Clearwater / North Pinellas

Clearwater Beach tour boats feuding

CLEARWATER — The tourists, sunset aficionados and partiers started lining up Saturday evening on the narrow marina sidewalk across from Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach as an orange sun plunged toward the gulf.

Action-packed historical fiction makes summertime reading fun for kids

EAST LAKE — It's summertime and the reading is easy, especially when youngsters have access to high-interest books with lots of action and cliffhangers.

Choose from 3 Memorial Day events in Oldsmar, Largo

For families looking for fun events that are focused on Memorial Day, here are three very different venues that all pay homage to veterans and celebrate the weekend with patriotic flare.

FunFest

Palm Harbor Rotary Club receives several district awards

Palm Harbor Rotary Club members have worked hard to be of service to the community. Due to their efforts, the club earned several awards at the district governor's annual banquet and awards presentation May 4 at Buena Vista Palace, Orlando.

Program lowers interest rate for first-time home buyers

Countywide

Good news for first-time home buyers

The Housing Finance Authority of Pinellas County has lowered the interest rate on its First Time Homebuyers Program to 2.99 percent.

Things to do starting May 19

Food/cooking

Spaghetti Dinner Youth Benefit: The Rotary Club of Tarpon Springs invites guests to enjoy a spaghetti dinner with three types of pasta to choose from, along with three sauces, plus salad and bread, beverage (beer or wine is extra), served up by Tarpon Springs High School Rotary Interact …

Pinellas health notes

May is the Month of the Woman, so women are invited to a question-and-answer session about women's health issues on Wednesday at the Countryside Library, 2741 State Road 580, Clearwater.

Youth football program may want new name on Clearwater park

CLEARWATER — The Greenwood Panthers are coming home and their return includes a largely forgotten slice of the city's black history and — possibly — a new name for the park where they play.

Video app brings Palm Harbor yearbooks to life

PALM HARBOR — The grinning teenager, surrounded by a makeshift mariachi band, holds a sign: "Prom?"

Showcasing Safety Harbor's Baranoff Oak harmed it, arborists say

SAFETY HARBOR

Arborists are working to revive what may be the oldest and most treasured tree in Pinellas County after an effort to showcase the majestic Baranoff Oak blocked its ability to get the nutrients it needs to survive.

Pinellas business digest

The folks employed by the Pinellas County Tax Collector's Office have been working to make sure your visit is a seamless one.

New Latin American restaurant in Largo cooks up tastes of home

LARGO

It's lunchtime inside the tiny restaurant on Ulmerton Road. While one customer waits for the arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) and another waits for the pernil (slow-roasted pork), Edward Lopez was ready for his pastelitos (meat pies).

Saved pooch is uplifting for two Dunedin families united by tragedies

DUNEDIN — The Allison and Del Corpo families have been friends for almost a decade, sharing good times and bad.

Lately it has been mostly bad.

Some Clearwater libraries will use RFID chip technology

CLEARWATER — Some Clearwater public libraries will implement a high-tech tracking system that will save staff time and reduce errors when patrons return books, DVDs and other materials.

Religion news

Women of all denominations are invited to meet from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday in Room 10 of the parish hall at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 3200 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater, for discussion, reflection and prayer on issues related to women and their relationship with God. Anne Lamont's book, Help, Thanks, …