The budget isn't the only thing appearing to collapse at the Pinellas County Courthouse.

First, the cable service to broadcast Tuesday went out, killing the televison broadcast of a worksession on a $40 million budget deficit among County Commissioners and countywide elected officials -- a rare gathering of the county's political class.

Then as commissioners debated utility rates and conservation, the power snapped. A power surge knocked out the electricity, county officials said.

And that left the elevators shut down with people inside at least one. Clearwater Fire Rescue has shown up to extract the people as stairways get some unusually high traffic, at least for the short term.

David DeCamp, Times staff writer