It’s one of the perks of living near the water: Viewing lines of boats bearing holiday lights, Santa figures, snowmen, and even Peanuts and Grinch characters while crew members dance to blaring Christmas carols.
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REDINGTON BEACH — An “error” in the wording of the town’s dock ordinance drew a large number of residents Nov. 18 charging that the code’s language prevented them from improving their docks.
GULFPORT — When Brenda McMahon founded ArtJones Open Studio Tour, the idea was simple. Gulfport artists would open their personal art studios to the public for tours, demonstrations and conversation.
It’s one of the perks of living near the water: Viewing lines of boats bearing holiday lights, Santa figures, snowmen, and even Peanuts and Grinch characters while crew members dance to blaring Christmas carols.
ST. PETE BEACH — After dealing with bleak news over the COVID-19 pandemic for several months, a ray of hope was given to city commissioners by City Manager Alex Rey, who advised that St. Pete Beach actually ended its fiscal year with a $900,000 revenue surplus.
INDIAN SHORES — After more than a year of deliberation, multiple design submissions and several workshops, the Town Council unanimously accepted a monument project concept plan at a Nov. 10 meeting by a vote of 5-0. The concept, “Family Future,” by artist Steve Graff, was chosen.
MADEIRA BEACH — Early on a Wednesday morning, dozens of local fishing captains iced down fresh fish at Wild Seafood in Madeira Beach as tourists and local workers watched.
MADEIRA BEACH — The fill-in of sand at John’s Pass, which has been worsening recently and has become an urgent issue to resolve, will be getting another study, this time by a USF professor, “to find the exact cause” of the problem.
INDIAN SHORES — With the mayor under quarantine and the extension of the governor’s executive order allowing an exemption to physical quorum requirements due to COVID-19, the Nov. 10 Indian Shores Town Council meeting was conducted as a hybrid in-person and Zoom meeting.
ST. PETE BEACH — Earlier this year, Trip Advisor’s Travelers Choice Awards named St. Pete Beach second-best beach destination in the U.S., and ranked it 16th greatest in the world, but at least one commissioner is not happy with Instagram acclaim that dubbed Pass-A-Grille as having one of Pi…
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH — City commissioners have nixed a plan for controlled parking in neighborhoods east of Gulf Boulevard where beachgoers and other visitors leave their cars in the daytime — at least for now.
TREASURE ISLAND — If a pandemic wasn’t enough to contend with, when Tropical Storm Eta landed on Pinellas County shores unexpectedly last week, Sanding Ovations organizers were left with two feet of standing water and the question of whether or not the 12th annual event could even take place.
The entire $40 million-plus Sand Key beach nourishment project is in doubt after the county failed to secure the needed easements from property owners in three of the seven municipalities seeking sand.
ST. PETE BEACH — Retired Lt. Col. Carol Barkalow, who was one of the first women to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served 26 years in the U.S. Army, along with her partner Sheila Mutascio, has been buying homes to provide living spaces for homeless veterans for the…
Patriotic boats heading to Intracoastal
INDIAN SHORES — In the age of COVID it becomes necessary to forego the usual festivities associated with honoring a long-term employee’s retirement — but not the sentiment. After 24 years of service with the Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District , Marshall Eiss, fire inspector for the…
REDINGTON SHORES — A replacement was chosen for former District 4 Commissioner Pat Drumm at a special meeting held before the Oct. 28 Town Commission workshop. Drumm is moving out of the area and has resigned his commission seat, after serving for three-plus years.
ST. PETE BEACH — COVID-19 could inspire the city to formally allow restaurants and bars to use public parking spaces fronting their establishments for outdoor seating.
ST. PETE BEACH — “Sewers ain’t pretty, but they’re necessary.”
REDINGTON BEACH — Residents here could see substantial improvements in street conditions and stormwater runoff because of plans under consideration by town officials.
TREASURE ISLAND — Eliminating plastic packaging at city facilities and events, transforming Treasure Bay into a flagship waterfront recreation center, financing of additional city facilities and undertaking major infrastructure improvements are among a series of goals envisioned in the city’…
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH — Despite the rigors of running a new brewery in a pandemic, Philip Anderson isn't crying in his beer.
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH — Residents who drive such low-speed vehicles such as Cushmans, Bintelli electric vehicles, and similarly outfitted people cruisers can now operate them up and down Gulf Boulevard.
INDIAN SHORES — Just as the town was preparing to hold its first meeting back in the municipal center after months of Zoom meetings, a town library volunteer tested positive for COVID-19, making it necessary to return to the virtual format for the Oct. 13 meeting.
ST. PETE BEACH — City commissioners voted to upgrade several of St. Pete Beach’s parking ordinances, allowing parking enforcement officers, and towing companies hired by the city, to boot tires or remove vehicles of scofflaws who accumulate large debts of unpaid parking tickets or others who…
MADEIRA BEACH — The continuing clogging up of John’s Pass with sand is creating growing concern over the impact on tourism as well as public safety. City Manager Bob Daniels said at the outset of the public comment portion of the Oct. 14 city commission meeting that 45 email comments had bee…
REDINGTON SHORES — Redington Shores will be in need of a town commissioner after Pat Drumm submitted his letter of resignation.
TREASURE ISLAND — A lively debate over whether to establish a no/minimum wake zone in the area of St. James Bridge, adjacent to and behind the new Fusion Resort boat dock, was sunk by city commissioners.
REDINGTON BEACH — Commissioners have given tentative approval to changes in the building code to clarify the powers and duties of the town’s Board of Adjustment.
MADEIRA BEACH — The city’s millage rate will remain unchanged for the coming year. The decision to leave the rate where it is came at the final budget hearing Sept. 23.
ST. PETE BEACH — This year’s Taste of the Beaches invites locals and visitors to enjoy a “taste tour” event, bringing customers into local restaurants, which could use some much-needed community support.
ST. PETE BEACH — Developers of the proposed Miramar Beach Resort, at 4200 Gulf Boulevard, are planning to be the first in this beach city to open a full-service hotel since the Florida Department of Environmental Protection forced St. Pete Beach to enact a building moratorium six years ago.
REDINGTON SHORES — The annual Town Picnic, which had been reinvented due to COVID-19 into a drive-thru format where food trucks would deliver hamburgers and hot dogs, beverages and desserts to the neighborhoods, has had another remake.
TREASURE ISLAND — The Rosselli Park playground will soon become Treasure Island’s first recreation facility refurbished with synthetic turf and stingray-shaped shade structures, while the Treasure Bay playground will get a much-requested sun protection feature.
REDINGTON BEACH — Residents here could face new rules for garbage collection and the recycling of it in an ordinance under consideration by the Town Commission.
ST. PETE BEACH — It will take an ambitious, costly public-private partnership using state and federal funds over several years to protect the Don CeSar neighborhood peninsula from tidal surge and stormwater flooding.
INDIAN SHORES — As Indian Shores has done through most of the pandemic, the Town Commission and budget meeting Sept. 9 was done virtually. Highlights of the meeting included passage of the fiscal year 2020-21 budget, an illustration of the enhanced drainage project on Gulf Boulevard, and rec…
ST. PETE BEACH — A plan to work together with a local restaurateur envisions the western end of Corey Avenue at Sunset Way to include a mini-marina at the eatery and fishing pier at adjacent city-owned Fisherman’s Park.
MADEIRA BEACH — The city will spend up to $60,000 to do a cost and revenue study to find out if a long-discussed high-and-dry boat storage facility at the city marina is financially feasible.
REDINGTON BEACH — A 2021 budget that maintains the current tax rate while increasing revenue was informally approved by town commissioners during a public hearing Sept. 3.
TREASURE ISLAND — In an effort to help residents who might be financially struggling as a result of the pandemic, city commissioners Sept. 3 voted to delay a property tax increase this next fiscal year.
MADEIRA BEACH — In looking for budget cuts, the City Commission turned to recycling, and its benefits vs. costs Aug. 26 during a work session.
REDINGTON SHORES — Residents could be seeing a change in their utility bills, beginning later this year.
ST. PETE BEACH — Sometime next fall, library patrons from Treasure Island may become part of a cooperative utilizing the newly renovated St. Pete Beach Library.
MADEIRA BEACH — The John’s Pass Seafood Festival is the area’s most popular event, normally drawing thousands of visitors to the Village for its three-day run in October. This year it is being moved to January, due mostly to COVID-19 concerns.
Labor Day weekend is typically a fun and busy one around Pinellas County beaches, including fireworks shows and Gulfport’s GeckoFest.
INDIAN SHORES — COVID-19 arrived this past March just in time for Chief Rick Swann’s first anniversary on the job at the Indian Shores Police Department. With a small police presence of about a dozen officers, the chief had his hands full with the onset of the pandemic.
REDINGTON BEACH — Residents here will have a chance to comment soon on their town’s proposed 2021 budget whose anticipated revenue has been dented by the effects of the ongoing pandemic.
TREASURE ISLAND — When it comes to erosion rates from tidal action and rising sea levels, an Army Corps of Engineers’ Coastal Storm Risk Management Study predicts some coastal areas along Treasure Island could see the highest levels of dune and beach loss in the county.
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH — For well over a year, Forward Pinellas, the county’s planning organization, has been working with residents and city leaders on a visioning process aimed at discovering what they want their city to look like five, 10 or 15 years down the road.
NORTH REDINGTON BEACH — Seven ordinances passed on first readings during the Aug. 13 Town Commission meeting. One ordinance dealt with fireworks, two with changes regarding pervious areas, two with parking, and two more with conduct in public places.
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Latest numbers
Pinellas County’s COVID-19 case count continues to rise with Florida Department of Health adding 188 more to the tally on Dec. 1, upping the total to 33,246. Nine more residents have died due to the novel coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 911.
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