Mike Sutton, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties, announced Wednesday that the organization will permanently close its ReStore locations in Clearwater and New Port Richey March 30. The decision came after extensive discussions with Habitat’s board of directors and a nonprofit sustainability consultant. The organization built a record 80 homes in 2023, and Sutton said the closures would allow the affiliate to focus on its homeownership program. Liquidation sales begin Thursday at both stores.
Mayor Ken Welch, city officials and community leaders will raise the Dr. Cater G. Woodson flag at City Hall Thursday to commemorate the start of Black History Month. Woodson proposed and launched the annual February observance of Negro History Week, which later became Black History Month. The eighth annual ceremony is open to the public and begins at 10 a.m.
The Florida Orchestra’s Sing Out Tampa Bay concert returns March 13 to the Mahaffey Theater. TFO canceled the event in 2020, as the Covid pandemic spread, and in subsequent years. It gives aspiring singers the opportunity to perform – as a chorus member – with the orchestra. All information can be found here.
The U.S. Coast Guard unloaded over 10,000 pounds of seized drugs worth approximately $55 million in St. Petersburg Monday after a 60-day patrol. The Coast Guard cutter Resolute’s crew and partner agencies intercepted two drug traffickers hauling 6,565 pounds of marijuana and nearly 3,700 pounds of cocaine. Coast Guardsmen forklifted the seized narcotics onto trucks for destruction.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a St. Petersburg native and Lakewood High School graduate, caught a 32-yard pass with just over two minutes remaining in the AFC Championship game to help secure a win. Kansa City’s 17-10 victory Sunday over the Baltimore Ravens secured a spot in the Feb. 11 Super Bowl. The Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers for the NFL championship.
St. Petersburg native Bert Kreischer announced Saturday that he will tape his latest Netflix comedy special at the Mahaffey Theater July 6 as he concludes his “Tops Off World Tour.” The 2024 Gasparilla grand marshal will perform a 7 and 9:30 p.m. show at the downtown waterfront theater. Tickets to the live taping will go on sale to the general public Friday, Feb. 2, through ticketmaster.com.
The EDGE Business District Association is partnering with the Downtown Business Association of St. Petersburg to host a Sunset Sale Wednesday, Jan. 31. The shopping event will feature nearly a dozen local boutiques with discounts and deals beginning at sunset (about 6:10 p.m., according to organizers) and running until 8 p.m.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) officials announced that 48,044 people attended the Royal Rumble Saturday night at Tropicana Field. The record-breaking crowd surpassed the 47,150 who watched a New Kids on the Block concert at the St. Petersburg venue in August 1990. The Tampa Bay Rays' inaugural game in March 1998 set the previous benchmark for a sporting event with 45,369 attendees.
Gasparilla revelers will receive 50% off Florida Aquarium tickets for every five-gallon bucket of recycled beads they bring to the facility. The release notes that the trinkets are harmful to wildlife and that throwing beads into waterways is illegal. The MacDonald Training Center, a nonprofit that provides workforce training for adults with disabilities, will sanitize and repackage the beads for reuse at future events. For more information, visit the website here.
Pinellas County Government is now accepting applications for its Home Repair Loan Program, which allows residents to borrow up to $55,000 without accruing interest. In addition, officials have increased the Independent Living Grant for accessibility improvements to $20,000. The programs are available in unincorporated Pinellas and most cities, excluding Belleair, Largo, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, which provide similar assistance. For more information, visit the website here.
Greystar Real Estate Partners is now preleasing apartments in St. Petersburg’s Marlowe Gateway development near the Raymond James Financial campus. The community features 412 units, with 20% dedicated to those earning below 120% of area median income. Greystar officials expect Marlowe Gateway, located at 2790 Grand Ave., to open this summer.
Sunday at 2 p.m., the US Coast Guard will hold its annual memorial service for those who died Jan. 28, 1980 when the cutter Blackthorn sank in Tampa Bay. It’s at the Blackthorn Memorial, at the Pinellas rest area on the north end of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The public may attend. The story of the Blackthorn tragedy (click to read).
