Dallas Carter

Lawmaker criticizes fellow Democrats’ politicking at Raytheon meetings. 3B

Forward thinking SUMMER CAMP, MINUS THE BUGS AND SUNBURN Ever envy the kids for the goofing off they get to do during the summer? This week offers several opportunities for grownup goofing off. One is Summer Camp, a phrase that takes on a whole different meaning at Studio@620 in St. Petersburg. Thursday through Saturday, this “event of semi-epic proportions” includes live music, spontaneous theater, carved tikis, exotic fashion and a Camp Film Festival featuring perfectly awful movies like Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Plan 9 From Outer Space. Find information at www. studio620.org.

‘Championship’ for 26 points Many of us whiled away summer afternoons over board games, but some people take such things seriously. A horde of those cutthroats will gather at the Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando on Friday through July 29 for the National Scrabble Championship. Live coverage can be found at www2. scrabble-assoc.com.

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Can they take the calories out of cake? Three performers associated with special powers have birthdays this week. On Wednesday, the movie incarnation of wizard Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, turns 19. Lynda Carter, who to us will always be Wonder Woman, is 57 on Thursday. And on Saturday, Mick Jagger, whose superpower is simply being Mick Jagger, turns 65. By Colette Bancroft, Times staff writer, cbancroft@sptimes. com or (727) 893-8435.

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People are talking about . . . Prince Charlie: Out of town, out of touch

(The Buzz, July 18) The news: The governor and his fiancee hobnob with Prince Charles while state economy tanks. “Why has it taken so long to see that our esteemed governor wears no clothes? Stop calling him an empty suit. The naked truth is that he does not have a suit to be empty.” “Since when do fiancees attend meetings with foreign dignitaries? Now I am beginning to think it is more of a vacation then an actual business trip.” “As I’ve been saying all this time, he is a photo-op governor. All he cares about is how good (yuck!) he looks in the pictures.” Timeout for you

(Whoa, Momma!, July 18) The news: A 2-year-old boy has new habit of hitting his mom. Dan had one word for our mommy blogger: “Spank.” Another reader says: “2’s are tough? Wait until he tells you he wants to go to Harvard, needs a car, a pad, some folding and those dukes are at eye-level.”

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Troubled dad, deadly end With debts and eviction looming, the man calls 911 and dies in a shootout with police. BY JACKIE ALEXANDER, RITA FARLOW AND DOUG CLIFFORD

Times Staff Writers

PINELLAS PARK — From inside his Shadow Run apartment, Edwin Nunez heard a man cry for help Saturday night. Why me? Why me? An unidentified neighbor heard the screams of a man deranged. Kill me. Just kill me. Neighbor Glendale Stephens

heard the shouts of a man in pain. Stop, stop, you’re hurting me. They all heard deadly gunfire late Saturday when their neighbor, 44-year-old Dallas Carter, stepped out of his apartment, a pistol and a rifle in hand, to confront the police. ••• Pinellas Park police came to Shadow Run Apartments at

12001 Belcher Road, apartment B28, after a caller told a 911 dispatcher at 10:58 p.m. that he was disturbed and armed with a .40caliber pistol. His said his two children, 8- and 13-year-old boys, were in bed. He hung up when asked his name. Police tried Carter’s cell phone, but their calls went to voice mail. As officers arrived minutes later, and as a negotiator attempted to

get in position to speak to him, Carter fired at least 30 rounds from the pistol and a .30-30 hunting rifle. Police said he fired from inside his apartment in various directions. Soon afterward, the children ran from the apartment. At 11:32 p.m. Carter came out of his apartment with the guns pointing at officers in the breezeway, according to police. The officers

Gulf monitors gauge potential for disaster Antennas Lightning arresters

Funny how the subjects stay same Late-night goofing off is on at American Stage, with An Evening Wasted With the Songs of Tom Lehrer at 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The show celebrates one of the best musical satirists of the 1960s, who took on subjects like nuclear proliferation, racial discrimination and politics with the sharp edge of humor.

* * * * Monday, July 21, 2008

Meterological instruments: Barometric pressure Relative humidity Air temperature Wind speed and direction

12-volt rechargable battery

But a loss of funding soon could make it difficult to find equipment and staff to keep the wind and wave sensors operating.

Surlyn foam buoy

COMPS station As part of the Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System, an array of offshore buoys measure such things as current, temperature, salinity and meteorological conditions. The data is transmitted to the shore by satellites.

Times files (1980)

A car stopped on the edge of the Sunshine Skyway in 1980 after the Summit Venture, right, hit the bridge, causing its southbound span to collapse.

See for yourself For a closer look at the information provided by the COMPS West Florida Shelf Observing Stations, go to comps. marine.usf.edu. To get information from the PORTS monitors in Tampa Bay, go to the COMPS site above and click on PORTS.

BY CURTIS KRUEGER | Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG

A

fierce wind, a blanket of fog, rain spraying like bullets. ¶ The sudden squall that whipped over Tampa Bay on May 9, 1980, became an indelible part of this region’s history. Inside the storm, the freighter Summit Venture veered off course, a section of the Sunshine Skyway collapsed, and 35 people fell to their deaths. ¶ What’s less well known about the Skyway tragedy is one of its legacies: a network of sensors, buoys and computers that now watch over Tampa Bay. ¶ Another network monitors the wind and waves of Florida’s Gulf Coast, and it’s a legacy of the 1993 no-name storm. ¶ While little known, the two systems provide a surprisingly public way of watching subtle changes and urgent dangers off the Tampa Bay area’s shores. . See MONITOR, 7B

Mooring chain

Anchor

Sources: Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System, University of South Florida/College of Marine Science; buoy illustration by Rick Cole

Times

ordered him to drop his weapons. When he did not, three officers reportedly fired 10 rounds, killing him. Pinellas Park police Officers Michael Erwin, Adam Smotrich and Alexandro Aguilar have been placed on administrative leave while investigations by police and the Pinellas Pasco State Attorney’s Office continue. .

See SHOOTOUT, 7B

Room, board, books and debt Schools and students face higher hurdles to pay for college. BY TOM MARSHALL

Times Staff Writer

Students and families trying to pay for college are facing a complex financial puzzle that routinely requires a dizzying combination of grants, loans and money earmarked for retirement. “It’s crazy,” said Trisha Brewton, a Tampa beautician who has been trying to find the money to send her daughter, Brialle, to Florida A&M University this fall. It’s no cakewalk for schools, either. Over the past year, about 120 lenders have suspended all or part of their federal loan business, citing the loss of federal subsidies or an inability to resell loans. Others have cut discounts or ended their participation at certain schools. At least one local school, Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, has lessened its reliance on private lenders. And students who began their college years with traditional lenders have been forced to look elsewhere. Brewton and her daughter have cobbled together all but $4,000 of a total annual bill she estimated at $17,500. They’re using federal Pell Grants, scholarships, and Stafford Loans, and can tap into savings if they must. “I didn’t want her to have the responsibility to have to pay money back,” she said. “Why pay for that the rest of your life, if you don’t have to?” The Brewtons are in good shape compared with some of the families Congress targeted for help last spring. Under emergency legislation passed in May, parents who fall behind up to 180 days on mortgage or medical payments can still qualify to take out college loans under the federal PLUS program. That’s an improvement on the previous limit of 90 days. But it’s cold comfort for families already head over heels in debt, said Billie Jo Hamilton, director of student financial aid at the Univer.

See COLLEGE, 5B

For All-Star Josh Hamilton, bay area has much to offer After watching Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton redecorate Yankees Stadium with his 28 wall-crushing home runs in the All-Star Home Run Derby, I’m convinced the Rays need to trade for him. I want to be fair about this, so I say we go beyond players and prospects. I say we offer the Rangers … … the ring Charlie Crist gave Carol Rome (he can get another one). … Debra Lafave and Stepha-

ERNEST HOOPER [email protected]

nie Ragusa. … Buddy Johnson’s cattle. … The Hogan Family (you can

have them even if the trade falls through). … plans for a new waterfront baseball stadium. … naming rights to the St. Pete Times Forum. … one Canadian mullet haircut and the profits from Saw IV and V. … enough sand and saltwater to create your own beach. … Dinosaur World. … one gigantic Confederate

flag. … government in the Sunshine manuals (they’re collecting dust in St. Petersburg). … the Trump Tower Tampa penthouse. … exclusive membership to Caliente. … a Sun Pass with a $25 limit. … one semifunctioning desalination plant. … a bitten fingertip recently found in a Tampa meat market

(when we say meat market, we don’t mean the Hyde Park Cafe). … the french-fry lady. … Don Wallace’s sister. … Brian Blair’s original Killer Bee wrestling trunks. … one classic rock station (we have 16, so we can spare one). … and finally, Forever Plaid! By the way, we’ll throw in a crazed sex master if you give us Brad Richards back. That’s all I’m saying.