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TRUMP ENDORSES RAISING MINIMUM AGE TO 21 FOR MORE WEAPONS
President Donald Trump endorsed stricter gun-control measures today, including raising the minimum age to 21 for possessing a broader range of weapons than at present. He tweeted his strongest stance as president one day after an emotional White House session where students and parents poured out wrenching tales of lost lives and pleaded for action. The current federal minimum age for buying or possessing handguns is 21, but the limit is 18 for rifles including assault-type weapons such as the AR-15 used by a former student in last week's attack on a Florida high school that killed 17 students and staff members.
ABOUT THOSE ANNOYING POPUP ADS ON YOUR PHONES
We have heard from many of you that popups saying you've won a gift card are preventing you from reading our news coverage on our phone. We hate them as much as you do, and we're battling everyday to wipe them out. Here's an explanation of this industry-wide problem and what we're doing about it.. We understand how they harm your reading experience, and we want you to be able to view our site with no problems.HER BROTHER WAS A HILLSBOROUGH FIREFIGHTER. THEN HE OVERDOSED.
You see firefighters and first responders on TV and they look like superheroes. What you don't see is the personal price the firefighters, first responders and medics pay; the personal sacrifices they make to rescue people and beloved pets as their homes burn down, to pull somebody from the wreckage of a terrible car accident, to save a life — even at the immediate or slow cost of their own lives. In this essay written for the Tampa Bay Times, Dina Perez writes about her brother, Nick Perez, a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue employee who died in 2016 at age 27 of a drug overdose.
WORK FINALLY STARTS ON DOWNTOWN ST. PETE'S NEWEST HOTEL
Nearly a decade after it was first proposed, a new boutique hotel in downtown St. Petersburg is finally under construction. Workers are preparing the foundation of the Galaxy, an 11-story, 92-room hotel at Third Avenue N and First Street directly north off the Sundial shopping and entertainment plaza. The city approved a site plan for the hotel in 2009 but developer and owner Savni Bakrac said today that he had to put the project on hold while architects redesigned the parking garage.
SPRING IS IN THE AIR AS BASEBALL GAMES START TODAY
After a week of players stretching, doing mundane drills and practicing, spring training moves to the next phase today with the start of exhibition games. Consider it a soft opening in this part of the state, with the Philadelphia Phillies hosting the University of Tampa at 1:05 p.m. today at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, and the Detroit Tigers facing Florida Southern at Publix Field in Lakeland. Then Friday there is a full slate of action, including Rays games against the Orioles and Pirates. Check out our interactive spring training guide to plan a day at the park.