Although an exact opening date has not been announced, the first tickets for Fairgrounds, the 15,000-square-foot artist-created "experience" located in The Factory St. Pete, will go on sale May 10. The immersive venue will open in "Spring 2021," according to Fairgrounds administration.
Michael Morlan, a chef who worked the Vinoy Renaissance Resort in St. Petersburg for 25 years and was most recently employed at Cassis on Beach Drive, was arrested on April 12 for allegedly soliciting underage girls to engage in sex acts with him. His arrest at Jack Puryear Park in northeast St. Pete was the culmination of a sting operation in which undercover detectives posed as teenage girls in social media and phone conversations with Morlan, 57. He faces felony charges of traveling to meet a minor, transmission of harmful material to minors, prohibited computer transmissions and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
In a sign that the travel industry expects a post-pandemic upswing in activity, Allegiant Airlines will hold a job fair on Monday at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. The discount carrier, according to a news release, is looking for part-time customer service agents and ground operations agent. Successful applicants will receive free flight benefits. A valid driver’s license and high school diploma are prerequisites. No advance appointments are necessary. For more information, call 727-453-7800 or email info@fly2pie.com.
Citing a decrease in demand, Tampa International Airport will close its Covid-19 testing site on May 7. In a statement posted on its website, the airport said the BayCare-run site has served nearly 21,000 passengers over the past seven months. When it debuted the service in October, TIA became the first airport in the country to offer both PCR and rapid antigen Covid-19 tests to all departing and arriving passengers. TIA CEO Joe Lopano called it one of the airport’s “proudest accomplishments during the COVID-19 crisis,” adding, “I’m happy to say we kept a lot of travelers safe by offering this service. We still strongly encourage passengers to test at other sites before flying, wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines as we continue to try to reduce Covid-19 case numbers in Florida and around the world.”
Moody's Investor's Service has changed its outlook for the Seminole Tribe of Florida to stable from negative. Moody's also affirmed The Tribe's Baa2 credit rating, an investment grade rating that reflects the company's dominant market position in the state's gaming market and its strong financial profile, a news release said. The moves are indicative of the strong operating performance since the company's casinos reopened following the March 2020 closures. Moody's said it expects revenue to increase over the next year as limitations on social distancing and capacity are eased. The credit agency said The Tribe would be able to easily absorb any resumption of payments under its compact with the state of Florida. Those payments have been suspended since 2019. The Tribe owns and operates the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa and other gaming businesses.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have re-signed another key piece of their Super Bowl-winning roster by bringing back wide receiver Antonio Brown on a one-year contract worth at least $3.1 million in guaranteed money, according to the NFL Network. The deal reportedly contains incentives that could increase Brown’s payday to as much as $6.25 million. After a tumultuous stretch of his career that saw him hit with a sexual assault lawsuit and traded and released multiple times, Brown signed with the Bucs and, after serving an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, became a productive member of the team’s vaunted wide receiver corps, alongside Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who will also be back with the Super Bowl champions next season.
The St. Petersburg Police Department has fired Probationary Officer Jonathan Cain, who joined the force in August 2020. According to a news release, Cain, 25, was arrested by Pinellas Park Police officers Wednesday night for committing credit card fraud. He is accused of using a Texas woman’s personal information to make an online purchase that was charged to her credit card. Cain turned himself in, the release stated, and he was fired immediately, without an internal investigation or board review, because of his probationary status.
The Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County will offer pop-up vaccination sites in St. Petersburg on Saturday, May 1, and the following Saturday, May 9, to make Covid-19 vaccines available to more people. This coming Saturday, vaccines will be offered, free of charge, at Lake Vista Recreation Center, 1401 62nd Ave. S. On May 9, shots will be offered at Childs Park Recreation Center, 4301 13th Ave. S. Vaccines are available to all Florida residents age 16 and up. DOH-Pinellas requests that residents register in advance online or by phone at 727-433-8077.
The Federal Trade Commission is sending full refunds totaling more than $11 million to consumers who lost money in a bogus credit card interest rate reduction scheme operated by E.M. Systems & Services. The telemarketing firm had a principal place of business at a United Parcel Service store in St. Petersburg, according to a complaint filed by the FTC and the state of Florida in 2015. The complaint alleged the company’s owners, Steven D. Short and Karissa L. Dyar, cold-called consumers with credit card debt and falsely promised to save them thousands of dollars by reducing their credit card interest rates. The FTC says that the defendants charged an up-front fee between $695 and $1,495, and falsely promised to provide refunds to consumers if they failed to reduce the interest rates.More than 11,000 consumers are receiving full refunds, averaging $995 each, the FTC said in a news release.
A woman who handled payroll for a Dunedin insurance firm was arrested this week, after she admitted issuing extra paychecks to herself. Detectives in the Pinellas County Sheriff's economic crimes unit arrested Jayme Collman on one count of scheme to defraud greater than $50,000. Collman was hired by Avid Insurance as an office manager in March 2018, and her duties included handling employee payroll. The company noticed discrepancies in payroll when it applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan and notified the sheriff's office. Detectives discovered more than $50,000 was stolen and Collman was identified as the suspect. During an interview she admitted to the allegations, according to a news release from the sheriff.
County auditors found no fraudulent activity in the Pinellas CARES Local Business Grant program. The county used about $35 million of the $170 million it received from the federal CARES stimulus program to provide financial assistance to area companies impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Auditors focused on the sliding-scale aspect of the program, which provided grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. "Overall the administration of the [program] was very effective," said an audit from the county's Division of Inspector General. Pinellas County Economic Development and CliftonLarsonAllen, program administrator, had adequate controls in place to review and approve applications, the report said. The finance division also adequate controls to review applications before money was disbursed, and the majority of applicants met eligibility requirements. There were a few instances of duplication or unpaid taxes, but in most cases the liens were satisfied and the applications were approved, the report said. The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners received the audit at Tuesday's meeting.
Pinellas County remains under a state of local emergency for the next 10 days. The Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the state of local emergency through May 7, in order for the county to remain eligible for federal reimbursements for Covid-19 related expenses. The vote followed about two-and-a-half hours of public comment from about 75 speakers, some who said the county should end its state of local emergency and nearly all who said the county should repeal a separate ordinance requiring face coverings in public places. Commissioners have scheduled a May 11 public hearing and vote on the face mask ordinance. While the meeting was dominated by public comment on face masks, commissioners spent less than five minutes on other business items on the afternoon agenda, including a resolution on affordable housing and a measure outlining the board's federal priorities for the upcoming year. Both were approved with no discussion. A report on Covid-19's impact on tourism was deferred to a future meeting.
