The Tampa Bay Rowdies secured their second win of the 2024 season after defeating Miami FC 5-2 Thursday night at Florida International University. The Rowdies remain unbeaten through their first five matches. Tampa Bay will return to Al Lang Stadium for an April 20 matchup against El Paso Locomotive FC.
The Wall Street Journal recently named Tampa Bay the nation’s fourth “hottest job market.” The publication analyzed workforce size, wage growth and unemployment rates to compile its rankings. Tampa placed first in wage growth and added about 12,000 jobs in the past year.
The City of St. Petersburg invites residents to join Mayor Ken Welch and council members at its annual Budget Open House at City Hall. The meeting is Tuesday, April 16, at 6 p.m. Attendees will hear an overview of the budget process and remarks from city officials and have an opportunity to express their thoughts. For more information, visit the website here.
Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counites celebrated providing six new homeownership opportunities this week, with four in St. Petersburg. The home dedications began Monday in Tarpon Springs before moving south. Habitat’s busy week follows a recent report stating that Tampa Bay households must now earn $116,000 annually to secure a mortgage.
The Dali Museum's new AI-fueled visitor experience "Ask Dali" debuts today. Created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, the machine-learning company behind "Dali Lives" (2019) and the "Dream Tapestry" exhibit (2023), the new technological experience invites visitors to pick up a "lobster phone" and ask "Dali" a question. Museum director Hank Hine asked “Ask Dalí” what would a visitor to the Dalí Museum be sure to see? “Ask Dalí” responded: “In the labyrinth of the imagination that unfurls within the Dalí Museum of St. Petersburg, one must seek the melting clocks in ‘The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory,’ where time drips like a dream refusing to be contained.” "Ask Dali" was created using GPT-4 from OpenAI and Eleven Multilingual V2 from ElevenLabs.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area ranked 12th nationally in a study comparing inflation rates released Wednesday. Personal finance platform Wallet Hub utilized the recently released Consumer Price Index data to compare the 23 largest metros. Prices in the Tampa Bay region increased by .9% compared to two months prior and 3.3% year-over-year. That represents a .6% decrease from WalletHub’s report in March.
The University of South Florida announced Tuesday that Manhattan Construction Co., H. J. Russell & Co. and DuCon LLC will oversee the construction of a 35,000-seat on-campus football stadium. The university previously selected Barton Marlow to build the long-awaited facility but terminated the contract in December 2023. Populous, the prominent firm designing a new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark, also oversees that aspect of USF’s $340 million project.
Applications for the City of St. Petersburg’s Arts and Culture grant program are now open and accepted until June 13 at 5 p.m. Funding levels range from $7,500 to $22,500 according to an organization’s size and budget. Applicants must provide arts and culture programming, performances or exhibitions primarily for St. Pete residents and visitors for at least a year to be eligible. For more information, visit the website here.
Entrepreneur Magazine has ranked Palm Harbor-based Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services among its list of Top 100 Franchises for less than $100,000. The company ranked No. 37 this year, an 11-spot jump from 2023. The magazine compiles its annual rankings according to startup costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength and financial stability.
Former St. Petersburg City Council and Pinellas County School Board member Bill Dudley died Monday morning at 80 years old. He suffered a stroke and did not recover, according to a social media post from his wife, Michelle Timmel Dudley. Bill coached several sports during his 37-year tenure at Northeast High School, served on the council from 2008 to 2016 and the school board from 2019 until he left office in November 2022.
Zen Glass Studio, located at 600 27th St. S., was featured on an April 1 episode of HGTV’s Rock the Block. The home renovation show streams on Discovery + and Max and has showcased Treasure Island projects this season. Zen Glass, known for offering live demonstrations, is set to appear in future episodes.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies recorded their first shutout of the 2024 season Saturday night after playing the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC to a scoreless draw at HighMark Stadium. The Rowdies have not recorded a loss in their first four matches. However, the team has just one win and sits in sixth place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference.
