Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital has expanded its critical care transport team, allowing the hospital's helicopter service to respond directly to medical and trauma accident scenes. The critical care transport team, also known as LifeLine, is adding an adult-focused paramedic and expanding training to current pediatric flight crew members in order to provide these air transport services to both children and adults in the Tampa Bay area. LifeLine will now be able to accept EMS requests for air support and offer faster response, particularly in the Pinellas and Manatee county areas, a news release said. Johns Hopkins All Children's, a pediatric hospital in St. Petersburg, has an affiliation with Med-Trans Corp., a national medical transport provider, on its helicopter service.
Neptune Flood, a St. Petersburg-based insurtech focused on the flood market, is rolling out a flood insurance platform for small and medium-sized businesses. The platform, sbaflood.com, streamlines the purchase process and allows businesses to quote and bind entirely online in under two minutes, Neptune said in a news release. Small Business Administration and other government- backed business loans on property or contents that are in a high-risk or mandatory flood zone require the purchase of flood insurance. Neptune, an alternative to the federal National Flood Insurance Program, has higher building coverage limits than the federal program and offers an optional business interruption cover to help recover from a flood event missing from the NFIP, the news release said. Expanding flood insurance to businesses was one of several goals that Trevor Burgess, Neptune's president and CEO, told the St. Pete Catalyst he expected to achieve this year.
Jointly produced by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater and Visit Florida, all eight episodes of the series Life's Rewards, filmed in Pinellas County, debut today on Amazon Prime. Here's the Catalyst story about the inaugural season.
Clayton Colborn, a Wesley Chapel resident who also goes by the name Jason Rich, has been indicted for enticing and coercing a minor child to engage in sexual activity. According to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Colborn, 29, allegedly engaged in the criminal behavior in or around January 2020 through Feb. 3, 2020. If convicted, he would face a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison and possibly a life term of supervised release. The case was investigated by the FBI, the Ocoee Police Department and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. Anyone with information regarding Colborn should contact the FBI’s Tampa division at 813-253-1000.
The St. Petersburg City Council, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, approved plans for a mixed-use development at 1000 1st Ave. N. in the EDGE District. Belpointe, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based developer, plans to build two 15-story buildings with a total of 254 apartments, as well as 21,463-square-feet of commercial space and a 380-space parking garage. The project is valued at $70 million, according to documents submitted to the CRA for review. The CRA found that the project is consistent with the Intown West Redevelopment Plan, a plan that is designed to capitalize on the opportunities generated by Tropicana Field. Read more about the project in this earlier report in St. Pete Catalyst.
Applications are now open for a new summer program aimed at training underrepresented teenagers to advocate for themselves and others. The weeklong course is hosted by Stetson University College of Law, in partnership with Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg. The course is designed for Pinellas County teenagers, between the ages of 15-17, considered underrepresented because of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic status, or school performance.The class will be virtual due to the pandemic. It will be highly interactive and feature Stetson Law faculty and students, as well as local judges and attorney volunteers, a news release from Stetson said. The program will run from July 19- July 24, and applications are available at: stetson.edu/law/youth-program. The deadline to apply is May 31. All student participants in the summer program will receive a financial stipend to facilitate their participation.
Portions of Roosevelt Boulevard near St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport will be closed to westbound traffic on May 9, 11 and 17 from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. because of roadwork associated with the Florida Department of Transportation’s Gateway Expressway project. According to a news release, vehicles exiting the airport will not be able to turn right into westbound lanes and will be detoured east and rerouted to Ulmerton Road.
Regal Theatres' Pinellas Park location, the Regal Park Place & RPX (7200 US Highway 19 North) re-opens today after months of Covid closure. Regal is also re-opening its movie theaters in Tampa and Sarasota. All venues will adhere to the company's CinemaSafe guidelines.
A pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle early Friday morning in the 6900 block of 66th Street North in Pinellas Park. The driver of the 2016 Nissan Sentra, 23-year-old Carly Christopher of St. Petersburg, was arrested for driving under the influence booked into the Pinellas County Jail with a blood-alcohol content above 0.15. The identity of the pedestrian, who was crossing 66th Street mid-block and outside of a crosswalk, is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.
The City of Tampa on Thursday celebrated the two-year anniversary of Jane Castor taking office as mayor by highlighting some of her major achievements. Castor, who previously served as Tampa’s chief of police, succeeded two-term Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Some of the changes she’s shepherded include raising the minimum wage for city employees to $15 an hour; issuing an executive order recognizing LGBT businesses as part of the city’s Women and Minority Owned Businesses Program; and leading the city through the Covid-19 pandemic with critical recovery efforts such as $3.45 million in One Tampa relief, Lift Up Local program, distribution of over 650,000 free face coverings and vaccine distribution; and launching the Bridges to Business vendor certification tour to help small business owners learn how to become certified and work with city government.
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital will raise the minimum wage for its employees to $15 an hour, effective Jan. 1, 2022. That's five years ahead of the requirement for a $15 an hour minimum wage that Florida voters approved last year. It will directly benefit more than 300 employees at the St. Petersburg-based pediatric hospital, a news release said. It applies to temporary workers, student workers and contract employees who work full time on campus. It's part of a move by Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System to adopt an enterprise-wide $15 an hour minimum wage. "This decision reflects Johns Hopkins’ broader commitment to increasing opportunities in the communities the university and health system serve, creating a ripple effect in the local business community," the news release said.
ID.me, a technology firm focused on identity verification, said it has opened an office in Tampa and plans to hire more than 500 employees from the local area by the end of the year. ID.me, headquartered in McLean Virginia, provides digital identity credentials to consumers and recently raised $100 million. The Tampa area has "a great talent pool," Blake Hall, CEO and founder, said in a news release. The company did not provide a specific location for the Tampa office. It said the new office will be closed to all but essential workers, but upon resumption of normal operations it would welcome the full team with perks such as a fully-stocked kitchen, lounge areas and a cafeteria. Employees will receive accrued PTO on an annual basis as well as medical benefits, the company said. The company is recruiting member support representatives and community managers. Click on id.me/careers to learn more.
