Stories

For Good Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay CEO Jose Garcia at the September 2023 opening of the hurricane response distribution center, which just received a Community Foundation Tampa Bay grant for community hurricane preparation.

Nonprofit collaboration gives Community Foundation Tampa Bay $300k for hurricane grants

In a collaboration of national and regional nonprofits, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded Community Foundation Tampa Bay $300k to fund grants to local nonprofits for hurricane recovery and preparedness. 

Development News Water Street Tampa won multiple awards at the 2023 Planning & Design Awards.

Enter projects in the 42nd annual Planning & Design Awards

The Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission is accepting entries for the 42nd annual Planning & Design Awards. 

Feature Story With a Florida Department of Transportation grant expiring, free rides on the TECO Line Streetcar may soon be coming to an end.

ACCESS 2050 survey sheds light on public’s transportation priorities in Hillsborough

Results from the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization's ACCESS 2050 survey shed light on the public's transportation priorities for the next 25 years. 

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Masthead gallery: Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks

A photo gallery of the iconic Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks

Feature Story Tampa's Black History Museum,  which recently launched in the historic St. James Episcopal Church building, hosts multiple Archives Awareness Week events.

Historic church will become Tampa's Black History Museum

The Tampa Bay History Center and Tampa Housing Authority are partnering to turn the historic St. James Episcopal Church building into Tampa's Black History Museum.

For Good The dePaul School develops students' team-building skills and uses a teaching methodology that has students use all their senses.

Clearwater's The dePaul School helps students with dyslexia thrive

Annmarie McEwan enrolled her son James in Clearwater-based The dePaul School for Dyslexia after he was diagnosed with the often misunderstood learning disability. She is now the school's executive director and a champion for teaching future educators how to identify dyslexia.

Feature Story Local bestselling author and baseball lover Alicia Thompson's new book, "The Art of Catching Feelings," is the story of an unlikely romance between a pro baseball player and his heckler. A book launch event is June 20th at Tropicana Field.

Local romance author, baseball fan Alicia Thompson hits home run with new book

Local bestselling author Alicia Thompson's love of baseball is at the heart of her new book, "The Art of Catching Feelings," the story of an unlikely romance between a pro baseball player and his heckler. There's a book launch event June 20th at Tropicana Field.

Buzz Dr. Robert Gallo, co-founder of the Global Virus Network and chairman of its Scientific Leadership Board.

Buzz: USF is new international HQ for Global Virus Network

The University of South Florida has been selected as the international headquarters of the Global Virus Network, a consortium collaborating to improve detection and management of viral diseases. GVN co-founder Dr. Robert Gallo and his team of researchers also join USF Health.

Innovation News Tampa resident and entrepreneur Paola Bedin turned a lifelong love of cycling into an online apparel business, MYN Sport.

Tampa entrepreneur turns love of cycling into apparel business

Tampa resident Paola Bedin fell in love with cycling as a seven-year-old in Italy. After a few years racing competitively, she's launched MYN Sport, an online cycling apparel company.

Development News The Hillsborough County Transportation Planning Organization Board of Directors' annual vote to update a five-year plan of countywide transportation projects is Wednesday.

Hillsborough TPO board votes on transportation project priority list Wednesday evening

The Hillsborough County Transportation Planning Organization Board of Directors' annual vote to update a five-year plan of countywide transportation projects is Wednesday evening.

For Good A green heron on a vertical oyster garden built from recycled oyster shells through Tampa Bay Watch's Shells for Shorelines program.

Pearl of a program: Tampa Bay Watch repurposes shucked oyster shells to restore the shore

Tampa Bay Watch's Shells for Shorelines program collects used oyster shells from area restaurants and repurposes them to restore oyster reefs and habitat in Tampa Bay.

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Masthead gallery: Scenic Safety Harbor

A photo gallery of scenic Safety Harbor.

Feature Story Already a founder, CEO and philanthropist, Tommy Whitehead now adds author to his list of accomplishments.

LGBTQ contractor defies stereotypes to blaze a trail to success

Tommy Whitehead has overcome obstacles and stereotypes to go from a closeted LGBTQ construction worker to the founder of a successful contracting firm and a nonprofit that supports the LGBTQ+ community in the construction industry.

Innovation News AMPLIFY Clearwater's annual State of the Community event offered insights into a tourism industry that is generating record-high tax revenues.

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater looks to build on record tourism momentum

Pinellas County brought in record tourism tax hauls for a year in 2023 and a month in March 2024. Visit St. Pete-Clearwater officials look to build on that momentum but say the county's main economic engine may suffer without a long-term solution for beach renourishment.

Feature Story At the Tampa International Fringe Festival, actress Katie Thayer will perform the entire film “Titanic” - alone and in under an hour.

June arts: Tampa Fringe, Juneteenth and Pride Month events, new exhibits, and much more

The June art scene has the Tampa International Fringe Festival in Ybor, a slew of Juneteenth and Pride Month events, the FMoPA International Photography Competition Exhibition at TIA, the Tampa Theatre's new screening room, a '53 Chrysler limo with wings, a busy Second Saturday ArtWalk and much, much more.

For Good The 13th annual Cuban Sandwich Festival is Sunday, May 26th at Centennial Park in Ybor City.

The Cuban Sandwich Festival: A Memorial Day weekend mainstay in Ybor City

The 13th annual Cuban Sandwich Festival is Sunday, May 26th at Centennial Park in Ybor City. The event has become a Memorial Day weekend mainstay in Ybor.

For Good The crowd at J.C. Newman Cigar Co.'s fourth annual Founder's Day celebration enjoyed tours of the iconic 114-year-old El Reloj cigar factory, food vendors, live entertainment, cigar lounges and a Cuban sandwich eating contest.

Scenes from J.C. Newman Cigar Co.'s Founder's Day celebration

J.C. Newman Cigar Co.'s fourth annual Founder's Day celebration featured food trucks, vendors, live entertainment, guided factory tours, cigar lounges and, in a new wrinkle, a Cuban sandwich eating contest.

Development News A rendering of the renovated, expanded stadium in downtown Tampa's West Riverfront district where the Tampa Bay Sun  women's professional soccer club will play their home matches.

Tampa Downtown Partnership forum offers insights on Tampa Bay Sun, Water Street

This month, the Tampa Downtown Partnership's annual State of Tampa's Downtown Forum offered insights on the Tampa Bay Sun's upcoming inaugural season and the next stage of development for Water Street Tampa.

Buzz Gallery at Rome Yards, an 11-story, 234-unit apartment building that will be 80 percent affordable and workforce housing, is the first piece of the mixed-use Rome Yards development.

In West Tampa, Rome Yards construction begins with affordable and workforce apartments

In West Tampa, construction has started on the long-planned Rome Yards mixed-use development. The first phase is Gallery at Rome Yards, an 11-story, 234-unit apartment building that will be 80 percent affordable and workforce apartments. 

Feature Story As Plan Hillsborough works on Live Grow Thrive 2045, the update to Tampa's Comprehensive Plan, sea level rise, climate change and resiliency are among the policy priorities.

Plan Hillsborough population projections: 500,000 more residents by 2050

Plan Hillsborough, the planning agency for local governments in Hillsborough County, projects the county will be home to 2 million by 2050, with the population of the greater Plant City area more than doubling and more people moving to Tampa's urban core.