The First (And Maybe Last, Maybe Not) TroxBlog TGIF Weekly News Quiz

After running a news quiz the past couple of Saturdays [May 12 quiz][May 19 quiz], I thought I'd try one on a Friday morning so that we could all spend even less time paying attention to actual work...

Here's a quiz on a few headlines from this week's St. Petersburg Times. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the answers, or click on the story links to read for yourself. Have a great weekend!

1. What product with Florida ties is being used in Louisiana public schools? (a) Grapefruit Man, a cartoon character (b) a curriculum designed by Scientology (c) alligators in a petting zoo (d) touch-screen voting machines in civics classes.

2. What's the name of the 3-year-old web site that's worrying federal drug officials, investigators, judges and even the Department of Homeland Security? (a) Buildabomb.com (b) DrugsRUs.com (c) Whosarat.com (d) Buyagun.com.

3. What phrase is now decidedly out of favor at the Tampa-based U.S. Central Command, which oversees our efforts in Iraq? (a) the long war (b) the war on terror (c) axis of evil (d) mission accomplished.

4. What illegal activity did undercover Tampa officers break up Saturday night and Sunday morning after infiltrating a crowd to gather evidence? (a) underage drinking in Ybor City (b) unlicensed fishing off Bayshore Boulevard (c) South Tampa gang activity (d) drag racing on the Courtney Campbell causeway.

5. Why were this father and son (right) in the news? (a) They won the Florida Lottery (b) they were stranded in Tampa Bay for 13 hours (c) they discovered a sunken treasure ship (d) they learned they were related to Gov. Charlie Crist.  [Times photo | Carrie Pratt]

6. What's the proposed use of a disputed $12-million in sales-tax money that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers say belongs to them? (a) another quarterback to throw more 5-yard passes on third-and-10 (b) a new scoreboard (c) a new practice facility (d) lower ticket prices.

7. What term is used by Florida TaxWatch to describe items put into the state budget by our Legislature that the group thinks ought to be vetoed? (a) pork-barrel spending (b) turkeys (c) "Little Jebs" (d) Easter eggs.

8. In the cheerful-news department, how many named storms did the National Weather Service predict for the tropical season that starts June 1? (a) zero (b) 5-10 (c) 13-17) (d) 27.

9. What did the state Department of Education belatedly reveal that it screwed up last year? (a) it approved fake schools (b) it flunked too many students (c) it paid teachers too much (d) it bungled third-grade FCAT reading scores.

10. Which veteran Tampa Bay area broadcast journalist announced plans to retire at the end of 2007? (a) Kelly Ring, WTVT-TV Channel 13 (b) Gayle Sierens, WFLA-TV, Channel 8 (c) Bob Hite, WFLA-TV, Channel 8 (d) WFLA-AM radio personality Jack Harris.

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And the answers:

1. (b) As my colleauge Rob Farley reports, schools are using a curriculum first conceived by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. School officials like the results and say it isn't spreading Scientology.

2. (c) As Carrie Weimar reports, Whosarat.com is a web site that features the names of informants and agents in criminal investigations, even posting the plea agreements of cooperating witnesses. The operators say they are only using information that's already public.

3. (a) As Bill Levesque reports, Centcom's new commander, Adm. William Fallon, canned the phrase "long war" soon after he took over in March. The idea is that "war" is the wrong metaphor to describe overall U.S. efforts for the region.

4. (d) Drag racing. As Michael A. Mohammed reports, police were acting in response to two recent deaths on the causeway, making eight arrests and impounding seven cars.

5. (b) As Casey Cora reports, after their boat sank, Fred Meyerink, 67, and Stefan Meyering, 26 (yes, he spells his name differently) lashed themselves together with rope and clung to a barnacle-encrusted beacon until they were rescued.

6. (c) As Bill Varian reports, the Bucs say their new complex by Raymond James Stadium is only a "training facility" and team headquarters, not the practice facility provided for in its contract with the Tampa Sports Authority.

7. (b) See the story by Steve Bousquet. "Turkeys" is the word usually used at the state level, for some reason, while "pork-barrel" is more often applied to Congress -- but the same principle is involved.

8. (c) 13-17, as Curtis Krueger reports. That includes seven to 10 hurricanes, and three to five hurricanes at Category 3 or stronger. But hey, what do they know?

9.(d) Ah, the FCAT, that test that everyone loves to hate. As Ron Matus reports, it turns out they made the third-grade reading test too easy. But don't worry, from now on a panel of experts will make sure everything is okay.

10. (c) As Eric Deggans reports, Bob Hite, who's been at Channel 8 for 30 years, will leave the station's 11 p.m. broadcast this week and the anchor's chair at the end of 2007. (His partner Sierens is staying a while longer.) Say what you will -- the man is The Voice Of News.

Comments

[TampaBay Democrat]

Regarding #9--don't you think it odd that the Harcourt PR man (Russell Schweiss) was Jeb's Press Secretary until last August? Was Schweiss sent to Harcourt to protect Jeb's legacy? Why did Ralph Hughes donate money to the Foundation for Florida's Future which is also intended to preserve Jeb's legacy? Why isn't Ralph's donation listed at the website as it was stated by Mandy Fletcher in the SPT?