By Peter Roos
ST. PETE BEACH
Polo on the Beach returns to the Don Cesar Beach Resort and Spa on Saturday and Sunday, January 8-9. Games are generally run at noon and 2pm.
Classic Race Weekend
January 15-16 is St. Pete Beach Classic Race Weekend. There’s a health and wellness fair at the Community Center on Friday, a bonfire on the beach behind the Sirata with The Big Brother Band Saturday night and a Beach Cleanup on Monday morning. (MLK Day) See page 19 of last month’s edition or visit the race website www.stpetebeachclassic.com.
St. Pete Beach 2022 Resident Parking Permits Available Online
No more stickers or hang tags are needed. These new eco-friendly permits are electronic and registered through license plates. The cost of the permit remains $20. Annual boat ramp permits are available for $75. To purchase a permit, residents should create an account portal at www.stpetebeach.cmrpay.com/permits/login and pay by credit card. Residents also have the option to schedule a day and time to purchase permits at City Hall by using the appointment calendar at www.calendly.com, emailing kwilliams@stpetebeach.org or calling 727-367-2735 to schedule the appointment. Cash / check payers purchase permits at City Hall. Guest permits are available through the portal. Additionally, owners of guest permits can update what vehicle the permits are registered to by entering the license plate online; alleviating the need to transfer hang tags between cars.
Permit types and rules remain the same. Ticketing for residents has been postponed until March 1 on cars with expired 2021 decals. For more, visit the city’s parking page: www.stpetebeach.org/219/Parking-Permits
ST. PETERSBURG
With almost 50,000 students, USF’s three campuses have a $6 billion annual economic impact on the state of Florida, according to a new study. The USF St. Pete campus (USFSP) has a $442 million community impact, supporting over 13,500 jobs in the community according to a study by the Muma College of Business. USFSP is seeking $80 million in funding to build a centerpiece building on the south St. Petersburg campus. They plan to ask the state for $60 million, half in 2022 and the rest the following fiscal year. The $20 million balance is expected to be raised from donations.
St. Petersburg has invited muralists from around the world to participate in the city’s SHINE festival. Over the past seven years, the city has added 125 murals, including 19 in 2021. Though the festival has ended, the art is still up for everyone to enjoy. You don’t need a ticket to enjoy the murals. There’s so much accessibility; outdoor art like this can reach people that might not even know that they love art. To see a map of mural locations, visit them online at www.stpeteartsalliance.com.
November had the highest inflation rate in years nationwide as shipping glitches increased costs for everything imported. Tampa Bay had the highest inflation in the nation at 8% over the prior year according to the Bureau of Labor statistics.
The St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce recently cut a ribbon on The Goods, a new retail store located at 2939 Central Ave. Mayor Kriseman was thoroughly impressed by Margo Gilliland, a 20-year-old from Seattle who relocated to St. Petersburg to help people understand the medical benefits of the hemp plant. Margo had learned those benefits personally when her health challenges had reached a roadblock with western medicine. For further info, call 206-898-5877 or walk in any afternoon except Tuesdays. Margo also plans to share her knowledge through a column in Paradise NEWS’ health section starting this issue.
The St. Petersburg Maritime and Defense Technology Hub (Hub) is being launched in the St. Pete Innovation District. The Hub will bring together under one roof the triple helix of innovation: industry, government, and academia. It will take advantage of increased funding for maritime and technology solutions by the state and federal governments including the Department of Defense. The Hub will leverage the unique attributes of the building such as a workspace with port access, rooms designed for secure communications, and wet/chemical laboratories. The Innovation District will curate a cluster of collaborative organizations as the sub-tenants in the Hub. The sub-tenant leases will be for a combination of dedicated office space and shared co-working areas. The selected sub-tenants will be aligned to the Grow Smarter and County target industries with particular attention on marine science and defense technology.
Tampa Bay Watch is recruiting volunteers to build oyster reef balls at Tampa Bay Watch Marine Education Center. The project involves pouring marine friendly concrete into a fiberglass mold to create oyster reef balls and taking apart the molds that were previously poured. Choose a date to register to volunteer. To best protect all staff and participants, volunteers are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated and face masks will be required. Click the date or visit www.TampaBaywatch.com.
January 11, 13, 18, 20, 26 and February 1, 3, 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24.
SKYWAY MARINA DISTRICT
Coral Gables-based real estate firm Altis Cardinal closed in December on the Sunshine City’s largest land purchase in decades with a $40 million all- cash acquisition of the Ceridian campus at 3201 34th St. S. It is the largest redevelopment project yet in the city’s burgeoning Skyway Marina District. Preliminary development plans call for an urban mixed-use project that keeps a portion of the property’s existing 380,000 square foot office complex while adding multi-family units and retail space along 34th Street.
TAMPA BAY
Lufthansa Group’s new leisure airline, Eurowings Discover, launches its first U.S. flight between Tampa to Frankfurt. Eurowings Discover’s Flight (4Y065 / LH4401) departs Tampa at 7:20pm and arrives in Frankfurt at 10:30am on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays on an Airbus A330-200. Flight 4Y064 / LH4400 departs Frankfurt, Germany at 12:40pm. and arrives at Tampa International Airport at 5:35pm.
Lufthansa has a Frankfurt hub, a vast worldwide network, and connections through Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and SWISS, as well as code share flights with United Airlines and Air Canada. Furthermore, beginning on March 2, SWISS, operated by Edelweiss, will begin non-stop flights, twice weekly, from Tampa to Zurich.
The Straz Center for the Performing Arts announced a $1 million grant received from Bank of America. The funding supports the $80 million Master Plan, a world-class architectural design that will transform and expand the performing arts center to create a vibrant destination for the Tampa Bay community.
STATE OF FLORIDA
Through his position on the House Appropriations Committee, including the Commerce, Justice, and Science subcommittees; Congressman Charlie Crist unveiled over $7 million in new grants including over $5 million for law enforcement, primarily to address a forensic DNA analysis backlog; $900,000 to Goodwill Industries-Suncoast for citizen job training and employment assistance; $549,826 to Pinellas County to create a Mental Health Court addressing the frequent jailing of residents with serious mental health disorders by diverting them away from the criminal justice system and into community-based treatment; $1,033,996 to bolster Florida’s Project Safe Neighborhoods to reduce violent crime.