Morning Briefing, August 18

Today is Thursday, Aug. 18, the 229th day of 2011.

HEADLINES

TIDBITS

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

EVENTS

• 1 p.m. at the North Tampa Branch Library, 8916 N. Boulevard.
• 5:30 p.m.at St. Joseph's Hospital, 3001 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

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

MEETINGS

City of Tampa

• 5 p.m. Tampa City Council Evening Session, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd. Here is the agenda.

Hillsborough County

• 3 p.m. Health Care Advisory Board, 3402 N. 22nd St.

FORECAST

• Thursday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Heat index values as high as 101. East southeast wind at 6 mph becoming west. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
• Thursday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. North wind at 6 mph becoming east. Chance of precipitation is 20%

POLLEN LEVEL

• Tree: No Activity
• Grass: Medium
• Weed: Low

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