Riding a nine-game winning streak, the Tampa Bay Rowdies head to Leesburg, Virginia, for a match against the Loudon United FC. Saturday’s matchup marks the first meeting of the season for the two clubs, with the Rowdies emerging victorious in all four meetings last year. Tampa Bay has also played well away from Al Lang Stadium, losing just one road game this season. On Thursday, Rowdies veteran Leo Fernandes, the longest-tenured player on the squad, was named USL Championship Player of the Month. Fernandes found the net five times in five appearances for Tampa Bay, as the team went unbeaten through June. The Rowdies now sit in third place of the USL Eastern Conference, just two points behind second-place Memphis 901 and three points behind first-place Louisville City.
More than a dozen vendors will be at the St. Pete Pier Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., with soft served ice cream, craft scoop ice cream, gelatos, popsicles, and more (for sale). The Pier is celebrating National Ice Cream Day. More information is available here.
Leaders from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, including Atlanta Fed President and CEO Raphael Bostic, traveled to St. Petersburg on Wednesday to discuss strategies to improve affordable housing, minority and women business contracting, data-driven initiatives and job creation, according to a news alert from the city. The visit included a series of Community Partners Round Tables and a bus tour of the city. "These conversations help our city evaluate strategies employed elsewhere, how they are working or not working, and how they can be successfully implemented in St. Petersburg to benefit our residents, businesses, workforce and stakeholders," St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth Welch said in a statement. "Through these conversations, we were able to brainstorm with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta on the current opportunities and challenges facing our community, creative community economic development strategies, and ways to promote economic mobility and resilience in St. Petersburg." Solutions explored included:
According to a recent report from Smart Growth America, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area is the fourth most dangerous region in the U.S. for pedestrians. The urban development advocacy group ranked the nation’s metro areas by pedestrian deaths per 100,000 residents between 2016 and 2020. With 3.5 deaths per 100,000 people, pedestrians are more likely to die taking a stroll in Tampa than in places like Miami, Atlanta and Los Angeles. The Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metro was the most deadly area for pedestrians, while Florida ranked second among states. Smart Growth America ranked New Mexico as the most dangerous state for pedestrians. Read the full report here.
Residents depend on emergency dispatchers to be a voice of calm and reassurance during a time of crisis, yet many local agencies are having trouble filling empty positions. According to a recent report, the St. Petersburg Police Department currently has 19 empty dispatcher seats. The Tampa Police Department is also short 19 operators, while their counterparts in Clearwater recently hired four new dispatchers and still need three more. Pinellas County has 38 positions to fill while Hillsborough county is down 32 operators. According to the report, pandemic-induced early retirements are one cause of the shortage, along with the stress of the job.
St. Petersburg-based GOBEL, which claims to be the world's leading firm in consulting and technology for health care philanthropy, announce the launch of its subsidiary, GOBEL International, which is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Industry veteran Christopher Clinton Conway will be charged with leading the expansion. Today, GOBEL has 300 active clients, 65 full-time employees, a completed equity investment round and recently acquired another philanthropy company, according to a news release. "It's been an incredible run for GOBEL over the last decade. Our expansion into Europe is the next step in our journey to bring our products and solutions to the world. We could not have found a better leader than Christopher to take GOBEL worldwide," Chad Gobel, founder and CEO of GOBEL, said in the news release.
Embarc Collective, the startup incubator funded by Jeff Vinik, has purchased its downtown Tampa property from Water Street developer Strategic Property Partners (SPP). Vinik, who owns the Tampa Bay Lightning, is also a partner in SPP. According to Hillsborough County property records, the collective paid $13.3 million for the 20,000-square-feet building it occupies at 803 E. Whiting St. The startup hub secured a $12.7 million mortgage for the real estate from the Vinik Family Foundation. SPP bought the building for $4.65 million in 2017, and Embarc Collective opened in 2020.
Reading, an 1888 impressionist painting by French artist Berthe Morisot at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, is the subject of an up-close profile sponsored by Bank of America as part of its Masterpiece Moments collection, showcasing works of art in the collections of 25 of the company's museum partners through video vignettes – highlighting important works of art from a range of perspectives and mediums, and "offering a pathway for communities to experience museums." View the video, featuring museum director Kristen A. Shepherd, here.
The SunRunner, which will be the first bus rapid transit option that will connect through St. Petersburg, South Pasadena and St. Pete Beach, will launch on Oct. 21, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority announced Wednesday. The $44 million project will have a total of 30 stations along the 10.3-mile route. PSTA recently finished painting red pavement areas throughout the area that the SunRunner will travel on. The SunRunner features semi-dedicated lanes, limited stops and safety enhancements for riders including level boarding platforms and crosswalks. The buses will run every 15 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes in the evening. The SunRunner will also be free for riders for the first six months of service.
The Pinellas County school district is looking for paid tutors to help young children increase their reading skills. PCS developed the new Read Across Pinellas (RAP) program to help area students in kindergarten and first grade become stronger readers. Tutors, or RAP stars, meet with children two or three times a week for sessions lasting 30 minutes. RAP tutors receive paid training and earn $20 per hour for their time. The program begins Sept. 6, and no prior teaching experience is necessary. For more information, email RAP@pcsb.org or call (727) 588-6000, extension 2177.
Another professional sports team will soon call Tampa home, the Tampa Bay Strikers of the newly formed National Indoor Soccer League. The Strikers will feature a men’s and women’s team, led by the same coach, and play home games at the Yuengling Center at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus. The indoor game is fast-paced, with four 14-minute quarters instead of two 45-minute halves. The league will feature five teams consisting of five field players and a goalkeeper on the field for each side. Andrew Haines, co-owner of the Strikers and other teams in the league, hopes to include several local players on the Tampa Bay roster. The team expects to begin play by the end of the year.
After losing its previous downtown St. Petersburg location at the beginning of the year, Ringside Café will soon come back for another round. The new location for the popular bar and music venue is at 350 1st Ave. N., across from Williams Park. While the owners have yet to announce an exact opening date, a June 27 social media post stated, “we’ll be up and running before you know it.” In a comment on the post, the business said it would open the doors on the new location about a month from that date, or around the end of July. Ringside Café left its previous location at 16 2nd St. N. after the building's owners failed to offer a lease renewal in January. An Ohio-based company plans to open a 70s-themed nightclub, Good Night John Boy, in the space later this year.
