Academic

St. Pete passes 2 ordinances affecting the homeless

Posted on January 25, 2008
Two ordinances that place tighter restrictions on homeless people's actions -- and belongings -- in downtown St. Petersburg have been unanimously approved by the City Council.The ordinances, which take effect Feb. 1, prohibit people from sleeping on public land during the day or leaving personal items along the public right of way, including sidewalks...

Downplaying the number of homeless vets

Posted on January 18, 2008
John Edwards? claim that 200,000 veterans ?will go to sleep under bridges and on grates? because they are homeless continues to draw challenges from Bill O'Reilly.But Edwards is correct. Homelessness amongst veterans is an enduring and heartbreaking reality that is well documentedNevertheless, Bill O'Reilly said: ?They may be out there, but there?s not many of them out there...

Challenging a misconception

Posted on January 18, 2008
Panhandlers haven't disappeared from Gainesville, but street-side panhandling has dropped off significantly since it was banned in July, police said.Read the Independent Florida Alligator article here.Since challenging misconceptions about the homeless is one of my missions, I have to point out Commissioner Ed Braddy's comment...

St. Petersburg ordinances target the homeless

Posted on January 11, 2008
Two ordinances that would prohibit people from sleeping on public land during the day or leaving their personal items along the public right of way have won preliminary approval -- unanimously -- from the St. Petersburg City Council.A public hearing on both ordinances will be held Jan...

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St. Petersburg targets the homeless again

Posted on January 10, 2008
For months, just a few feet from the steps of City Hall, a makeshift encampment has grown. Dozens of homeless people sleep along the sidewalk and store their belongings in sleeping bags, old suitcases and shopping carts. They aren't breaking any laws, police say...

Housing the homeless saves money

Posted on January 09, 2008
Two housing projects are saving taxpayers in Seattle about $3.2 million a year by directly addressing their residents' struggles with alcoholism, mental health problems and other issues.Preliminary studies indicate that the projects are dramatically reducing visits to the public hospital, sobering center and jail...

Speaking up for the homeless (and others whose voices aren't heard)

Posted on January 08, 2008
?Tonight, a man or a woman whose name is unknown, who served this country patriotically and wore the uniform of the United States of America, will go to sleep under a bridge or on a grate, homeless,? said John Edwards in his speech after finishing third in the New Hampshire primary...

Lawsuit challenges ban on feeding homeless in West Palm Beach parks

Posted on December 27, 2007
Two groups that share food with the hungry and homeless have sued West Palm Beach, claiming its ordinance that outlaws their activity is unconstitutional, vague and overbroad.Saying the feeding ban institutes a "pay to pray" system in the city, Art and Compassion and Food Not Bombs claim their rights to feed the down-trodden in front of the library and at Meyer Amphitheater are just as important as charitable work done by those who can afford to build churches and other buildings...

Hard numbers

Posted on December 24, 2007
From the Columbia Journalism Review:58Number of stories mentioning the words "poverty," "low income," "homelessness," "welfare" or "food stamps" on the nightly newscasts of ABC, CBS and NBC between 9/11/03 and 10/30/06.69Number of stories those newscasts aired about Michael Jackson's legal woes during the same period.

I guess I should have known this already

Posted on December 20, 2007
No member of the current Supreme Court has ever defended a person accused of committing a felony.That means they have no experience with the dynamics of a criminal trial and have never sat in a dilapidated cell block with the poor and battered souls -- predominantly of color -- who are hauled into the nation?s criminal courts...

Another way to feed the homeless (you'll laugh out loud)

Posted on December 13, 2007
I just may have to try this myself.

Gifts as they are

Posted on December 13, 2007
"My clients are indigent ...," writes Kenshusei, who I gather is a public defender somewhere in Florida."Occasionally (though a better word might be 'rarely'), we really get to help people out of tight spots and our clients want to thank us. Now, as we've already established my clients are ...

Finally, a presidential candidate addresses homelessness

Posted on December 12, 2007
And no surprise here ? it?s John Edwards.The subject of homelessness hasn?t come up in any of the debates, not even in St. Petersburg with homeless protestors camped outside.Street Sense, a Washington, D.C., newspaper, asked the major candidates from both parties six questions to learn how they would combat poverty if elected president...

Some holiday cheer for St. Pete's homeless

Posted on December 11, 2007
Evander Preston (middle) hands out gifts to the homeless at Williams Park indowntown St. Petersburg. Preston became the homeless' Santa Claus, giving all the good street men and women what they really wanted for Christmas.Photo from Creative LoafingAt first, the homeless people who live in St...

New tent city opens in St. Petersburg

Posted on December 06, 2007
Debra Lilley unpacks her things in a tent after arriving at Pinellas Hope, a new facility that provides assistance and shelter for 250 people.Photo from the St. Petersburg TimesHomeless Pinellas residents are moving into Pinellas Hope, a temporary "tent city" operated by Catholic Charities on 10 acres in an industrial area in mid Pinellas County...

Belittling the homeless degrades us all

Posted on December 03, 2007
What happens when we strike out at the poor and try to drive them from the streets of our city, when we call them names and represent them to ourselves as less than human, when we cite and arrest them by the tens of thousands for merely trying to exist, when we send police instead of caregivers, and when we enact and enforce policies that serve only to punish and harass the innocent victims of our neglect?Read Rabbi Alan Lew's answer, published in the San Francisco Chronicle, here.

Orlando equal to Moscow? Not quite yet

Posted on December 03, 2007
Orlando has long aspired to be a world-class city.Just a few weeks ago, Mayor Buddy Dyer described the opening of Orlando's new IKEA store as something that will "cement our position as a retail destination equal to Stockholm, Moscow and Beijing."But Orlando falls short of Moscow in at least one way -- making provisions for homeless people to vote...

Lakeland abruptly turns on those who found refuge on its streets

Posted on December 02, 2007
About a dozen Lakeland police officers ordered street residents to stay away from their belongings while a shovel on a city truck scooped them up. Blankets, clothes, mattresses and papers fell into a dump truck in a tangle.A police captain admitted the homeless people weren't warned that a raid would take place the next day...

Homeless man sues restaurant over scalding

Posted on November 30, 2007
A homeless man who claims he was doused with scalding water for panhandling at a Kentucky Fried Chicken has sued the company and the store manager. William Zimmerman, 50, alleges he was seriously injured when manager Kimberly Mallory poured the water on him at the store in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park in July...

Looking at the truth of the American Dream

Posted on November 28, 2007
"Doing better? than one?s parents has long been a key element of the American Dream. The story, embedded in our history and our literature, suggests any person can start from humble beginnings and achieve great wealth, or at least reach the middle class...

Homeless protest moves across the street to avoid arrests

Posted on November 27, 2007
A showdown between the city of St. Petersburg and advocates for the homeless ended peacefully Monday afternoon when protesters avoided arrest by moving across the street from the Mahaffey Theater. Demonstrators had planned to spend four days on the sidewalk in front of the theater -- home to the CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate on Wednesday -- to protest city policies that they felt were harsh and unfair toward the homeless...

... just drown them (part 2)

Posted on November 26, 2007
The homeless and their advocates who spent Sunday night along First Street South in St. Petersburg said they received an unexpected surprise: blasts of water from nearby sprinklers. "They knew we'd be here," Rev. Bruce Wright said of the sprinkler system, which many of those camped out said started about three different times throughout the night...

St. Pete fences out homeless rally

Posted on November 26, 2007
The location chosen by homeless advocates to highlight the plight of St. Petersburg's homeless is being fenced off."They think we're going to become invisible," said William "Grandpa" Shumate, 59, who lives in front of City Hall.In preparation for Wednesday's Republican presidential debate at the Mahaffey Theater, the city is setting up a barricade and telling participants in a multi-day rally that they'll have to find another place...

Show your support with juice, water, video cameras ... or just your presence

Posted on November 25, 2007
With the national media coming to St. Petersburg for the GOP debate, advocates for the homeless are holding four days of protest, including a "sleep-in" and hunger strike. While organizers said they would act peacefully and within the law, the specter of a confrontation with police looms, recalling the incident in January when officers slashed the tents of homeless people...

Something to think about ... while you enjoy those leftovers

Posted on November 23, 2007
Did you enjoy that turkey yesterday? And the stuffing and gravy and pumpkin pie? Did you loosen your belt and take a nap, secure in the thought that there are plenty of leftovers for today, and plenty of food for you and your family for the foreseeable future? If you can answer "yes" to those questions, you're one of the lucky ones, among the 89% of Americans who don't have to worry where their next meal is coming from...

Georgia court overturns restrictions on where sex offenders live

Posted on November 21, 2007
Georgia's law restricting where sex offenders can live has been struck down by the state supreme court.The law banned registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, churches and other areas where children congregate."It is apparent that there is no place in Georgia where a registered sex offender can live without being continually at risk of being ejected," reads the unanimous opinion...

No need to arrest the homeless.Just drown them.

Posted on November 18, 2007
A few nights ago, Blurbex found a group of homeless people standing by a bus stop in downtown St. Petersburg* wrapped in blankets.And then the blood started to boil.For the last few months, homeless folks have taken to camping out on the sidewalk in front of City Hall -- not as a protest, but just because there are simply few places to sleep these days where business owners won?t complain...

A feel-good moment

Posted on November 16, 2007
Hangin' out at Panera this morning (okay, I was using the free wi-fi), I saw Enzo* walking by with a cup of coffee.I hadn't seen him for a while. Turns out he'd been in his hometown in upstate New York, where he actually managed to get his birth certificate...

"Startling information"?

Posted on November 13, 2007
"WINK News has uncovered startling information about the number of homeless students in Southwest Florida," the report reads."We found out there are close to a thousand kids without a home attending school right now."Startling? Only if you haven't been paying any attention at all to what's happening in your community...

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