The TroxBlog TGIF Weekly News Quiz

Were you paying attention this week? Here's a quiz on a few stories that appeared in 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. What did Tallie Gainer III do to get arrested, which started a months-long nightmare in the legal system? (a) report a sprinkling violation (b) nothing (c) forge a check (d) kill a bull shark.

2. Under the heading of "man bites dog," what unusual step is Pinellas County considering for its public schools? (a) holding classes in tents (b) starting classes at 5 a.m. (c) firing the School Board (d) closing schools because of a student shortage.

3. What did the American Dental Association suggest that parents not give to babies under 1 year old, advice that Florida and some of its counties decided not to pass along to the public? (a) fluoridated water (b) brandy on the gums for teething (c) binkies (d) strained carrots.

4. Why was Polish railway worker Jan Grzewski, 65, in the news? (a) he won the Eurolottery (b) he was hired as Largo's new city manager (c) he discovered a new Beethoven symphony (d) he woke up after 19 years in a coma.

5. "She gave me a hard time," Frank Maloney, 45, said of his wife. "She's pretty vocal when it comes to animals." What did Maloney do to earn his wife's ire? (a) remove a gopher tortoise (b) catch and kill a bull shark (c) hit a pelican with a golf shot (d) wrestle a bull gator.

6. What did the state Public Service Commission do this week for the first time in 15 years? (a) laugh out loud at a rate hike request (b) reject a new power plant (c) crack down on telephone solicitors (d) take over a private water company.

7. Who had to wait three hours to speak at a public hearing about property taxes in Hillsborough County? (a) the public (b) anti-Iraq protestors (c) a disruptive county commissioner (d) Joe Redner.

8. How many runs did the bullpen of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have to give up to allow the Toronto Blue Jays to come from behind and win Tuesday's night's game? (a) one (b) none, the Jays led throughout (c) five (d) six.

9. Which automaker moved past Toyota in initial quality rankings in the annual survey of J.D. Power and Associates? (a) GM (b) Ford (c) Mercedes-Benz (d) Mazda.

10. Who has taken advantage of only $478,000 out of the $5-million benefit that a grateful state of Florida made available for tough times? (a) Halliburton (b) sports teams (c) military families (d) water-violation whistle blowers. 

**********************************

And the answers:

1. (b) Absolutely nothing! As we learn in this story by Thomas Lake, Gainer left his wallet at a Denny's and was the victim of identity theft. A man later using Gainer's ID tried to cash a fake check. Even though Gainer had reported his wallet stolen -- and the bad guy actually put his FINGERPRINT on the check -- it still took months for Pasco sheriff's detectives and prosecutors to let Gainer go.

2. (d) The district is looking at closing schools in the face of the steepest enrollment decline in the system's 95-year history. As Thomas C. Tobin reports, other Bay area counties are still posting modest gains. One theory is that more families are being driven away by housing and insurance costs.

3. (a) We've been using fluoridated water for 60 years, but the ADA in November suggested parents avoid giving it to infants under 1. As Will Van Sant reports, Florida was slow to pass on the advice and local counties ignored it altogether, on the grounds that levels already are much lower that the maximum. Critics of fluoridation were outraged at the locals' decision.

4. (d) Among the developments he missed during his coma was, oh, just the fall of Communism. One thing he's noticed already: there's more than "mustard and vinegar" on the store shelves. No word on his reaction to the news that the U.S. president is still named Bush.

5. (b) Maloney and two companions caught the shark. His wife wasn't the only one mad -- several readers criticized both the fishermen, and the newspaper for running a photograph and "glorifying" the incident.

6. (b) The PSC rejected a $5.7-billion coal-fired power plant that the state's biggest electric company, Florida Power & Light, wanted to build near the Everglades. It was a slam-dunk 4-0 ruling, as Craig Pittman reports, and the first power plant rejected since 1992. The potential cost to customers, including the cost of controlling greenhouse gases, played a part in the decision.

7. (a) The public, of course. As Bill Varian reports, local government officials took up the first three hours at the hearing at the University Area Community Center Complex. Varian notes dryly that the local pols speaking were "generally exceeding their time limit." By the time rank and file citizens got to talk, the crowd had dwindled from 250 to about 100.

8.  (d) Oooh, it's a tricky question. The Rays led 11-6 going into the bottom of the ninth in Toronto, so the bullpen had to give up FIVE runs to TIE, but six to LOSE. They did it in grand style, too, loading the bases and then surrendering the losing run by walking the final batter. Even easygoing manager Joe Maddon called it "horrid." But apparently not horrid enough to send anybody back to the minor leagues the next day.

9.  (b) Ford, capturing first place in five of 19 categories. Ford Motor Co. earned segment awards for the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Mark LT, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan and Mazda MX-5 Miata. (Mazda is 33.4 percent owned by Ford.)

10. (c) Military families. As Bill Levesque reports, military officials believe the money set aside by the Legislature has been well-publicized, so that's not the problem. Some speculate that most families are too proud to ask. But there's also a rigorous application process, so maybe they just don't want the government pawing through their finances. A gesture of gratitude is one thing; an application process is something else.