Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist proposed to girlfriend

Gov. Charlie Crist won't be sleeping alone in the governor's mansion much longer — he is engaged to a woman he met in New York City last September who quickly captured his heart. Crist, 51, asked Carole Rome to marry him Thursday morning at his St. Petersburg apartment, giving her a blue sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds. She immediately said yes. "I'm very happy and couldn't be more pleased. What a great way to celebrate America's birthday," said Crist, who has been mentioned as a potential running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. "We've been talking about it for quite a while. I asked her while we were looking out over Tampa Bay and I couldn't think of a better place to do it." Rome, 38, is the president of Franco American Novelty Co., her family's New York-area Halloween costume company, though... [read full story]