A new drive-through COVID-19 test site opens Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts Mahaffey Theater parking garage. Appointments and prescriptions are not required, though organizers have requested no more than four people per car. The site will be open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Tests are provided at no cost via the partnership of Florida Emergency Management, the Florida Department of Health, Pinellas County, the City of St. Petersburg and the Mahaffey. For more information, contact the Pinellas County Citizen Information Line at (727) 464-4333.
Speaking at his weekly Facebook Live Tuesday, Mayor Rick Kriseman said that the City of St. Petersburg might take additional action on its own in the next week or two if the data shows the mask mandate isn't helping fight the spread of COVID-19. The city is continuing to provide complimentary masks. To find a location, click here. Kriseman also said the city is working with state and community partners to open a testing site at the Mahaffey Theater, with more details to come.
The City of St. Petersburg has approved the installation of an inclusive Pride mural in the Grand Central District at the intersection of 25th St. and Central Ave, which is considered to be the birthplace of St. Pete Pride. The mural will be made up of 11 colored stripes and its installation will be overseen by local LGBTQ artist Andrea Pawlisz. St. Pete Pride is seeking to raise $7,000 to cover the full cost of the installation and maintenance, and has already brought in more than $4,700 in donations. To donate, click here.
The USF Foundation has received a $5 million gift from alumna and longtime donor Lynn Pippenger. The gift will create an endowed deanship in the Muma College of Business. The earnings from the endowment will support the academic activities of the college’s dean, including faculty support and salaries, graduate fellowships and assistantships, faculty research awards, professional development support, conferences, publications, visiting lectures, speaker series and other programs that promote the college's core mission. In 2015, Pippenger donated $10 million to name the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. One year later, she gave $5 million to name Lynn Pippenger Hall, which houses the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance on the USF St. Petersburg campus.
There won't be any fans in the stands when the Tampa Bay Rays host the Toronto Blue Jays for opening day on Friday, July 24, the first game of an abbreviated 60-day season for Major League Baseball. It's the 11th consecutive season the Rays will play at home on opening day, but due to ongoing safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, games held at Tropicana Field will not be open to fans at this time, a news release said. Major League Baseball designed the 2020 schedule to include 40 games within the division and 20 interleague games against the corresponding geographical division. As a result, all 60 Rays games will be played in the Eastern time zone. Click here for the full schedule. The Rays 2020 season is presented by Baycare.
Wrench Group, an Atlanta-based home repair firm with national operations, has bought Easy A/C in Tampa. Financial terms were not disclosed in a news release announcing the deal. Easy A/C provides air conditioning, electrical and plumbing services to customers in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco and Manatee counties. The company was locally owned and operated by Keith Westbrook and Dave Whittington since 2001. Easy A/C will be combining its operations with CoolToday, owned by Wrench Group and headquartered in Sarasota. Easy A/C will transition its brand to Easy CoolToday, the news release said.
Jabil is publicly offering to sell $600 million in senior notes. Jabil (NYSE: JBL), a manufacturing solutions provider and the largest company headquartered in St. Petersburg, plans to use proceeds of the debt offering for general corporate purposes, including paying off debt issued earlier that comes due this year. A senior note is a bond that must be repaid before most other debts in the event that the issuer declares bankruptcy. That makes senior notes more secure than other bond, but that greater level of safety means investors earn slightly lower interest rates, according to Investopedia. The offering for the newly issued senior notes is expected to close on July 13, Jabil said in a news release. Fitch Ratings has assigned a BBB- rating, an investment grade rating, to the new notes. Fitch said Jabil's fiscal year third quarter had better financial results than expected.
A fifth bus driver has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. The driver last reported to work Friday, June 26, and in the two weeks prior to that time, drove only Route 14. PSTA does not believe any passengers came in contact with the driver, whom remained socially distant from all passengers. However, anyone who feels like they experience symptoms should seek medical advice. PSTA requires riders to wear protective face coverings while riding, and to use transit for essential travel only.
Works by St. Pete-area artists go on virtual view Tuesday (July 7) as part of thestudio@620's 2020 Community Art Show exhibition. Work in all media was accepted through July 2, and will be on display (and available for sale) on thestudio@620 website through the end of the month. The Community Art Show is the venue's contribution to the July Second Saturday (virtual) ArtWalk, this Saturday, July 11.
Digital Media Solutions has a definitive agreement to acquire Smarter Chaos, a digital marketing and online performance management agency. DMS, a Clearwater-based digital performance marketing company, also will acquire SmarterChaos-owned She Is Media, a female-centric performance ad network. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Matt Frary, CEO and founder of SmarterChaos, is joining DMS as executive vice president of brand strategy, and the SmarterChaos team, currently headquartered in Colorado, will become a remote workforce to align with the DMS team that has recently transitioned to be largely remote. This is the 10th acquisition for DMS, which is in the process of becoming a publicly traded company through a merger with Leo Holdings Corp.
The St. Petersburg City Council has new procedures for public comments during council meetings in an effort to prevent a repeat of the threats, derogatory racial epithets and hate speech that disrupted the June 11 online meeting. Beginning with the upcoming July 9 meeting, the council chairman will have the discretion to take public comments by email, instead of verbally, in the event of a disruption. The city clerk will mute all participants except for the chairman, and after each agenda item is concluded, the city clerk also will lower all hands raised to comment. The St. Petersburg City Council has been holding online meetings since early April, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The council is expected to discuss a return to in-person meetings at Thursday's meeting.
Historic Kenwood has been named the 2020 national “Neighborhood of the Year” by the national non-profit organizationNeighborhoods, USA, after winning first place in Neighborhood Revitalization/Beautification – one of three categories in which winners compete for the top honor. The awards recognize Historic Kenwood Neighborhood Association’s Public Arts Initiative. A team of volunteers wrote a master plan, commissioned artist-created signpost finials, produced street banners featuring art by members of Historic Kenwood’s Artist Enclave, and recruited hosts for 11 Dining for Art events in 2019 that engaged 184 neighbors and friends and raised more than $8,000. At the completion of the finial project, artists and neighbors hosted 13 engagement activities that reached more than 1,000 people.
