ST. PETERSBURG — Though he had had no brushes with the law before a police officer fatally shot him this weekend, Javon Dawson had taken on the persona of a street thug on his MySpace page. On Saturday night, Dawson, 17, was spotted firing a gun into the air outside the Shining Light Masonic Lodge, where there was a graduation party. He got into a confrontation with St. Petersburg police officer Terrence Nemeth, with Nemeth telling him to put down the weapon, and Dawson running off, pointing his gun at Nemeth as he fled before Nemeth fired. ...more

June 10, 2008

Patrons of Centennial Park Library on Tuesday were visited by a facsimile of Benjamin Franklin, one the nation's Founding Fathers and the person responsible for the first public lending library. The portrayal of Franklin was courtesy of Rich Davis of Charleston, S.C. Promoting reading, Davis asked questions throughout his presentation and gave out bookmarks for correct answers. He will bring his presentation to the New River Library on Thursday at 4 p.m. Davis will talk about the life and times of Franklin and his achievements, and will re-enact a science experiment. ...more

January 23, 2008