Morning Briefing, August 17

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 17, the 228th day of 2011.

HEADLINES

TIDBITS

• . Share the story with our readers by emailing mike.wells@patch.com.
• Upcoming elections, the national debt, crime prevention in Central Tampa — you've probably got an opinion on something, right? ?

EVENTS

• 11 a.m. at Curtis Hixon Park, 400 N. Ashley Dr.
• 7 p.m. at New World Brewery at 1313 E. 8th Ave.

See Patch's Events Calendar for the rest of today's happenings.

MEETINGS

City of Tampa

• 5 p.m. Drew Park CAC Code Enforcement Sub-Committee, 3818 W. Tampa Bay Blvd.

Hillsborough County

• 9 a.m. Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
• 6:30 p.m. Disaster Preparedness Program, 7606 Paula Dr.

FORECAST

• Wednesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 102. Calm wind becoming west southwest around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
• Wednesday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. North northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

POLLEN LEVEL

• Tree: No Activity
• Grass: Very High
• Weed: High

*Headlines compiled from Patch.com and other regional media outlets; Forecast and Pollen Level obtained from the National Weather Service and Weather.com.