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Tampa Bay Times
Florida regulators approve Duke Energy deal for smaller rate hikes on electric bills
State regulators in Tallahassee approved an agreement Wednesday that will increase the base rates on Duke Energy customers’ electric bills, making a final decision in a months-long case that will impact nearly 2 million Floridians. Governor-appointed members of the Florida Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, praised the 338-page...
See photos from the 2024 Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention kicked off Monday in Chicago with prime-time speeches from two people familiar with running against Donald Trump. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke of finally breaking the “glass ceiling” to elect a female president in her endorsement of Kamala Harris, and President Joe Biden, the keynote speaker, formally passed the baton to Vice President Harris as the party’s nominee following his decision to end his bid for a second term. Harris made a surprise appearance at the end of Biden’s address, walking out on stage in a tan suit, to show her appreciation for Biden. She was met with raucous applause and cheers from the crowd.
St. Petersburg introduces its 2024 debutantes
Nearly nine decades of tradition will continue this winter when another group of young women is presented at the annual St. Petersburg Debutante Ball on Dec. 28 at the Coliseum. The 2024 class includes rising sophomores and juniors who are studying at institutions across the country. In alphabetical order, the debutantes are:
DeSantis admin wants to put golf courses, pickleball courts and more in Florida state parks
Florida’s environmental agency unveiled major development proposals at nine state parks Wednesday in a sweeping initiative that could redefine Gov. Ron DeSantis’ conservation record and put sensitive, already imperiled habitat further at risk. The project ideas that may lead to the most severe habitat loss include a golf...
What to know about the mpox vaccine and where to find it in Florida
The World Health Organization this month declared a global health emergency for mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, as scientists monitor a more contagious form of the virus that is spreading across Africa, with at least one reported case in Sweden. While mpox cases have been reported in Florida and other...
Watch Taylor Swift and Florence Welch play ‘Florida!!!’ live for the first time
“Florida!!!” — the place but also the Taylor Swift song — is one hell of a drug. Taylor Swift finally played the track live during her eighth and final night of the Eras Tour at London’s Wembley Stadium. And she brought along Florence Welch to help.
Was this Tampa Catholic school built on more than 700 graves?
TAMPA — Two marked gravesites are on the property that is home to the shuttered Sacred Heart Academy, a reminder of that land’s previous decades as St. Mary’s Cemetery. When the burial ground, also known as the Catholic Cemetery, was relocated in the 1920s, the Arguelles and Ficarrotta-Ferlita family mausoleums were too expensive to move, so they remain along the fence line of the nine-acre property at 3515 N. Florida Ave.
Boy Scouts in talks to sell 50-acre slice of Brooksville reservation
When businessman Larry DiePolder died in 1978, he left about 1,300 natural acres in Hernando County to the Boy Scouts with explicit instructions. He said the land must never be sold “in any way shape or form” or be used for any commercial purposes, according to his will. DiePolder stated the acreage should serve only for the Boy Scouts to “enjoy the great outdoors and the beauties and benefits of nature.”
6 places to see manatees in Tampa Bay, including a new Clearwater spot
Clearwater Marine Aquarium held the grand opening of its Manatee Rehabilitation Center, heralding a significant milestone to help accommodate the surge in manatees requiring care. But that’s not the only place in the Tampa Bay area you can see some sea cows, Florida’s official state marine mammal since 1975.
Spectrum Bay News 9 meteorologist helps Tampa Bay residents weather life’s storms
While many of us are still restocking our hurricane supply boxes as the height of storm season approaches, meteorologist Juli Marquez has extra time on her hands. She started refilling milk jugs and individual plastic bottles with water and stacking them in her freezer right after New Year’s. She also added things like batteries and peanut butter to her grocery lists months ago.
Florida voters push back against culture war agenda in school board races
The big story: The first round of Florida’s school board elections ended Tuesday, with the results largely indicating that a majority of voters who showed up in the low-turnout primary wanted something other than the culture war politics that many candidates offered. Of the 23 candidates endorsed by Gov....
Biden, a decent man, has 3 big blind spots | Letters
President Joe Biden’s convention speech Monday night showed him to be a decent, patriotic family man. It also exposed three incredible blind spots. Biden once again said America is getting better rather than going downhill. He said, “Our best days are not behind us, they are before us.”
What a small, all-Black private school can teach Florida about the reading wars
The “Reading Wars” have begun again. In response to low test scores and poor reading skills among kids, the focus in recent years has shifted toward a multidisciplinary, phonics-first approach, now termed the “science of reading.” Since 2019, at least 45 states, including Florida, have passed legislation aimed at reforming reading instruction along these lines.
When it comes to artists using GenAI, copyright law should protect the creative partnership
Picture this scenario: An experienced artist, known for his creative fireworks displays, is preparing a grand show at a stadium. To achieve an elevated level of artistry, he collaborates with his AI assistant — a text-to-image model that generates digital images from natural language descriptions known as “prompts.”
Here’s why some Florida primary election websites were slow
TALLAHASSEE — The websites of several county election supervisors were down or struggled to load as polls closed on Tuesday, but Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said it wasn’t because of nefarious intent. A vendor, Tallahassee-based VR Systems, was having “issues” with county supervisors’ public-facing websites, Byrd...
DeSantis-endorsed school board candidates in Florida mostly struggled
Things didn’t go well Tuesday in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attempt to push Florida’s local school boards toward his agenda. Eleven of the 23 candidates he endorsed appeared to have lost their races, while six won and five headed to November runoffs. One remained too close to call just after 9 p.m.
2024 primary election results: Hillsborough County races
Hillsborough School Board members Nadia Combs and Jessica Vaughn held onto their seats in Tuesday’s primary, despite opposition from Gov. Ron DeSantis and campaigns that turned ugly in the final weeks. Attack ads painted the two incumbents as socialists and supporters of pornography in the schools, as they have...
Lisa McLean headed for win in Hillsborough public defender race
Lisa McLean is poised to become Hillsborough County’s next public defender, with results late Tuesday showing her leading Rocky Brancato in the race to replace the office’s longtime leader, Julianne Holt. McLean had about 52% of the vote to Brancato’s 48% with all voting precincts reporting as of...
Pasco school board veteran ousted by political newcomer
A newcomer appears headed to the Pasco County School Board in a race separated by a handful of votes. Florida Virtual School teacher Jessica Wright, 34, who has two children in the district, was on track to narrowly defeat incumbent Alison Crumbley’s reelection bid. With one precinct outstanding, Wright held a slim lead just outside the requirement for a recount.
Here’s what happened in Tampa Bay primary races for Florida Legislature
TALLAHASSEE — A dozen incumbent Florida lawmakers appear poised to hold off challengers from their own parties on Tuesday night, putting them one step closer to returning to Tallahassee. That includes two Tampa Bay legislators who won their primaries by a wide margin. Sen. Ed Hooper, who represents north...
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