The League of American Bicyclists has recognized Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority with a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Business award, earning it a place alongside over 1,400 businesses across the country contributing to the movement to build a more bicycle-friendly society. PSTA is also the first transportation organization to receive this award. PSTA joins 75 other new and renewing businesses in the League’s spring round of awards, which includes government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, bike shops and other employers across industries, all dedicated to making workplaces across the country more welcoming to customers and employees who bike. The award recognizes an organization’s contributions over months and years to the movement to build a bicycle friendly America. As part of the BFB network, PSTA will have access to a variety of tools and technical assistance from the League to become even more welcoming to people who bike. To learn more, visit www.bikeleague.org/business.
The City Council unanimously approved a resolution to formally express its support for the nonprofit Jack Kerouac’s House of St. Petersburg to purchase the legendary author’s home and establish a writer’s retreat. The nonprofit has an agreement to buy the house, located at 5169 10th Ave. N., for $300,000. It's currently owned by a house flipping company that bought the property for $220,000 in June. Once the purchase is made, the group plans to do renovations and beautification projects to ensure the property can be enjoyed by future generations. Kerouac lived in St. Pete twice—once from 1964 to 1965, and then again from 1968 until his death of a stomach hemorrhage October 1969. The “King of the Beats” resided in semi-obscurity with his mother Gabrielle and his third wife Stella, in a three-bedroom house in Disston Heights. The property has been empty since Kerouac’s death.
UnitedHealthcare has awarded Empowering Health grants to two Tampa-St. Petersburg area organizations. Seniors in Service in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas Counties received a $150,000 grant to expand a program addressing loneliness and social isolation among homebound seniors with low incomes by engaging them with telephone check-ins and assurance. Girls on the Run Greater Tampa Bay was awarded $30,000 to expand access to its physical activity-based, positive youth development program for 10 new teams of girls in underserved Tampa Bay communities for the 2020-2021 school year. United's Empowering Health grants are intended to expand access to care and address the social determinants of health for uninsured individuals and underserved communities.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced an emergency shipment of Remdesivir, a treatment for COVID-19, to Florida. The Florida Department of Health told hospitals earlier this week that the state had exhausted its supply of the drug. Florida's Democratic congressional representatives, including Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, asked the federal government to expedite the request for emergency supplies. The emergency shipment of up to 130,000 vials of the drug will be distributed to Florida hospitals as soon as today, with the potential for a second allocation to follow by Monday, July 13, a news release from Crist said. "Our country needs to prioritize the manufacture of this and other life-saving treatments, and ensure distribution networks are well-managed and responsive to keep an emergency shortfall from happening again," Crist said.
Sprouts Farmers Market will open in Seminole on Wednesday, July 15 at 7 a.m. Sprouts, which specializes in affordable, fresh, natural and organic products, said it has followed national and local health guidelines related to COVID-19 in preparing to open the new store at 7263 Seminole Blvd. All employees will be required to wear masks, there are plexiglass barriers at registers, and workers are spending more time cleaning, a news release said. Every shopper on opening day at the Seminole store will get a reusable shopping bag with purchase. Sprouts also said it will donate unsold and edible groceries to Feeding Tampa Bay through the grocer's Food Rescue program.
A sixth bus driver has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. The driver last reported to work Wednesday, June 24, and in the two weeks prior to that time, drove only Route 19 on June 15, 17, 18, 23 and 24. PSTA does not believe any passengers came in contact with the driver, whom remained socially distant from all passengers. However, anyone who feels like they experience symptoms should seek medical advice. PSTA requires riders to wear protective face coverings while riding, and to use transit for essential travel only.
COVID-19 has impacted many lives in many different ways. With so many symptoms and situations, it's important to understand the myriad ways the disease manifests in our lives. We've launched a new series called COVID Diaries to tell your stories. If you've have, or have had, COVID-19 and want to share your experience, please drop us a line: Spark@stpetecatalyst.com
The United States Coast Guard plans to establish a Coast Guard Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program at Pinellas Park High School. It will be one of only three such programs in the nation, said Michael Grego, Pinellas County Schools superintendent. Rep. Charlie Crist announced the new program Wednesday. Crist, D-St. Petersburg, introduced legislation in 2019 calling for the creation of a USCG JROTC in Pinellas, which led to a provision in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act authorizing the creation of Coast Guard JROTC available to schools across the country. Previously, U.S. Coast Guard JROTC programs could only be established through acts of Congress. Pinellas County is home to one of the largest hubs of United States Coast Guard commands in the United States, Crist said.
HCA Healthcare West Florida hospitals in seven Florida counties will delay certain inpatient surgeries and procedures, effective Saturday, July 11, to free up capacity for COVID patients. On July 6, HCA put some inpatient surgeries and procedures on hold in its four Pinellas County hospitals — St. Petersburg General Hospital, Northside Hospital, Palms of Pasadena Hospital and Largo Medical Center. Now, the delay is expanding to HCA hospitals in Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties, a news release said. The hospitals are working with surgeons to identify appropriate patients for postponement of procedures that typically require a post-surgical inpatient stay. Patients whose procedures will be delayed will be contacted by their surgeon. The postponement does not affect hospital-based outpatient surgeries or procedures, nor those performed at HCA Healthcare ambulatory surgery centers.
Pinellas Corridor LLC, a newly formed company in Tampa, has bought the SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western Clearwater Central, a 178-room hotel in Clearwater. Pinellas Corridor paid $10.5 million for the property, according to a deed recorded July 1 in Pinellas County. The property is located on nearly five acres at 21030 U.S. Highway 19 N., according to a report in ConnectFlorida, a commercial real estate publication. The hotel originally was built as a Hampton Inn, the report said. Ahmed Kabani of Marcus & Millichap’s Miami office represented the seller, who is described as a private investor. Pinellas County property records list the seller as Clearwater 2018 LLC, a company based in Corona Del Mar, California that bought the property in 2018 for $7.7 million.
The Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council gave its "Impact Award" to Neptune Flood, a flood insurance company in St. Petersburg. The council cited Neptune's use of artificial intelligence to manage risk. Neptune uses AI to determine if it will insure a property, to set a price for a policy and to allocate the policy to a reinsurance market, Trevor Burgess, Neptune's president and CEO, said in a news release. Neptune was one of eight companies honored by the council. The Impact Award is the largest purely peer-juried award in insurance technology, the news release said.
A new drive-through COVID-19 test site opens Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts Mahaffey Theater parking garage. Appointments and prescriptions are not required, though organizers have requested no more than four people per car. The site will be open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Tests are provided at no cost via the partnership of Florida Emergency Management, the Florida Department of Health, Pinellas County, the City of St. Petersburg and the Mahaffey. For more information, contact the Pinellas County Citizen Information Line at (727) 464-4333.
