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Pinellas County Schools to not makeup hurricane days

Pinellas County Schools will not need to make up days lost due to Hurricane Ian, the school district announced Monday.  Oct. 17 will remain a non-student day. At this time, the district has enough hours scheduled for the 2022-2023 school year to meet all state requirements without adding additional days, according to the district. 

Taste of the Beaches proceeds go to hurricane relief

Following the impact of Hurricane Ian on coastal communities to the south, the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce is donating proceeds from its annual Taste of the Beaches event to The Islands of Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce. Taste of the Beaches began Saturday and runs through Friday, Oct. 14. Leadership for this year’s selected nonprofit, Parc Center for Disabilities, endorsed the shift. To purchase tickets to the event and support relief efforts, visit the website here.

Rowdies playoff tickets go on sale

The Tampa Bay Rowdies have made the USL playoffs for the fourth straight season, and team officials announced Monday that tickets are now on sale. The Rowdies begin the chase for a championship Saturday, Oct. 22. However, officials have yet to name a start time or opponent. Discounted rates are available to those who buy 2023 season tickets Monday. To purchase playoff tickets, visit the website here.

Rays lose marathon; Rowdies win big

The Tampa Bay Rays’ postseason hopes ended Saturday as the team fell 1-0 to the Cleveland Guardians on the road. A day after the two teams played the shortest postseason game since 1999 at two hours and 17 minutes, Game 2 of the best-of-three series set an MLB record as the first playoff game without a run scored through 13 innings. Cleveland’s Oscar Gonzalez would score the game’s only run with a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 15th. Tampa Bay’s leadership will now focus on progressing toward a new stadium and shoring up the team for the 2023 season. The Tampa Bay Rowdies had no problem with offense Saturday night, beating the Loudon FC 8-0 at Al Lang Stadium. Captain Sebastian Guenzatti scored two goals to set the team’s all-time scoring record, and the eight goals set a club record for most in a match. The Rowdies have two games left on the regular season schedule, both at home. They face the El Paso Locomotive FC Wednesday and the New York Red Bulls II Saturday.

Gas pipeline in Pinellas to be tested, road closures ahead

Florida Gas Transmission Company announced it is planning to test 6.1 miles of natural gas pipeline using water Monday, Oct. 10 as part of its ongoing pipeline safety management program. The test will take place from midnight to 4 a.m. The pipeline runs along streets in Pinellas County and will result in the following road closures:

  • All lanes of U.S. 19 Northbound Frontage Road and
  • State Road 694 / Gandy Boulevard Frontage Road 
  • Some lanes of northbound U.S. 19 and State Road 694 / Park Boulevard / Gandy Boulevard

Proposed 20-story tower receives final approval

This week, the St. Petersburg Development Review Commission unanimously approved the Sky St. Pete project, a 20-story apartment tower. The DRC approved the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) bonuses, a building height bonus and the site plan for DevMar Development's proposed 232-unit apartment tower that would be built at 1624, 1642, 1650 and 1662 Burlington Ave. North. Construction is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2023 with completion in late 2025. DevMar is the same group behind the 11-story Vantage St. Pete apartment building and The Metro, a 100-unit apartment project underway in the Edge District. The project was previously approved by the city.

Four finalists advance in USF provost search

University of South Florida officials announced that after a national search, a “broadly representative” search committee has selected four finalists in the search for a new provost and executive vice president of academic affairs. The announcement came after the committee interviewed eight candidates with extensive backgrounds in academia. The following four finalists will advance to campus visits next week: Pranesh B. Aswath, senior vice provost for academic planning and policy at the University of Texas at Arlington; Eric M. Eisenberg, interim provost and dean of the USF College of Arts and Sciences; Erin McNamara Horvat, senior vice provost for faculty advancement and undergraduate affairs at Drexel University; and Giovanni Piedimonte, vice president of research and institutional official for Tulane University. Campus visits and town halls begin Wednesday, Oct. 12. For specific times and venues, visit the website here.

City sustainability and resiliency officer resigns

Sharon Wright, sustainability and resiliency officer for the City of St. Petersburg, submitted her resignation letter Wednesday. She wrote that she accepted a position with another organization, and her last day is Oct. 21. Wright started in planning and development services and then the Mayor’s office before her current role. She stated her intention to remain in St. Petersburg and her interest in continuing to work with the city through her new position in the private sector.

Rays lose close, quick game

The Tampa Bay Rays dropped the first game of their best-of-three AL Wildcard Series against the Cleveland Guardians 2-1 Friday afternoon. According to Fox Sports, the game, which began at 12:07 p.m. at Progressive Field, was the shortest postseason game since 1999. Tampa Bay pitcher Shane McClanahan struck out five and only allowed two earned runs in seven innings, but the Rays only managed one run off a Jose Siri homer against Cleveland ace Shane Bieber. Both of the Guardians’ runs came off a sixth-inning Jose Ramirez homer. The Rays now face a do-or-die scenario in Game 2, also in Cleveland. Tyler Glasnow will take the mound for Tampa Bay.

Blue.cloud names industry veteran as its first CRO

Tampa-based Blue.cloud, a global leader in cloud-native solutions, has named Bill Tennant as the company’s first Chief Revenue Officer. “Bill’s successful track record at one of the most innovative cloud companies in the industry which also happens to be a key partner of ours is a significant milestone for our company,” co-founder and CEO Kerem Koca said in a nws release. “Bill’s expertise in IT products and services will support Blue.cloud in scaling to meet the global demand for digital transformation services as we look to IPO in the next few years.” The appointment comes after 185%year-over-year revenue growth in 2021 and a recent private equity investment from Hudson Hill Capital. Tennant has over 15 years of experience in the field and most recently served at ThoughtSpot, where he served as Regional Director for the U.S. and Canadian markets. Tennant will be focused on maximizing profit through customer success strategies in addition to expanding Snowflake and ThoughtSpot sales and delivery capabilities at Blue.cloud. 

Clearwater signs land agreement deal

On Friday, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) and officials with the City of Clearwater have officially inked a contract for a land swap deal that will allow PSTA to build its new high-tech transit center. The new Clearwater Multimodal Transit Center on a city-owned vacant lot at the corner of Court Street and Myrtle Avenue. “This has been an ongoing, collaborative effort with the city of Clearwater for more than 10 years and I’m honored to have had a helping hand in making these plans a reality,” PSTA CEO Brad Miller said in a news announcement. “The new transit hub is a much-needed replacement for PSTA’s 40-year-old station at Park Street, which is functionally obsolete because it is unable to accommodate the current routes. Not only that, but the newer hybrid and all-electric buses cannot fit under the old, leaky roof. The center has been in need of upgrades for more than a decade.”

Tampa among top cities for canceled home contracts

Homebuyers flocked to states and cities in the nation’s Sun Belt during the pandemic, causing prices to soar. According to data from Redfin, the market has shifted. The real estate brokerage platform showed that 64,000 home purchase agreements fell through in August, or over 15% of the total contracts. That represents a year-over-year increase of 12.1%. The Tampa metro area had the seventh-worst rate of canceled contracts, at 21.5%. Florida was home to four of the top seven cities, with Jacksonville coming in first at 26.1%. Las Vegas, Atlanta, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Phoenix rounded out the top seven, respectively. Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston followed Tampa.

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