By Jim Bleyer When Congress approved the creation of “opportunity zones” as part of Donald Trump’s 2017 tax code overhaul, it didn’t have half-billionaire Jeff Vinik in mind as the legislation’s sole beneficiary in downtown Tampa. But a cabal of enablers—Senator Rick Scott, former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, and …
By Tom Rask, from the Tampa Bay Guardian “There’s no media allowed, Bubba,” Anthony Pedicini told the Guardian reporter (whose name was not Bubba) after the reporter had introduced himself by name. “You want to come in, you write a check for the event,” Pedicini continued. Chronister himself attended …
By Jim Bleyer The federal investigation into shady land deals in Hillsborough County includes several targets besides County Commissioner Ken Hagan and his family, Tampa Bay Beat has learned. Those being investigated include private citizens as well as other public officials, according to our source in Tallahassee. No specific …
By Jim Bleyer The continuing saga of the Tampa Bay Times’ lack of ethics inveigled its way into a St. Petersburg City Council race when the paper jettisoned its equal time rule to protect its unprincipled relationship with a local political operative. That operative, Barry Edwards, is a member …
By Jim Bleyer The conventional wisdom—that earlier this year projected the 2020 political demise of Donald Trump and Democratic control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives—lies in tatters. Democrats themselves, are responsible for dashing those high, if unrealistic expectations. The majority of Americans abhor identity politics …
By E. Eugene Webb PhD, from Bay Post Internet It seems like the proclamation of former baseball Commissioner Bud Selig still haunts Tampa Bay. At the height of St. Petersburg’s struggle to acquire a major-league baseball franchise in the late 1980s Selig notably said, “St. Petersburg is not …
By Jim Bleyer It may be the prohibitive favorite (again) to win professional hockey’s coveted Stanley Cup but the 2019-20 edition of the Tampa Bay Lightning are set up for more failure and heartbreak when its season kicks off Thursday. Thanks to former General Manager Steve Yzerman, …
By Jim Bleyer An ordinarily innocuous St. Petersburg City Council race has roiled local politics and become a key bellwether as to who will be the next mayor of Florida’s fifth largest city. The race to succeed term-limited Rick Kriseman as St. Petersburg mayor is two years away but political …
By Jim Bleyer Another heavy hitter has weighed in against the specious, politically-motivated Hillsborough County transit tax. In an amicus curiae brief to the Florida Supreme Court, Associated Industries of Florida asserted that the entire $15 billion transportation sales tax levy should be tossed. District Court Judge Rex …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay Since the legal appeals were filed in the All for Transportation/Hillsborough County tax litigation, the Florida House and Florida Senate have filed amicus curiae briefs with the Florida Supreme Court requesting the Court to strike the entire All for Transportation charter …
By Jim Bleyer If you are a political candidate vowing to execute the agenda of the Tampa Bay Times, you can safely count on the support of the already discredited, nearly bankrupt daily. In fact, despite any shady dealings, arrests, and the spewing of inflammatory anti-minority rhetoric, your …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay Almost $760,000 has been paid to the New York baseball lawyer Irwin Raij by Hillsborough County in its pursuit of a new Rays baseball stadium. The handsome sum was paid from October 2014 through July 2019. Raij was paid hundreds …
By Wendy Wesley, Contributor With his feet wrapped in bandages the man hobbled up to the table where I was standing. I first noticed the halting gait, then the feet crammed into flip-flops. His heels were hanging off the edge. A volunteer at the table I was visiting knew …
By Jim Bleyer St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman is a man with ambitions that could reach as far as the Florida Governor Mansion or the U.S. Capitol building. The whispers by insiders on both sides of Tampa Bay are screaming “Governor.” Kriseman and his team, however, can …
By Jim Bleyer If the Democrats hope to beat President Donald Trump in 2020, they probably will have to achieve that without winning Florida. The country’s third most populous state and most crucial battleground has a sizable Jewish population. Best estimates are that approximately seven percent of …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay The Jeff Vinik-inspired All for Transportation (AFT) transit tax is a storm cloud of dishonesty and deception hovering over Hillsborough County. Honesty and transparency are lacking in addressing transportation issues. AFT created a myth in their $4 million marketing campaign …
By Jim Bleyer The guilty pleas entered last week by former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox and a confidante is not the end of public corruption investigations in Florida. That’s the word from Lawrence Keefe, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, and sources at the Federal …
E-scooters are ridden and parked in restricted areas of Tampa’s Riverwalk and Ybor City (above). By Jim Bleyer For the under-30 zealots who enjoy the free-wheeling e-scooter culture in Tampa’s urban core, it is the best of times. For seniors, the disabled, children, and strollers confined to the …
Like the Wicked Witch of the West, Jeff Vinik sent his surrogate monkeys to sell the illegal Hillsborough transit tax. By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay All for Transportation (AFT) has been dishonest from the start. It tried to create a false narrative last June …
By Jim Bleyer Two months ago the attendance-challenged Tampa Bay Rays could at least boast of a fiercely loyal, though modest, fan base. No more, thanks to Rays owner Stu Sternberg striking out with a far-out proposal to play half a season in Tampa Bay and the other half in …
