Lawyers have long said that prosecutors hold so much influence over grand juries that they could indict a ham sandwich. Personally, I think it's disrespectful for anyone, even legal experts, to compare our mayor to pork products. Still, there are some interesting leftovers from last week's exoneration and return to office of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer:
Isn't it ironic? One of the people who signed Gov. Jeb Bush's executive order reinstating Dyer to office last week also signed the order that had suspended him. That was Secretary of State Glenda Hood -- the woman who, when she was mayor, used the exact same ballot-broker who got Dyer (but not her) indicted.
A costly race. With Dyer back, the candidates running in the special election to replace him not only lost their chance to be mayor, but they also have not been refunded the $4,330.55 they had to pay to run. That was what Bill Frederick, Sam Ings and Ken Mulvaney paid in filing fees. (Billy Manes and Ed Lopes asked for a hardship discount rate of $2,887.03.) Realizing this seems unfair, City Clerk Alana Brenner said she is going to ask the City Council on Monday to refund the money. That would be welcome news to Manes, who attended Dyer's re-emergence rally Wednesday night, gratefully sipping a drink and saying: "The least I could get out of this was a glass of wine."
Even more costly. Frederick not only gave up the filing fee; he also gave up a seat on Progress Energy's national board -- one that was worth about $300,000. Friends say there is at least an outside chance that Frederick can get the seat back.
On the plus side of the ledger. One person who appears to have fared better in the whole to-do is lawyer Skip Dalton. Dalton's downtown Embassy Suites -- which has become one of the hip spots for political events -- was the site of a fund-raiser for Frederick, a debate among the special-election candidates and Dyer's welcome-back party.
Bravo for Cirque
Central Florida's premier acrobats celebrated a 3,000th performance Saturday, the same night the show was featured on the Bravo network.
The audience for the 9 p.m. show of Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba at Downtown Disney roared with appreciation of the milestone occasion.
Of particular merit were trampoline artist Alexandre Daniltchenko and musician Benoit Glazer, who performed in every one of the 3,000 shows.
For the numerists among you, show producers have calculated that, in doing 3,000 shows, performers have bounced on trampolines more than 1.2 million times -- and used more than 4,800 rolls of white tape in the physical therapy room.
A repeat of the televised tribute to the show airs tonight at 9 on Bravo.
The Party Seen
Orlando Style, one of the region's newest magazines, staged a party for the young people who look as chic and glossy as its publication.
Pro golfer Scott Hoch and wife, Sally, attorney Mark NeJame and wife, Josie, and WKMG-Channel 6 investigative reporter Wendy Saltzman were among the few hundred people who crowded downtown Orlando's Rhythm and Flow on Thursday night.
The party, put on by publisher Sven Bode, doubled as a fund-raiser for Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough's Lupus Foundation. With Dorough on tour with the boys, his mother and sister represented the family.
Stapp still feels slap from suit
Ex-Creed rocker Scott Stapp may have moved out of his Orange County home, but he still has a lawsuit against him in the courthouse here -- one in which Stapp is accused of not paying for $60,000 worth of treatment he received from a California doctor.
The lawsuit, filed by former business partner Jeffrey Cameron, says that Cameron paid Dr. David Kipper $60,000 "for certain medical treatments received by the defendant." It goes on to say that Stapp promised to reimburse Cameron, but never did.
Kipper, who has treated the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, was the subject of an investigative piece by the Los Angeles Times in 1998 that highlighted Kipper's unorthodox practice of offering a detoxification program in a posh hotel for anywhere from $10,000 to $19,000 a week.
Cameron's Orlando attorney would not comment on the suit. Neither would a spokesman for Stapp, who moved to South Florida.
But in an interview last year, when MTV asked him about a concert where attendees sued because they said it was so bad, Stapp said: "I've heard the rumors that I was whacked out on drugs, and I can tell you what I was whacked out on . . . prednisone," an anti-inflammatory prescription drug.
Keeping his chin up -- and eyes open
WESH-Channel 2 meteorologist Mike O'Lenick is obviously trying to remain optimistic about the job search that station execs forced on him by not renewing his contract. During an early-morning segment with Al Roker from the Today show, Roker looked right into the camera and said: "Mike O'Lenick is the man!" Who cared if the cameras were rolling? O'Lenick (who is hoping to snag a new job before his contract expires this fall) quickly came back with: "Thanks, Al. Can I use you as a reference?"
Source: Orlando Sentinel
