Despite facing a 6-0 deficit heading into the fifth inning, the Tampa Bay Rays came from behind to beat the New York Yankees 8-7 Sunday afternoon. Isaac Paredes’ clinched the game with a 10th-inning RBI single in front of 32,142 people - Tropicana Field’s largest regular-season home crowd in seven years. The Rays still lead the majors with a 28-7 record and took the season’s first series against the Yankees two games to one.
Pinellas County Schools opened the district's first sensory therapeutic, wheelchair-accessible playground this week at the Paul B. Stephens ESE Center in Clearwater this week. Therapists, specialists and physical education teachers spent two years developing the project to suit children with special needs. The playground features specialized activities for kids with balance, mobility, walking and communication challenges.
Dr. Julia Pfaff, a Bayfront Health St. Petersburg physician, is Florida’s leading Inspire sleep therapy system provider. She also ranks second in the nation for the procedure, an alternative to using a CPAP machine to mitigate sleep apnea. The remote-controlled, surgically implanted device opens airways each time a patient breathes.
Bob Menke, founder of St. Petersburg-based Bankers Financial Corporation, died Thursday afternoon, according to an announcement from BFS. Menke, 89 years old, died peacefully in his home. Menke founded BFS in 1976. Since then, it has become one of the largest privately held financial services companies in the region.
Social service agencies in St. Petersburg can now apply for up to $100,000 in Social Action Funding grants. City officials have allocated $700,000 for social agencies providing homeless and homelessness prevention services. For more information on the program - which gives priority to organizations helping children, elderly, veterans and domestic violence victims - visit the website here.
May 10 through 16, concert promotion titan Live Nation will offer “all-in” $25 tickets to “select” summer concerts around the country. “All-in” meaning without fees, but before “city, state and or venue” taxes. The list of shows – including those in the Tampa Bay area – will be made available at the Live Nation “Concert Week” website May 10.
The Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce is hosting its Reroute Tourism luncheon Friday, May 12. The topic is “bridging the beaches,” and the featured speaker is Tampa Bay Rays President Brian Auld. As part of the programming, tourism professionals will take the SunRunner from the TradeWinds resort to downtown St. Petersburg. For more information on the event, visit the website here.
Community Action Stops Abuse (CASA) Pinellas recently won the prestigious Purple Ribbon Award for Outstanding New Service Launch. Domesticshelters.org created the designation as part of the nation’s first program honoring heroes of the domestic violence movement. CASA earned the recognition for opening Florida's first Family Justice Center in October 2022, a comprehensive, all-inclusive resource facility for victims of domestic violence.
Verséa Health Inc., a locally based diversified life science company, is expanding to downtown Tampa as it has inked a lease for a 14,000-square-foot space at 401 S. Florida Ave. The company, which has 55 employees, said it will add 40 news jobs over the next two to three years, according to a Thursday announcement from the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council. The company will consolidate its corporate office and operations, including warehouse and fulfillment functions, into one location while still providing room for growth. The new jobs will include roles in laboratory research and analytics, financial planning and analysis, sales and marketing, digital marketing and e-commerce, customer service and warehouse operations.
The U.S. Green Building Council recently awarded the City of Treasure Island with its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Cities Gold certification. The beach community joins a global network of over 130 certified local governments. City officials credited their implementation of practical and measurable strategies and solutions to improve sustainability and living standards for the achievement.
State Rep. Lindsay Cross has secured a $500,000 supplemental funding appropriation in her first Legislative Session. If it clears the governor’s desk, the allocation will support a pedestrian safety project at 1st Avenue North and 25th Street in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District. According to the request, the improvements would bolster safety and walkability in the area.
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) CEO Adelee Le Grand left the organization Tuesday following her March suspension with pay. She earned about $30,000 in the past two months, and the agency’s board of directors agreed to a lump-sum severance package of nearly $90,000 and two months of health benefits. Le Grand’s settlement follows an independent investigation that found she created an environment of fear and intimidation and caused abnormal administrative turnover.
