St. Petersburg College moves to expand Midtown campus

st. petersburg

SPC moves to expand its Midtown campus

St. Petersburg College is moving forward with plans to quadruple the size of its Midtown campus.

At Tuesday's Board of Trustees meeting, college leaders voted to approve an agreement with the city of St. Petersburg to lease city-owned land to construct a 45,000-square-foot building to house the college's Midtown Educational Center. The 3.74-acre property at 22nd Street and 13th Avenue S is just north of the Johnnie Ruth Clarke Health Center. The college now leases a 10,000-square-foot building from the St. Petersburg Housing Authority at 1048 22nd St. S.

The 50-year lease includes an option to extend the lease for another 50 years. The college has agreed to pay $500 for the 50-year term of the lease, which now awaits city approval. College officials hope to break ground on the $13.7 million project this summer and open the new campus by the fall semester of 2013.

largo

Police hope photos will lead to suspect

Police have released photos from a surveillance camera that show a man using a stolen credit card, and they are asking the public to help identify the man.

According to Largo police, the Bank of America Visa credit card was stolen from a home on Floral Drive on Dec. 31. The card was then used several times at businesses in Clearwater, police said.

Detectives were able to get photos of a man using the credit card, as well as photos of the car he was driving, from surveillance cameras. The car appears to be a gray Mercury Grand Marquis with chrome trim around the windows and stock wheels, police said.

Detectives ask that anyone who recognizes the man or the vehicle call Largo police Detective R. Zdzierak at (727) 586-7325. The photos can be viewed on the Largo Police Department's Facebook page at facebook.com/LargoPoliceDepartment.

lakeland

School bus strikes, kills 13-year-old girl

A school bus struck and killed Lakeland High School freshman Katlyn Rickman about 3 p.m. Tuesday, the Lakeland Ledger reported.

Rickman, 13, was crossing a street when she was hit. She was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital and died at 4:37 p.m., said Ann Dinges, spokeswoman for the Lakeland Police Department.

The bus was driven by Virginia Robinson, 43, who has worked as a substitute driver since August. She has been placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation is completed, Murphy said.

Dinges said police charges or citations are pending the outcome of the crash investigation.

TALLAHASSEE

Court backs dismissal of 'Taj Mahal' case

The Florida Supreme Court has approved the state judicial ethics panel's dismissal of its case against a judge for his involvement in building a lavish, nearly $49 million courthouse in Tallahassee.

The high court ruled Tuesday that an ethics case was moot since the former chief judge of the appellate court, Paul M. Hawkes, resigned from the 1st District Court of Appeal as of Jan. 4.

But the Supreme Court kept "continuing jurisdiction" if Hawkes retakes the bench.