Pinellas County Government’s first two fully electric vehicles are now officially on the road. According to a county press release, the vehicles will charge at the county’s Solid Waste Disposal Complex. The two 2021 Chevrolet Bolts are estimated to produce around 66% fewer emissions than gas-powered vehicles. The sides of the cars read “Powered By Your Trash,” as the Solid Waste Disposal Complex also houses the Waste-to-Energy facility. Funded by disposal fees at the complex, the cars will take department staff to business inspections.
Last night, the Tampa International Airport team welcomed the first-ever flight on Eurowings Discover last night nonstop from Frankfurt, Germany. Eurowings Discover is the Lufthansa Group’s new leisure airline. The four-times-per-week service is Eurowings’ first flight to the United States. The flights are approximately nine hours and 10 minutes from Tampa to Frankfurt and 10 hours and 55 minutes from Frankfurt to Tampa, according to TPA.
The Tampa Bay Rays promoted Peter Bendix to general manager and senior vice president of baseball operations Thursday. The move follows Erik Neander’s promotion to president of baseball operations in September. Bendix now fills Neander’s former role, and Neander said Bendix will serve as an “interchangeable partner.” Bendix is entering his 14th season with the Rays and has already played a major part in the team’s player evaluations, acquisitions and roster management in his previous position as vice president of baseball development.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is continuing its autonomous vehicle testing in a new location at Clearwater Beach. PSTA has been pilot testing AVA, which stands for Autonomous Vehicle Advantage. On Wednesday, PSTA celebrated the autonomous vehicle service in Clearwater with a new look. PSTA first launched the autonomous vehicles last year in St. Petersburg in partnership with Orlando-based manufacturer Beep Inc. The vehicles have also been deployed in Dunedin. The AVA shuttles are equipped with multiple sensors and GPS tracking. While the vehicles are driverless, there is a co-pilot on board.
In an effort to protect pedestrians around the holidays, the St. Petersburg Police Department is closing part of the downtown waterfront to vehicle traffic. On Saturday, Dec. 18, and Saturday, Dec. 25, Bayshore Drive NE will only be open to pedestrians and bicyclists. The car-free zone of Bayshore extends from Central Avenue to 5th Avenue NE. The temporary closure takes place from 5:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. due to an increase in the volume of pedestrians visiting the Pier and surrounding parks for the holidays.
After years of remodeling, the restoration of St. Pete High School is complete. Opened in 1926, the school's roots date back to 1888, according to Pinellas County Schools. St. Pete High is on the state and national historic registry, causing the renovations to be a lengthy and costly process. In total, $43.8 million was spent restoring the school to its former glory. The plan was to preserve and restore the school’s original architecture and historic features while providing students with the latest technologies. The project also included a new courtyard and cafeteria, and an upgraded football field and classrooms.
A 2-year-old male bottlenose dolphin, found beached on Florida's Space Coast in May, suffering from starvation, is the newest resident at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Named Apollo, the animal was treated and rehabilitated at Sea World Orlando. Because of acute hearing loss - resulting in damage to the echolocation system dolphins use to feed - re-release into the wild was deemed impossible by the NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Stranding Program. Apollo joins resident dolphins Hope, PJ, Nicholas and Hemingway at CMA’s Ruth & J.O. Stone Dolphin Complex.
Tampa-based Kforce Inc. (Nasdaq: KFRC), a staffing and solutions firm, unveiled a brand refresh Monday, including a new logo, redesigned website and evolved core values. The new logo will be Kforce's Midtown building next year. “These changes represent our focus on solutions and our identity as a state-of-the-art technology organization that is all about people,” Kforce President Joe Liberatore said in a news release. Kforce works with approximately 3,000 clients, including a significant majority of Fortune 500 companies.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady set yet another NFL record and personal milestone Sunday. Heading into the team’s matchup with the Buffalo Bills and Raymond James Stadium, Brady needed 18 pass completions to overtake Drew Brees for the top spot in the NFL record books. Brady finished the game with 31, giving him 7,156 in his career. The seven-time Super Bowl champion also threw his 700th touchdown pass, which gave the Bucs a 33-27 overtime victory. Brady overtook Brees’ record for career passing yards earlier in the season, and already holds the record for most regular-season touchdown passes in a career.
The Tampa-based multi-media art collective Crab Devil has purchased the 71-year-old marquee sign from the city's Fun-Lan drive-in theater and flea market, which closed Dec. 10. The sign will be included in The Peninsularium, Crab Devil's immersive art attraction, scheduled to debut next summer.
St. Pete artists Leo Gomez and Laura Spencer (aka "Miss Crit") have been commissioned by Creative Pinellas to paint murals in the Lealman neighborhood - at the Lealman Exchange and the Mother Kombucha Warehouse, respectively. The Call to Artists was announced Nov. 2. Both artists created their designs after reading results of a public survey and community meetings over the summer, as well as visiting the actual Lealman locations.
According to a report released by Bloomberg Friday, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area had the worst inflation in the country last month. Prices in Tampa Bay were 8% higher than in Nov. 2020. The Riverside, California metro area finished close behind at 7.9%. Atlanta posted the highest rate in October with 7.9%, but the city was not included in the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for November. Prices across the country are up an average of 6.8%, the highest rate of inflation in nearly 40 years.
