LARGO, FLORIDA - Creative Pinellas and the programs it delivers are funded by the Pinellas County Board Commission, Visit St Petersburg / Clearwater, the state of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and by sales of the State of the Arts specialty license plate in Pinellas.
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​Five Pinellas County artists will be presenting proposals for a traveling public art project announced by Creative Pinellas earlier this year. They are Carrie Boucher, Kate Helms, Kenny Jensen, Mickett/Stackhouse Studios and Ya La’ford.

The project, which is supported by BP funds, is designed to be interactive, impactful and engaging, and able to be enjoyed by each community where it lands and spends some time, before moving to its next location in the county.

“We went through a very active, detailed and ultimately thoughtful process in reaching out to the artists in our community and in determining which artists we would ask to take the next steps and develop a formal proposal,” said Christopher Hubbard, programs manager for Creative Pinellas, in a press release. “Over 40 artists responded to our initial call, and it was an amazing reminder of the level of talent and artistic energy we have here in Pinellas County.”

The call to artists was open to Pinellas County artists, with the goal of creating a singular work or grouped assemblage that will travel to multiple locations throughout Pinellas starting in early-mid 2019. Right now, communities from the northernmost border of Tarpon Springs to St. Pete Beach and multiple destinations in between have agreed to host the artwork. The project’s aims include accessibility for all and the desire to engender a sense of civic pride and shared community.

This art project is funded from the BP settlement funds related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill with the support of the Pinellas County Commission. Over the last six months, Creative Pinellas has been working with local municipal partners to identify which countywide locations could best serve this art project, as well as gathering Tampa Bay arts educators, artists, community builders and business influencers to serve as a project panel that has helped to craft the Call to Artists and will act as stewards to continually push the project forward.

To learn more about the selected finalists, the project’s background and its goal of a connected Pinellas County, visit creativepinellas.org/communityart.

FRIENDSWOOD, Texas - It was supposed to be a quiet night for Jerome Karam, his wife Leslie and their son.
They had just finished dinner and were driving back to their Friendswood home when they noticed something odd in the rearview mirror. “We noticed that there were six police cars with the lights on,” said Jerome Karam.
In utter disbelief, Leslie Karam called 911, thinking the stop was a hoax.
Through an intercom, the Karams were ordered by officers to get out of the car as guns were pointed at them.
Friendswood Police Department officers then realized there was a license plate mix-up.
The SUV the Karams were driving is a 2018 white Cadillac with his specialty license plates, which previously were on his old black Cadillac that he traded in a while ago.
While Jerome Karam registered his plate to his new car, the plate still carried the old VIN number that belonged to the black Cadillac, which was stolen in Blue Mound.
Officers followed standard felony stop procedures, and Blue Mound police said the problem falls on the DMV.
Jerome Karam and his wife said the rattling traffic stop was their wake up call.
“Make sure if you sell your car that you double- and triple-check with your DMV,” said Leslie Karam.

​By Sally Mamdooh

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles is accepting orders for two new specialty-license plates: Musky Clubs Alliance and the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation. 
The purchase of these plates includes the $15 issuance fee for non-personalized plates and an additional $25 tax-deductible donation, which is also required at each renewal. Funds generated from these plates go toward each organization’s goals.
Donations for the 4-H Foundation will go toward the 4-H Youth Development program. Donations for the Musky Clubs Alliance will fund musky research, habitat improvement and stocking efforts for Wisconsin’s state fish.
In addition, Wisconsin motorists can personalize the license plates for an additional $15 fee each year. An online tool checks whether the personalization is already in use (Personalized Plate Lookup). It can take four to six weeks for the manufacture and delivery of the personalized plates.

​Nobody goes to the DMV when it’s open unless they have to. So, dropping by a driver’s license branch when it’s closed counts as suspicious activity on the face of it.

Especially if you leave with a Zebra printer, a Dell computer and two Dell monitors.

That’s what Florida Highway Patrol says a thieving threesome got from the Miami Gardens office of the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 18326 NW Seventh Ave., around 4 a.m. Aug. 26. They made appearances on the surveillance video, so FHP is hoping somebody recognizes them.

Anyone with information about this can call FHP at *347 (*FHP).