The Florida Department of Health reported another 435 cases of Covid-19 Wednesday and nine new deaths, bringing the county’s total to 911 since the start of the pandemic. As of Wednesday, the county now has 33,493 positive cases and a rolling two-week positivity rate of 5.65 percent, with a 5.93 percent positivity rate reported Tuesday. Statewide, more than one million cases of the virus have been diagnosed since March, along with 18,776 deaths. The St. Pete Catalyst has a daily update on total cases by ZIP code, which you can find here.
TruAmerica Multifamily, a Los Angeles-based multifamily investor and operator, has bought a 292-unit apartment complex in Palm Harbor. TruAmerica paid $47 million for Lakeview at Palm Harbor, at 3975 Country Place Lane, according to a deed filed Tuesday in Pinellas County. The seller was Lakes of Palm Harbor LLC, an entity associated The RADCO Companies in Atlanta. RADCO bought the apartment complex five years ago for $33.5 million, property records show. TruAmerica has a growing portfolio of apartment complexes in the area. The company bought Estates at Countryside in Clearwater in September, and also owns Bayou Point in Pinellas Park, Four Lakes at Clearwater, Runaway Bay in Pinellas Park, and Twin Lakes in Palm Harbor.
StPete2050, a community-generated vision for where the city is going and what it can become over the next 30 years, is seeking feedback through its third community survey. Participants can share their thoughts on the mission and goals outlined in the StPete2050 plan for areas including arts and culture, attainable housing, diversity, equity and inclusion, education and growth and character. For more information and to complete the survey, click here.
The University of South Florida announced Wednesday it will receive a $60,000 grant from the Helios Education Foundation to further the university’s longstanding commitment to student success for underrepresented populations. The investment through the USF Foundation will be used to hire an external consultant to assess the student pipeline from local community and state colleges and high schools within six counties close to USF. Recommendations based on the findings, which are scheduled to be completed in spring 2021, will help the university to develop new and more effective strategies to recruit and enroll college-ready Black students from regional high schools into one of USF’s three campuses. The grant builds on the university’s plans for additional steps to support diversity and inclusion USF president Steve Currall announced in August.
Integrated Solutions Management Inc. in Tampa has sold to ASGN Inc., a Richmond, Virginia-based provider of IT and professional services firm. Financial terms were not disclosed in a news release announcing the deal. ISM, founded in 1991, brings expertise in Internet of Things (IoT) technology, IT service and operations management. ISM will become part of the ECS segment at ASGN (NYSE: ASGN) and will be integrated into the Enterprise Business Solutions Group. About 75 ISM employees will join ASGN.
A federal judge in Tampa has sentenced Tom Wynne, former owner of a pain management clinic in Pinellas Park, to 33 months in federal prison. Wynne pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit tax evasion, tax evasion and money laundering. Wynne, who owned and operated Pain and Wellness Clinic, hired medical doctors to prescribe large quantities of Schedule II controlled substances, like oxycodone and hydromorphone, outside the usual course of professional practice, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. He underreported the clinic's receipts on his tax filings and conspired to create and prepare bogus tax documents for the clinic's doctors, the news release said. The court ordered Wynne to forfeit two properties, repay the IRS $359,209 and pay a $150,000 fine.
Southwest Airlines will resume its daily nonstop flights from Tampa International Airport to Havana beginning Dec. 6. Southwest had halted service in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Charter flights to Cuba resumed a few weeks ago, the airport said in a news release. Travel between the United States and Cuba comes with restrictions, including a tourist card requirement for Americans to enter Cuba. There also are restrictions related to the pandemic. Travelers will receive a free Covid-19 test when they arrive at José Martí International Airport and must quarantine for 24 hours. Incoming travelers must carry travel insurance that covers Covid-19, which may also be purchased at the airport for $30.
Fitlife Foods, a prepared meals business in Tampa, has hired Tampa native Chris Austin as its new executive chef. Austin will oversee all culinary creation across 12 Fitlife Foods locations and the company's weekly home delivery business. He is a James Beard scholarship recipient from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, and previously was executive chef for Whole Foods Northern California Region, where he helped pioneer the nationally recognized “Health Starts Here” program. Most recently, Austin was executive chef at the University of Tampa and catering director for global leader Sodexo. At Fitlife, his focus will be on innovative, flavorful and well- balanced meals that bring the personal chef experience to Fitlife’s consumers, a news release said. The company will release eight meals created by Austin and his culinary team next month. Fitlife Foods is the second largest omni-channel (retail and direct-to-consumer) prepared meals retailer in the country and the largest in the Southeast.
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The Pinellas County Homeless Leadership Alliance and Learning Empowered will open cold weather shelters beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1. The National Weather Service forecasts low temperatures of near 40 degrees in Pinellas County early Wednesday. Guests will be provided a warm, safe place to spend the night, a news release said. They will be advised if the shelters will be open additional nights. There are three shelters for adults in St. Petersburg — Northwest Presbyterian Church, 6330 54th Ave N.; Salvation Army, 1400 4th St. S., and The Turning Point, 1810 5th Ave. N. In Pinellas Park, there's a shelter at Boys and Girls Club of the Suncoast at 7790 61 St. N. There also are shelters in Tarpon Springs and Clearwater. Families with children will be placed in family shelters on cold nights, if space is available. Families should call 2-1-1, Tampa Bay Cares, Inc., for information about family shelters.
Forward Pinellas, the City of St. Petersburg and the Florida Department of Transportation will hold two online listening sessions for the Downtown St. Petersburg Mobility Study Thursday, Dec. 10 from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. At these sessions, both of which will contain the same information, the public will have the opportunity to provide their thoughts on how to create a downtown that is safe and accessible for everyone. To register for the morning session, click here. For the afternoon session, click here.
