The Tampa Bay Lightning came agonizingly close to a four-game sweep of the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final Monday night in Montreal but lost in overtime when Josh Anderson broke a 2-2 tie to keep the Habs’ season alive. However, the loss means the series returns to Tampa, giving the Bolts a chance to clinch their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship at home. Game 5 is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday at Amalie Arena.
The Tampa Bay Rays have postponed Tuesday’s home game against the Cleveland Indians because of the path of Tropical Storm Elsa, which is expected to bring heavy rain and storm surge to the region. The game will be rescheduled as part of a traditional, single-admission doubleheader on Wednesday, starting at 12:10 p.m. Tickets for Tuesday’s game will be valid for both games of the doubleheader. Fans who are unable to attend Wednesday’s doubleheader will receive a credit that can be used for any regular-season home game at Tropicana Field, as long as they bought their tickets via RaysBaseball.com, the MLB Ballpark app or over the phone.
New World Angels, Florida’s premier structured angel investment group, has sold its stock and warrants in Qure4U back to the company. The sale was part of a recapitalization and expansion financing transaction, separately announced by Bradenton-based Qure4U, which designs virtual platforms for the health care industry. NWA invested $445,000 to support Qure4U’s launch in June 2018. The $3.7 million return represents NWA’s second successful exit this year, according to New World's announcement. “It’s gratifying when we can help a Florida-based start-up get launched and then see them soar to the progress Qure4U achieved and get a solid financial return also," NWA Vice-president Jon Cole said in the news release.
The July 6, 2021 one-year anniversary immersive drone light show celebration presented by Duke Energy at the St. Pete Pier has been postponed due to Tropical Storm Elsa. The event is currently rescheduled for Saturday, July 31, 2021.
Happy 4th of July from your team at the St. Pete Catalyst. We'll be off for a couple of days. The next Daily Spark drops on Tuesday the 6th. Be safe!
Residents near Tyrone Square Mall may be able to enjoy some hot doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Design and engineering consultant group Kimley-Horn has filed a permit application with the Southwest Florida Water Management District that reveals plans to redevelop a parking lot at 6901 22nd Ave. N. into a drive-thru Krispy Kreme restaurant. Site plans for the "Krispy Kreme Tyrone Square Mall" project call for the 2,975-square-foot doughnut shop to be built at the mall near the Hooters restaurant and Dillard's department store.
The red tide levels are slightly improving in certain parts of Pinellas County. Over the past week, K. brevis, the organism responsible for red tide, was observed at nearly nonexistent levels to high concentrations in and offshore of Pinellas County (in 29 samples). Water samples taken Tuesday at beaches from Pass-A-Grille to Fred Howard Park had low concentrations. However, high and medium concentrations were found off Fort De Soto Park beaches. Meanwhile, nearly nonexistent levels to high concentrations were found in Hillsborough County (in 36 samples), nearly nonexistent levels to medium concentrations were found in Manatee County (in 23 samples), which were also found in Sarasota County (in 13 samples). Stay updated on the latest red tide status here.
Announced in March, a merger between SYNNEX Corp. and Tech Data was originally valued at $7.2 billion. A bump in the SYNNEX stock price increased that number to $8 billion. The stock and net debt deal is expected to close later this year, following regulatory approval.
Quality Distribution Inc.’s sale of its Quality Carriers bulk liquid chemical truck transportation business to CSX Corp. became official on Thursday. In a related move, Quality Distribution, a Tampa-based logistics and transportation company, has rebranded to Boasso Global Inc., taking the name of its other wholly owned subsidiary business. Joe Troy, formerly the CFO of Quality Distribution, has been named CEO of Boasso Global, according to a news release. “We are tremendously excited about the future of Boasso Global and our ability to focus all of our efforts on continuing to expand our global footprint to better provide our customers with the market-leading services they have come to expect from Boasso Global,” Troy stated in the release. “At the same time, we wish continued success to our friends at Quality Carriers as they transition to CSX.”
Women’s Tennis Association player Danielle Collins, a St. Petersburg native, lost her second-round match at the Championships, Wimbledon, on Wednesday, suffering a 2-6, 0-6 defeat at the hands of Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland. In her first-round match at the All England Club in London, Collins gritted out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Polona Hercog of Slovenia.
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was in a stingy mood Wednesday night during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena, allowing just one goal amid a barrage of more than 40 shots by the Montreal Canadiens. The Bolts were not nearly as prolific on offense but got goals from Anthony Cirelli, Ondrej Palat and Blake Coleman, whose diving, highlight-reel score in the final second of the second period broke a 1-1 tie, electrified the home crowd and seemed to deflate the visiting Canadiens, who, up until that point, had been the dominant team. The Lightning, now leading the series 2-0, travel to Montreal for Game 3, set for 8 p.m. Friday.
Earlier this week, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority unveiled four new electric depot bus chargers. The chargers, located in the bus lot at PSTA headquarters, were purchased through a federal grant along and nearly a $160,000 commitment from Duke Energy. Data collected from the PSTA chargers will be used for learning purposes about electric transit bus usage. PSTA now has a total of six chargers. The new chargers, which take about four hours to fully recharge an electric bus, come as PSTA is acquiring more electric buses for its fleet. PSTA is expected to have a total of eight electric buses by 2022.
