OUR LENS | Exceptional work by the St. Petersburg Times staff
Meteor shower, Ironman race, flying dreadlocks
17
November
A faint meteor streaks across the sky above a live oak tree about 4 a.m. Tuesday morning as the Leonid meteor shower neared it's peak over the eastern sky near Floral City. The annual show is the result of debris thought to be from the Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The light show lasts a few nights each year, but the display Tuesday morning was expected to be the peak for this year. SEE A PHOTO GALLERY OF THE LEONID METOR SHOWER DISPLAYS FROM PAST YEARS [MAURICE RIVENBARK, Times]
Sutherland Elementary kindergartner Allyaha Hattach, 5, smiles up at Palm Harbor Fire Lt. Keith Maciuba as he crawled across the floor during The Great American Teach-In at Sutherland Elementary School in Palm Harbor Wednesday. Maciuba was showing the students how he would look for them if there was a fire. SEE A PHOTO GALLERY OF GREAT AMERICAN TEACH-IN EVENTS AROUND THE TAMPA BAY AREA [JIM DAMASKE, Times]
Berkeley Prep celebrates winning the Class 3A State Volleyball Tournament against Holy Trinity in Lakeland Thursday evening. SEE A PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME [CHRIS ZUPPA, Times]
Pro Women's division competitors swim toward the first turn in Clearwater Harbor after the start of the Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 Saturday in Clearwater. SEE A PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE IRONMAN RACE [Douglas R. Clifford, Times]
Headbanging his way through Blue Oyster Cult's song, Stuart Lathrop, 29, of Bradenton, lets his dreadlocks fly during Ribfest at Vinoy Park Saturday. Barbecue booths and a family fun zone kept families fed and kids entertained. This Northeast Exchange Club-sponsored event is a charity fundraiser which several youth-oriented organizations in the community. [LARA CERRI, Times]
Mario Navarrete, left, hugs his son Emilio Navarrete, 15, for the first time in over a decade. Emilio and his brother Xavier,16, had been taken away from their mother in February and placed in foster care. The two were told that their father was in prison. READ THE STORY: A JOYFUL REUNION FOR DAD, BROTHERS [ATOYIA DEANS, Times]
George Robbins, 9, takes a hefty swing at the baseball during their afternoon practice. George and his twin brother John Robbins hit the ball well and the two scored several runs during the mock baseball game. The Bayshore little leaguers trained on the diamond from 3:30P.M. to 5:00P.M. during the ten-week instructional season. "It's more relaxed." said coach and father James Robbins about the fall baseball season. [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR., Times]
Timothy Rags, 20, of Brooksville, shoots baskets at Tom Varn Park Tuesday night while waiting for a friend. Rags said that he comes to the park two or three times a week to shoot hoops and go for a run on the trails. "I go hot and cold, hot and cold. Never in-between," Rags said of his shooting skills, "Sometimes everything goes in, sometimes nothing." [WILL VRAGOVIC, Times]
Emani Johnson, a sophomore at Blake High School, holds a pose during Aurora Borealis III, a Fine Arts Open House, held in the courtyard of the school on Tuesday. The torch-lit event featured strolling performers and musicians and choreographed performances. [ATOYIA DEANS, Times]
John Allis, 28, plays with his daughter, Kimberly, 7, while sitting in their living room Wednesday evening in Spring Hill. Kimberly fell in the pool when she was 18 months old and nearly drowned. "When you looked in her eyes she just wasn't there," John said of the day of the accident. "Since then she's been so blessed," Joe Allis, John's father said, "She's amazingly coherent, but she can't express herself." Kimberly exhibits a lot of the same symptoms as individuals with Cerebral Palsy, particularly tension in her muscles, and has to be fed through a feeding tube. "I never thought having a disabled child would be a joyous as it is," John said, "She has her little miracles every day." [WILL VRAGOVIC, Times]
