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Matters of Note
By LESTER R. DAILEY
| Article published on Wednesday, July 4, 2007 |
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City’s Comprehensive Plan being updated
CLEARWATER – The city’s Planning Department is in the process of revising Clearwater’s Comprehensive Plan, which sets policy for such major issues as land use, transportation, housing, recreation and utilities for the next 10 to 20 years. It is updated every few years to reflect changes in state law and the city’s demographics.
City staffers, in cooperation with a citizens’ advisory committee and a group of interested residents, have issued an Evaluation and Appraisal Report which identifies five issues of local concern. They are: redevelopment, community character, attainable housing, annexation and coastal and disaster management. Residents will be invited to attend public hearings to discuss the proposed amendments in the near future. The times and locations of those hearings will be announced in advance.
Works of local artist on display at City Hall
The multimedia artworks of local artist Denis Gaston will be on display in the Clearwater City Hall lobby during the months of July and August. They can be seen free of charge during normal business hours.
Gaston, who maintains studio space at the Imago Art Colony in Dunedin, has exhibited his works at hundreds of regional shows. He is an instructor at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center and the Gulf Coast Museum of Art and has been awarded a state of Florida Individual Artists Fellowship. Inspired by cultural traditions from throughout the world, his works are large, bold and visually striking. They are included in many major private collections.
The exhibit is part of a program by the city’s Cultural Affairs Division to bring the works of local artists to City Hall and other municipal buildings. Those displayed at City Hall will be by members of the Professional Association of Visual Artists, which Gaston co-founded in 1988.
Old cell phones sought for emergency use by seniors
Clearwater’s Office on Aging and the Area Agency on Aging’s Senior Victim Advocate Program have teamed up to create the Senior Safety Phone Project, under which donated cell phones are given to seniors so they can call 911 in case of an emergency. Anyone wanting to donate a phone, or any senior needing a phone, should call Kerry Marsalek at 562-4830.
Motorist fleeing police destroys three parked cars
The predawn traffic stop of a Tampa man on June 28 resulted in the destruction of three vehicles parked in the driveway of a Clearwater woman’s home. Police allege that Walter Johnson, 48, of the Davis Islands section of Tampa lost control of his Chevrolet Camaro convertible while speeding away from a traffic stop and destroyed not only Ruth Knight’s 1993 teal Jeep, but also a maroon Jeep and red minivan belonging to her two sons, which were parked in her driveway near the intersection of South Crest Avenue and Druid Road.
After police received a complaint of a suspicious white convertible cruising through the neighborhood, Officer Mark Beaudette pulled Johnson over near the intersection of Missouri Avenue and Druid. Johnson said he was in the area to visit a sick friend and allegedly used the name of his brother, who didn’t have any arrest warrants. Beaudette was suspicious, but Johnson took off before he could check further.
Beaudette did not give chase but radioed ahead to another officer, who spotted the Camaro just before it crashed, about 10 blocks from the initial stop. Johnson was thrown from the car and was subsequently flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he was reported to be in serious condition.
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Article published on Wednesday, July 4, 2007
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