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TAMPA Officials broke ground Thursday on the fourth and last apartment building planned at Encore, the $425 million mixed-use, mixed-income residential community just north of downtown.

The Tempo at Encore will join The Ella, The Reed and The Trio on 28 acres where the Central Park Village public housing community stood until 2007.

Theyve taken a drug-filled, gang-infested violent neighborhood and turned it into the something to be proud of, Mayor Bob Buckhorn said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The seven-story, 203-unit Tempo complex, expected to be completed in 2015, will have a swimming pool with outdoor theater, a two-story clubhouse with a fitness center, community space, a library, a WiFi cafe, multipurpose rooms, a nondenominational chapel and music rehearsal rooms. Construction is estimated to cost about $43.3 million.

The Encore project pays homage to Tampas segregation-era Central Avenue, once a thriving black-owned business and entertainment district. Nightclubs in the area attracted performers like Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and James Brown.

When Encore is completed it will have shops, offices, a hotel, a museum of black history and a refurbished Perry Harvey Sr. Park. A grocery store and condominiums also are planned, and there is space for another residential building.

The project is expected to create about 1,000 jobs, officials have said.

This is another exciting step on the pathway to progress for the city of Tampa and our community, said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a longtime proponent of the Encore project.

Redevelopment of the Central Avenue district long has been a goal of local officials. Through the years the area transformed from a family-friendly urban neighborhood to a magnet for crime and blight between downtown and Ybor City.

Plans for Encore supported by a combination of local, state and federal money moved forward after the former Central Park Village was torn down, but came to a halt during the recession. In December 2012, the project received a federal Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhood grant for $30 million so developers could complete work on the last three apartment buildings.

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City breaks ground on final Encore segment

Scientists from the Burke Museumare making preparations to remove a tusk fromthe bottom of an apartment building construction site.

Theyare digging out a Columbian mammoth tusk that was discovered by workers on Tuesday.

Christian Sidor is a paleontologist with the museum.

"Right now, without any further excavation, it stands at7feet long, and we're not at the tip of the tusk yet," said Sidor.

Heestimatedthe age of the artifact at 22,000years, but it could be up to 60,000years old.

Carbon-datingtests will be able to offer a more precise age for the fossil.

The property owner is AMLI Residential.

"We think this is an amazing find, and it's not something that should end up in a living room or even in a leasing office lobby.It should end up where everyone can see it," saidone of the company's officers, Scott Koppelman.

AMLI has given the Burke Museum permission to put the tusk on display.

The museumhas 25 other mammoth fossils, but this could be the largest tusk ever found in Washington State.

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South Lake Union mammoth tusk excavation continues

BOGOTA - The 44-unit apartment complex currently under construction at 297 Palisade Ave. continues to be the center of controversy in Bogota with the filing of a lawsuit by the developer against the borough and the council president.

Council President Jorge Nunez and Borough Clerk Fran Garlicki were served with papers notifying them of the lawsuit before the Jan. 30 special meeting that was called to appoint the boroughs professionals for 2014.

The suit was filed by 297 Palisade Ave. Urban Renewal, LLC, which is the developer of the apartment building set to be constructed on the former site of the Florence E. Dewey Elementary School.

Attorney Paul Kaufman, of the firm Kaufman, Semeraro and Leibman, LLP, which represents the developer, said that his firm had served the borough clerk with an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for emails sent by Nunez, including emails that were sent to a local daily newspaper, and was given a certification by the clerk that there were none.

Kaufman said that this "doesnt quite add up" as statements made by Nunez in a Dec. 31, 2013 article in a local daily newspaper, which was on the subject of a stop work order that was issued, were specifically noted to have been said via email. Kaufman stated that it is a violation of the Open Public Records Act.

Construction began on Dec. 23, 2013 with soil removal work being done at the construction site, but was ordered to stop on Dec. 30, 2013 when borough officials could not locate a permit from the county to begin digging. The letter had been on file with Borough Engineer Harry Tuvel, but he was on vacation at the time and officials did not have immediate access to his files.

The lawsuit was filed to compel the borough to turn over Nunezs emails and to have someone appointed to go through the boroughs computers since the borough did not send any of the emails containing the quoted statements that appeared in the article in the local daily newspaper, said Kaufman.

For his part, Nunez stated that he believes this is an attempt on behalf of the developer to intimidate him and stop him from asking questions about the project and voicing his concerns.

Nunez has been a vocal opponent of the tax abatement given to the developer since the Sept. 19 meeting at which the resolution was passed to execute the payment in lieu of taxes agreement between the borough and the developer.

"This sweet heart deal is bad for Bogota and bad for taxpayers," said Nunez in an emailed statement. "I will continue to pursue every avenue to protect taxpayers in Bogota from the negative impacts of this deal. There are many questions that need to be answered about the flawed process and conflicts associated to this project."

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Developer sues Bogota and council president over alleged OPRA violation

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) A program allowing people to enjoy restaurant patios for an hour longer in Vancouver may be expanded come Wednesday.

Vancouver council will vote to open the trial up to more than 300 large patio restaurants.

Forty-six of the patios have taken it up so far but we have 316 large patios in the city so wed like to see this expand. Wed like to see it in neighbourhoods throughout the city so we can really test peoples ability to really run those patios well and make sure the neighbours are okay with it, says Vancouver City Councillor Heather Deal.

Hours would extend to midnight and the trial would run from April to October.

It also allows some restaurants, if they are in the right kind of area with the right kind of sidewalk, to apply to have their patio not right next to the building but perhaps across the sidewalk from it so that you can put the tables and chairs amongst things like street trees but leave the sidewalk open in between for people to walk.

Deal says most should be able to apply to take part but cant have a poor record of complaints.

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Patios may soon be open later at more Vancouver restaurants

If you enjoy a pleasant evening on a restaurant patio you might raise a glass to this: Vancouver has decided to allow a select number of restaurants to keep their patios open longer hours during the Sochi Olympics.

Some of those restaurants can even expand their patio service, as long as everyone remains well behaved.

Even in mid-February, you can find those outdoor heated patios in use in Vancouver.

Under current rules, restaurants must stop serving alcohol at 11:00 p.m.

But starting in April, some of the trouble-free restaurants will be allowed to serve up to midnight.

In the summer, the choice is easy: most restaurant goers will choose outdoor seating.

And while extending serving an extra hour might seem a progressive step by international standards, B.C.s regulations are very conservative.

Patios in cities like Paris and Amsterdam never close.

The city is planning on taking the outdoor patio one step further, a step they say will appeal to restaurants in the right location. Some restaurants may able to open patios on the opposite side of the street from their establishment.

Several B.C. restaurants and pubs have applied for special liquor permits to accommodate Olympic events that start early, like Thursday mornings Canada vs. Norway hockey game.

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Some Vancouver patios will now be able to stay open until midnight

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