ST. PETERSBURG - Orange cones and barricades surround First United Methodist Church. There are already four TV satellite trucks parked across Third Street N and room for a few more.

And no, not everyone has heard the news yet. "What's going on over there?" asked Jerry Chaney, 41.

Why, Gov. Charlie Crist is getting married tonight to New York socialite Carole Rome. The wedding is at 7 p.m., then the party moves on to the Renaissance Vinoy Resort.

"Wow," Chaney said. "That's pretty cool."

Not everyone is so happy for the governor, however. Residents at the Stanton Apartments, just across from the church on Third Street, are just a tad upset.

"They're blocking my view," complained resident Gregory Cliett, 58.

He means the trucks from WFLA-Ch. 8 and Bay News 9. There's just a sliver of the church's main entrance visible between the two trucks from the apartment building's first-floor deck.

And then there's the parking. Residents had to have their cars moved from the street parking out front by 7 a.m. Many moved their cars to Third Avenue N, to spots with time limits.

"I have to move my car every two hours," said Keith Meeks, 32.

They joke of inviting other governors to the party, like former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, who admitted he was gay while in office in 2004. But they've ruled out Illinois' troubled current governor, Rod Blagojevich.

"He might try to sell my apartment," Cliett said.

Jamal Thalji, Times staff writer

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