The Clearwater City Council scheduled a meeting Monday, March 27, to discuss its mayoral vacancy. Former mayor Frank Hibbard unexpectedly resigned during a March 20 work session, and the council must now agree on an appointment within 30 days or hold a special election. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Clearwater Main Library.
County officials will close the Pinellas Trail between 34th Street and 31st Street South in St. Petersburg for reconstruction. A social media post advised trail users to use adjacent sidewalks to navigate the area. Closures will last until April 17, barring any weather delays.
Florida Funders, a Tampa-based venture capital firm, has invested in a $5 million pre-series round for Togal.AI, an artificial intelligence-powered construction software firm that automates the takeoff within the construction estimating process. The software system allows general contractors and sub-contractors to respond to more proposals at a quicker pace. The $5 million pre-series A SAFE round had a $50 million valuation cap. Other participating investors include Coastal Construction and executives from Meta, Goldman Sachs and Minitab.
A Tampa International Airport spokesperson told WFLA that it recorded its “busiest day in airport history” Sunday, March 19. Approximately 90,300 passengers utilized the airport, a 3,000 to 5,000 year-over-year increase. That also tops the pre-pandemic spring break record of about 87,000 travelers.
Business owners Kevin and Jennifer Schultz announced on social media they will be closing The Crislip Cafe at 645 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg. The closure is "due to rising prices, staffing shortages and other myriad reasons." Although the cafe is closing, the duo will be expanding The Merchant gift shop and art gallery into the cafe space over the next few months, according to an Instagram post.
The Eviction Lab at Princeton University tracked 1,605 eviction filings in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties last month, a 24% increase over the historical average. The Lab’s most recent data also shows a 25% year-over-year spike in filings. The study excludes illegal evictions and instances where price hikes force renters to move.
Rose’s Coffee Bar will have space on the ground floor of the Moxy Hotel by Marriott, which is currently underway at 1234 Central Ave. The coffee operator has a location in South Florida. PTM Partners confirmed it's an internal concept much like the Sparrow rooftop bar concept that will be at Moxy Hotel.
Uptown Eats, located at 689 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N. in St. Petersburg, is one of Yelp’s “Top 100 U.S. Restaurants” for 2023. The eatery ranked 21st, the highest position in the Tampa Bay area. Tampa’s Izakaya Tori placed 49th, and Dunedin’s Tukro Coffee was 90th on the platform's 10th-anniversary list.
Taylor Moore, 29, shot 10 under par in final play at the 2023 Valspar PGA Tournament, taking home $1,458,000. Adam Schenk came in 2nd at 9 under to earn $882,900 in prize money. Other notables in the 144 player field at Palm Harbor's Copperhead Course include Jordan Spieth (T3), Sam Burns (6) and Justin Thomas (T10). An estimated 100,000 people attended the four-day event, including former Bucs players Ronde Barber and Rob Gronkowski.
Tampa Bay Rays officials promoted Neil Solondz to the role of play-by-play broadcaster. The pregame and postgame radio host moves into the booth following the unexpected death of longtime announcer Dave Wills earlier this month. Solondz has hosted Rays' radio shows since 2012.
As of Friday’s latest update, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) red tide status map shows some slight dissipation along the Pinellas County beaches. However, researchers still recorded bloom concentrations of Karenia brevis, the organism that causes red tide, in 12 local samples. The agency also relayed reports of fish kills and respiratory irritation in Pinellas throughout the week.
Two St. Petersburg Police officers helped a trapper relocate a 10-foot alligator weighing over 400 pounds from a St. Petersburg neighborhood Thursday. Residents along 59th Avenue South, near Maximo Park, said the massive reptile was getting too close to kids playing in the area. In a subsequent Facebook post, a police representative said, “hard to believe alligator trapping used to be part of the police academy requirements not too long ago!!”
