From the Publishers
Is This The New Normal?
In a few short months, life as we knew it has dramatically changed. Is this the new normal? Outgoing gregarious huggers have become masked elbow bumpers, out of necessity for self-preservation.
Fears of spreading or contracting the coronavirus have had wide-ranging impact, virtually shutting down tourism, Pinellas County’s biggest industry. The trickle-down effect is evident almost everywhere whenever tourism is impacted, and with COVID-19, even many of our year-round residents have become hermits. While public fireworks displays were cancelled for July 4th, the Republican National Conventionis still planned as a live event in Jacksonville the last week August, while Florida leads the nation in infections in July.
Social distancing, mask wearing, and self-quarantining continue to be the best ways to avoid getting sick or becoming a spreader. Mask wearing has been ordered for kids who choose to return to classrooms this month. Virtual learning will continue to be offered as an alternative for those who can manage it, likely until a vaccine is widely available.
At Paradise NEWS we are all excited, and appreciative to our advertisers that we have been able to continue our 26-year tradition of publishing and distributing more than 30,000 copies 10 times annually. This is the second of two bimonthly summer issues. We return to our monthly frequency in October. We are continuing the outreach we started for our 25th anniversary, introducing Paradise NEWS to a new audience of 5,000 upscale homeowners each issue. While we are still unsure of what lies ahead for the critical snowbird season that starts in October and November and the 2021 tourism season that reaches its height February – April, which was cut short this year as borders started closing, Tampa stadium is ground zero for the Feb, 2021 Superbowl, so let’s pray for a widely distributed vaccine by then.
Meanwhile, the highly touted and long-awaited St. Pete Pier has opened, and progress continues on the highly touted but locally unpopular Bus Rapid Transit project that will connect DTSP (downtown St. Petersburg) to St. Pete Beach. Mayors of both South Pasadena and St. Pete Beach have voiced their objections to DOT, from where funding is coming for the project. TBARTA, the Tampa Bay Area Rapid Transit Authority recently unveiled their long-term bus rapid transit project that is proposed to connect Wesley Chapel (New Tampa) to downtown Tampa and Tampa International Airport and continuing to downtown St. Petersburg. Right now it seems like the cart before the horse but if and when that ever happens, the link to the beach will make a lot of sense.
Last year at this time, we thoroughly enjoyed an inside passage cruise to Alaska. Nobody is doing that this year. With our own tourism industry suffering, we can surely sympathize with those who are only reachable by ship and had become used to having 25,000 visitors in port every day. Before the cruise, we got to spend a couple of days in Seattle, where we used the light rail system to get around from the airport area to downtown and found it very helpful. Hopefully we, and future visitors to our area will feel that way about public transportation in Tampa Bay some day.
Enjoy the rest of your summer safely. Wear your masks, stay 6 feet apart. Thank you for reading Paradise NEWS. If you visit or call an advertiser, please let them know you read about them in Paradise NEWS.
Peter & Renee Roos & All the Talented People that contribute to your Paradise News