Publication
At Fort Myers rally, Trump’s Florida faithful stand united
Written on the back of Kathy Fallon’s shirt was a vision of the future. Of a future, anyway. Trump 2024, Trump 2028, Trump 2032. For now, it’s still 2026, with a midterm election in just over a week. And on Friday, Fallon drove from Amelia Island for a...
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Before ‘You Can See Everything’ came The Villages and Florida | Column
Sorry, but I’m going to do that thing everyone is doing: Me: “Did you watch ‘You Can See Everything,’ the documentary about tech fraudster Elizabeth Holmes?” Perhaps you: “Not yet!” Then I’ll chew my fist before sinking into the bushes because any...
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A look at Clearwater’s first City Council runoff election
In November, Clearwater residents will vote in the city’s first-ever runoff election. They’ll choose between Sam Wilson, 26, who works as the district director for U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, and former City Council member Mark Bunker, 70, a longtime...
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The Juvenile Welfare Board was my savior: St. Pete councilman | Column
My story is not uncommon. I was born in the early 1990s in St. Petersburg to a single, teenage mom. I grew up in Childs Park, a low-income neighborhood south of Central Avenue, as the oldest of four children in a home where money was tight. My mom...
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McDonald’s Happy Meal features new Disney collectible
McDonald’s diners won’t feel like a “poor, unfortunate soul” this Halloween season. The fast food chain takes a villainous twist for this year’s Boo Buckets Happy Meal. In the past, the Boo Buckets featured iconic characters like Ronald McDonald, Mr....
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Pinellas rape exams in flux as county pulls funding
Pinellas County hospitals are scrambling to figure out how they can provide rape kits to sexual assault survivors after the nonprofit Suncoast Center declared it is ending the service next year and county commissioners pulled funding. The forensic...
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Can Kathy Castor win in a district that favored Trump? Expect a close race
In the back of a Brandon office park, roughly 30 volunteers spent a Thursday evening hyping up Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor in phone calls with voters. The Hillsborough incumbent has coasted to reelection for nearly two decades. Then Gov. Ron...
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Bucs 1st-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. remains patient amid slow start
The hype train started rolling for Rueben Bain Jr. at the NFL draft, when the first-round pick from Miami snatched the Bucs hat and walked past the selfie mirror without breaking stride. But after spraining the AC joint in his right shoulder during a...
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Attacks, allegations permeate heated Hillsborough school board race
School board races in Hillsborough County are nonpartisan. ButDistrict 2 candidates Brittany Lyssy and Daniela Simic have weathered accusations and campaign scrutiny that have veered from the political to the personal, at times overshadowing their...
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An expansion of Hillsborough’s government? What to know
Hillsborough County voters will decide in November whether to expand the board that makes decisions about everything from zoning to what residents should pay in taxes and how that money should be spent on their behalf. The question asks voters if they...
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Alex Anzalone’s interception could be a turning point for Bucs defense
Alex Anzalone was all hair and hustle as he watched the ball bounce off Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson and instinctively launched himself toward the turf. The Bucs linebacker stretched out and secured the interception at the Tampa Bay 12-yard line,...
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Hillsborough is trying to spark kids to read earlier - and it’s working
Students in Cami McVay’s kindergarten class at Kenly Elementary sat on an alphabet carpet as they sounded out words on a screen. “I sat at the mat,” they called out slowly. “Good,” McVay told them. “We did it!” they yelled back. A few classrooms away,...
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Slow down AI before it evolves beyond our control| Letters
AI is here and its influence is growing. What does this mean for Tampa Bay? | Sept. 17 Slow downThe breakneck pace of generative artificial intelligence development has far outrun our collective ability to control and govern it. While the promise of AI...
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Ruling makes Hope Florida an even bigger political issue a month before election
TALLAHASSEE - As Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference this week: “When the narratives are set, they’re set.” Weeks ago, a leaked grand jury report seemed to fix a storyline around the Hope Florida saga that has trailed the governor and some...
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Development could soon come to south Hillsborough. Here’s how.
Wetlands and pastures sprawl across Little Manatee South. The pace in this southern Hillsborough County community is slower. A pocket of old Florida, some residents say. Many, who have lived in the area or neighboring community of Sundance their whole...
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2027 Florida State Fair flash ticket sale occurring today
By the time the Florida State Fair comes around, love will be in the air, and so will the smell of funnel cakes. The 2027 State Fair will return to the Florida State Fairgrounds, Feb. 4-15, 2027. The theme? Experience Real Fun. Florida’s Original Fun....
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The Adventures of Waddles, the Celebrity Pig
There once was a piglet named Waddles. He lived with a human family, in a ranch house in Florida. He had a big backyard where he liked to splash in a kiddie pool. A hose he liked to drink from, like his own water fountain. He had a firepit to root in....
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New website helps immigrants challenge wrongful detentions
Hector Vargas spent 61 days detained in Florida, Texas and Colorado. The Mexican father and husband was stopped last November by Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies who found he was driving without a valid license while taking his niece to school. He...
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It’s time for Florida’s leaders to stand up to insurance companies | Column
Despite the rosy rhetoric from Tallahassee and inaccurate political ads on television, Florida still has a property insurance crisis. Florida homeowners pay the highest property insurance premiums in the nation, and it’s not even close. The average...
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Candidate recommendations: Hillsborough County School Board
Over the next several days, leading up to Nov. 3’s midterm election, Timeschairman and CEO Conan Gallaty and Viewpoints editor and columnist Graham Brink will publish recommendations on local races and ballot measures. Sometimes they agree on the best...
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Candidate recommendations: Hillsborough County Commission
Over the next several days, leading up to Nov. 3’s midterm election, Timeschairman and CEO Conan Gallaty and Viewpoints editor and columnist Graham Brink will publish recommendations on local races and ballot measures. Sometimes they agree on the best...
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SHOCKING: Tens of bad actors nabbed for Florida voter fraud | Column
The deception in this state runs rampant, positively out of control. No, not the mysterious case of the missing $10 million in taxpayer money meant to help the poor, sick and disabled. We’ve been over that. Stop asking about it! Those kids should have...
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Florida education leaders: We’ll listen to teachers on science standards
As teachers across Florida express worries about rewritten science standards - including topics, like evolution, they feared were missing - state leaders are telling them their feedback is important. At the first stop on the state...
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Hillsborough school board weighs new rules on partisan politics on campus
Hillsborough County school board members considered a proposal Tuesday to ban partisan political activity from school board property and require the school board to be notified by email about visits from elected officials. But after a thorny...
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This Tampa ballet is bringing immigrant stories from 1920s Ybor to life
The dancers swept the suitcases over their heads and whisked them across the studio. They each crossed the Tampa rehearsal space with one bag, which contained a different memento: a letter, a scarf, a set of children’s toys. The narrator, played by...
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Why AI has trouble predicting the fury of hurricane intensity | Column
Artificial intelligence has revolutionized weather forecasting in just a few years, with global AI weather models now able to produce forecasts that rival some of the world’s best physics-based prediction systems. This remarkable progress has been...
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Candidate and ballot measure recommendations for the Nov. 3 election
Times Chairman and CEO Conan Gallaty and Viewpoints Editor and columnist Graham Brink will offer recommendations on the following races and ballot measures for the Nov. 3 election. They will fill in the list as they publish their guidance. U.S....
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5 takeaways from candidate forum for Tampa Bay congressional seat
It wasn’t technically a debate, but the candidates vying for Tampa Bay’s Congressional District 16 took shots at each other all the same in a virtual forum this week. Republican Sydney Gruters and Democrat Kelly Kirschner, as well as Mark Davis, who’s...
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Local developer wins final approval for Belleair Bluffs hotel
A 100-room boutique luxury hotel is officially headed for a long-vacant lot on West Bay Drive in Belleair Bluffs. The Belleair Bluffs City Commission on Sept. 14 unanimously approved a development agreement with Belleair Bluffs Hotel LLC, the company...
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Is unregulated capitalism the best way to educate Florida kids?| Column
By definition, free market competition creates winners and losers. That’s OK for selling pizza, but not for educating kids. This matters right now because two powerful Floridians - the new state education commissioner and the Republican nominee for...
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Florida’s Legislature must protect our valuable state springs | Column
This summer, several springs stopped flowing in High Springs. When aquifer levels drop during periods of drought, springs at higher elevations stop flowing first. At the Florida Springs Welcome Center in downtown High Springs, where the Florida Springs...
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Vaping-related tobacco infractions down in Tampa Bay schools
Tampa Bay school districts appear to be getting a handle on the vaping phenomenon that plagued their students after the pandemic. Statewide, Florida schools sawdips in tobacco infractions for two consecutive years, according to...
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Study: Immigration policies are hurting economy, working families
Immigration policies have left nearly 2 million people without work permits, disrupting key industries across the nation, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union and AFL-CIO. “Deportations make workers poorer and more vulnerable...
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I wish Jan Glidewell were here to see Jennifer Odom’s killer convicted | Letters
Jennifer Odom’s death haunted Tampa Bay. 33 years later, her killer is convicted | Aug. 20 Closure, at last Like so many longtime Pasco County residents, I was very satisfied to finally get closure regarding the disappearance and murder of young...
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Darian Mensah sets ACC marks as No. 5 Miami tops Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Darian Mensah connected on his first 24 passes on the way to setting ACC records for consecutive completions, and fifth-ranked Miami’s defense came up with fourstraight fourth-quarter stops to beat Wake Forest 33-20 on Friday...
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Florida attorney general candidate calls for Alligator Alcatraz investigation
José Javier Rodríguez, the Democratic candidate for Florida attorney general, is demanding an investigation into the now-closed detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz following a federal watchdog report that detailed inhumane conditions there,...
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A hammock, climate change and finding home in Florida again | Column
I bought a hammock this week. A normal thing to do all things considered, but it symbolized for me recreating home and finding resilience and adaptation in the new world we live in along the coast of Florida. In an era of intensifying hurricanes,...
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It’s time to stop calling Latin music a ‘crossover’ success | Column
For decades, one of the highest compliments the American music industry could give a Latin artist was that they had “crossed over.” The term was supposed to signify arrival: a musician who had succeeded within a Latin market had broken through an...
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Anna Paulina Luna, Leela Gray spar over corruption in new ads
Two ads released within days of each other show how corruption has become a central theme in the race for the congressional seat held by GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. Retired Brig. Gen. Leela Gray, the Democrat running against Luna in her red-leaning...
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Can Trump give Americans $5,000 if Republicans win midterms?
One of the most notable moments from the first night of the Republican midterm convention was President Donald Trump saying he would give $5,000 to every adult citizen in the U.S. if Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate in November’s...
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A Florida crypto crook lived it up with mansion, luxury cars. Now the party’s over
When Malone Lam learned that federal agents were coming to arrest him, prosecutors say, he walked behind the luxury waterfront Miami home that he was renting and threw his cellphone off the boat dock into Biscayne Bay. FBI agents soon descended on the...
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Flood advisory for Hillsborough County Friday evening triggered by prolonged rainfall
On Friday at 6:43 p.m. a flood advisory was issued by the National Weather Service in effect until 8:15 p.m. for Hillsborough County. Locations impacted by the advisory include Tampa, Lutz, University, Lake Magdalene, Greater Carrollwood, Busch Gardens...
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A day in the life as AI prepares to eradicate humanity | Column
Yawn. Time for another sun-dappled morning of human existence, drinking in the beauty of the natural world. Let me just turn off the phone alarm. Oop. News alert. Former Anthropic researcher warns AI could kill us all. Oh. Coffee. OK, it says here that...
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Florida Realtors put $10M toward passing property tax proposal
TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Realtors trade group is getting behind Amendment 3, the major property tax cut on the November ballot, putting $10 million to support the measure. “Affordability is on the forefront for every Floridian, and they need...
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Florida restaurant shorted workers an average of $23,600 per person, feds say
A Pompano Beach restaurant not only paid workers less than the minimum wage, but didn’t properly pay employees who worked overtime, the U.S. Department of Labor said. The agency said Thursday that it recovered $732,976 from Lucky King LLC, the owner of...
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No evidence linking illegal immigration to measles outbreak, despite Donalds’ comment
Florida Republican gubernatorial nominee U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds linked U.S. measles outbreaks to illegal immigration. On CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Aug. 23, host Margaret Brennan said Florida is below the immunization rate needed to achieve herd...
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On Anna Maria Island, sea turtle nesting season marred by flooding, artificial lights
Sea turtles may be through nesting this season, but 179 of the 458 turtle nests laid on Anna Maria Island have yet to hatch, and Turtle Watch asks that lights be turned off to let hatchlings more easily find the Gulf of Mexico. Of the 11,796 hatchlings...
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A matter of trust: The U.S. should stop pushing away its allies | Column
Having served in South Korea while in uniform, I was disappointed recently to see the Trump administration scaling back, on short notice, long-planned military exercises with Seoul. President Donald Trump cited his good relationship with Kim Jong Un,...
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Mensah throws 5 TDs, Toney sets record in Miami’s win over Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. - Darian Mensah threw five touchdown passes in his Miami debut, Malachi Toney set a school-record with 234 yards receiving and the seventh-ranked Hurricanes opened their season with a 45-6 victory over Stanford on Friday night. Mensah...
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An ode to Tampa’s WestShore Plaza upon its deathbed | Column
Time is a thief, yes, but also a cruel shape-shifter. It changes how we see things. I’ve been around long enough to know WestShore Plaza asthe cool mall. The upscale mall. The place to be. It had a Saks Fifth Avenue, the first in Tampa Bay. It had...
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The bad math behind a St. Pete ‘affordable’ housing project | Column
On first glance, the Deuces Rising housing project didn’t make financial sense. Nor on second glance. Or third. Making the numbers work took the kind of math that would make a hedge fund manager flinch. That didn’t stop the St. Petersburg City Council....
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Chef & The Baker to expand with second Tampa location
Chef & The Baker, the European-inspired bakery and cafe in South Tampa founded by chefs Rosana Rivera and Ricardo Castro, plans to roll out a second location later this year. The new spot will occupy a 2,200-square-foot space at 1103 W. Main St. in...
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‘Constant sound of the turbines’: Florida neighbors complain of power plant noise
Dozens of Dania Beach homeowners are suing FPL for ruining the tranquility of their neighborhood with a noisemaking power plant they say makes the quietest evenings sound like living in a laundromat with all the machines in use. Broward Circuit Judge...
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David Jolly enjoys strong week, but his path remains challenging
As far asfirst weeks go in Florida’s general election race for governor, David Jolly isn’t complaining. After winning the Democratic primary, Jolly played offense following the leak of a Hope Florida grand jury report that concluded Gov. Ron DeSantis’...
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If Charlie Crist is St. Petersburg’s next mayor, what’s his plan?
Whoever is elected the next mayor of St. Petersburg will have to deal with the future of Tropicana Field, aging water and sewage systems and, should voters statewide approve it, fallout from a multimillion-dollar hit in property tax revenues. That...
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Ex-Brazilian model with ties to Melania links Trump envoy to corruption scheme
Paolo Zampolli, a special envoy for President Donald Trump, was part of a United Nations passport-selling scheme that led to the death of a former U.N. president, according to Amanda Ungaro, an ex-Brazilian model and former U.N. diplomat who had a...
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Who really pays if Florida’s property tax amendment passes in November | Column
What homeowner doesn’t like the sound of a property-tax cut? More money in the bank account. A little breathing room. Here’s the catch: Amendment 3 doesn’t make the cost of local government disappear. It changes who pays for it. The “tax cut” is likely...
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Smile. Flock is taking a picture of your Florida license plate | Column
There was a time when a person could drive across Tampa Bay in relative anonymity, observed only by traffic cops, toll collectors and an ever-increasing number of panhandlers. That freedom is disappearing. Flock cameras now stand along our roads...
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Tampa presses developers on Live Nation’s Ybor City music venue
To build a 4,300-person music venue that Live Nation would run in Ybor City, developers of the mixed-use project GasWorx say they’re ready to relocate both a protected live oak and a historic home that sits on the desired property. But at Tuesday’s...
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Florida’s proposed property tax amendment will require trade-offs
Between inflation, rising car and property insurance premiums and the costs of contending with extreme weather, many Florida homeowners are feeling financially squeezed. While the ballot box can’t change the risk of floods or hurricanes, a...
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South Tampa real estate is booming. Why is this waterfront lot still empty?
In fast growing South Tampa, waterfront property is as good as gold. An influx of wealthy newcomers willing to pay a premium to live beside the bay has left builders scrambling to meet demand. In the past five years alone they’ve added a slew of new...
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Floridians should not have to ration their insulin | Letters
Insulin rationingFor more than 12 years, insulin has been as necessary to me as breathing. I have rationed doses to make a vial last longer, calculated whether I could afford another month’s supply, and experienced the fear of possibly coming up short....
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Republican voters nominated Floridians in primaries, not carpetbaggers | Column
Tuesday’s primary tested whether Florida Republican voters were willing to nominate candidates with failed electoral records in other states. The answer was a resounding no. In Southwest Florida’s 19th Congressional District - a reliably Republican...
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Who will win this Pinellas school board race? They’re split by 7 votes.
The big story: The two candidates for Pinellas County school board District 6 head to the local elections headquarters this morning hoping for some closure to their race. The supervisor of elections called for a new look at the ballots after the first...
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Oxford Exchange owners want to build a 550-acre Pasco wellness resort
Hundreds of acres of farmland on the border of Pasco and Hernando counties could soon be transformed into a sprawling wellness retreat. The project, dubbed Clay Hill, will feature a 130-key luxury resort with multiple restaurants, tennis and pickleball...
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Florida seniors: Better access to obesity care is here. Will it last? | Column
Florida is home to one of the nation’s largest Medicare populations. For thousands of our seniors, obesity is more than a number on a scale - it’s a chronic disease that increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis,...
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Live updates: Florida voters hit the polls on primary day
It’s primary day. Floridians who haven’t voted early are set to cast ballots from 7 a.m. until polls close at 7 p.m. local time. The primary has big implications for the state. On the ballot in Tampa Bay are candidates seeking to replace term-limited...
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HIV prevention is free. Florida insurers just won’t tell you | Column
For decades, preventing HIV meant navigating a web of stigma, risk, and limited options. Today, scientific innovation has changed that reality - offering people proven, reliable tools to protect their health on their own terms and bringing the goal of...
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4 things to watch during Tuesday’s Florida primary
Both parties will decide Tuesday who should lead their tickets in a cycle where Democrats have grand ambitions to reverse years of Republican gains in Florida. Democrats face one of their most favorable political environments since at least 2018....
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Ark Invest gives big to Charlie Crist days after Trop project snubbing
Days after St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch snubbed Cathie Wood and her Ark Invest-led bid to redevelop Tropicana Field this summer, $69,000 landed in campaign accounts supporting his biggest reelection rival. The money, donated by an outfit named...
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Fortune 500 company Ferguson to open Ybor City office next year
Ferguson, a Fortune 500 company and construction supplies distributor, is opening an office in Ybor City’s Gasworx development. Based in Newport News, Va., Ferguson will lease 50,570 square feet in a six-story building under construction in Gasworx,...
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What does the Trump vaccine order mean for Florida parents, kids?
TALLAHASSEE - President Donald Trump wants to change how American children get vaccines. On Monday, Trump signed an executive order recommending changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, including pushing for vaccines to be spaced out and for certain...
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Temple Terrace voters to decide Tuesday on $50M public safety complex
Temple Terrace voters will decide Tuesday whether to give the green light to the city to build its first stand-alone police headquarters and a third fire station, something city leaders feel is long overdue. But the vote comes just as residents are...
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Most Tampa Bay congressional candidates oppose DeSoto data center proposal
If you’re a resident of downtown St. Petersburg or Bradenton, you may not know that a data center could be coming to your congressional district. That’s because it’s proposed in DeSoto County, part of the redrawn District 16 that splices together...
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Workout studios in Tampa Bay are booming. Thank a fitness revolution
It’s a Wednesday morning at Tremble, a Pilates-inspired workout studio in South Tampa. The space glows a burning red from long,spiraling bulbs in the ceiling, and house music blasts from the speakers. The class of eight steps onto their “reformers” - a...
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Welch, elected St. Petersburg mayor in a walk, no shoo-in for 2nd term
Ken Welch seemed destined to be the next mayor of St. Petersburg - five years ago. He had notched 20 years on the Pinellas County Commission. He bore the blessing of the outgoing mayor. He carried major Republican and Democraticendorsements in the...
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