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

Were you paying attention this week? Here's a quiz on a few stories from the 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. It takes three gallons of water to produce one gallon of what? (a) milk (b) gasoline (c) desalinated drinking water (d) ethanol.

2. "You only have so many chances in life. This is his chance right now. Just leave everything else alone and focus on being a better role model." The quote is from the brother of: (a) the not-in-Florida Lou Pearlman (b) the Devil Rays' Elijah Dukes (c) actor and bad-dad Alec Baldwin (d) presidential sibling Jeb Bush.

3. What does the school district of Coshocton, Ohio, do that some people think we should try in Florida? (a) conduct classes via cell phone (b) outlaw tattoos (c) pay students for good test scores (d) "grade" parents on their participation.

4. Why are Florida Democrats worried about holding our state's presidential primary on Jan. 29? (a) that's Hillary Clinton's birthday (b) it's too early to count (c) Al Gore won't be running yet (d) we'll still be using touch-screen voting machines.

5. What's the legal challenge to the discovery of shipwrecked treasure by Odyssey Marine Exploration? (a) Spain says it has a claim (b) the estate of Jacques Cousteau says he found it first (c) it's a missing prop from Pirates of the Carribbean (d) nobody got a proper salvage permit from the city of St. Petersburg.

6. Where was Gov. Charlie Crist this week? (a) vacationing with his parents at Disney World (b) on a trade and goodwill mission to Israel (c) interviewing as a vice presidential candidate (d) habla-ing with agriculture officials in Mexico City.

7. Why was Brendan Davis, a resident of Harbour Island in Tampa, in a dispute with his condominium association? (a) breaking the no-grandchildren rule (b) painting his unit bright pink (c) playing Mozart too loudly (d) displaying a U.S. flag.

8. What happened this week to the proposed Trump Tower Tampa? (a) Trump increased its height to 75 stories (b) Rosie O'Donnell sued to stop it (c) Trump yanked his name and sued the developers (d) Trump announced he was moving it to St. Petersburg.

9. "Categorizing themselves by size, as so many males do, they hover waiting for their ladyloves. Just like in high school, the big, burly boys snag the hotties." This vivid description was contained in an article about: (a) college dating rituals (b) love bugs (c) manatees (d) the annual convention of the Florida Institute of Certified Publc Accountants.

10. Who's now selling a line of wedding dresses with a price range of $89.99 to $159.99? (a) Saks Fifth Avenue (b) John Deere (c) Wal-Mart (d) Target.

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And the answers:

1. (d) Ethanol requires that much water to produce, which is a factor to consider in water-short Florida. As David Adams and Janet Zink report, a proposed plant in Tampa would become one of the city's top-10 water users.

2. (b) As Eduardo A. Encina and Carrie Weimar report, Dukes' brother Tyrone Evans offered his thoughts in an interview about his brother, accused by his estranged wife of making death threats to her and her children.

3. (c) Paying students up to $100 for test scores -- which shot up immediately. As Ron Matus reports, at least one Florida lawmaker thinks it's worth talking about.

4. (b) Under party rules discouraging early primaries, no delegates will be awarded and candidates who campaign will be punished. Still, as political editor Adam C. Smith writes, many think the symbolic value of the nation's fourth-biggest state will make the vote important.

5. (a) As Scott Barancik reports, the Spanish govenrment says maybe it was a ship that had been commissioned by by the Spanish king, and also questions whether it was found in international waters. In other news, Spain also says it owns last week's winning ticket to the Florida Lottery.

6. (b) Although I suppose you could make a case for (c) if you tried. Our Tallahassee bureau chief Steve Bousquet is traveling with Crist.

7. (d) As Michael A. Mohammed reports, the condo security guard who fined Davis $35 apparently was unaware that this kept happening over and over in Florida ad nauseam, until the Legislature finally passed a law guaranteeing the right to display a U.S. flag. The condo association apologized and canceled the fine.

8. (c) As James Thorner reports, Trump terminated his contract with SimDag, the Tampa development team behind the $300-million project, and accused SimDag of defaulting on eight months of licensing fees worth $1.03 million.

9. (b) This love-bug article by Amber Mobley was probably my favorite for the week.

10. (d) Target. Our Dalia Wheatt investigates and reports: "The gowns we tried on appeared surprisingly well-made. They were heavier than we'd expected, crafted from a poly-silk taffeta and seemingly durable enough to withstand alterations. Feel-good touches included satin lining and tulle netting, while interior construction, bra-keeps and button loops added function to fashion."

Comments

[John Gibson]

Well, I failed. 5 out of 10. My only excuse is my dog ate my newspaper...