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4 Pinellas schools to get new principals, more changes expected
Several Pinellas County schools are getting new leaders as the district continues to fill spots left vacant by retirements and reassignments. Andrew Akapnitis, assistant principal at Fairmount Park Elementary, will move into the principal’s office at the school. The post came open when LaKisha Lawson, the school’s leader since 2019, took a promotion to become the district’s chief transformation officer.
New Port Richey restaurant's roof blown off by strong winds
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Right before Zen Kitchen and Bar was supposed to open Tuesday, Mother Nature had other plans. Around 11:10 a.m., the wind ripped the roof off of the restaurant in downtown New Port Richey on Grand Boulevard. No one was hurt. "The staff was running around...
When does the 2024 hurricane season start?
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It's that time of year when local officials start talking about the "countdown to hurricane season." The effort to get resources together has begun. Pinellas County recently opened a year-round sandbag site where neighbors can pick up pre-filled bags for free. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill bringing back two tax holidays on hurricane preparedness supplies. Before that, the governor also signed bills adding more funding for the My Safe Florida Home Program, which gives grants for home hardening.
Motorcyclist arrested after topping 140 mph in chase on Gandy Bridge
TAMPA, Fla. - A motorcyclist was arrested over the weekend after authorities say he drove over 140 mph during a high-speed chase on the Gandy Bridge. According to his affidavit, Joseph Lee Strain, 24, of Tampa, was driving east on the Gandy Bridge in Pinellas County just past 1 a.m. on Sunday when Florida Highway Patrol troopers tried to pull him over.
The damage that boat propellers do to Weeki Wachee | Letters
As a Florida resident who cares deeply about our fragile spring ecosystems — especially Weeki Wachee springs — I support a moratorium on propeller-blade watercraft inside our Weeki Wachee State Park River area. I witnessed two propeller blades tear up the sediment as the boaters got stuck in the riverbed within the park boundaries. It’s bad enough that combustion engine watercraft spew petroleum mist into the protected waterway, but the propellers are undoing all that is being done to preserve Weeki Wachee River inside the preserve. As I kayaked in Weeki Wachee State Park recently, I noticed a uniformed Florida Department of Environmental Protection official patrolling the area and later stationed near the kayak exit ramp to monitor watercraft activity in the river. But what good does it do if propeller-blade watercraft are still permitted in this stretch of river? Would it be better if only speed limit-regulated airboats were permitted inside the Weeki Wachee State Park River? At least those propellers are above the water surface and do not destroy the riverbed. Perhaps after a propeller-blade moratorium, a new ordinance could permit only airboats instead? I am hopeful this problem with boat propellers might be addressed this month before the “summer season of frolic” — Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day — begins.
New medical academy helps students decide on future careers
PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Learning to become a doctor is a long road, with many years of college. “Oh, the kids are doing great,” said Deborah Porter, health sciences academy teacher. “They like doing the hands-on activities, they like playing with the stethoscopes.”. She laughs at the...
Arrest made in Clearwater restaurant shooting
CLEARWATER — A Clearwater man has been arrested in connection with a May 5 shooting in the parking lot of a local restaurant. Police and fire rescue crews responded to a report of a shooting just after 11:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Mega Burrito restaurant at 1478 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. Police said the shooting occurred after the suspect got into an argument with other men at the restaurant and then got a gun from his vehicle.
Clearwater company launches innovative approach for catastrophic home damage
A new Clearwater business has launched that will provide catastrophic event membership service to homeowners, and second/vacation homeowners, in Florida with properties at risk from storm damage, in 2024. Daybreak Response provides personalized disaster recovery services to high-value property owners. Daybreak leverages HOMEE’s national servicing footprint in Florida, which connects...
With big spending on horizon, Pinellas lands record tourist-tax haul
Pinellas County collected more than $14.6 million in tourist taxes in March — its most ever in a single month, tourism officials said Wednesday. The haul, collected from taxes on overnight stays at hotels and short-term rentals, bested the county’s previous high, from March 2023, by more than $1 million, according to county tourism bureau Visit St.
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