St. Pete bank continues besting industry behemoths

A St. Petersburg-based community bank has again ranked ahead of industry titans on the U.S. Small Business Administration's list of top lenders.

BayFirst Bank recently finished fifth for loan volume among over 1,460 Small Business Administration (SBA) lenders nationwide. The local community bank outpaced conglomerates like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase on the year-end list.

Teen giving circle to launch in 2025	Places This Week: Safety Harbor ‘Gingerbread House’ sells

Gavin Hawk goes all Bedford Falls at American Stage

As with millions of other American households, no Christmas holiday was complete for Gavin Hawk’s family without the annual viewing of Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life, in which a small-town man named George Bailey finds out just how much he really means to those around him.

Hawk is playing George Bailey, and just about every other resident of Bedford Falls, New York, at American Stage in downtown St. Petersburg. Wonderful Life is a one-person adaptation of the Capra story by Helen R. Murray and Jason Lott. The final 2024 performances are tonight and Sunday afternoon, with good seats still available.

Arts Alive! podcast: Mindi Abair

One of only a handful of million-selling saxophone players who happen to be women, Mindi Abair is known for her bone-shaking, roots-rattling approach to jazz, giving it a tough, visceral edge – where few sax artists have dared to tread. She is truly one of a kind. Abair is our guest on today’s edition of the Arts Alive! podcast. It’s one of our occasional video interviews, done via Zoom, because the Grammy-nominated musician is perennially on the road. She and her band have been in Florida all week – she recorded this Zoom interview from her Jacksonville hotel.

	Community partners to giveaway free pizza on Christmas Eve
	St. Pete has a ‘Period Pantry’ in Grand Central District
	Storm-damaged St. Pete diner reopens
	No Catalyst Dec. 23 through 27. Happy holidays!
	New urban farm opens in St. Pete
	Local storm-damaged beach parks begin reopening