1/2 FLORIDA BRIEFS: Gunfire injures 12-year-old

RUSKIN -- Authorities say celebratory gunfire falling from the sky critically injured a 12-year-old Tampa Bay-area boy.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff?s Office says the boy?s family was sitting outside their Ruskin home at about 1 a.m. Sunday and watching fireworks.

Sheriff?s office spokesman Larry McKinnon says the boy?s mother saw him fall to the ground, bleeding from his nose and eyes. She drove him to a hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a gunshot wound from a bullet that entered the top of his head.

McKinnon says the boy remains hospitalized in Tampa in critical condition with the bullet still in his head.The sheriff?s office says the boy apparently was struck by celebratory gunfire that could have been fired miles away.

Sunshine Skyway will appear on stamp

ST. PETERSBURG -- A Tampa Bay-area landmark will be featured on a United States postage stamp.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that the U.S. Postal Service announced Friday that the Sunshine Skyway will appear on a priority mail stamp.

The bridge stretches more than four miles across Tampa Bay, linking Pinellas and Manatee counties. It was completed in 1987.

The Postal Service said the stamp will feature the bridge silhouetted against an orange sky above the blue water of the bay.

Designed by Carl T. Hermann of North Las Vegas, Nev., the stamp showcases a digital illustration created by New York artist Dan Cosgrove.

The stamp?s date of issue has not been set.

State?s largest newspaper now Tampa Bay Times

ST. PETERSBURG -- Florida?s largest newspaper has a new name.

The St. Petersburg Times became the Tampa Bay Times on Sunday.

The downtown Tampa arena where the Tampa Bay Lightning play hockey also starts the new year with a new name. The St. Pete Times Forum became the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Newspaper officials announced the changes in November, saying the new name reflected the newspaper?s growth across the Tampa Bay region.

The St. Petersburg-based Poynter Institute for Media Studies remains the paper?s owner. Its free tabloid tbt* will remain free and will be published as an edition of the Tampa Bay Times.

-- The Associated Press

Source: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/01/02/3758925/gunfire-injures-12-year-old.html

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