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Staff ReportsDecember 28, 2018

‘Stand your ground’ case in St. Pete A Jabil employee is using Florida’s “stand your ground” law to defend himself against charges of culpable negligence for allegedly inflicting personal injury on his wife, Jennifer Chandler, in June. Charges were filed July. In a filing this month, St. Pete resident Jay Edward Chandler claims he was […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorDecember 27, 2018

The city of Belleair Bluffs has canceled its March municipal elections. The city’s mayor and two of its city commissioners were re-elected without opposition. Chris Arbutine, Sr. has served as mayor of the coastal north Pinellas community since 2001. He was first elected as a city commissioner in 2000. Arbutine owns The Silver Queen and Belleair […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorNovember 27, 2018

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority is launching an expanded app called Transit+ to make connecting to public transportation a seamless process. The new feature expands on the existing app, Transit, which allows users to book public transportation trips from start to finish. It also adds additional transportation modes including bike and rideshare opportunities. Public transportation, […]

Scott PowersNovember 20, 2018

HomeAway, the vacation rental-home marketing company, is moving forward with efforts to collect taxes from its home-sharing clients for Florida and several major counties. The company, with its affiliated companies and brands including VRBO and VacationRentals.com, is doing so with new deals cut individually with Orange, Pinellas and Lee counties to collect and remit local […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorNovember 11, 2018

Newly-elected state Sen. Ed Hooper has a lot of plans for his term in office, but the first order of business is finding an office. While hunting for real estate is a necessary first detail, the Pinellas Republican is still laying the groundwork to implement some of his priorities. The former state Representative bested Democrat Amanda […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorNovember 6, 2018

Democrat Charlie Crist scored an easy victory over Republican George Buck in his reelection race for Congressional District 13 in St. Petersburg and parts of Pinellas County. In a landslide, Crist grabbed 58 percent of the vote of the vote. Crist’s race looked sealed from the get-go. He raked in well over $3 million to […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorNovember 6, 2018

Voter turnout in Pinellas County after the Election Day morning rush is favoring Republicans. Democrats had a slight early turnout edge heading into Election Day, but Republicans stormed the polls a little hard than Democrats. Total voter turnout as of 11:00 a.m. separated the two parties 134,000 to 131,000 with Republicans out performing at the […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorNovember 6, 2018

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Political candidates spend months rallying volunteers, knocking on doors, hobnobbing with voters at public events and, of course, raising cash. Come Election Night they’re ready, win or lose, to cut loose and either get to work or get back to their families. Whether the champagne is flowing or supporters are drowning disappointing election results at […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorNovember 5, 2018

Voter turnout so far in the Pinellas County portion of Congressional District 12 is very low. Only eight percent of registered voters have cast a ballot in precincts voting in the race between incumbent Republican Gus Bilirakis and his Democratic challenger Chris Hunter. Election supervisors cannot release voter turnout by party in individual precincts or […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorNovember 1, 2018

Gov. Rick Scott directed another $3 million to Pinellas County for red tide relief Thursday, bringing the total so far for Pinellas to $6.3 million. The funding comes from the Florida Department of Environment Protection’s red tide emergency fund. Scott is infusing another $3 million into that fund to make sure other Florida counties can access […]

Tag: Pinellas County

Stand your ground, medical malpractice suits filed in Pinellas County

No need for Belleair Bluffs vote — three elected without opposition

PSTA chosen to test updated app connecting transit to Uber and Lyft

HomeAway signing tourist tax collection agreements

After contentious election, Ed Hooper lays out Senate priorities

Charlie Crist sails to easy victory over George Buck

Pinellas County election AM rush favored Republicans

It’s not the party … it’s the after party! A rundown of where Tampa Bay-area candidates will be on election night

Voting trends suggest edge for Gus Bilirakis, but there’s a catch

Florida tees up another $3 million for red tide relief in Pinellas County