Teams from across the country will compete to see who has the best barbecue at St. Petersburg’s first “Sunshine City Smokeout” Saturday, Feb. 11. The event takes place from noon until 9 p.m. at Spa Beach Park, adjacent to the St. Pete Pier. For more information on the festival, visit the website here.
The metropolitan planning organization Forward Pinellas was awarded the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation this month. The grant funds totaling $559,074, which will be allocated to Forward Pinellas’s Safe Streets Pinellas Action Plan within the six areas of the county with known road safety issues, according to a news release.
Local nonprofit healthcare organizations Empath Health and Suncoast Hospice are in “dire” need of all types of volunteers. The organizations lost 30 to 50% of their volunteer staff during the pandemic, and many are not returning. For more information on how to help address a great need, visit the website here.
Pinellas County Government officials are asking schools, residents and organizations to participate in the statewide Great Tornado Drill Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 10 a.m. Participants should take cover and post a selfie to social media with the hashtag #PCTornadoDrill for a chance to win an emergency weather radio. For more information, visit the website here.
The Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg is offering flight training scholarships for ages 16-24 to encourage underrepresented youth groups to become pilots. There will be two different types of scholarships - Flight Training Scholarships ($5,000) and Starter Flight Scholarships ($1,000). St. Pete Air will lead the flight training portion. The scholarship applications can be found here.
The southbound lanes of Interstate 275 over the Howard Frankland Bridge will close from 11 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6 until 5 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7. No vehicles will be allowed on the southbound portion of I-275 west of State Road 60 (Exit 39) to the Ulmerton Road (SR 688)/Martin Luther King Jr. Street interchange (Exit 31), according to the Florida Department of Transportation. The closure and detour are due to crews installing sign structures across all lanes of southbound I-275 on the Pinellas side of the bridge.
St. Petersburg-based BayFirst Financial Corp. announced Monday that Anthony Leo will retire as CEO at the end of this year. Leo will remain a director of the company and Thomas Zernick will succeed Leo as CEO on Jan. 1, 2024. Zernick has served as president of the company since February 2022, and previously served as president of its CreditBench division, according to BayFirst's announcement.
The shopping, entertainment and arts festival known as Localtopia will return to downtown St. Petersurg's Williams Park February 18, and organizers expect over 300 organizations to help celebrate "all things local." Organizers announced attendees can now park for free at Tropicana Field Lots 1 and 2 and take a complimentary Star Trolley to the park. For more information on the 10th annual event, visit the website here.
The waterfront Clearwater home of the late actress Kirstie Alley is listed for sale with an asking price of $5.995 million. The 7,815-square-foot estate at 1100 N. Oceola Ave., built in 1993, has nine bedrooms, with five bedrooms in the main house, and features two courtyards and a pool with a spa. Ray Cassano of Station Square Realty LLC is the listing agent.
The Red Bull Drop-In Tour will bring some of the top street skaters to the St. Pete Skatepark Sunday, February 12. The city is one of four on the tour, which is meant to highlight the best venues in professional skater Jamie Foy’s home state. For more information on the park and event, visit the website here.
The Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA) named Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri its 2022 Sheriff of the Year. The association presented Gualtieri with the award Wednesday at its 2023 Winter Conference. According to a release, Gualtieri received recognition for his positive impact on the MCSA and nationwide contributions to law enforcement.
History Channel officials recently announced the popular reality television show Pawn Stars will film in Tampa, St. Petersburg and 13 other cities in the second season of Pawn Stars Do America. According to the website’s description, Rick Harrison, Corey Harrison and Austin “Chumlee” Russell will leave Las Vegas and search for historical and collectible objects. The first season includes eight two-hour episodes, and officials did not release filming dates.
