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pinellas.tampabay.com Sunday, July 27, 2008 CLW

Pike Place Market provides a one-stop shop for all that is Seattle. Latitudes

PALM HARBOR

MAN ARRESTED

IN BURGLARY,SEXUAL ASSAULTDeputies have arrested aman suspected of slippinginto the home of a 57-year-old Palm Harbor woman

around 2a.m. Fridaythrough anunlockeddoor, bindingher hands,beating andkicking herin the face

with enough force to breakbones, and raping her.Christopher Lee Granado,40, of 706 Sparrow Ave.,Palm Harbor, was arrestedabout 9 p.m. Friday near

the Pinellas-Pasco countyline. He was charged withsexual battery with intentto commit great bodilyharm, burglary and falseimprisonment. The victimsadult daughter was alsostruck after walking in onthe assault, Pinellas CountySheriff officials said. Gra-nado was being held in thePinellas County jail, with bailset at $500,000.

CLEARWATER

Event for homelessneeds 500 helpersOrganizers of ProjectHomeless Connect arelooking for 500 volunteers

to participate in a one-dayeffort Sept. 27 to help thoseon the street and those inneed. The one-day servicefair will run from 8:30 a.m. to3:30 p.m. at the HarborviewCenter, 300 Cleveland St.Its goal is to connect thehomeless and others inneed with professionalswho can provide servicessuch as medical and dentalscreenings; job and housingassistance and social, legaland transportation services.Volunteers must attend oneof six training sessions priorto the event. Visit www.pinellasconnect.org for theschedule or to register asa volunteer. For informa-tion, call Betty Moran at the

American Red Cross, (727)446-2358.

LARGO

Green Armadaneeds helpers, tooIf youd rather volunteer foran environmental cause, thenonprofit Green Armada,along with the city of Largoand River Quest, is lookingfor people to help clean upthe shores of the Largo pad-dling trail Aug. 9. The eventis scheduled for 8 a.m. at theLargo Central Park NaturePreserve, 150 Highland Ave.SE, south of East Bay Driveand behind Everest Univer-sity. Volunteers are urgedto bring their own kayaks orcanoes, but organizers dohave 77 seats available onvessels for those who donthave their own. All volun-teers are asked to registerat www.GreenArmada.org.To reserve a seat, call JoeGonzalez toll-free at 1-800-496-9161; press 1 for TampaBay, then 3 to volunteer.

CLEARWATER

Saturday picniccelebrates culturesThe city of Clearwater ishosting a multicultural back-to-school picnic that willcombine school supplies,hot dogs and traditionalcultural arts into an exercise

in community-building. Thefree picnic will be from 10a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday atGlen Oaks Park, 1345 CourtSt. One of the goals is tocelebrate the diverse popu-lation of the East GatewayDistrict, which is betweenDrew and Court streetsand Highland and Missouriavenues. The picnic will fea-ture performances by Sun-drummers drumming circleand the Folklorico Mexicodance troupe. Childrensactivities will include the artofpapel picado, or papercutting, T-shirt tie-dying andgames. School supplies willbe distributed to childrenwhile they last and there willbe drawings for prizes. Forinformation, call (727) 562-4047 or visit www.myclearwater.com/eastgateway.

In the

know

Granado

BY RITA FARLOWTimes Staff Writer

A decade ago, during his first

campaign for the state legisla-ture, a volunteer came up with

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis slogan:

Gus is for Us.It may not be the sexiest motto,

but Bilirakis said hes kept itbecause it speaks to his primary

mission: remembering the con-

stituents back home each timehe steps on the House floor to

cast a vote.

I want to continue to liveup to that because it means Im

fighting for the people in my dis-

trict, Bilirakis said.In the freshman incumbents

bid to retain his seat, Bilira-kis has name recognition on his

side. His father, Mike, held the

seat from 1983 to 2006.

But Bilirakis, 45, could have

some heavy competition thisyear in U.S. House District 9,

which covers northern Pinel-las, western Pasco and suburban

Hillsborough counties.

John Dicks, 55, has caught theattention of Democratic Party

strategists.

First the former Plant Citymayor will take on Tampa law-

yer Bill Mitchell and Hispanicadvocate Anita de Palma in next

months primary. But Bilira-

kis name recognition and themoney hes been able to collect

could prove to be the greatest

hurdle for challengers in this his-torically conservative district.

Based on the June 30 cam-paign reports, Bilirakis has

raised $1.05-million in contribu-

tions.Dicks has brought in $104,651

and loaned himself another

$320,000.Mitchell has collected about

$70,000 in contributions andloaned his campaign another

BY LORRI HELFANDTimes Staff Writer

Two weeks ago, PinellasCounty officials said full fund-

ing for paramedic services next

year was in jeopardy because ofAmendment 1.

Last week, county commission-

ers solved the problem by voting totap into about $970,000 in emer-

gency medical services reserves.With the bump from reserves,

county funding for first respond-ers next year is about $41-million,

which is generated by a separate

EMS property tax.Commissioners didnt stop

there.

To make the system more effi-cient and less costly, officials

plan in coming months to reviewthe first-responder program and

EMS transports and start talk-ing about consolidating services,

interim County Administrator

Fred Marquis told commission-ers last week.

And in October 2009, the

county plans to terminate all thefive-year contracts it signed with

cities last October

and renegotiate future contracts.

Paramedics respond to med-ical emergencies from 19 fire

agencies, and Sunstar Emer-

gency Medical Services hasan exclusive contract with the

county for its ambulances to take

people to the hospital.

The St. Petersburg Times

reported in April that officials

acknowledge that the current

system of sending both fire-res-cue and private ambulances to

virtually every medical call iscostly. Sending fewer fire units

to minor medical calls could save

up to $10-million over a decade,advocates say.

The possibility of changes

especially the idea that fire

InterimCountyAdministratorFred Marquis:A review andtalks aboutconsolidationare planned.

Consolidate fire departments?For the sake of efficiency, fire chiefs and countyofficials appear to be more willing to compromise.

. See FIRE, 5

Courtesy of Zach Railey

Railey, who is 6 feet 4, will go up against 24 other sailors on Finns, heavyweightsingle-man boats. He says hes lost 20 pounds in preparation for the Olympics.

Courtesy of Zach Railey

Zach Railey, 24, who first learned to sail at the Clearwater Yacht Club, will represent the United States at the Olympics in China this summer.

In the U.S. Olympic sailing trials, there are only two

options. Win or go home. At Olympic tri-

als last October in Newport Beach, Calif., Zach Rai-

ley won, realizing a dream he first had a dozen years ago.

Now the 24-year-old Clearwater native is in Qingdao,

China, making final preparations to compete in the Finn-

class sailing race on Aug. 9.

The race before the race

Bilirakis (R) de Palma (D) Dicks (D) Mitchell (D)

Three Democrats in the August primary fightto run against Gus Bilirakis in November.

Congressional District 9

. See PRIMARY, 6

Setting his sights on the gold

At age 8 his dad put him in a sailing class to keep him out of trouble, now this 24-year-old is

BY JACKIE ALEXANDER | Times Staff Writer

Only the top American sail-or in the Finn, a heavyweight

single-man boat, gets an Olym-

pic berth. Railey will face afield of 25 sailors from around

the world, including 2004 goldmedalist Ben Ainslie of Eng-

land and current world cham-

pion Jonas Hoegh-Christensenof Denmark.

Railey said a dozen sailors

have the mettle to win one of thethree medals.

And he thinks he is one ofthem.

Raileys sailing career started

at age 8.His father, Dan, said he was

sitting in the chair of the family

dentist.What are the children doing

for the summer? dentist Pete

Crawford asked Dan Railey.. See SAILING, 5