Redner Buys Vacant Lot For Use As A Park
Published: Mar 12, 2002
TAMPA - Tampa businessman and local adult themed pioneer Joe Redner has bought the vacant lot at Main Street and Albany Avenue. He says he's going to put a park there. Redner advises the West Tampa Business Alliance, a grass-roots revitalization group. The alliance wanted to buy the land, put a park there and use it for community festivals. But it didn't have the money, said George Smith, president of the alliance. Smith talked to Redner, who decided to buy it and let the alliance use it for festivals. Redner said he envisions green space, benches and possibly a gazebo. He is reviewing plans and construction could start in three months, he said.
Tension Lingers But Lessens At Gaither High
Published: Mar 6, 2002
TAMPA - Students and teachers say racial tension is easing at Gaither High School after a recent fight. Officials have been on alert since last week when a racial slur provoked the fight that ended with two arrests and several suspensions. The fight erupted Feb. 27 when a white student made ``a derogatory remark about boxer Mike Tyson'' to a black student, said Mark Hart, school district spokesman. (Big Deal) At least 600 students were in the cafeteria at noon when the fight began, Hart said. Sheriff's Lt. Rod Reder said the actual fighting involved two students. There were no injuries. A school resource deputy said he saw 15-year-old black pupil Rick Joseph push an assistant principal, one of three adults trying to break up the fight, Reder said. Joseph was charged with battery on a school employee - a felony - and affray and disrupting a school function, both misdemeanors. The student who allegedly voiced the slur and fought with Joseph was not arrested. A 15-year-old student who was upset about Joseph's arrest was arrested after he went into the main office and became combative. He was charged with disrupting a school function, a misdemeanor. All three were suspended for 10 days and will be recommended for expulsion or transfer to an alternative school, Hart said. Extra deputies were on hand late last week when about 50 students wore red and black clothes to support black students, Hart said. (Lets break out some violins) Some students continue to display Confederate flags (Their God given right), ``but no more than usual,'' said senior Reginald Eldrige, 17. Eldrige, who is black, said there has been more tension than action. ``Sometimes it just builds and erupts,'' he said. (No white student was interviewed, never is)
Miami Man Killed On Courtney Campbell
Published: Mar 3, 2002
TAMPA - A Miami man died Wednesday night after his pickup truck collided with two other vehicles on the Courtney Campbell Parkway, causing police to shut down the roadway for about four hours. Henry Smith, 63, died from injuries he suffered in the crashes about 9 p.m., the Tampa Police Department said. As he headed toward Tampa, Smith was driving erratically in a GMC pickup truck, Tampa police said. A police officer tried to stop him but Smith continued, lost control of his truck and entered the westbound lane, colliding with a Dodge minivan. He continued traveling east in the westbound lane and struck a Chevrolet Tahoe, police said. No other drivers in the crashes suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.
Bubba, three others acquitted in on-air pig killing.
Published March 1, 2002
Tampa -- Radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, along with his producer and two listeners, were acquitted Thursday on charges of animal cruelty stemming from the on-air castration and slaughter of a pig last February. Prosecutor Darrell D. Dirks contended the defendants subjected the hog to a needlessly cruel death during a promotion in the 98 Rock parking lot, but defense witnesses testified that the castration and killing followed the standard practice of hunters. "I think they underestimated who they were screwing with,'' said a victorious Clem, 35, promising to launch a voter-registration campaign to oust Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober. The defendants could have faced five years in prison if convicted. The jury took less than an hour to reach its verdict. Radio DJ politely defends boar slaughter Bubba the Love Sponge denies the animal was tormented. Experts say it was killed according to accepted custom and as humanely as possible.
Police Tap Alcohol Ordinance For Ybor
Published: Mar 1, 2002 TAMPA - St. Patrick's Day revelers beware. Tampa police officers will dump alcoholic drinks sold by bars and restaurants if patrons consume them along sidewalks during the parade March 16 in Ybor City. The warning comes on the heels of a debate between city officials and bar and restaurant owners, who say they lost thousands of dollars in business because they couldn't sell alcohol to go during the Krewe of the Knights of Sant' Yago Illuminated Knight Parade on Feb. 16. Police say doing so violates the spirit of the city's open container ordinance that outlaws consumption of alcohol on sidewalks and streets. It is illegal to open sealed alcoholic beverages within 500 feet of a package store. But during special events, with thousands of people on Seventh Avenue, bar owners know people will drink the beverage they just bought, Capt. Hugh Miller said. ``It's unethical ... when they're charging $5, $10 per serving, and they know we're going to dump it,'' Miller said. ``What does the public think about this?'' Attorney Luke Lirot called the reasoning outlandish. Bar owners cannot be held responsible for what customers do outside the establishment, he said. Bar owners told Lirot they lost about $100,000 in sales and want the city to make up the difference. Lirot said owners will have to verify finances to prove the loss. A week before the parade, police told business owners with package store licenses they would be arrested if they sold alcohol to go. Owners were asked to sign a notice showing they received the warning, Miller said. But City Attorney Jim Palermo, who found out about it the morning of the parade, did not agree with the officers' interpretation of the ordinance and told them to rescind the order. Marty Greenwald of Marty's Blues Cafe abided by the warning. He estimates he lost $5,000 in sales that day. ``Everybody else around me went ahead and did it,'' he said. ``Nobody told us it was rescinded. They've got to make a decision and stick with it.''
Critically Injured Student Dies After Car Accident
Published: Mar 2, 2002 TAMPA - A Benito Middle School student critically injured in an accident Saturday died from his injuries Thursday night, authorities said. Ashton Howlett, 12, was in a car heading home from a soccer game when the car struck a utility pole on Interstate 4 near the McIntosh Road exchange, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. After the accident, he was in the intensive care unit of Tampa General Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deputies draw guns on teen babysitter
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Published February 27, 2002
SAFETY HARBOR -- The 15-year-old babysitter saw a Pinellas sheriff's deputy in the back yard. Maybe, thought Amanda Savas, he is chasing a crook. She locked the door and closed the blinds. Moments later, about 2:30 p.m., the phone rang. "Hi," a Pinellas sheriff's dispatcher said. The house alarm had sounded. "Do you live here?" "No, I'm babysitting," Amanda said. The dispatcher told her to go outside and tell deputies who had responded to the alarm. Amanda, a cordless phone at her ear, stepped outside. A dozen deputies with guns drawn ordered her to drop the phone and get on the ground. "They're pointing guns at me," Amanda said to the dispatcher, sobbing. She cried out to the deputies, "I'm babysitting." Apparently convinced she was a burglar, deputies quickly turned Amanda's after-school job into a nightmare. The incident on Feb. 19 left Amanda's father, Chris Savas, irate at sheriff's deputies, saying they needlessly escalated a routine false alarm into a life-threatening incident. "They acted like Rambo," Savas, 43, an operations manager for Federal Express, said on Tuesday. "If one of these rambunctious cops had thought that cell phone was a gun, I'd be missing a daughter right now. This is outrageous." Amanda, a freshman honors student at Countryside High School, was babysitting a 3-year-old and an 11-month-old girl for former Tampa Bay Devil Rays catcher Mike DiFelice, a friend of her family who now plays in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Sheriff Everett Rice defended his deputies, saying they did nothing improper. But he isn't happy about the incident. "Innocent people should not be afraid of the police," the sheriff said. "I was told (by the deputies supervisors) that they did everything by the book. If that's the case, the book needs to be changed." Rice said he would examine his office's policy on investigating residential alarms in hopes of avoid a repeat situation. Police investigate thousands of residential alarms each year. In the overwhelming majority of cases, police say, the alarms prove to be nothing -- the wind, or a faulty connection. Amanda was picked up at school by DiFelice's wife, Tish DiFelice, and dropped off with the kids at the home at 919 Wyngate Court in Safety Harbor. Mrs. DiFelice said the alarm was going off when she arrived at the house. Mrs. DiFelice said the alarm had gone off by accident before, and she figured it was just another false alarm. She turned the alarm off and said nothing of it to Amanda, who had not heard the alarm. For some reason, the alarm company, Brinks Home Security Inc., was unable to reach Mrs. DiFelice to ask if everything was okay. "I just feel bad," said Mrs. DiFelice who had been rushing to make a physical therapy appointment. "I should have called Brinks or done something. I was under the gun and in a hurry." Brinks, which declined to comment, called the Sheriff's Office, which sent deputies to investigate, as they do all unexplained alarms. Deputies, guns drawn, found an opened gate. They noticed a window slightly off its track. They saw Amanda peeking out at them, and thought her behavior suspicious, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputies said they knocked at the door and windows to get her attention. Amanda said nobody knocked. She said that when saw deputies in the yard she called her father. He told her to lock the door and draw the blinds. He started driving over to the house to make sure all was safe. Deputies positioned themselves around the house, then told the dispatcher to call the house. Amanda picked up the phone. She sounded relieved to hear from the dispatcher why the deputies were there, explaining on the phone, "It was kind of scaring me." Her biggest scare was yet to come. As the dispatcher talked to her, a deputy radioed in, "I've got somebody coming out the front door." "10-4," a dispatcher told him. "It's the babysitter." It's unclear whether deputies heard the dispatcher. But they treated Amanda like a burglary suspect, ordering her face-down and handcuffing her for five minutes, she said. During the incident, the dispatcher was still on the phone, sounding a little rattled that Amanda was no longer on the line. In the background, a deputy can be heard over the phone saying, "Put your hands on your back." The dispatcher said, "It's just a little girl." Said Amanda: "I thought they were going to shoot me. I didn't know what was going on." Amanda said they asked her to prove she was the babysitter, and she gave them Mrs. DiFelice's cell phone number. After confirming, they released her. The DiFelices' 3-year-old daughter was crying, thinking her babysitter was being carted off to jail for not wearing her seat belt, Amanda said. Upon learning hours later that a window had been found ajar, Mrs. DiFelice said she became convinced a burglar did try to get into the house that day. Other homes in the area had recently been burglarized. While unhappy that guns had been pointed at Amanda, she said, deputies were in a tough position and could not be sure who was coming out of the house. "Look at all the high school crime. You can never be too sure. A 5-year-old can shoot a gun," she said. Amanda's family has hired Largo attorney John Trevena, who says the incident "was a clear excessive use of deadly force. The girl didn't look like a threat." Amanda, who lives with her family in Clearwater, said she was too nervous to finish babysitting that day, though she plans to return. She said a deputy later said to her, "We just hope you understand why we did what we did." Said Amanda: "They never apologized for anything. I still don't understand why they pointed their guns at me."
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No way, no okay, no bras over bay
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published February 27, 2002
TAMPA -- Call it a tempest in a D cup. Promoters at radio station STAR-FM 95.7 thought they could get people's attention by using bras to raise money to fight breast cancer. The plan: Ask listeners to donate money and bras. String them together across the Friendship Trail Bridge. Give it a catchy title: "Bras Across the Bay." But the plan deflated Tuesday when Pinellas County commissioners refused to, well, support the idea. "Do you have to do this with bras?" asked Commission Chairman Barbara Sheen Todd. "I just find that distasteful," Commissioner Karen Seel said. "I'm sorry." Todd and Seel, who both have relatives who have had the disease, stressed that they want to help fight breast cancer. But they said using bras was insensitive to breast cancer survivors. On a 3-3 vote, commissioners refused to give a permit. Tammy Beardsley, STAR 95.7 promotion director, said she was disappointed by the decision. Commissioners suggested the station string pink ribbons across the bay instead, but Beardsley said the station has dropped the whole idea and will focus its efforts instead on the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure, set for this fall. Beardsley said the station got the bra idea after a producer worked on a bra-themed fundraiser in Washington, D.C., that raised $14,000. Radio DJs floated the idea with listeners and "the response they got was great," Beardsley said. Nobody complained. Here, the radio station figured, it would take some 4,000 bras to cross the bay at the bridge, the site of the old Gandy Bridge. The American Cancer Society signed on to accept donations after station officials assured the group they would treat the disease seriously, said Jolene McPherson, the group's state spokeswoman. "I know it's crazy," she said. "But it's attention-getting." Liz Warren, parks department director, said she had a different worry when she first heard the plan. "We had a concern that if the bras dropped into the bay, it would choke wildlife," she said.
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Officer's pension denied to partner
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Published February 27, 2002
TAMPA -- After hours of emotional testimony, it took a city pension board only minutes Tuesday to deny Mickie Mashburn the pension benefits of slain Tampa police Officer Lois Marrero, her longtime domestic partner. The 7-1 vote capped a long afternoon that brought some onlookers to tears, but prompted at least one board member to fall asleep and the board's attorney to pass a note commenting on the repetitive testimony of the witnesses. Mashburn's attorneys said they were "shocked" by the attitude of the board and vowed to appeal its decision. "The lack of discussion (by the board) was mind-boggling," said Karen Doering, Mashburn's attorney. "I can't help but wonder if we were arguing to a rigged jury. ... The indifference of the board members was chilling." Tuesday's hearing was the first time the board has faced a death benefit claim involving a same-sex couple. Doering said she would appeal the decision to a state court "as soon as possible." Mashburn appeared drained as she stood before a crush of media afterward. "I'm very tired, very exhausted, very emotional," said Mashburn, who promised to continue her efforts. "This is the beginning. It's a small step forward." The hearing was an appeal of an Aug. 28 decision by the firefighter and police pension board, which unanimously rejected Mashburn's application for Marrero's pension death benefits. Marrero, a Tampa police officer killed by a fleeing bank robber in July, was paid $55,000 a year. She did not leave a will. Mashburn was seeking a $28,000 a year benefit paid to a surviving spouse. Doering and attorney Shannon Minter called more than a half-dozen witnesses Tuesday to testify that Marrero and Mashburn, who also is a Tampa police officer, lived as spouses, and that Marrero would have wanted Mashburn to have her pension. Mashburn "was the most important thing to Lois," said Marilyn Lee, a fellow Tampa police officer who said she knew the couple for several years. Had Marrero been given a choice as to who to leave her pension, Lee said, "It would have been Mickie." Because the state Legislature passed a law in 1999 saying pension members could choose their beneficiary, Doering said the city and the board were remiss in not allowing officers that option by the state's deadline of July 1, 2000. It was not until July 3, 2001, that the city approved the ordinance. Marrero was killed three days later, before she had a chance to change her forms, Doering said. "This is the type of bureaucratic mistake that happens," Doering said. "Yet this mistake had a tragic consequence. Lois Marrero died without being able to exercise her right." With no surviving spouse, any contributions Marrero made to the pension would go to the estate, in this case, Marrero's parents. Marrero's contributions to the pension plan are valued at $50,000. An attorney for the estate said the testimony was "one-sided." "There were a lot of things that we knew were false," said Marty Bubley, who sat next to Marrero's sister, Brenda Marrero, during the hearing. "All it came down to was the opinion of those people -- pure speculation." Bubley said Marrero had three opportunities to name Mashburn as a beneficiary: two life insurance policies and her deferred compensation plan. But she named her mother in all three. The decision disappointed Nadine Smith of Equality Florida, a gay rights organization. She said board members were afraid to vote against the opinion of pension board attorney James Loper, who presented arguments against Mashburn's case during the hearing. "I don't think it's right or fair, but they won't go against their attorney," Smith said. Brenda Marrero said the situation was difficult for everyone. "It was painful to lose Lois," Brenda Marrero said, "and painful to watch this conflict. All those people were hurting."
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Hillsborough Cracks Down On Door-To-Door Meat Sales
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Published: Feb 27, 2002
TAMPA - The Hillsborough County state attorney has filed criminal charges against three men for selling meat door-to- door in the county without permits. Two of the salesmen face an additional charge of failing to get a signed sales agreement. The charges are misdemeanors under state law regulating door-to-door sales. Each charge is punishable by up to a year in jail, 12 months' probation, and fines and court costs, according to the state attorney's office. The office filed the charges at the request of the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency. The agency started investigating after getting complaints of high- pressure sales of bulk frozen meat products. The men facing charges are Keith G. Craft, 36; Shawn M. Kasper, 44; and Timothy W. Taylor, 22. They all list Hillsborough County addresses. Craft and Kasper have been ordered to appear in county court in Tampa to answer the charges; Taylor is to appear in Plant City. They could not be reached for comment. Craft and Taylor are charged with selling without a permit and without getting written agreements. Kasper faces a sole count of selling without a permit. The state requires permits for door-to-door salespeople in an effort to protect consumers. Salespeople must pass a criminal background check and be fingerprinted before they can receive a permit. Consumers have the right to ask a salesperson to see the permit. The permit makes it easier to enforce consumers' right to cancel a sale within three days. The three men were working as self-employed sales agents, peddling frozen meat products from pickups, said Kevin Jackson, chief investigator for the consumer protection agency. The agency has contacted three local meat-supply houses to make sure they comply with state law, Jackson said. The criminal charges against these independent contractors represent an additional effort to enforce the door-to-door sales law. Jackson said these charges relate only to sales in Hillsborough County. But his agency has received complaints from consumers in Polk and Pasco counties as well. Dolores Wasack of Zephyrhills, in Pasco, said she complained to Jackson about what she considered a high- pressure sales pitch and that they couldn't get a salesman to take the meat back later. Wasack said she worries that elderly consumers could be vulnerable to these sales tactics. Jackson said the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency is documenting complaints that come from other counties and, in some cases, is referring them to law enforcement officials in those counties.
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Dwarf-Tossing Suit To Be Short-Lived
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Published: Feb 26, 2002
TAMPA - A federal judge said he will likely dismiss a lawsuit that attacks the state's ban on dwarf tossing. U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday said at a hearing Monday that he will likely grant a motion for summary judgment that will stop a Tampa man's lawsuit at its early stages. David Flood, who is a dwarf and a local radio personality, sued last year. He claims the law unfairly singles out people with dwarfism and prevents them from earning a living in what were popular contests at college campus bars in the 1980s. In the contest, bar patrons hurl dwarfs in harnesses onto a mattress. Florida passed a law outlawing the practice in 1989 after intense lobbying from the advocacy group Little People of America. ``The type of professions he can engage in are pretty limited. He's only 3 feet, 2 inches tall,'' said Flood's attorney, Michael Steinberg. ``His main profession is entertainment. ... If it weren't for being able to perform at bars and nightclubs, he would not be able to make a living.'' Flood, who works as ``Dave the Dwarf'' on the morning radio show on WFLZ, 93.3 FM, did not speak during the 90-minute court hearing. He left the courthouse in a stretch limousine. Merryday said he likely will end the case because ``there's no case in controversy here.'' He said the statute apparently doesn't really prohibit dwarf tossing, because there are no rules in place to enforce it. Although the law is on the books, there are no agency rules on enforcement. The law simply states that bar owners can be subject to fines and losing their liquor license. Steinberg suggested that Flood might try to test the law again, if the judge dismissed the case for this reason. An assistant state attorney general, George Lee Waas, said the state probably will enact rules quickly that regulate dwarf tossing. Both sides suggested the case might come back to court again. Merryday said he will issue his order in the case soon.
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Voyeur Dorm Claims Victory!
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Published: Feb 26, 2002
TAMPA - In the city's long- running, litigious combat with purveyors of adult entertainment, chalk up a victory for voyeurs. The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a lower court decision that prohibited Tampa from shutting down the notorious Voyeur Dorm. The decision means a half-dozen young women can continue having their lives displayed, in real time, on the World Wide Web. ``We feel very vindicated,'' said David Marshlack, president of Tampa-based Entertainment Network Inc., which owns the Voyeur Dorm. ``We believe that the city was trying to govern us ... with an antiquated law.'' The city has been trying to shutter the Voyeur Dorm's cameras for more than two years, saying the business violates adult entertainment codes. Voyeur Dorm subscribers pay $39.95 a month to watch a revolving cast of young women who are paid to undress, shower, sleep and socialize in a home wired with dozens of cameras. In 1999, the city council upheld a zoning decision that the house at 2312 W. Farwell Drive in the Wellswood neighborhood was engaging in an ``adult use'' in a residential zone. The Voyeur Dorm had operated for some time without public attention - even neighbors were unaware of the activities. But the controversy quickly drew national attention at a time when the city also was trying to ban lap dancing at local nude bars. The city wasn't seeking to censor the Voyeur Dorm's content, said Assistant City Attorney Jerry Gewirtz. ``The only issue has been one of location,'' he said. The Voyeur Dorm sued to block the city, but a federal judge ruled in the city's favor. In September, however, a federal appeals court said the business can't be forced to comply with adult-use codes. The business takes place over the Internet, not at the Wellswood house, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The Supreme Court left that ruling in place and didn't rule on the merits of the case. Luke Lirot, a Tampa lawyer representing the Voyeur Dorm, said the business doesn't damage the neighborhood. He called the city ``overzealous.'' The Voyeur Dorm continued streaming live feeds on the Web during the court battle. ``The city pursued [the case] so these things wouldn't start popping up in people's neighborhoods,'' said Mayor Dick Greco. ``We did the best we could, so I guess we'll just have to live with it.'' Perhaps not. Marshlack said the Voyeur Dorm moved into new digs Sunday, a relocation unrelated to the court battle. He said the new location is in Hillsborough County but wouldn't say whether it's in the city limits. Marshlack said the new location isn't zoned for adult businesses. Lirot said the new location is outside city limits. The Dude Dorm, also an Entertainment Network operation, will relocate to the Wellswood house, Marshlack said. The Dude Dorm is similar to Voyeur Dorm, except its inhabitants are men. Marshlack said he will demand the city reimburse his company's legal bills, which he estimated as hundreds of thousands of dollars. ``I think the city wasted a lot of taxpayer money,'' he said. ``We never bothered anybody.''
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Mother Sues Day Care In Boy's Death
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Published: Feb 26, 2002
TAMPA - A woman whose toddler son died after being left strapped in a van sued a day care center and its owner Monday, blaming their negligence for her son's death. Tyrese Green, 16 months, was left in his child seat in the van for more than six hours Nov. 8. The van belonged to Lotta Lovin Child Care Center, 8325 N. Packwood Ave. The center's owner, Shawana C. Stacy, 31, picked up Tyrese and several other children that day and drove them to the center. All the other children were unloaded from the van. In a lawsuit filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, Sedrika Green says Stacy failed to check the van when she unloaded the children at the center. Green says neither Stacy nor her employees looked for Tyrese, even though he was marked present on the attendance log and required meals, naps and diaper changes. Stacy was talking on a cellular phone when she arrived to pick up Tyrese and told at least one child to hurry up, according to the lawsuit. Stacy, of Land O' Lakes, could not be reached for comment. She is free on bail after being charged with manslaughter in Tyrese's death. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. According to her attorney, Stacy didn't normally drive the van but did so Nov. 8 because the center was understaffed.
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Picking Jury A Struggle At DJ's Animal Cruelty Trial
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Published: Feb 26, 2002
TAMPA - Queries to potential jurors ranged from the mundane - ``Do you own a pet?'' - to the head-scratching strange. Take those posed by Norman Cannella Sr., who represents Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. ``Do you believe in fate?'' he asked. ``Do you live for today rather than look to the future?'' After questioning almost four dozen men and women Monday at the Hillsborough County Courthouse, attorneys would not say whether they had accepted a single juror. A six-person jury will determine if Clem and three co-defendants are guilty of felony animal cruelty for the castration and killing of a feral hog. Clem, a disc jockey for WXTB, 97.9 FM, could face up to five years in prison, $10,000 in fines or both if convicted. So, too, could three co-defendants: Brent Hatley, the show's producer; Paul Lauterburg, identified as the hunter who trapped the hog; and Daniel Brooks, who prosecutors say helped hold down the animal. All were charged after a Feb. 27, 2001, radio stunt called ``Bubba's Roadkill Barbecue.'' About 9:30 that morning, in the parking lot of the radio station, a feral hog was castrated and killed while a cheering throng looked on. A far more somber mood enveloped Circuit Judge Ron Ficarrotta's courtroom Monday as almost 100 potential jurors waited to respond to the prosecutor, Assistant State Attorney Darrell Dirks, and at least five defense attorneys. Also on the job for the defense was jury consultant Harvey Moore. The defense queries focused on determining whether potential jurors were particularly passionate about ``shock'' radio, animal rights and the legalities of hunting as necessity, sport or entertainment. The defense has said it plans to demonstrate that the hog was caught, castrated and killed in a commonly accepted manner. The prosecution asked jurors if animal cruelty laws should be strictly enforced, even as they apply to feral hogs. Often considered a destructive nuisance in Florida, the animal may be hunted here. The state has maintained that this particular hog died a cruel death and suffered repeated and unnecessary pain. By day's end, the two sides had excused the majority of those interviewed. The day began with about two dozen Clem supporters huddling outside the courthouse. Posters stated ``Tax dollars wasted on hog wash'' and ``Ober hunts Bubba the Love Sponge,'' a reference to State Attorney Mark Ober. Among the protesters was Spike Montgomery, a 57-year-old massage therapist who stood beside Chester, his 2-year-old German shepherd mix. ``I think it's ludicrous that the government and the county is wasting our time and money ... over something that is done every day,'' said Montgomery, who also said he is a vegetarian. Cynthia Harris, operator of the George L. Davis Pot-Bellied Pig Sanctuary in Fort Myers, disagreed. ``This animal suffered 10 minutes of pure torture and pain ... and this kind of act teaches listeners that it's OK to torture animals,'' she said. Jury selection continues in the trial today, which can be viewed live online at VoyeurCourt.com