Exit interviews with general city employees leaving Seminole over the past year-and-a-half indicate morale issues could extend beyond the fire department.

Five candidates have qualified to run for seats on Seminole City Council in the 2019 election. Three candidates — incumbent Thomas Barnhorn along with Jim Olliver and Kelly Wissing — will run for two open council seats. Meanwhile, incumbent Leslie Waters will run against contender Darren Clark for mayor.

SEMINOLE — The Kiwanis Club of Seminole hosted a “welcome back” luncheon for Seminole High School faculty and staff Aug. 9 at the high school.

SEMINOLE — As contract negotiations with Seminole firefighters continue, some former members of the department allege there is a morale issue among city employees, especially those working for Seminole Fire Rescue.

The owner of the former Tides Golf Club, located at 11832 66th Ave., has submitted plans to Pinellas County to build 273 detached single-family homes on the property.

SEMINOLE — At the July 23 Seminole City Council meeting, several councilors criticized the process and procedure of the July 15 fire contract impasse hearing at City Hall.

Earth to Autism, a nonprofit organization that trains adults with autism for green industry jobs, will host its next Repair Café Saturday, Aug. 17, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Seminole United Methodist Church, 5400 Seminole Blvd.

Nearly 300 people turned out for a special hearing where the Seminole City Council made the final decisions regarding the contract between the firefighters' union and the city. At the special hearing, the council sided with the city’s negotiating team on one of the major issues — wages. Councilors approved the city’s proposal for a 5 percent increase on base wages effective that evening. They did not discuss a wage progression plan or slotting system, which the firefighters supported.

Seminole High School junior Austin Bybee has won a world and a state title in kickboxing. Now, he’s an Olympic hopeful hoping to join Team USA at the next global competition.

When Krysten Strauser was 10 years old, her parents operated a snow cone food truck. During summer breaks and on weekends, she’d join them as they drove around the Tampa Bay area, setting up in Walmart parking lots, strip malls and outlet shopping centers.

“It was a great experience learning about how to run a business as a kid,” she said.

SEMINOLE — Homeowners that live next to the former Tides Golf Club have filed an appeal against Pinellas County’s decision to issue a demolition permit to the property’s owners, the Tides Development Group.

SEMINOLE — The Seminole Warhawks football program is raising money for the family of Sophie Delott, a member of the varsity boys football team who was killed June 28 after being struck by a vehicle while she was riding her bicycle on the Indian Rocks Beach Causeway.

Councilor Jim Quinn announced he won’t seek reelection this year during the Seminole City Council’s June 29 budget workshop.

Before he could even walk, Logan Hofstetter was in the water.

The Largo native grew up just a short drive from Indian Rocks Beach, where his family, avid beachgoers, spent much of their time.

His father and uncle, professional triathletes, were both surfers as well. So Logan’s natural affinity for the water is in his blood, he said.

Joe Dan Osceola, the youngest president in the history of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, died June 9 after a fall at home. He was 82.

Osceola, who also served as the first president of the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc., was a well-known figure in the city of Seminole.

The Seminole City Council will make the final decision regarding the contract between the Seminole Professional Firefighters International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2896 and the city at a July 15 public hearing at Seminole City Hall.

In the ninja world, Jason and Kathy Bergstrom and their family – nine kids, five of them adopted – are known as the Bergstrom Bunch. The Seminole family operates the Jungle Gym, an obstacle-based facility in Pinellas Park, but three members of the family have taken their passion for competition to another level, excelling on the NBC show "American Ninja Warrior."

Mayor Leslie Waters has a new title to add to her name — author.

She has released “Good Morning Mayor, What’s Up?” through self-publishing and print-on-demand company Xlibris Book Publishers. This primer on local government explains how city governments are formed, managed and governed.

By now, Save the Tides is used to protesting the development of green space, said Ron Stephens, a board member for the organization.

It didn’t take long for the residents living near Bardmoor Golf & Tennis Club, 8001 Cumberland Rd., to activate once they learned the property’s owner, Bayou Golf LLC, intended to sell the property to developers if they were able to successfully appeal to the county to rezone the land. They immediately created Save Bardmoor, an organization dedicated to saving the property from redevelopment.

For nearly five years, owners of Baypointe Golf Course, 9399 Commodore Dr., have neglected the property, said Linda McDowell, founder of the Save Baypointe Golf Club.

“They’ve basically abandoned it,” she said in an interview with the Beacon. “Something needs to be done.”

Bardmoor. Baypointe. Tides. Three Seminole-area golf course properties with uncertain fates. In many ways, their stories are similar. In Pinellas County, the most densely populated county in the state of Florida, large swatches of open green space — undeveloped land — are hard to come by. Developers eye these properties as attractive possibilities, whether they’re active golf courses or not, which has inspired thousands living in nearby homes to step up and speak out against these plans.

Late last fall, Seminole Fire Rescue welcomed the newest vehicle to its fleet — a former Army cargo truck, a Stewart & Stevenson LMTV, converted into a brush truck.

Registration is open for the 14th annual Tri If You Dare Youth Triathlon, which will take place Sunday, June 30, at the Seminole Recreation Center, 9100 113th St. N.

Richard Khan, a Seminole resident, participates in the Great Cycle Challenge each June to raise money for childhood cancer research. He rides in the memory of his sister, Natalie, who died at 27 from lymphoma.

Firemedic Chris Collins and Izzy Broihier, daughter of the city of Seminole's finance director, Allison Broihier, water a newly planted live oak during the city's April 26 Arbor Day tree planting celebration at Waterfront Park.