Headline; Ahhh yeah, hurricanes, the scourge of Florida. Well of many other states also, but Florida most of all. There we are sticking right down into the hurricane tracks like a big thumb. Just like we're snubbing our nose at the storm and daring it to come our way. Unfortunately many do but fortunately, at least for us, many do not.

Mexico, Texas and Louisiana are frequent targets should the storm decide to head for the Gulf. And if the storm decides to stay in the Atlantic then it's Georgia and the Carolinas turn to feel the fury! Strangely the Tampa Bay area as well as the Jacksonville area are infrequently the bulls-eye. Once again good for us but somebody has to pay the price.    I have lived in St. Pete/Pinellas Park for nearly 50 years and have been victimized by only 5 storms. Three were category 1 and the others were category 3's but lost most of their punch by the time they crossed the state to our area. Two of the storms caused damage around $5000 each with both covered by Insurance. One of which was a brand new home situated on Turners Creek in NE St. Pete. I had just moved in about 3 months before the storm (Agnes) from a 36 foot boat I owned and lived on for several years. The boat weathered the storm fine but not so the house!

So as the season develops we will have to wait to see what the Gods have in store for us. I will stand my ground and curse that demon and spit right in his eye, forsaking all that is sensible and of sound mind.

Well probably I'll do as most of you will do and stay tuned to the weather and heed the advice of the various storm warning agencies that will clog the air waves. But for the adventurous souls I'm sure there will be plenty of hurricane parties underway at the local watering holes!

Congratulations Tom, We stand in awe of your skill in the fields of treasure. Well....enough of the hooey! Good job, well done.

Crater of Diamonds; in the news again. A Pennsylvania woman, Patti Kubli unearthed a 3.17 carat canary yellow diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park.

The Pittsburgh resident says she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the sparkling pear shaped diamond. Kubli says she named her find "Dori" after her mother.

Park interpreter, Margi Jenks, said it is the largest diamond found this year.

It was Kubli and her sister's first time in Arkansas and at the park. She only spent 30 minutes digging before she found the diamond.

Crater of Diamonds State Park is located is located in Southwest Arkansas and is the only diamond mine in North America where the public can search for diamonds and other gems keep them!

Yale makes thrilling discovery; The university has found a treasure in a storage room underneath it's art gallery. An oil painting it now attributes to 17th century Spanish master Diego Velazquez. "This is thrilling for us." said Laurence Kanter, curator of European art at the Yale gallery. "This is one of the most important discoveries in the old-master field in decades."

The unsigned painting, The Education of the Virgin, depicts the Virgin Mary and her mother. It was originally credited to an unknown 17th century Seville artist. As for its market value, paintings by Velazquez seldom publicly change hands. In 2007, a Velazquez, sold at Sotheby's in London for about $17,000,000 as in seventeen million.

My advice is to check your garage, basement or attic for an old Velazquez laying around. Well you never know!!

Roman coin hoard; LONDON – A treasure hunter has found about 52,500 Roman coins, one of the largest such discoveries ever in Britain, officials said Thursday.

The hoard, which was valued at 3.3 million pounds ($5 million), includes hundreds of coins bearing the image of Marcus Aurelius Carausius, who seized power in Britain and northern France in the late third century and proclaimed himself emperor.

Dave Crisp, a treasure hunter using a metal detector, located the coins in April in a field in southwestern England, according to the Somerset County Council and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

The coins were buried in a large jar about a foot (30 centimeters) deep and weighed about 160 kilograms (350 pounds) in all.

Crisp said a "funny signal" from his metal detector prompted him to start digging. "I put my hand in, pulled out a bit of clay and there was a little radial, a little bronze Roman coin — very, very small, about the size of my fingernail," Crisp said in an interview with the BBC.

He recovered about 20 coins before discovering that they were in a pot, and realized he needed expert help.

"Because Mr. Crisp resisted the temptation to dig up the coins it has allowed archaeologists from Somerset County Council to carefully excavate the pot and its contents, ensuring important evidence about the circumstances of its burial was preserved," said Anna Booth, of Somerset Council.

Somerset Coroner Tony Williams scheduled an inquest Thursday to formally determine whether the find is subject to the Treasure Act, a formal step toward determining a price to be paid by any institution which wishes to acquire the hoard.