 28-year-old lives in Port Richey and was driving a 2000 Chrysler coupe. The report says he was traveling North on U.S. Hwy 19 in Port Richey when he lost control, went off the road and plowed through Progressive Floors, a business located at 9734 U.S. Hwy. 19.

His car came to rest inside the building. Reverdes was not wearing a seat belt but sustained minor injuries, the report said. He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. The number for the store is disconnected.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Reverdes was arrested less than a month ago on charges of possessing cocaine and a failure to appear in court for driving with a suspended or revoked license.

-- Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer

St. Petersburg's Saturday Market returns, in a new location

ST. PETERSBURG — If you really want to find the essence of a place, there’s no better way than to taste it. So there was Charleen McGrath on Saturday, standing in a booth full of honey jars and sampling a spoonful of West Central Florida.

A California transplant, this was McGrath’s first trip to St. Petersburg’s Saturday market, which re-opened Saturday in a new spot next to Al Lang Field. And what she did next sums up her take on both the honey and the market.

She stuck out the spoon for seconds.

“Next time I need to bring bags,” said McGrath, who walked to the market from her new home in the Old Northeast.

By all accounts, the market’s move from Central Avenue was a hit.

Roomier. Breezier. Maybe even greener. And thanks to the facilities at Al Lang, better bathrooms to boot.

“Last year you had to use a port-a-let,” said market regular Stephen Zsampar, 83, scrunching up his face.

The market had to move. With 6,000 to 7,000 people every Saturday, the portion of Central between 1st and 2nd street was bursting. You could still get your Amish cinnamon bread, or your heapin’ helpin’ of fish-n-grits, but you had to bump a few shoulders along the way.

“People were on top of each other,” said Helena Josephs, who was serving conch fritters and calypso cake from her stand Saturday.

The new locale means more room for wheelchairs, strollers, bicycles and pets. It will also allow the market to eventually double the number of tables and chairs for those who’d prefer to savor their lemon curd almond cookies instead of eating on the run.

Saturday’s opener had another new feature: a half-dozen “green” vendors, courtesy of a partnership between the market and the Pinellas Green Living Expo. They offered everything from drip irrigation systems to scooters that can get 100 miles per gallon.

“It wasn’t rocket science for us to come up with it,” said market director Mark Johnson. “It’s all about coming to the market ... and living a better life.”

Johnson said regulars will see another change next month: More local farmers.
“That’s one of the impacts of us finally being big enough,” he said. “Farmers say, 'It’s worth my while.’ ’’

-- Ron Matus, Times Staff Writer 

Protesters bash bailout bill

ST. PETERSBURG — Bailouts make for strange bedfellows.

President Bush and Congressional leaders, Democrat and Republican, came together in Washington D.C. Friday to support an $850 billion plan to rescue Wall Street.

And on a street corner in downtown St. Petersburg Saturday, political groups as disparate as the Uhurus and Ron Paul supporters came together to denounce it.

“Common cause,” said Lee Nash, a Ron Paul backer from Brandon. Bailout opponents are “a little bit of this, a little bit of that.”

Nash and about 40 other people gathered at Williams Park to protest the bailout, brought together by a shared view that the plan did too much for fat cats and not enough for common folk.

“We shouldn’t have to pay for their mistakes,” said Teah Michel, a social work student at the University of South Florida. She was toting a sign that told Congress and Wall Street to go do something that can’t be printed in a family newspaper.

Saturday’s participants also included members of the Green Party, St. Pete for Peace and the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. As they marched past the Bank of America Tower to the Saturday Market, they chanted: "They stole our money, who’s to blame?/Paulson and Bush, Obama and McCain.''

“When you have 12 million children going hungry in America every year . . . the money would be better spent on them,” said Joyce McCarty, 63, who said she retired after most recently working for Rax and Chick-fil-A.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted Sept. 27-29 found 45 percent of the American public thought the bailout was the right thing to do, while 38 percent did not. The poll also found 61 percent were angry about it, 50 percent were scared and 43 percent were confused.

“While some political fallout can be expected from supporting a plan that elicits mixed reactions from many and angry protests from some,” Pew President Andrew Kohut wrote Oct. 1, “the downside political risk in not doing something seems much greater.”

-- Ron Matus, Times Staff Writer