Dallas Carter Contd.

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St. Petersburg Times | Monday, July 21, 2008 |

7B

tampabay.com for the latest news

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Monitors gauge disaster potential Based at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, the systems can provide instant information to emergency managers, boaters and windsurfers. Web sites show the water levels beside the Skyway or the wind speed at Picnic Island Park, as they are changing. But state and federal budget woes are creating stormy seas for the network that monitors the gulf. Because of a loss of funding, it soon could be difficult to find equipment and staff to keep the wind and wave sensors in good operating condition, said USF marine science professor Mark Luther. “We’re hanging on a precarious thread,” Luther said. ••• Giant freighters chug under the Skyway bridge, and follow the 600-foot wide shipping channel that extends for miles up Tampa bay to the Port of Tampa. Some of the ships are two football fields long. Some of them draft 42 or 43 feet in a channel that can be less than 45 feet deep, Luther said. The Tampa Bay monitoring system, called PORTS, can help. It features wind and wave-checking devices at locations such as the Skyway, Egmont Key and near the Port of Tampa. Data on tides, currents and winds is fed into computer models which helps harbor pilots know when a big ship can safely pass or is likely to get stuck. A paper Luther recently co-authored said ship groundings have dropped 60 percent since PORTS was created. The data provided by thermometers, sensors, wind gauges and other devices also has allowed scientists to learn more about the movement of water through Tampa Bay. It has helped in such diverse tasks as following spills of sewage and other hazardous materials, tracking the movement of fish larvae and evaluating flooding dangers, Luther said. “It’s a system that provides real-time environmental information for better-informed decisionmaking on all aspects of what people do in and around the water,” he said.

Coast. “It’s a wonderful resource,” Butcher said, because the data from stations on or near shore allow him to fine-tune information about nearby storms that he already receives from the National Hurricane Center and Pinellas County. The system is not just for emergency managers. The same data is available to the public on the COMPS Web site. The COMPS system also has helped scientists paint a picture of how water circulates in complex ways up, down and across Florida’s Gulf Coast. It has helped with studies of Red Tide, with safe navigation and other issues. “What we’re trying to do is build a comprehensive coastal observing system,” said Robert H. Weisberg, USF marine science professor. Weisberg recalls a hot July day when he was standing in water off Sanibel Island and felt cool rivulets at his toes. Because of his studies with COMPS data, Weisberg knew the cool water at his toes had come from the Panhandle and down along the gulf floor toward Sanibel. “We’re able to trace the origin of that,” he said. In recent years, COMPS has received regular appropriations of $750,000 from the federal government and $200,000 from state government to maintain the system. But the state’s budget crunch and the increasing federal reluctance to approve “earmarked” funds from Congress means those monies have largely dried up at this moment, Luther said. Luther said COMPS does have an adequate supply of spare sensors but needs more money for such hardware as batteries, solar panels and connectors, plus staff time to fix the devices. “We’re kind of in dire straits,” Luther said. Curtis Krueger can be reached at [email protected] or (727) 8938232.

DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times

Melissa Velez, 27, peers into the porch of her neighbor, Dallas Carter, who was killed by Pinellas Park police in a shootout late Saturday. His two children were in bed when he called 911. Carter fired at least 30 rounds from his home, police said.

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Troubled dad dies in shootout The children are in the custody of Florida Department of Children and Families. Sunday morning, their bikes, one red and one green, were parked on the patio in the broken glass. “He was just trying to do the best he could by his kids,” said Melissa Harper, a resident of the apartment complex. “My heart breaks for those boys.” Carter left a note, but police have not released its contents. ••• Neighbors said Dallas Carter was a single dad who constantly struggled to pay the bills and put food on the table. He had a pronounced limp from a disabling back injury that forced him to use a cane to get around, they said.

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When Hurricane Ivan churned up the Gulf of Mexico in 2004, Tarpon Springs Fire Division Chief Rick Butcher could detect a slight surge in the city’s coastal waters. Butcher, who also serves as the city’s emergency management director, was looking at the Web site for COMPS, which is the network that monitors wind and water up and down Florida’s Gulf

“He always talked about needing help — financially and help with the kids,” said neighbor Kevin Luster, 23. Carter lost his job several months ago after he reinjured his back while working, said neighbor Melissa Velez. Recently, he seemed even more upset. He told neighbors his food stamps had been cut back and he couldn’t pay his water bill. On Saturday, Carter came over to see Velez, 27, who lives across from him. He had an eviction notice with him, she said. Velez and Luster said the apartment complex requires tenants pay their water bill with their rent. A few times over the past year, Carter’s electricity had been

shut off, though he still had power at the time of the shooting, Velez said. When it was off, Velez would let him use her microwave to heat up meals for the children. Velez said she tried to help the family, most recently bringing over a chicken and rice dinner. This past Christmas, she and her mom bought presents for the kids. They delivered them anonymously, she said, to make sure the boys had a present to open. “I haven’t slept very much because of this,” she said. Neighbor Kna Krajan, 24, said Carter’s sons were at her house almost every day to play with her children. Carter was a doting father, she said. “He wants what’s best for his kids, he just doesn’t have the

finances to do it,” she said. Krajan was home at the time of the shooting and heard the gunshots — one of which hit her screen door. “He’s just been so depressed,” she said. “He kept telling us he doesn’t know what to do.” Neighbor L aura Miller reached the same conclusion. “He seemed very, very down, and like he didn’t know where to turn next. He didn’t know what to do,’’ said Miller, 42. Edwin Nunez said he sat awake with his wife and 6year-old son, George, as gunfire erupted below them. He told George that the screaming man went to the hospital. “He’s too young to explain it to,” Nunez said. “I don’t know how to.”