The Gulfport Fine Arts Collective ArtJones will hold its December walking tour Saturday, Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 6 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2901 Beach Blvd. South. This year, in accordance with social distancing guidelines and Covid safety protocols, organizers have refashioned the previously indoor event into an outdoor walking tour through scenic downtown Gulfport with 12 fine artists spread across seven outdoor locations. Participating artists are ceramic artist and ArtJones founder Brenda McMahon, jewelers Doug D’Souza and Berkeley Grimball, painters Anna Ayres, Jila Davoodi, Jack Providenti, Monika Watson and Melissa Zodda, fused and stained glass artist Diane Bragg, photographer Larry Busby and fiber artists Alice Pickett Lewis and Elizabeth Neily.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Maja Gift to the Board of Pharmacy. Gift is the director of pharmacy services at Tampa General Hospital. DeSantis also named Seema Weinstein to the Board of Psychology.Weinstein is a psychology and neuropsychology manager at Tampa General Hospital. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and currently serves on the Hillsborough County Behavioral Health Advisory Board. The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
Sprouts Farmers Market will open a store in Westchase on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 7 a.m. The 30,000 square-foot location has hired 110 team members and will be open daily from 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. The first 200 customers will receive 20 percent off their total initial purchase, and every shopper on opening day will receive a free reusable shopping bag with purchase, a news reease said. Local customers can also enter to win a $500 Sprouts gift card by visiting sprouts.com/westchase.The grocer is closely following CDC and local health authority guidelines related to Covid-19, a news release said. In addition to regular food safety and cleaning procedures, Sprouts invested additional labor hours into stores to allow for more frequent cleaning and implemented steps to promote social distancing.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman is sharply criticizing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, after DeSantis extended an executive order that bars local governments from enforcing violations of mask mandates. DeSantis extended the order Tuesday, as the state reported increasing numbers of cases of Covid-19. Officials in St. Petersburg had been citing businesses that did not require workers or patrons to wear masks and the governor's order "makes it more difficult for us to have an impact and do what we can to lower these numbers in our communities," Kriseman said Friday on CNN. "For a governor who claims to be all about economic development and looking out for businesses, this is very short-sighted policy that he’s got in place. It will be far worse for our business community and the people who work in those businesses if we have to do a complete shutdown because our numbers explode and there’s no beds in our hospitals." Kriseman said the mandatory face covering ordinance in Pinellas County has made a difference, because the county's positivity rate - or percent of people who take a Covid-19 test and test positive - is more than 1 percentage point lower than the rest of the state. As of Friday, there have been 32,408 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Pinellas County since March, an increase of 613 cases since the state department of health last reported case counts on Wednesday. There was one additional death since Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 to 885. Pinellas County hospitals report 167 people were hospitalized as of Friday afternoon with a primary diagnosis of Covid, but more than one-third of the total hospital beds in the county remain available, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration said.
Pinellas County added another 331 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday. It was the second consecutive day that newly confirmed cases have topped 300, and the highest number of new cases since July 24. Three more deaths attributed to Covid-19 were reported in Pinellas County on Wednesday. A total of 884 people have died due to Covid-19 in the county since the pandemic began in March, and there has been a cumulative total of 31,795 cases since then, the Florida Department of Health said. As of Wednesday afternoon, 180 people were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of Covid-19 in Pinellas County hospitals, according to the Florida Agency on Health Care Administration. About 32 percent of the hospital beds in Pinellas and about 23 percent of the adult intensive care beds remain available in Pinellas, AHCA said. The county's positivity rate, or the percent of people who take a Covid test and test positive, remains at about 5.9 percent, higher than the 5 percent threshold that some public health officials say should trigger restrictions, although lower than the 10 percent benchmark in state and federal reopening guidelines.
Barbara Rhode, founder of the Red Tent Women's Initiative in St. Petersburg, will be highlighted Wednesday night in the NBC television special, "Women of Worth." The show will feature the 10 individuals named by beauty company L'Oreal as women who selflessly give back to their communities. It airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday night and will be hosted by celebrities, including Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning, Eva Longoria and Viola Davis. The program will be available to stream beginning Thanksgiving day. Red Tent Women's Initiative works with women incarcerated in the Pinellas County Jail to implement positive coping skills and resolve trauma, addiction and socioeconomic disadvantage. The St. Pete Catalyst previously profiled the organization here. Rhode's recognition as a Woman of Worth brings a $10,000 award that will allow Red Tent Women’s Initiative to expand its work, with a chance to receive another $25,000 if Rhode is selected as the national Women of Worth honoree by a popular vote. Voting continues through Friday. Click here to vote.
The hardworking staff of the St. Pete Catalyst is taking a short holiday break; we’ll be back and publishing Monday, Nov. 30. As always, readers are encouraged to keep the St. Pete conversation going by submitting comments and commentary; click here to send in your information.
GTE Financial, one of the largest credit unions in Florida, has added Zelle, a technology that enables person-to-person payments, to its mobile banking app. Zelle allows funds to be sent from one bank account in the U.S. to another, using only a recipient’s email address or U.S. mobile number. The Zelle Network includes banks and credit unions of all sizes. In the 12 months ended Sept. 30, the Zelle Network processed more than one billion payment transactions, according to Early Warning Services, the network operator behind Zelle. The new P2P technology follows GTE Financial's launch of its new mobile app late last month. The credit union is encouraging members to enroll with Zelle before Dec. 31. Every time members transfer $5 or more using Zelle in the GTE app or in online banking, GTE Financial will donate $1 to Credit Unions for Kids, which supports local childrens’ hospitals, a news release said.
Oragenics, a Tampa company focused on creating a vaccine candidate to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic, has raised about $6 million in a public stock offering. Oragenics (NYSE American: OGEN) sold nearly 14.2 million shares at 37 cents a share. In addition, the underwriter on the offering exercised its option to purchase an additional 2.1 million shares of common stock. a news release said. Oragenics intends to use the proceeds of the offering primarily to continue funding pre-clinical development of its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, Terra CoV-2, and its lantibiotics program and for general corporate purposes, including research and development activities, capital expenditures and working capital, according to the news release.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Peter Collins to the Florida State University Board of Trustees. Collins is a co-founder and managing principal of Forge Capital Partners, a commercial real estate investment and investment management company in Tampa. He is a former chair of the Florida Pension Investment Advisory Council and with his wife, Jennifer established the Peter and Jennifer Collins Graduate Fellowship in Real Estate within the Florida State University College of Business. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
The Florida Department of Health reported 327 new cases of Covid-19 in Pinellas County Tuesday. That's the largest number of new cases reported in a single day since July 24, when there were 355 new cases. Pinellas County has had a total of 31,464 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the outbreak began in March, as well as 881 deaths attributed to the virus. An additional nine deaths were reported overnight. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reported 172 people were hospitalized Tuesday afternoon in Pinellas County with a primary diagnosis of Covid. There's available capacity in about 31 percent of the hospital beds and about 21 percent of the adult intensive care unit beds in Pinellas hospitals, AHCA said. The positivity rate, or percent of people who take a Covid-19 test and test positive, was 5.89 percent on Monday, and has been averaging just under 6 percent for the past two weeks.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Ken Jones, founder and CEO of Third Lake Capital, to the Board of Governors of the State University System. Third Lake, the investment fund controlled by the owners of Ashley Furniture HomeStores, owns 200 Central in downtown St. Petersburg and other properties Jones also the founder and chairman of Fairbourne Properties, a commercial real estate investment and management firm. Jones, who is an attorney, is an active member of the Florida Council of 100 and was recently named to the executive committee for the 2021 NFL Super Bowl Host Committee. He previously was president and CEO of the 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee for the Republican National Convention. His appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
