Displaying items by tag: the good news newspaper

Tampa, FL, January 13, 2009 – The 2009 Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival and State Farm Insurance are utilizing the Street Festival to highlight, and address, healthcare issues in the African American community and the need to emphasize healthy living and healthy lifestyles. The Mayor’s 2K Challenge, a 2K walk or run, will start at 9 AM Saturday, January 17 at Al Lopez Park located at 4810 N. Himes Avenue, Tampa, FL 33602. Registration will begin on site at 7:30 AM. The Mayor’s 2K Challenge is a free event, and everyone is invited to participate.

The Mayor’s 2K Challenge, a spin-off to the 2008 Festival’s partnership with State Farm Insurance and Dr. Ian Smith, founder of the 50 Million Pound Challenge, has previously drawn over 350 participants in a brisk, healthy walk. Having been recognized as a 2009 Top 20 Event by Southeast Tourism Society, the Festival’s remaining Saturday activities will provide a focus on health issues, will feature health screenings, and will also challenge participants to make healthy choices. In the absence of Mayor Iorio, walkers will be led by former County Commissioner and current City Council Chairperson Thomas Scott. In coordinated effort with Moffitt Cancer Center, a Health Village will be furnished to facilitate health screenings and the distribution of literature.

Buccaneers CB and G Joseph Added to Po Bowl Roster

Tampa FL, January 13, 2009 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers today announced that CB Ronde Barber and G Davin Joseph have been added to the NFC squad for the 2009 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. The annual all-star game will take place Sunday, February 8 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Barber, the NFC’s first alternate, replaces Green Bay CB Charles Woodson, while Joseph, also the first alternate, will take the place of Dallas G Leonard Davis.

Barber’s appearance will be the fifth of his career following a season in which he ranked fifth on the team with 100 tackles and led the defense with 16 passes defensed. His four interceptions tied for the team lead and he extended his consecutive games streak to 176 contests, including 151 straight starts, most in the NFL among cornerbacks. Barber also was named to the Pro Bowl following the 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons. His five Pro Bowl selections are tied for the fourth-most in team history by a  defensive player along with John Lynch and Hardy Nickerson.

Bulls Set to Host the USF Under Armour Series

Tampa FL, January 13, 2009 - University of South Florida Softball is hosting The USF Under Armour Series, which is a series of two individual events that will bring two of the largest NCAA Division I softball tournaments to the Tampa Bay area. 
 
"We feel very fortunate that the City of Clearwater, the St. Pete/Clearwater Sports Commission and Under Armour have teamed together to bring two national caliber tournaments to the Bay Area," said USF head softball coach Ken Eriksen. "The USF-Under Armour Series has turned into a yearly event for fastpitch aficionados. It will be a great opportunity for our hometown to be able to see some of the nation's best collegiate players competing for a tournament championship." 
 

Golf Outing - SuperBowl XLIII Weekend 1st Annual Golf Classic to Support NFL Alumni of Tampa Bay

Tampa, Florida January 11, 2008 — The Chad Larkins Golf Classic will be held in Valrico, Florida, on Thursday, January 29, 2009, at Buckhorn Springs Golf and Country Club with a 1 P.M. Shotgun Start.

A total of 35 foursomes will gather at Buckhorn Springs Golf and Country Club to enjoy an 18-hole Florida scramble tournament followed by an awards dinner where outstanding awards will be presented to tournament winners.

Fantasy of Flight Founder Inducted into Florida Aviation Hall of Fame

POLK CITY, FL (January 5, 2009) - Kermit Weeks, creator and founder of Central Florida's premier aviation attraction, Fantasy of Flight, and a championship aerobatics stunt pilot has been selected to join some  of the greatest pilots in Florida history as a member of Florida Aviation Hall of Fame. Weeks was inducted into the Florida Aviation Hall of Fame Thursday, Dec. 11 at the society's sixth annual induction ceremony, which was held at the Florida Air Museum on the Sun 'n Fun campus in Lakeland, Fla.

Weeks was one of just three men inducted into the prestigious society this year, one of whom was honored posthumously. A pilot and aircraft designer, Weeks has placed among the top three aerobatics champions in the world five times and has won more than 20 medals in World Aerobatics  Championships.

Textbooks for Trees: "Less Waste, Healthier Forests"

Washington, DC. January 6, 2009 – American Forests is delighted to announce that our 2008 partnership with Chegg.com planted hundreds of acres of trees in deforested areas across the nation. These trees provide many benefits, such as cleaner air and water, habitat for wildlife, and more carbon dioxide sequestered by forests. This unique partnership proves that books and trees can have a positive relationship!

Chegg.com provides a service that allows students to rent, buy, or sell textbooks online. Students reuse textbooks, which means less waste and significantly smaller textbook bills for all those penny-pinched students. Last year, Chegg.com took its efforts a step further by vowing to plant a tree for every textbook that a student buys, sells, or rents through their site. Chegg.com plants these trees through American Forests, the organizations at the forefront of ecosystem restoration through the planting of native trees. 

Take Time to Find Your Tax Deductions!

Clearwater FL - Tax time is just around the corner, so you will be putting together the data you, or your tax preparer, will need to prepare your tax return. While assembling the data you can dig out information to help you keep more of your hard-earned money! Here are seven tips you can use to add to your tax deductions and SAVE when the return is filed.

1. Donations to Charity: Donating cash, property, clothing, household items or other goods is a great way to get a tax break and help a worthy cause at the same time. If you donated cash to an eligible charity this year, you can generally deduct up to 50% of your total income when you pay your taxes in April.

Important reminder: Under the newPension Protection Act, as of January 1, 2007 you need a written receipt for all charitable donations, regardless of the amount. So make sure you save receipts so you can take full advantage of your charitable giving.

2. Deductible Expenses: Do you have medical bills, state and local taxes, mortgage payments, or property taxes? If so, any payments you made before December 31are deductible on this year’s tax return. Making an extra mortgage payment or paying off outstanding dental or medicalbills is a great way to offset your tax bill. Just make sure you aren’t subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (which generally applies to high-income or upper-middle income households) and that you plan to itemize your deductions.

Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.”

As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4-years-old and did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was “sub-normal,” and one of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams.”

He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.

He did eventually learn to speak and read. Even to do a little math.

Winston Churchill failed sixth grade.

He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62.

He later wrote, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up.’’

Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies and ranked 15th out of 22 students in chemistry.

Henry Ford could not read nor write, failed and went broke five times in business before he succeeded.

Where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came...

One of Downtown’s not so best kept secrets...

Clearwater FL, December 31, 2008 - Angie’s Restaurant, located on the corner of Myrtle and Cleveland St. has been serving Clearwater delicious home cooked meals for over 35 years.

Angie Chaconas, who took over the diner in the 70’s, gave the restaurant to her son Louis roughly 11 years ago. “Yes, I own it,” states Louis. “But Mom’s still in charge.” Retirement planning does not exist for Angie Chaconas who proudly expressed that she finds joy in hard work. With so much to do in running a restaurant, and making sure each customer is served a hot home‑cooked meal, leaving with a full belly and a smile of their face; happiness at Angie’s is not in short supply.

Prior to the Myrtle Ave. and Cleveland Streetscape construction project (3 years ago), Angie’s Restaurant was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, with the rerouting of traffic away from Cleveland Street and road closures, less customers came and Angie’s Restaurant reduced their hours; closing at 3:00pm. Now that the construction is over and Downtown Clearwater is seeing increased traffic, popular demand from customers warranted the decision to increase the restaurant hours to stay open until 8:00pm. “There used to be a time…” Angie

Creating a Better Clearwater - Local Group Builds Community Spirit

Clearwater FL, January 2, 2009 - A new organization called Create Clearwater was formed to help build stronger community resources and higher quality of life in the area. In the span of a few short weeks, the group produced a number of educational programs, implemented a project to start a community garden in Clearwater, they are putting together a “Shop Local and Shop Green” guide for Clearwater (www. ClearwaterGreenGuide. com) and greater Tampa Bay, and started planting a demonstration “food forest.” This food forest comprises a mixture of fruit trees, bushes, vines, vegetables and herbs that can provide both a concentrated food supply and natural beauty for the yard, while only requiring in a small space to do so.

Create Clearwater is focused on creating local, organic food supplies, revitalizing neighborhoods, environmental issues, and building a strong local economy – as well as other quality of life issues.

“We don’t see a contradiction between a strong local economy and protecting the environment,” says Cory Brennan, a natural systems designer and founder of Create Clearwater. “In fact, when you design correctly, protecting the environment should create more abundance for everybody, not less. That is the beauty of this program: