Welcome to the 30th August-September edition of Paradise News, the community news magazine for residents of and visitors to St. Petersburg and its barrier islands communities. It is turtle nesting time on the beaches. We are one of a very few places on the globe where some of these turtles make their nests. When they hatch, usually very early in the morning, the newborns find their home in the gulf by the light of the setting moon. Only 1 in 1,000 will make it to adulthood, and their first day is often the hardest. Municipalities on the coast disallow artificial lights that can disorient the youngsters and plan to start ticketing offenders this summer.
Recovery from Hurricane Helene is ongoing throughout the area, but it will never be the same. St. John Vianney Catholic School, for example, which served the community for 73 years and educated many of our local business people, will not reopen. Many homes and hotels, especially non-waterfront single story structures were too badly damaged to be rebuilt under FEMA’s rules. For many, demolition is the next step, to allow elevated reconstruction.
St. Pete Beach’s three shopping areas, 8th Ave. in Pass-a-Grille, Corey Ave. (74th) and Gulf Boulevard, were all seriously impacted by flooding. Dolphin Village Shopping Center, the largest concentration of shops on the island, is reeling after the island’s only CVS caught fire due to a salt water damaged, in-ground receptacle, that sparked up under the nail polish display. The fire spread through the center’s façade as far as Publix and took out the only full-size grocery store in town. Everything from CVS through Dollar Tree is empty. With the anchors gone, the rest of the stores are desperate for your visit.
We are still working remotely from an 8th floor downtown condo, as our north St. Pete Beach home and office recovers. It has a new roof, new appliances, including a new air conditioner, new walls and baseboards. The Terrazzo floors were diamond polished by Organiclean. Cypress baseboards from Anderson Lumber were stained golden oak and spar varnished to match the ceiling in the main rooms, carrying the home’s best feature throughout. The guest bath is changing from an old tub to a walk-in shower. Cupboards and flood-resistant doors are coming soon. Then lastly furniture. When it is all done, we’ll tent for termites and move back home, hopefully in time for the holidays, weather permitting.
Meanwhile, it is getting to be the height of hurricane season again. Helene was the first time we flooded in over 100 years, but with global warming, it could easily happen again. Don’t end up on your roof like we did.
Congratulations to Jeff Beggins of Century 21 Beggins for his success pre-selling Madeira Beach’s Marriott branded Beachmaker Resort which will break ground this fall. Exciting investment opportunities featuring an income-producing rental program designed to provide suite owners with three months use and enough rental income to cover payments. There are just a couple units left at pre-construction prices.
We are also thrilled to welcome our newest health and wellness advertisers, including Renee’s primary care physician, Colin Chan, who is number 1 out of 338 family doctors in St. Petersburg, according to RateMD. Some readers may remember seeing Chan’s colleague, Dr. Jason Phillippe in Paradise News a few years ago. Welcome back Jason! If you need a new doctor, both of these gentlemen are amazing.
This edition is our second bimonthly of the summer. Deadline is September 10 for October, our first of 8 monthly issues. You can see more online at www.paradisenewsfl.com. The last ten years of our work is available, (under the Current issue tab) and all the links are active. You can also subscribe to our FREE weekly digital newsletter, which reminds subscribers each Thursday about the top five activities this weekend, and more. If you visit any of the advertisers or those written about in this issue, please mention you saw them in Paradise News. As always, thanks for reading. If you want advertising info, call us at 727-363-6888 and leave a message or email sales@paradisenewsfl.com