OLDSMAR — The city of Oldsmar became world renowned for all the wrong reasons after the North Pinellas community’s water treatment plant suffered a software breach over Super Bowl weekend.

Lingering structural defects with the packed-earth track forced officials to decide whether to abandon the $2.3 million facility or rebuild it. The Oldsmar City Council agreed last month it was more important to keep it.

OLDSMAR — Prior to being elected in March 2019, Oldsmar Mayor Eric Seidel said the development of the downtown district was his top priority. When the City Council agreed to allow a local developer to build a boutique hotel, complete with rooftop bar and parking garage, on a portion of the 1…

OLDSMAR — City officials recently unveiled Oldsmar’s latest public art project on Dec. 8, as Mayor Eric Seidel led the ribbon-cutting ceremony for “Taking Flight,” a sculpture featuring 12-foot-tall stainless-steel wings and a base comprised of used Oldsmobile parts in homage to the city’s f…

OLDSMAR — Assistant City Manager Felicia Donnelly came to Oldsmar from Clearwater in 2017 with a master’s degree in urban and regional planning and a long list of accolades and accomplishments on her resume, including a recent stint as president of the Florida Recreation and Parks Association.

OLDSMAR — Soon after then-Vice Mayor Linda Norris was arrested on suspicion of DUI following a three-car crash on Aug. 12, her Oldsmar City Council colleagues, including Mayor Eric Seidel, made a public plea for her to resign her Seat 1 position.

OLDSMAR — Post 12186, the first Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Oldsmar’s 104-year history, has been on a fast track to success ever since it was established by Cmdr. Dave Bear in spring 2019.

OLDSMAR — In 2015, the redesigned BMX Supercross track at what was then known as Canal Park was considered the crown jewel of Oldsmar’s budding sports tourism industry.

OLDSMAR — The road to installing Oldsmar’s first VFW post has been long and bumpy one. It began more than a year ago with meetings in the back of a local bar and lately has been full of obstacles related to the coronavirus pandemic.

OLDSMAR — The location was the same. The building was the same. The faces inside were the same.

BARCELONA — When former Oldsmar Vice-Mayor Gabby McGee, a manager at Cisco Systems, accepted a new position that required her to move to Barcelona, Spain, last fall, the avid world traveler relished the opportunity to finally live abroad.

OLDSMAR — You can tell how much someone is appreciated by who shows up for their going away party.

OLDSMAR — It’s roughly one year into Eric Seidel’s term as mayor, and his campaign pledge to get the long-awaited development of the downtown district off the ground is quickly taking shape.

OLDSMAR — Photography was the sole focus of the city’s first art exhibition of 2020, “Oldsmar in Focus.”

OLDSMAR — Special elections typically attract less attention, and voters, than regular ones.

OLDSMAR — The Upper Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce staged its inaugural Bright Futures Expo on Jan. 15 at the Nielsen headquarters.

OLDSMAR — On Jan. 14, three candidates vying for Oldsmar City Council Seat 3 in the March 17 special election were scheduled to participate in a candidate forum hosted by the Pinellas County League of Women Voters.

City OKs projects that could form Town Center foundation

OLDSMAR — When word got out that Gene Dale was trying to establish a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Oldsmar, he said a common response was, “What took so long?”

OLDSMAR — While the proposed multimillion-dollar development of downtown Oldsmar continues to struggle to get off the ground, the city’s public art program is soaring.

OLDSMAR — Gabby McGee, a longtime City Council member who made history when she was first elected in 2013, announced her resignation last week.

OLDSMAR — According to a 2012 Library of Congress article, “The responsibilities of Poets Laureate during their terms are not well understood because there are few formal requirements.”

OLDSMAR — The city swore in its newest fire chief in a ceremony held during the Aug. 20 City Council meeting.

OLDSMAR — Several Oldsmar officials, including Mayor Eric Seidel, Council members Linda Norris and Dan Saracki, and Assistant City Manager Felicia Donnelly, attended a dedication ceremony for the city’s new rain garden on July 16.

OLDSMAR — There’s a growing consensus that Oldsmar is one of the most veteran-friendly communities in the state. The reputation stems from its Veterans Memorial Park — a scenic, waterfront expanse that hosts Memorial Day and Veterans Day events — and the many veteran-related causes Oldsmar h…

OLDSMAR — For more than 15 years Oldsmar leaders have been trying to turn the downtown district into a commercial, residential and retail mecca.

Developer Grady Pridgen’s plan to transform the 40-year-old Oldsmar Flea Market into a regional food and entertainment destination kicked off with a circus, complete with giraffes and camels, horses and high-wire acts, spread over the last weekend in May and first weekend in June.

Instead of the gold shovels that are typically used for groundbreaking ceremonies, the pile of dirt in the open field at the Oldsmar Sports Complex on May 17 was lined with blue and black hockey sticks. The equipment change was appropriate for the occasion, however, as Tampa Bay Lightning and city officials broke ground on a new public outdoor street hockey rink, the first facility of its kind in Pinellas County.

OLDSMAR — For the first 100 years of its existence, the city of Oldsmar had no public art installations.

OLDSMAR — Dozens of local riders, family members and fans of the sport packed City Hall on May 7 to express their love and support for the city’s BMX Supercross Track.

OLDSMAR — With the roast of former Oldsmar mayor Doug Bevis kicking off at 7:30 a.m. on April 10, jokes about the early start could be considered low-hanging fruit.

OLDSMAR — The City Council will be female-centric moving forward after former council member Linda Norris and political newcomer Katie Gannon won on March 12.

OLDSMAR — In many ways, Doug Bevis’ final meeting as Oldsmar mayor March 5 epitomized his tenure. He made some people laugh and he made some people cry, and in the process, he made some people realize why he was such a perfect, if unconventional, leader for the city for the past six years.

OLDSMAR – After the City Council rejected a developer’s request for an extension on a proposal to build a 50-unit town home community on four acres of city-owned land near the Oldsmar Public Library last summer, Mayor Doug Bevis said the property was too valuable to support a project that wa…