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Pinellas commissioners decided in their meeting Thursday to also declare a state of emergency due to dengue fever. Florida has reported 392 cases of dengue fever both locally and internationally acquired, according to data from the CDC. Tampa Bay has reported 169 cases, including 160 in Hillsborough, seven in Pinellas and two in Pasco counties as of Sept. 19, according to Florida Department of Health data. Thirty-eight new locally acquired cases were reported in Florida in the last week. Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton said code enforcement has gone to knock on doors and continue to spray around the county. The county could spend another $1 million on chemicals, overtime pay and employing services from another county to treat mosquitoes in the area, Burton added. Pinellas’ state of emergency is limited to 42 days, or about six weeks, County Attorney Jewel White said. Declaring a state of emergency allows the government to access state funding should it become available, White added. Get more information: https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2026/09/24/dengue-fever-hillsborough-pasco-state-of-emergency/

No, it’s not in your head: From the Gulf beaches to downtown Tampa, it’s more expensive than ever to park around town. It’s hard to say exactly how much parking has gone up because of ever-changing fees, but local governments affirm that it has — by a lot. It’s not just the cost of gas, groceries and visits to bars and eateries that’s making locals cringe. Many are opting out of visiting spaces and experiences that make living here so special in the first place. Tampa Bay is a sprawling region with rapidly growing downtowns, enormously popular Gulf beaches and tourists pouring in from across the world. Yet increasing demand for a limited supply of parking spaces has left many with no choice but to pay up. The lack of mass transit options doesn’t help. Read more about the region's parking woes: https://www.tampabay.com/culture/2026/09/09/tampa-bay-parking-prices-gulf-beaches-717-ybor-water-street-downtown/

For the Lightning prospects participating in this year’s showcase, every opportunity to get in front of the organization’s coaches and decision-makers is valuable. They’ll only get two games next week to make an impression on the ice; the Lightning will send 22 skaters and two goaltenders to Raleigh, North Carolina, to compete at Invisalign Arena. The roster consists of players who are unsigned or on their entry-level deals, 24 years old or younger and have 20 games or fewer of NHL experience. Some are closer to the league than others. And for those knocking on the door, it’s a chance to make some early impressions heading into Lightning training camp, which opens Sept. 16. Here are five players participating in the prospect showcase we could see on the Lightning’s roster in 2026-27: https://www.tampabay.com/sports/lightning/2026/09/08/nhl-prospects-showcase-benjamin-rautiainen-sam-oreilly/

Sheila and John Stewart, both 71, have lived in their historic Kenwood home in St. Petersburg for 42 years. The house was built a century ago with Florida’s sweltering heat in mind. In its 100 years, it has never had air conditioning, save for rarely used window units for guests or on the hottest nights of the year. To go without AC is rare in Florida — and often not a choice. But the Stewarts have largely done so for decades, despite a warming climate and their aging bodies. The couple doesn't plan to add air conditioning. They have made the calculations and found it’s not worth it. The choice to go without is part cost, part belief and part lifestyle. So how do they do it? Read the story: https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2026/09/05/ac-stpete-climate-change-weather-temps/

Clean-energy organizers on Wednesday rolled out a new campaign in St. Petersburg to put a proposal about leaving Duke Energy on the 2028 ballot. But by the time their news conference began, Duke Energy had beaten them to the punch. The day before, Duke publicized a report it had commissioned that concluded it could cost St. Petersburg between $2.7 billion and $4.1 billion to split off from Duke Energy and form a city-run electric utility. The conclusion from the analysis was clear, Duke said: It would be “unaffordable and irresponsible” for the city to drop its services. Here's what to about where this cost estimate comes from: https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2026/09/03/st-petersburg-dump-duke-energy-florida-concentric-4-billion/

City staff drove along Tampa streets this week collecting data that will provide a clearer picture of the city’s sweltering heat. Members of the city’s Green Team and other workers hopped into cars equipped with small devices with an antenna on Tuesday and rode 13 routes three times to capture the heat index across the city. The initiative is part of Heat Watch, a national campaign that has mapped the “heat island effect” across dozens of communities. Cities packed with concrete and buildings often endure hotter temperatures than areas with more green space. The campaign’s goal is a higher-resolution look at how hot Tampa feels on the neighborhood level. The data collected Tuesday will serve as a base line, and inform resiliency projects that tackle extreme heat, the city's sustainability and resilience officer Kayla Caselli said during a news conference. Read the full story: https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2026/09/02/tampa-heat-index-feels-like-temps-testing/

Rays fans are two big steps closer to having a baseball stadium in Tampa. The Tampa City Council and Hillsborough County Commission both approved the Rays’ proposed stadium deal last week. In back-to-back votes, the local governments agreed — they want to build a stadium in Tampa. The Rays now have momentum after their deal spiraled into uncertainty earlier this year. The funding agreement has a few conditions that need to be met before public dollars can go toward the project. They revolve around a community benefit agreement that the city, county and Rays have yet to negotiate. A few more layers of approval are needed to access county funding sources. As celebrations continue, here are some takeaways after last week’s votes: https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2026/09/01/rays-stadium-vote-hillsborough-cit-tampa-hillsborough-college/

Whoever is elected the next mayor of St. Petersburg will have to deal with the future of Tropicana Field, aging water and sewage systems and, should voters statewide approve it, fallout from a multimillion-dollar hit in property tax revenues. That could be former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. He leads Mayor Ken Welch heading into the Nov. 3 runoff by more than 14 percentage points. Though the primary election results appear to put Crist in a better position than Welch, the incumbent said upcoming debates allow for deeper probes into Crist’s “political sound bites and vague promises on affordability.” While Crist offered some insights on how he’d run the city, he was light on specifics and details in an hourlong interview Aug. 26 with the Times. Crist touts his experience as a governor, congressman and attorney general, among other posts, as proof he can do the job. Should he win, he pledged to get in the weeds and do a deep dive during the transition period. Read the full story: https://www.tampabay.com/news/st-petersburg/2026/08/30/charlie-crist-mayor-ken-welch-plan-platform-rays-moffitt/

After lots of back-and-forth at city hall, voters in St. Petersburg may be the ones who get the final say on whether the city ditches Duke Energy in favor of a municipal-run electric grid. On Thursday, organizers with the grassroots campaign Dump Duke filed early paperwork with the city in its first steps to start gathering petitions. They’re aiming to put a question directly on the ballot, likely in 2028. The organizers plan to officially announce the petition-gathering effort next week, but confirmed their plans to a Times reporter at City Hall. The ballot question will propose changing the city charter, which is like a constitution for a municipality. Read the story: https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2026/08/27/duke-energy-florida-st-petersburg-dump-electric-bill-ballot/

On April Fools’ Day, Filipe Bergson began a quest to achieve what many in St. Petersburg have thought about for years: re-opening the iconic, abruptly closed Haslam’s Book Store. Shuttered since the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Haslam’s has become something of a white whale among nostalgic bookworms. It has been years since anyone in the Haslam’s family has spoken publicly about the business. But as nearby shops either reopened or closed permanently, Haslam’s has done neither. So four months ago, 32-year-old artist and filmmaker Bergson announced a plan to sell half a million bootleg T-shirts in hopes of reopening Haslam’s — or at least getting owners’ attention. So far Bergson and friends have sold close to 1,300 bootleg T-shirts at $30 a pop, grossing well over $30,000 without being told to stop. Up next: Bergson will host an unauthorized pop-up concert Saturday in the Haslam’s parking lot. Read more about Bergson’s mission: https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/arts/books/2026/08/25/haslams-book-store-st-petersburg-closed-bootleg-shirts-filipe-bergson/

A protest movement against the hundreds of Flock cameras in the region is rapidly expanding — bringing together residents of all political stripes who distrust the technology, which reads license plates and logs snapshots in a vast database. How far, they wonder, should police surveillance reach? Both the company, Flock Safety, and local law enforcement leaders say the technology solves crimes, leading to arrests of shooting suspects and the fast discoveries of missing people. But authorities tightly guard records showing how officers and deputies use license plate trackers, sparking concerns about monitoring of innocent residents and keeping the public in the dark about how many cameras are tracing their movements. License plate readers have been around for decades, but artificial intelligence has supercharged the technology. Flock sets itself apart with a model that provides an enormous network of data to law enforcement across the country. A crowdsourced map from the national DeFlock activist organization shows roughly 800 cameras across Tampa Bay. But without more transparency from the company or public officials, it’s difficult to know exactly how many cameras there are across the region, who has access to those devices and what officers are searching. Read the full story: https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2026/08/22/flock-camera-surveillance-license-plate-police-florida-backlash/

Tampa developers who want to put a 40-unit townhome complex on ecologically sensitive, forested land along the Hillsborough River returned before the city council Thursday to pitch a revised plan. In a unanimous vote, city leaders killed the project for a second time. Last year, council members had denied the owners’ rezone request following lengthy public comment from more than a dozen neighbors concerned with what the loss of trees and wetlands could mean for their corner of the urban river. Many returned Thursday to block the latest proposal in a contentious public meeting that included cross-examination by the landowners’ attorneys and dragged late into the evening. Attorneys for the developers told the council they had taken neighbors’ concerns to heart over the past year through dozens of hours and iterations of re-designs. But, it wasn’t enough to convince council members. Read the full story: https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2026/08/21/hillsborough-river-development-riverbend-wetlands/