The City of St. Petersburg currently has a stock of 1,300 pre-made sandbags at the Pavement and Traffic Operations Building, 1744 9th Ave. North, that can be picked up this afternoon (Wednesday) starting at 3:30 p.m. Residents must provide proof of residence (such as a driver's license) to receive sandbags.
In response to Hurricane Eta, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority suspended service at noon Wednesday and will resume as soon as it is deemed safe after the storm passes. All PSTA terminals, including Park Street, Grand Central Station, and Pinellas Park will be closed as well. Riders can find the latest information on PSTA bus service by calling the InfoLine at 727-540-1900 or by visiting Facebook and Twitter.
The drive-through Covid-19 testing site at Tropicana Field will not open Wednesday due to anticipated high winds associated with Hurricane Eta. The National Weather Service has placed portions of Pinellas County under hurricane and tropical storm watches and anticipates the area may begin to experience tropical storm-force winds Wednesday.
Pinellas County Schools will close early today (Wednesday) and remain closed Thursday due to Hurricane Eta. All extracurricular activities are canceled through Thursday and free meal distribution will also be canceled for Thursday. Updates on future plans will be shared on the district's website and through social media.
Oracle Elevator, a Tampa-based elevator service company, has acquired Premier Elevator in Atlanta. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal enhances the combined company’s position as the leading independent alternative to the multinational elevator companies, a news release said. The Premier Elevator brand will continue to be used in the Atlanta and Nashville markets. In Florida, the company will go to market using the combined branding of Premier – Oracle Elevator. In all other current Oracle territories, the company will use the Oracle Elevator brand. Oracle Elevator relocated its corporate headquarters from Connecticut to Tampa in 2017, in part because Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik invested in the company.
The Baseball Writers' Association of American voted for Kevin Cash, manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, as the 2020 American League Manager of the Year. Cash is the second manager in Tampa Bay Rays' history to win the award. Joe Maddon won it in 2008 and 2011, a news release said. The Rays had a 40-20 win-loss record and a 0.667 winning percentage in the shortened 2020 season, which was the third-highest for a BBWAA Manager of the Year since the award was introduced in 1983. Cash led the Rays to the team's second World Series appearance.
Peerfit, a Tampa-based digital health startup, has a deal to sell some of its technology to a publicly traded company, several sources tell the St. Pete Catalyst. The name of the buyer and the transaction terms have not been publicly disclosed, but sources tell the Catalyst it is an eight-figure deal. Peerfit, one of the more high-profile local startups, is expected to maintain its operations in Tampa after the sale. This a a developing story. An updated report is here.
100 Women Who Care St Petersburg will hold its next meeting Tuesday, Nov. 17 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Match Point Grille, 170 47th Ave. NE, with a pre-meeting social hour beginning at 6 p.m. Attendees can also participate via Zoom. During the meeting, the organization will vote on a nonprofit to receive its Impact Award and financial contribution. The three nominees are Shepherd's Village, Girls on the Run and My Daughter's Keeper. Representatives from each nonprofit will make a presentation at the meeting prior to the vote. To sign up for the event or make a donation, click here.
The Florida Department of Health reported another 183 cases of Covid-19 Tuesday and two new deaths, bringing the county’s total to 833 since the start of the pandemic. As of Tuesday, the county now has 28,032 positive cases and a rolling two-week positivity rate of 6.05 percent, with an 6.79 percent positivity rate reported on Monday. Ben Kirby, the spokesman for Mayor Rick Kriseman, said that the mayor has met with advisors and health officials but has not yet made any decisions related to future restrictions. Five percent is the number that some public health officials say should be a threshold for imposing restrictions, though state and federal reopening guidelines cite that number at 10 percent. The St. Pete Catalyst has a daily update on total cases by ZIP code, which you can find here.
Apyx Medical, a Clearwater medical device company, reported total revenue of $7 million for the third quarter of 2020, down 8. 2 percent from Q3 2019. The company posted a net loss of $3.7 million, or 11 cents a share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to a net loss of $4.4 million, or 13 cent a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales dropped due to the impact of ovid-19, Apyx (Nasdaq: APYX) said in a news release. The company makes products used in cosmetic surgery procedures. There were restrictions on elective procedures in many parts of the U.S. earlier this year, so that hospitals would have capacity for Covid patients. Those restrictions generally were lifted during the second quarter, and many of Apyx's customers, who are cosmetic surgeons, are very busy working to accommodate the backlog in cases caused by the pandemic, Charlie Goodwin, president and CEO, told analysts on a quarterly earnings call.
John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, was named to the Florida Council of 100. The Council is a private, not-for-profit organization comprised of Florida business leaders representing more than 100 companies and 500,000 employees in Florida. The Council's mission is to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of all Floridians through the pursuit of better, business-driven public policy, a news release said.
All work has been completed on the Interstate 275 operational improvements in Tampa's Westshore area and the project has been final accepted by the Florida Department of Transportation. Construction on the $31 million design-build project began in June 2019 and was completed within contract time and budget, according to FDOT. The project has provided congestion relief to both directions of I-275 by adding lanes to eliminate traffic merges in the State Road 60 area. Additional pavement was also built to improve traffic flow on the northbound I-275 exit ramp to SR 60/Kennedy Boulevard, the eastbound SR 60 entrance onto northbound I-275, and the northbound I-275 area between the Westshore Boulevard and Lois Avenue interchanges.
