Hurricane season ain't over yet

Just when we thought it was safe to lock up the storm shutters after another uneventful hurricane season, ta-dah!

Hellooooo, Ida!

Or is it, g'bye, Ida!

That's the latest picture we get from the weather experts, who plot a weakened Tropica Storm Ida hitting the upper Gulf coast then heading east toward the Atlantic.

Of course, there are some computer "spaghetti" models that have Ida coming across state just north of us.

If so, fine.

We can use the rain.

It's almost as if, with three weeks left, Mother Nature is reminding us hurricane season isn't over just yet.

Point taken.

What's with Palmetto CRA giveaway?

I am not a Palmetto taxpayer, but if I was I know what I’d be asking myself:

What is the deal with the old CBI Building at 924 Fifth St.?

Three years ago the Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency purchased the property with $764,500 of taxpayers’ money.

Said it was blighted and the CRA hoped a buyer would turn it into a boon for the Main Street business corridor.

Then the economy tanked and nothing came of it.

So Thursday the CRA approved its proposed sale to a developer for $100,000.

Say what?


Read more in Mannix About Manatee on Sunday.

World Series: The 'November Classic?'

So the World Series is over.

Thank goodness.

As a longtime Phillies fan, I tip my ballcap to the Yankees.

Best team won.

That my ballclub lost is not why I'm glad it's over.

That it took until Nov. 4 is why.

If the outcome had been the same a week ago, OK.

It was still October.

Didn't they used to call the World Series the "October Classic"?

Think Tommy Lasorda coined the phrase.

It's not "November Classic."

Yet TV's gazillions call the shots, major league baseball dances to their tune, and this is where we are.

Later games and longer seasons --- with or without the forgettable World Baseball Classic.

Even one of my colleagues confessed, "I just want to go back to watching regular TV again."

Of course, he said it with a big smile.

His team won.

'One Mississippi, two Mississippi ...'

Saw one of those newfangled red light cameras at an intersection I use with some regularity.

Won't have to worry about my picture being taken.

Not that I'm a red-light runner, either.

A creature of habit, I have a good idea which lights around town stay green longer than others when I'm headed toward a particular intersection.

When that caution light blinking from a distance, it's time to slow down.

But I'm a slowpoke anyway.

That also goes for when I'm stopped at an intersection and the light turns green.

I count something like, "One Mississippi. Two Mississippi," as we used to do in touch football.

Then I go.

It may sound odd, but it's saved my bacon a couple of times.

Had I proceeded through the intersection at the instant the light turned green, I'd have been T-boned by a red-light runner.

Hurrying to work is not worth that.

Summer nights at a hometown ballpark

It was opening day at McKechnie Field last spring training and a man gazed at the lineups on the large eraser board above the main stairway.

He talked about how cool it was to see the names of several young Pittsburgh Pirates up there, kids who had played Double-A in Altoona, Pa., his home, and how he looked forward to another season when he returned at spring training’s end.

Summer nights at a hometown ballpark.

I was envious.

But not anymore.

Not after hearing the Pirates plan to buy Sarasota’s Florida State League affiliate.


For more, see Mannix About Mannix on Sunday.

Perils of Halloween candy leftovers

What kind of candy does one buy for Halloween trick or treaters?

Or do you even bother?

Decisions. Decisions.

It's an annual dilemma for some, especially those of us who fear having our houses egged or rolled with toilet paper if we don't come up with the goodies.

A nice neighborhood can get tough just like that.

But it's a pip when you do go all out and nobody shows up.

I remember one year I bought a couple of big bags of Hershey's chocolate kisses.

Figured I'd have a few myself to enjoy, too.

Well, that night I heard trick or treaters cavorting in other parts of the neighborhood, but not mine.

Even went out in the street to wave them down.

A few kids came by and loaded up, but I still had plenty of candy left over when the trick or treating was done.

Don't ask how long it took to finish eating all that chocolate.

Impressive arrivals for SRQ onlookers

One of life's small pleasures is watching jets come and go at SRQ.

The best spot is the gravel lay by just down from 15th Street on the east side of the airport, a stop I usually make after Sunday morning Mass.

If you're lucky, you get a couple of commercial flights out, maybe a couple of executive jets landing.

Monday we got a real thrill, thanks to the White House military support team.

Two huge C-17 Galaxy transports, the largest planes in America's arsenal, landed at SRQ with such a roar it gave you goosebumps.

They were like winged sentinels, alerting the citizenry President Barack Obama would be arriving Tuesday.

A gathering was on hand and one of the numerous onlookers were Jake Kyser and his grandfather, Robert Kyser.

A flying enthusiast, the teen-ager had heard the support team's Marine CH-53 Sea Stallions fly over his neighborhood last weekend.

School was out Monday.

"So we figured we'd take a ride down and see what was going on," the lad said.

"Then all this took place." said his grandfather, a World War II corpsman.

It was quite a show.