Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label US st Florida Tampa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US st Florida Tampa. Show all posts

Friday, February 21, 2014

Anna Maria ranked third among U.S. islands – Charles Schelle Bradenton Herald

Anna Maria ranked third among U.S. islands – Charles Schelle Bradenton Herald

Gr8 article on Anna Maria ranked third among U.S. islands by @ImYourChuck http://www.bradenton.com/2014/02/20/5002473/anna-maria-ranked-third-among.html

BY CHARLES SCHELLE February 20, 2014


ANNA MARIA ISLAND -- TripAdvisor has named Anna Maria Island the No. 3 island in the United States, up a spot from last year's No. 4 ranking.

The rating is based on the second annual Traveler's Choice Island awards from the website that compiles ratings and recommendations from travelers.

The TripAdvisor ranking is incredibly important to tourism in Anna Maria, notes Elliott Falcione, executive director for the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"TripAdvisor is really our biggest critic when it comes to visitation," Falcione said. "For them to rank Anna Maria with its character and Old Florida environment, it shows once again it's one of the top places to visit in the United States."


According to a TripAdvisor.com site poll, 72 percent of U.S. respondents plan on visiting an island in 2014. Marco Island topped the list, with Chincoteague Island, Va., coming in second. Key West was the only other Florida island to make the list at No. 10.


Top 10 Islands in the U.S.: 1. Marco Island, Florida 2. Chincoteague Island, Virginia 3. Anna Maria Island, Florida 4. San Juan Island, Washington 5. Maui, Hawaii 6. Kauai, Hawaii 7. Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 8. Nantucket, Massachusetts 9. Hilton Head, South Carolina 10. Key West, Florida

Charles Schelle, Herald business reporter. Follow him on Twitter @ImYourChuck.


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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Upcoming national political conventions are sure to be entertaining


Upcoming national political conventions are sure to be entertaining

By Kevin Dayhoff, August 12, 2012


One may look upon the Republican National Convention, in Tampa Florida on August 27-30 and the upcoming Democrat National Convention which will take place in Charlotte North Carolina September 3-6, as the Olympics of political contests for Americans - - or the full employment act for pundits and political journalists.

Today’s presidential nomination process is very different from the early days of the Republic when the two major parties, the “Federalists” and the “Democrat-Republicans” – the forerunner of the today’s Democrat Party; determined their respective presidential nominees by a “caucus” made-up of members of Congress or state legislatures. This process prevailed through 1828.

The first national political convention of what we now know as the two major political parties; was held by the Democrat Party in Baltimore May 21 and 23, 1832.

According to a brief history of the Maryland Democratic Party written by Carroll County historian, and former Maryland Secretary of State, John T. Willis., it “was held at the Atheneum (and Warfield’s Church) … located on the southwest corner of St. Paul and Lexington Streets. Twelve delegates from each county and six delegates from Baltimore City were invited to attend.” 

“In the 19th century, difficulties of travel led to the selection of centrally located cities as convention sites. Baltimore, located midway along the Atlantic seaboard, was a favorite choice in early years,” says the Washington Congressional Research Service.

From 1832 to 1872, eight of the twelve Democrat Party national conventions were held in Baltimore. Considering that two of the main routes to Baltimore from all points west travel through Carroll County, an historian’s imagination can run wild as to what national political figures may have passed through Carroll County in those days.

What we now know as the Republican Party essentially began in 1854 and replaced the Whig Party, which had replaced the much earlier Federalist Party.

It would be an understatement to suggest that the events that will take place in Tampa later in the month are quite different from the first Republican National Convention, June 17 to 19, 1856.

That convention was attended by 600 delegates and 100 news reporters, who had ample room to move in the 1200 seat Musical Fund Hall, near 8th and Locust Street in Philadelphia.

The Musical Fund Hall still stands. In 1980 developers saved the long neglected building from demolition and turned it into an apartment house.

The Republican Party was in its infancy, having been organized only two years earlier in at a meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin from a mishmash of anti-slavery Democrats, the remnants of the Whig Party, abolitionists, and “Free-Soilers.”

The original driving force of the party was to fight the “Kansas-Nebraska Act,” which had opened new United States territories to slavery in spite of the “Missouri Compromise of 1820.”

Originally the party was a single-issue consortium of citizens who were adamantly opposed to slavery. Although, many of the tenets of the party, that remain in place today; economic development, education, limited government with an emphasis on individual freedoms and a personal responsibility for one’s future fate, were ancillary issues gluing together a volatile mix of groups and individuals dedicated to abolishing slavery at any cost.

According to the “Independence Hall Association” in Philadelphia; the key plank was firm opposition to the extension of slavery. "It is the duty of Congress to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy, and slavery.”

Many historians consider the very first national Republic get together to be an informal “convention” in Pittsburg, earlier that year on February 22 and 23rd. The purpose of that meeting was to organize the June 1856 convention, which went to nominate John C. Fremont, from California, to be Republican presidential candidate and William Dayton from New Jersey to be the vice presidential candidate.

As the Olympics draw to a close and the end of the summer looms on the horizon, you can be sure that the upcoming Republican and Democrat National Conventions are sure to provide some great end of summer entertainment.

Sort of like the upcoming season 12 of American Idol of Fox TV meets the Oracle of Delphi from Greek mythology with a twist of Survivor thrown-in for some reality.

Only the convention reality shows are carefully scripted; minutely choreographed and in the end, after certain folks have been voted off the island, everyone comes together to sing about a great and wonderful future under either the Republican or the Democrat nominee for president… Or something like that - anyway… Whatever.

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Maryland Senator Joe Getty schedules pre-election breakfast September 20, 2012

Maryland Senator Joe Getty schedules pre-election breakfast September 20, 2012


The event, to be held on Thursday, September 20, 2012, will take place at the Best Western, 451 WMC Drive, in Westminster at 7:30 a.m.

At the breakfast, Getty, who is set to travel later this week to the Republican National Convention in Tampa Florida, will share his insights from attending the convention, and make some observations about the upcoming general election in Carroll County.

Also invited to appear at the breakfast are Maryland Dist. 1 U.S. Congressman Andy Harris and District 8 congressional candidate Ken Timmerman.

Tickets are available for $60.00 each.

Checks should be made payable to:
Marylanders for Joe Getty
P.O. Box 437
Hampstead, Maryland 21074

For further information, contact 443-536-4700 or go to: www.GETTY2010.com


Joe Getty, Maryland, Carroll County, Senator, Tampa, General Assembly, 

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Beginning of a new era: The St. Petersburg Times becomes the Tampa Bay Times

Beginning of a new era: The St. Petersburg Times becomes the Tampa Bay Times | TV shows, TV news, media issues: The Feed | Tampa Bay Times:

Eric Deggans -


"JANUARY 01, 2012

times_logo_stacked_blk_url.jpg
Beginning of a new era: The St. Petersburg Times becomes the Tampa Bay Times
Sometimes, the best thing you can say about the end of an era, it that is also marks the start of a new one.


I will certainly admit twinges of odd feelings as the newspaper went about the business of officially changing its name from the St. Petersburg Times to the Tampa Bay Times -- a transition which became official on the front page today. We had an internal sale of promotional items with the old logos last month which felt a bit like a wake, and the day the signs were replaced on our downtown headquarters, you felt the sense of something momentous clicking into place."

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Tuesday, January 03, 2012

St. Petersburg Times changing name to Tampa Bay Times on Jan. 1



St. Petersburg Times evolves into Tampa Bay Times


"A letter to readers


Since I started here as a reporter in 1978, I have answered my phone with some version of “St. Pete Times.” I will need to learn a new habit.


On Sunday, Jan. 1, we changed our name to the Tampa Bay Times. The new name reflects the growth of our newspaper and our vision for this region.


This change was a long time coming. For decades, the Times has been reaching north and east from St. Petersburg. Nearly 25 years ago, we launched our Tampa edition; on a typical Sunday, it routinely sells more than 100,000 copies. By a wide margin, the Times is Florida's favorite newspaper.


With that success, our name no longer fit the newspaper or the audience we serve. Three-fourths of Times readers live outside St. Petersburg.


Continued: http://www.tampabay.com/newname/st-petersburg-times-becomes-tampa-bay-times/


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