Saint Leo University will host a free online webinar on social work and policing Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. featuring St. Pete police chief Anthony Holloway and a team of other experts. They'll discuss how law enforcement and social workers can collaborate to improve their communities. This summer, Holloway announced plans for the St. Peter Police Department to deploy social workers to nonviolent calls rather than uniformed officers. The agency is using funding that had been earmarked for new officers to hire social workers instead and plans to hire about 25 hired Jan. 2021. To register for the webinar, click here.
Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee has issued a directive to re-open Florida’s voter registration deadline to participate in the Nov. 3 general election. The new deadline is 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6. The previous deadline was midnight Monday, Oct. 5, but what Lee said was unprecedented volume caused problems with the online registration site. “During the last few hours, the RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov website was accessed by an unprecedented 1.1 million requests per hour. We will work with our state and federal law-enforcement partners to ensure this was not a deliberate act against the voting process," Lee said in a news release. In addition to online registration, applications received through the following channels on Tuesday, Oct. 6 will also be accepted: county supervisors of elections offices, local tax collector’s offices and Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ driver’s license offices. Paper applications postmarked by Oct. 6 also will be accepted.
The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay has launched a “Mental Health First Aid” initiative to teach people in key roles how to identify, understand and respond to the mental health challenges in the community. The first aid course is nationally certified and is aimed at empowering people who work in public-facing roles to identify, understand and respond to signs of addictions and mental illness. The Foundation's goal is to train 5,000 people over the next three years and it will cover the cost of the course for people who work at nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, faith communities and other public service organizations across the Tampa Bay region. For more information, click here.
American Landmark Apartments has acquired a 288-unit apartment complex in Feather Sound in Clearwater. The apartment complex was previously owned by The RADCO Companies in Atlanta and named Ashford at Feather Sound. It will be renamed Fairways at Feather Sound, Connect Florida, a commercial real estate news site, reported. American Landmark paid $49 million for the property, according to a deed filed Monday with Pinellas County. Fairways at Feather Sound, at 13621 Feather Sound Circle E., was built in 1985 and acquired by Ashford in 2015 for $34 million, the Pinellas County property appraiser's office said. It has 21 two-story buildings and a clubhouse on 21 acres.
Smith Transportation Services, a Tampa-based third-party logistics and asset-light transportation services provider, appointed Jonathan Adams as chief executive officer. Adams previously led the transportation and logistics advisory teams at Houlihan Lokey, Sterne Agee & Leach, and Deloitte. Adams also served as president and CEO of SeaCo Ltd where he led the company from bankruptcy in 2009 until its sale in 2011 to HNA Group of China. Post Capital Partners, a private investment firm, acquired Smith Transportation in 2018 in a partnership with its management team, led by Steve Smith, president and chief operating officer.
Regal Cinemas is suspending operations at all its movie theaters at the close of business on Thursday, Oct. 8. Local movie screens that will be impacted include Regal Park Place, at 7200 U.S. Highway 19 N. in Pinellas Park and Regal Largo Mall at 10500 Ulmerton Rd. in Largo, as as well as Regal Citrus Park in Tampa. The company said it is suspending operations "in response to an increasingly challenging theatrical landscape and sustained key market closures."
Tampa Bay Tech will host its second Virtual Career Expo on Oct. 28. The all-day event will feature virtual employer booths where job candidates can research companies, apply for positions, network and live chat with recruiters, as well as explore webinars and educational and training resources. The career expo is designed to address the talent gap in the technology space, said Jill St. Thomas, executive director of Tampa Bay Tech. As local companies grow, there's a need for qualified candidates, said Jack Berlin, CEO of Accusoft and one of the founders of the Software CEO Council, which is partnering with Tampa Bay Tech on the event. Job seekers can click here to register and for additional details. Employers must contact team@tampabay.tech for a registration link and details. The event is free for job seekers and Tampa Bay Tech member employers. Non-member companies may participate for a registration fee.
Truli for Health, a Florida Blue affiliate and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is expanding to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. Truli for Health is an HMO for small and medium-sized employers. It's been under development for two years, according to a news release, and supplies easy-to-understand plans and affordable costs for employers, as well as convenient physical and virtual access to local providers for consumers. Truli is working with Tampa General Hospital and HCA Healthcare West Florida on the local launch.
The deadline to complete the 2020 Census has been extended until Oct. 31. Residents who haven't already done so are asked to take the census to ensure Pinellas County receives its fair share of more than $675 billion in federal funding. To complete the census online, click here. To take it over the phone, call (844) 330-2020 (English) or (844) 468-2020 (Spanish).
The Parent-Guardian Connection, a virtual forum for families with students attending Pinellas County Schools, will host a Zoom session on how to handle parental stress during the Covid-19 pandemic Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Presenters will share tools and techniques to help families gain better control of their thoughts and emotions while helping their children cope during these uncertain times. To register, click here.
1 Million Cups, an organization that works with entrepreneurs to empowering them with the tools and resources to break down barriers that stand in the way of starting and growing their businesses, is seeking applications for presenters. Companies that are less than five years old and open to community engagement can apply, and all industries are welcome. Once submitted, applications go through a review process prior to the presentation being scheduled. To apply, click here.
For people who want to vote in the November 3 general election, the deadline to register is October 5. Elections offices will be open Saturday, Oct. 3 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 5 from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is October 24 at 5 p.m. For more information, click here.
