Author: stpeteclearwatersun
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Manatee County is tearing out a failing seawall at Bishop Point Park and replacing it with a living shoreline, a natural erosion barrier built from native plants and other organic materials. Construction began a couple of weeks ago, according to Sherri Swanson of the county’s Natural Resources Department. She hopes to finish in just over…
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Floridians and out-of-state visitors can enter the state’s national parks for free on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday. Roosevelt, the nation’s 26th president, was a Republican and a committed conservationist. According to Spectrum News, he doubled the number of national parks during his presidency. Florida has three national parks and…
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Two of the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage insurers are scaling back, and close to 1 million seniors will have to choose new coverage for 2027. UnitedHealthcare confirmed that about 390,000 members are enrolled in plans that will be discontinued, while Humana expects its exits to affect roughly 600,000 members. The reductions primarily affect Preferred Provider…
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After three decades with only a handful of takers, Oldsmar is asking residents whether to open the door to more accessory dwelling units, a change that would make 271 additional properties eligible. Accessory dwelling units, often called granny flats or in-law suites, are small homes built on the same lot as a primary residence. Oldsmar…
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Largo City staff put together a draft budget that would cut deep into police-adjacent basics like fire rescue, library hours, and recreation facilities, assuming voters approve Amendment 3 and homestead property tax revenue shrinks. The city’s director of the office of performance and budget and the assistant city manager prepared the draft this month. By…
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Walt Disney World has banned a guest and his party from the resort after a viral video showed someone leaving a boat and jumping into the water on an EPCOT attraction, a stunt that stopped the ride and drew a swift response from the company. The incident happened on Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three…
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Tampa Electric and the University of South Florida are spending $3.8 million on a research project that aims to catch problems on the power grid before they turn into blackouts. The work comes after years of storm-driven outages that left many Tampa Bay customers waiting for power to return. The project is built around a…
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With its own budget stretched thin, Madeira Beach is asking the state to help pay for repairs to the John’s Pass Boardwalk, a wooden structure that local business owners call the backbone of the area’s tourism economy. The city applied last week for a $200,000 matching grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The…
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Two private donors are putting $5 million toward a plan to scale up St. Pete Free Clinic, a nonprofit that provides food, health insurance help, and other services to Pinellas County residents in need. Philanthropists Trevor Burgess and Gary Hess committed to the clinic’s five-year, $100 million expansion, which includes a new flagship location in…
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For more than three decades, the City of Largo cleared vegetation from a canal that turns out to sit on private land. Now that city lawyers have ordered the work stopped, residents of two neighborhoods are asking taxpayers to pick up the job anyway. Homeowners in Lincolnshire Estates and New Haven Condominiums say plant growth…
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Two weeks before Election Day, Florida’s biggest property tax fight comes down to one question: should homeowners get a far larger break on their non-school property tax bills, with local governments required to spend what remains on core services? Amendment 3 is on the Nov. 3 ballot and needs 60 percent of the vote to…
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Two people in Citrus County have contracted dengue fever without leaving the area. The Florida Department of Health in Citrus County confirmed the locally acquired cases Monday. The health department and Citrus County Mosquito Control are coordinating surveillance and prevention work. Officials did not release further details on the patients. Dengue can look like the…
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Federally funded researchers are building an artificial intelligence tool to predict when Florida’s coastal waters could carry dangerous Vibrio bacteria. The lead scientist acknowledges the infections remain uncommon. University of Florida researchers, working with the University of Maryland, are developing the system with a $3.6 million National Institutes of Health grant, WFTV reported. The project,…
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The U.S. Census Bureau is weighing a rule change that would limit the population count used to divide congressional seats to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Local planners say the shift could complicate how Tampa Bay governments read their own data. Ahead of the 2030 census, the bureau is considering new residency criteria that…
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A federally funded program that requires families to put in their own labor is helping low-income Hillsborough County residents buy homes. One graduate, a single mother and Army veteran, has since become a licensed builder. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office announced $28 million in funding through its Single Family Housing Mutual Self-Help…
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Citrus County officials are holding a final public workshop tonight on a new comprehensive plan that would steer where homes, businesses, and industry can go for the next quarter century, including areas where growth would be actively discouraged. The county has not overhauled its long-term growth blueprint since 1990. In that time, the population has…
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Between the television spots, streaming ads, social media pitches, and glossy mailers, it can feel like the Nov. 3 midterm election is the only thing happening in the Tampa Bay area. It isn’t. Voters have noticed. A survey found about a third of American adults were already fed up with political advertising in July, months…
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Homeowners in Indian Shores no longer have to hand over permanent public access to the beach in front of their property for beach renourishment projects. A new town ordinance requires only temporary access to private property while crews work on the beaches. Until now, homeowners had to permanently sign over public access to the stretch…
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City officials are weighing a sharp increase in parking fines and permit prices. The change would hit drivers and the downtown businesses that depend on them. The St. Petersburg City Council took up the proposal Thursday, with a 1:30 p.m. meeting followed by public comment and a final vote. Under the plan, the fine for…
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The national morning show “Live with Kelly and Mark” is packing up for the Gulf Coast next month, and local fans can request a seat in the audience. Co-hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos will tape the show on the sand at the Sandpearl Resort on Monday, Nov. 16, and Tuesday, Nov. 17. Visit St.…
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U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner came to Palm Harbor on Tuesday to argue that the federal government can help young Americans buy homes by cutting red tape and boosting supply. Turner joined Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna at a D.R. Horton development for a roundtable with real estate professionals, homebuilders and…
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The University of South Florida has landed another federal check for its seafloor mapping work, a five-year, $8.5 million cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coast Survey. The award goes to USF’s College of Marine Science to help fund the Center for Ocean Mapping and Innovative Technologies (COMIT). NOAA announced…
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Pinellas County School Board members will vote tonight on a plan to close four schools and reshape several others, a decision that will affect more than 1,000 students and their families. Superintendent Kevin Hendrick has warned since last school year that tight budgets and shrinking enrollment would require more closures. The board now has to…
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Clearwater City Council will choose between two very different futures for the city-owned Landings Golf Course. One keeps the fairways. The other replaces them with a $180 million private development. Council members were scheduled to hear 5-minute presentations from both bidders at a work session Monday at 1:30 p.m. The city said the public could…
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A small Tampa nonprofit is getting a share of a record federal housing grant. The money lets it do more of what it already does: get homeless veterans off the street and into stable homes. P&P Helping Hand Foundation is set to receive up to $350,000 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The amount…
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Florida voters decide Amendment 3 on Nov. 3. It raises the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, adjusted for inflation after that. It also cuts the annual assessment cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5% and limits property tax spending to core purposes such as public safety,…
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Manatee County has paused a type of project no one is currently trying to build there. County commissioners voted Thursday unanimously to impose a 12-month moratorium on new data center-related development applications in unincorporated Manatee County. The pause covers building permits, site plans, development orders, development agreements, special permit uses, rezonings and Comprehensive Plan amendments…
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Bern’s Steak House wants a judge to stop Tampa’s $100 million South Howard flood project, and the legal fight could come down to who controls the ground and who pays for the work. Bern’s, companies tied to the Ciccio Restaurant Group and the Epicurean Hotel, and other property owners filed two class-action lawsuits Thursday. The…
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Pinellas County’s newly rebuilt beaches took some of the storm’s hit this weekend, and county officials say that’s what the money was for. Hurricane Isaias largely spared the Tampa Bay area. In Indian Rocks Beach, early Saturday waves carried off some sand, but the storm didn’t put heavy stress on the shoreline. The county finished…
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Hillsborough County commissioners voted 4-3 Wednesday to advance a $75 million public funding agreement for ZooTampa at Lowry Park. A public hearing and a third and final vote are set for Oct. 21. The same 4-3 margin carried the proposal in September. The money would come from the county’s Community Investment Tax, a local sales…
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Federal regulators say they will rewrite vehicle lighting rules in response to a growing number of complaints about glaring LED headlights. Nothing has been banned, and no new limits have been proposed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced this week that it will consult industry stakeholders and safety advocates on how modern headlight technology…
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Nearly ten months after the city opened applications for Sunrise St. Pete, residents still have no clear public answer to a basic question: how many people have actually been paid? The city runs the program with $159.8 million in federal disaster recovery money from HUD, meant to help residents recover from Hurricanes Idalia and Helene.…
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Hurricane Isaias, the ninth named storm of the Atlantic season, has become the season’s first hurricane and is gaining strength over the Gulf, according to the National Hurricane Center. Sustained winds are near 80 mph, and the storm is moving east-northeast at about 9 mph. Isaias is expected to turn north today, passing a few…
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The Greater Tampa Bay Area Scouting Council wants to sell 604 of the 1,300 acres at Sand Hill Scout Reservation in Hernando County. Hundreds of residents, environmental advocates, and Scouts filled Nativity Lutheran Church on Tuesday night to oppose the redevelopment plan. The Scouting Council says proceeds would fund infrastructure improvements and Scouting programs. The…
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Hillsborough County taxpayers are on the hook for more than $848,000 in emergency mosquito-control purchases that commissioners are only now being asked to approve. With another $250,000 possible, the total could pass $1 million. The County Commission was scheduled to hear a dengue situational update at 10 a.m. Wednesday and to vote retroactively on three…
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Tropical Depression Nine formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday. The tropical system is forecast to become Tropical Storm Isaias, the season’s ninth named storm. If the forecast holds, it could become the season’s first hurricane. The depression is moving east at about 5 mph. It is expected to turn north on Thursday,…
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With the voter registration deadline behind them and Election Day four weeks away, the candidates for Florida’s 17th Congressional District are in the final stretch. Meanwhile, the state is moving forward on a policy shift that could change what parents must do before enrolling their children in school. A district race built on retail politics…
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Two years after Hurricanes Helene and Milton tore through South Hillsborough County, residents are not waiting for the next storm to find out whether the recovery system will work better. A locally organized coalition is drawing up its own plan. The back-to-back 2024 storms left parts of the SouthShore community with severe flooding, downed trees,…
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Forecasters expect a tropical depression to form in the southwestern Gulf within the next day or so, but where it goes and how strong it gets remain open questions. Showers and thunderstorms are organizing around a broad area of low pressure, and the system is expected to continue developing as it drifts eastward. By the…
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Florida is in the middle of one of its worst dengue fever surges in decades, and Tampa Bay health officials are asking residents to do something simple: get rid of standing water around their homes. The Florida Department of Health has confirmed a death tied to the outbreak, though it has released few details. The…
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Fifty-one beach-area restaurants are betting a $10 dish can draw locals through the door during one of the year’s slowest stretches, as Taste of the Beaches returns for its 18th year. The event, already underway and running through Oct. 11, invites diners to sample meals along the coast while reminding residents what is on offer…
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