The St. Pete Catalyst staff will take the Memorial Day holiday (Monday, May 30) off. We will resume publication, and distribution of the Daily Spark, Tuesday the 31st.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Living Wage Calculator, in 2021, the average livable wage for a single person in Florida was $30,825. That amount has increased to $35,858. The cost of living is higher in Pinellas, with the calculator stating that one person needs to make at least $36, 846. In Citrus County, located in the northernmost section of the Tampa Bay region, a person needs to make a minimum of $31,866 to "live."
While bitter American League East rivals on the baseball diamond, the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees formed an unlikely partnership off the field before Thursday’s game in St. Petersburg. Rather than using their social media platforms for updates, highlights or general trash talking, the two teams synchronized their posts to share statistics on gun violence in America, bringing awareness to the devastating events in Buffalo, Uvalde and countless other communities. The Rays and Yankees’ Twitter accounts began posting in collaboration roughly 20 minutes before Thursday night’s opening pitch at Tropicana Field. Earlier in the day, Tampa Bay announced they were donating $50,000 to the Everytown for Gun Safety’s support fund, “the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country.” In a Friday morning tweet, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said he was “never more proud to be a Rays fan than I am today.”
Due to an overwhelming need in the community, the Pinellas County Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program is now closed to new applicants. The county distributed $47.9 million to over 5,200 households and the remaining $5 million in funding is set aside for the backlog of applications. County staff will continue processing requests over the next several weeks, with priority given to residents with active evictions and households earning less than 50% of the area median income (AMI). Pinellas County and the City of St. Petersburg jointly administered the federal funding. St. Pete exhausted its ERA money earlier this year.
According to the Unmanned Safety Institute, Rhys Marriot, 11, is the youngest person in the nation to earn its Safety Level 1 Industry Certification. The certification is a college-level accredited course. Rhys completed the course as part of Azalea Middle School’s Academy of Engineering program.
Strikepoint Group Holdings (SGH), one of the largest home services companies in the U.S., announced Tuesday that it acquired Pinellas Comfort Systems as part of its expansion in the Tampa Bay region. SGH also owns and operates Performance Air and Paradise Air in Tampa Bay, and Elite Heating & Air in Sarasota. Pinellas Comfort Systems has served the area since 1957 and marks the 21st acquisition in the last 21 months for SGH, formally Horizon Group Holdings. Founded in 1987, SGH owns home service companies in 11 states from New England to Florida.
The retailer giant Walmart is expanding its drone delivery program to six states, including Florida. By the end of the year, it hopes to fly deliveries from 34 sites across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia, Walmart announced Tuesday. Walmart launched the drone delivery program in 2021 and it was only available in Arkansas. Walmart customers who live near drone-capable stores will be able to order items weighing less than 10 pounds in total between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The deliveries will be done via a drone operated by a company called DroneUp.
The City of St. Petersburg is seeking four members to potentially serve as ad hoc members of the Community Benefits Advisory Council (CBAC) for the first project of the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) program. Ad hoc members are chosen from residents within one mile of the project location. The project in review is the development proposed for the site at 800 1st Ave. South in downtown St. Pete. The TPA Group and the Moffitt Cancer Center are planning to develop a cancer care center and residential tower. Residents living within one mile of the site are encouraged to apply for the vacant ad hoc CBAC positions. Applications can be submitted here and will be accepted until May 28 at 11:59 p.m.
Philanthropists Jeff and Penny Vinik have given $5 million to the Tampa Museum of Art towards its new education center, which will be known as the Vinik Family Education Center. It is part of the museum's ongoing $100 million Centennial Campaign for Renovation and Expansion. In 2019, the Vinik family gifted $5 million to endow the position of executive director. The education center opened on May 16, and will serve as the temporary entrance to the museum while additional renovations are completed on the west side of the building
Following a 2-0 victory over the Florida Panthers Monday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning are just one playoff series away from their third-straight Stanley Cup Final. Goalie Andre Vasilevskiy led the way for the Lightning, stopping all 49 shots that came his way. The Panthers led the NHL scoring but could muster only three goals on Vasilevskiy, who blocked the last 88 shots he faced. The score remained tied at zero until the third period thanks to successive scoring challenges by the Panthers. Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov each had goals taken away following official reviews in the second period. Lightning left wing Pat Maroon made one count at 6:16 in the third, and Ondrej Palat added an empty-netter to ice the game with under 30 seconds remaining on the clock. Tampa Bay will now get some much-needed rest before facing the winner of the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes series.
All neighborhood seasonal pools in St. Petersburg will open to the public on Saturday, May 28, according to the city.
Pinellas County's April 2022 unemployment rate has set a new record at 2.1%. The last record low was 2.2% back in April 2006. The new rate represents a drop from 2.4% in March, and a 4.2% increase in the labor force over the past year.
