The only thing missing is their capes, for they are Supermen. From landscapers to sanitation crews, the city's Public Works crews work in feels-like 100 degree heat and humidity, eight hours a day, five days a week. How do they do it? The secret, we think, is in the orange shirts, rumored to have been found in alien spacecraft wreckage from Roswell, New Mexico. The shirts, we're told, repel all ultra-violet radiation. Or perhaps they absorb all heat and light, we forget which. (If an orange shirt can heat your pool this winter, then absorb it is). Most likely, though, your Public Works crews are truly super human. Thanks, guys, for taking the heat and staying cool.

Special tap-water pop quiz
Beginning next Wednesday, July 29th, and lasting for about six weeks, your may notice a slight difference in the taste and smell of your tap water. This is because Pinellas County Utilities will temporarily use a super-heated orange shirt to disinfect your water. What?! Sorry ... what we meant to say is they'll be using a different chemical to disinfect the water. On to the quiz, then:

Your tap water may possibly taste like: (choose one)
a) Propel, a vitamin enhanced water that is artificially sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium
b) Rondelle of Salmon with Juniper Berry Sauce
c) Everyday water with a hint of chlorine
d) Warm biscuits with white pepper gravy
The correct answer is "c." (If you chose "d," you're our kinda gourmet). Here is the Pinellas County Utilities news release explaining the temporary maintenance chlorination.

"Name That Park" contest coming oh-so-soon
What was the Pinellas County parking lot and beach access across the street from Publix is now Treasure Island's newest park. It was a land grab, plain and simple. The county said, "You may grab this land because, after all, most of it is yours anyway," and we said, "Thank you, county, for the grab." And since we name all our lots and parks after birds, people, things and, oh, say, craters on the moon, here's your opportunity to Name That Park. Our crack legal team, as we speak, is drawing up the contest rules using a fresh pack of Crayolas, so details (in Burnt Sienna and Peach, no doubt) will be forthcoming soon. Oh, and there will be parking pay stations at this lot ... dibs on naming the park "Sand Dollar."