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By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published July 19, 2006

Thieves cart of commerical AC units

How hot is Tampa in July? Thank you for asking. It's so hot that somebody swiped two commercial air conditioners, each weighing close to 300 pounds. The AC units were stolen from Alday Donaldson Title, at 2703 Kennedy Blvd., between Saturday and Monday, police say. Each is worth about $3,000. No arrests so far. The theft followed several in Pasco County in May.

Store roof that gave way gets replaced

Workers began installing a new roof on the Bed, Bath & Beyond store on 66th Street N in St. Petersburg this week, five months after a section collapsed in a February downpour. Additional drainage will be built into the roof, which collapsed while the store was open. The contractor thinks the $2-million job could be finished by Thanksgiving, just in time for the holiday shopping rush.

Another Pinellas judge wins notable dishonor

Once again, a Pinellas Circuit judge has topped the Reader's Digest list of the worst judges in America. Pinellas Judge Brandt Downey, whom a judicial panel charged with trolling pornography on his office computer and sexual harassment, was the first name on the magazine's 2006 Broken Gavel Award winners, according to the magazine's Web site. Downey faces a public reprimand Sept. 22 and has agreed to retire Dec. 31 and never seek another judicial post. Former Pinellas Circuit Judge Charles Cope topped the list in 2003 for drunken antics at a judicial conference in California. Cope later resigned. Keeping count? That's two in four years.

Correction

St. Petersburg City Council member Rick Kriseman is a Democrat. A story Monday misstated his party affiliation. Also, Kriseman is 44 and graduated from the University of Florida. His age and his university were misstated in a story June 23.

[Last modified July 19, 2006, 05:40:46]