City questions financing, promises for Gas Plant redevelopment

Affordable housing and project financing topped the list of topics in a heated debate amongst city officials at the Oct. 26 Committee of the Whole meeting. The session was the first time the group had met publicly with Tampa Bay Rays executives to dissect the Gas Planet District redevelopment, which will be the City's most significant land deal ever.

While the new proposed $1.3 billion Rays ballpark was at the forefront of the discussion, the real estate surrounding the site also generated plenty of comments. The baseball team is promising to deliver benefits for all stakeholders, and has increased the number of affordable housing units.

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November in the arts: Shatner under glass

William Shatner returns to the bay area Nov. 8, for his first speaking appearance since 2016, when he shared anecdotes and told stories from the Mahaffey Theater stage, then posed for photos backstage for $50 extra per pop.

He’ll appear at 9:30 p.m., following at 7:30 screening of the 1982 film Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.

Arts Alive! podcast: Logan Franke of Jobsite’s ‘Frankenstein’

Tampa’s Logan Franke had a small but pivotal role in Jobsite Theater’s 2022 production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This year, she’s back onstage with Jobsite in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – the company likes to keeps things creepy during Halloween season – and she has three small but pivotal roles.