By Jim Bleyer Ubiquiti Networks, a Wall Street darling of St. Petersburg-based Raymond James and Associates, saw its share price tumble last week after an analyst accused the company of major fraud. Almost concurrently, several law firms opened investigations into Ubiquiti, a company that has been heavily …
By Jim Bleyer A pending massive $150 million lawsuit against Tampa Bay Rowdies owner Bill Edwards will be the coup de grace against the team’s bid in becoming one of four Major League Soccer expansion teams by 2020, according to national experts who report on the sport. Edwards, a …
By Jim Bleyer By promoting for material gain a predictable scenario involving confrontation and possible bloodshed, what responsibility does an organization have to victims and the community it allegedly serves? A consensus of attorneys interviewed by Tampa Bay Beat says responsiblity certainly exists; proving it in a civil litigation …
By Jim Bleyer With his chances of becoming St. Petersburg’s next mayor dissipating as rapidly as the ravaging winds of Hurricane Irma, Rick Baker exploited one of the worst natural disasters in the nation’s history to resuscitate his failing campaign. Baker, his employer Bill Edwards and others billed as his political …
By Jim Bleyer St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman led his cadre of dedicated city workers this week, calmly and methodically shepherding the West Coast Florida community of 261,000 through one of the worst natural disasters to hit the area in recorded history. By marshalling city resources to assist …
By Jim Bleyer Back on his heels after woefully underperforming in the primary, an incensed Rick Baker will dramatically amp up his campaign to unseat St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman in the two months leading up to the Nov. 7 “nonpartisan” election, sources have told Tampa Bay Beat. The …
By Jim Bleyer St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, defying local polls and longtime political observers, yesterday stamped himself as the one to beat in his re-election bid against former Mayor Rick Baker. Only 69 votes separated the two but the mood of the opposing camps at rallies Tuesday night …
By Jim Bleyer With its seismic shift in coverage and editorial policy, the Tampa Bay Times has left no doubt that the Republican cabal who infused $12-15 million into the paper two months ago are calling the shots in the newsroom. Evidence mounted rapidly in the past few …
By Jim Bleyer The Tampa Bay Times effort to woo more subscribers from the radical right has destroyed what little remains of its credibility and could embolden extremists and their racist followers to transform a tranquil, diverse, progressive St. Petersburg into a literal and ideological battleground. The …
By Jim Bleyer Non-committal and nearly silent, mayoral candidate Rick Baker continued his passive campaign Sunday with another moral fail. He was seen standing on the fringe of a candlelight vigil at St. Petersburg’s Demens Landing that stressed community unity and condemned the white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, VA. …
By Jim Bleyer When the University of South Florida announced in May that management of its Sun Dome arena would be overseen by a Jeff Vinik enterprise, no details of the deal were reported in the local media. As Tampa Bay Beat discovered, USF President Judy Genshaft and Athletic Director …
By Jim Bleyer The past month has been eye opening for Tampa Bay residents, at least for those not paying close attention to the unethical machinations of the Tampa Bay Times for the past decade. First, it was revealed–not by the Times or its puppeteer the Poynter Institute–that Tampa businessman …
I want to hear what T. Lassiter and Jesse Nevel have to say to Kriseman, Baker, and to each other. St. Petersburg, FL Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD Author: In Search of Robin, So You Want to Blog. As we move into the early primary portion of …
By Jim Bleyer On Monday, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn not only blew off two prominent environmentally-conscious organizations, but thousands of residents and businesses as well as his city’s future. Buckhorn chose to remain out of step with his party, modern science, latge cities, and most Floridians when he rejected pleas …
By Jim Bleyer The two Tampa Bay chapters of the Sierra Club just may have tossed a life preserver to a flailing politician that has had waves of bad press for more than a month. We will know by noon on Monday, June 19 whether or not Tampa Mayor Bob …
By Gene Webb (Reprinted from Eye on Tampa Bay) The subject of transportation was on the agenda this past week as Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn St. Pete Council member Darden Rice and Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos met with business leaders to get them involved in the ever …
By Jim Bleyer Rumors that Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, a registered Democrat with a conflicted, convoluted, opportunistic political philosophy, will soon join the Republican party are bubbling in Tampa and Tallahassee, Tampa Bay Beat has learned. Recent developments have ramped up speculation. Last week Buckhorn endorsed Republican State Rep. …
By Jim Bleyer Florida is the tenth worst state for the Millennial population, according to a well-respected, untainted WalletHub study. The media and business leadership in Orlando acknowledge the problem; in Tampa Bay the daily newspaper and business community prefer to combat reality with denial and delusion. Orlando is more …
By Jim Bleyer In keeping with The Tampa Bay Times effort to make itself relevant in the digital age, the paper and its parent the Poynter Institute continue to conceal important facts from readers while attempting to control the local political narrative behind the scenes. A poll, published Friday, …
Part 2 of 2 By Jim Bleyer Tampa Bay lags behind the rest of the country in attracting Millennials. Business leaders claim to want them here but they fail to recognize what is important to that generation beyond jobs. The Tampa Metropolitan Statistical Area’s population breakdown reveals the problem. …
