Pinellas County officials celebrated the opening of the Pinellas Duke Energy Trail Friday, with several dozen people in attendance. The new 6.7-mile section runs through the Countryside area of Clearwater to John Chestnut St. Park in Palm Harbor. The latest addition to the popular multi-use path completes the north gap of the planned Pinellas Trail Loop, a continuous, 75-mile pathway that will encircle the entire county. Officials must still construct a pedestrian bridge over the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal, which should begin next spring and conclude in the summer of 2024.
The former Tebella hub inside the co-working Station House building in downtown St. Pete will now be the new home of Bad Mother Coffee Bar. “For those who don’t know, Chris and I have been working on this dream project for months. We’ve traveled the world in our kitchen, tasting some of the most stunning, exquisite, coffees a gal could dream of,” owner Emily Demikat wrote in an Instagram post. The coffee bar officially opens today, Aug. 6, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Several concerned residents reported receiving antisemitic fliers Friday, which began by condemning progressives for promoting communism and conservatives for focusing on money. However, the brunt of the note’s vitriol was aimed at Jewish people and their allies. The hate mail featured Nazi symbols while promoting replacement theory, the white nationalist ideology that has inspired several mass shootings. A QR code on the bottom of the flier links to an antisemitic film. In a social media post, state senate candidate Eunic Ortiz reported that notes in the Greater Woodlawn neighborhood of St. Petersburg were placed in a plastic bag with a rock and tossed onto doorsteps. “No resident of St. Pete or anywhere else deserves this, and our hearts go out to those who received these repugnant fliers,” said Florida Holocaust Museum Chairman Mike Igel in a statement. “While it’s exhausting and enraging to confront this hate time after time, it is fundamentally necessary for our entire community to do so with a united voice.” Residents receiving the fliers or with any information regarding who is delivering them are encouraged to the St. Pete Police Department at (727) 551-3182.
The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg (MFA) announced Thursday that its executive director has stepped down from her post. A press release stated that the chair of the museum’s board of trustees accepted Kristen A. Shepherd’s resignation in July. Shepherd became MFA’s first female director when she assumed the role in 2017 and just the sixth overall since it opened in 1965. According to the announcement, an executive committee of board members, in close collaboration with museum leadership, will guide MFA while it searches for Shepherd’s replacement. “I’m departing at a good moment, with a talented team in place,” said Shepherd in the release.
Clearwater-based health care system BayCare has named Stephanie D. Conners, an experienced health care leader who began her career as a nurse, as its next CEO and President. Conners, was selected by the BayCare Board of Trustees following an extensive national search that began in February after Tommy Inzina, BayCare’s current CEO and President, announced his plans to retire, according to BayCare's announcement. Conners currently serves as the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. Conners will become BayCare’s leader shortly before it opens its sixteenth hospital in Wesley Chapel in 2023 and as it finalizes its decision on a new hospital for north Manatee County.
The ride-sharing giant Uber has launched a new service for Tampa, Miami and Orlando - Uber Charter. The new feature offers users the option to book larger vehicles, including vans, minibuses and coaches, through the app. The vehicles and drivers will be provided by U.S. Coachways. The new option initially launched first in Dallas and Houston in July.
Author and former sports executive Rick Vaughn is participating in a free book signing event on Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. After spending over 30 years in the sports communication field with the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays and Washington Redskins, Vaughn recently released his book 100 years of Baseball on St. Petersburg’s Waterfront: How the Game Helped Shape a City. The St. Petersburg Museum of History is located at 335 2nd Ave. S. in St. Petersburg.
HCA Florida Largo Hospital announced Thursday it is participating in a research study to determine the efficacy of using artificial intelligence for polyp detection in colonoscopies. According to the release, the hospital is continuing to focus on utilizing the latest technologies to detect colorectal cancer early. If a polyp is found soon enough, doctors can usually remove it before it becomes cancerous, stated the release. Colorectal cancer is the third-most diagnosed cancer in both men and women.
SavvyCard, a St. Pete tech company that helps business professionals develop sales leads, has received an undisclosed investment from California-based Venture MLS, which claims to be the first venture capital firm created by a multiple listing service. The investment from Venture MLS will support SavvyCard as it builds toward meeting the high market demand for RE-Target software, according to a press release. "Receiving an investment from Venture MLS and signing an agreement with the largest multiple listing service in the U.S. are incredibly validating," SavvyCard CEO David Etheredge said in a statement. "We're thrilled to expand our relationship with CRMLS and to work with their team on building products that help agents and brokers serve the most accurate data to local buyers, sellers and homeowners."
Tampa-based Kforce Inc. (Nasdaq: KFRC), a solutions firm that specializes in technology and other professional staffing services, reported a $436.5 million revenue in the second quarter, an increase of 8.2% year-over-year. Net income for the quarter ended June 30, was $26.9 million, or $1.30 per share, versus $21.2 million, or $1.00 per share, from the prior second quarter. “I am pleased with our solid overall performance in the second quarter, which was fueled again by significant sequential and year-over-year growth in our Technology business. The macro environment has become a bit cloudier over the last several months and concerns as to the pace of overall economic growth have dominated headlines. We believe that we are ideally positioned heading into this uncertain macro landscape, however it ultimately plays out," President and CEO Joseph Liberatore said in the company's report. "There is simply no other market we would want to be focused in other than the domestic technology talent solutions space as it has, in our view, the greatest prospects for sustained growth. We have the right team in place to capture additional market share within what we believe will be a continued strong demand environment for our services."
Shriners Healthcare for Children Florida, known as SHC that cares for children with pediatric orthopaedic conditions, will lay off 20 additional workers at the Tampa facility. The majority of the affected workers serve as physical therapists and in outpatient roles. "Our commitment to caring for children in need of Shriners' specialty care remains unchanged. However, in light of recent changes in the delivery of health care services, SHC will no longer be providing clinic services at our Tampa location," an administrator wrote in a letter dated Aug. 1, informing the state the layoffs will occur on Sept. 30. "This change will allow Shriners to continue to strengthen its core mission of caring for children with pediatric orthopaedic conditions while ensuring good stewardship of our charitable resources," the letter read. Shriners previously cut 38 Tampa employees in April.
In light of soaring rents displacing St. Petersburg residents, and with the City of Tampa declaring a housing state of emergency last week, tenants will conduct a “sleep-in protest” Wednesday night. Several community organizations, including the St. Petersburg Tenants Union, Faith in Florida, St. Petersburg Tri-Partisan Canvas and PSL Tampa Bay are hosting the event. The protest, which the groups say will feature music, speakers and food, begins at 7 p.m. and lasts until Thursday morning’s city council meeting. During that meeting, participants will demand that the city declare a housing state of emergency and let voters decide if they want rent control in St. Petersburg through a ballot referendum.
