— by James Lampe, former national environmental reporter — Summary: if passed, this Amendment would exempt solar devices installed on homes or businesses from ad valorem taxes until the end of 2037. As you consider how to vote, please…
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority August July board meeting turned into a political “Spin Bin” on Wednesday as political spin was applied to a multitude of embarrassing situations. First, evidence of Florida Ethics Law violations by board member Ben Diamond…
— from our Polk County reporter — In Polk County there is a contested race between incumbent judge Susan Barber (formerly Susan Flood) and a local attorney, Carson Bassett. At present, agitated voters in America…
On August 19, the Rays held a “Baseball Forever Night”, a promotion where tickets prices were cut in half. Rays caps were handed out to those who bought the lower-level seats, which were reasonably priced…
PSTA staff is recommending a hike in the property tax millage rate to 0.75 mills, the maximum allowed by Florida law. The current rate is 0.7305 mills. In other words, if the hike is approved, the millage…
Despite claims by city “leaders” that voters have been duped into signing petitions, and despite offers to remove those signatures upon request, no requests to remove signatures from a citizen petition drive have been received by the…
This is the first ever Tampa Bay Guardian editorial, and we hope it’s our last. But we believe we must comment on the recent botched Pinellas County ordinance banning “fracking” that actually allows the very thing it sought to…
In a Friday afternoon news release, the City of Gulfport announced on its Facebook that its sewer system “282,000 gallons of diluted wastewater into Boca Ciega Bay between the hours of 6:00 AM Tuesday and…
Pinellas County Commissioners yesterday unanimously approved a ban on hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. “fracking”). However, the ordinance actually allows fracking because faulty language was used in the ordinance. The Tampa Bay Guardian discovered the fatal flaw by reading…
Tim Ramsberger, former president of the St. Pete Grand Prix, took a $146,000 per year Pinellas County job while still serving as a Treasure Island city commissioner. The job at the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) was not…
When someone refers to “T.S. Colin”, it’s not somebody trying to mimic the famous author T.S. Eliot. No, we are referring to Tropical Storm Colin, and people around the Tampa Bay area are responding to it…
When the Guardian surveyed Pinellas County government agencies, all 12 agencies incorrectly claimed that an Emergency Access Permit (EAP) is required for reentry after a hurricane. The EAP program has been in place for 15 months,…
When the Tampa Bay Times purchased and closed the Tampa Tribune on May 3rd, the Times gave different statements of facts to government agencies in required filings. The statements made to government agencies also differed from…
From 2009 to 2016, St. Petersburg residents made 122 calls to St. Petersburg Police complaining about noise coming from the Flamingo Resort. 45% of the calls during the last four years led to police asking or telling…
Pinellas County government spends tax dollars with a vendor to send e-mails to undeliverable county government e-mail addresses, a Guardian review shows. One of the e-mail addresses belonged to Steve Spratt, the county administrator who resigned…
A review of the Pinellas Sheriff’s program for post-hurricane reentry found multiple security weaknesses, including allowing entry of people with arrest warrants while denying entry to most law-abiding Pinellas County residents. The sheriff also contradicted his own agency’s…
Pinellas Circuit Judge Cynthia Newton yesterday denied two defense motions to dismiss the main counts in former county commissioner Norm Roche’s labor lawsuit against Pinellas County. The case involves Roche’s sudden “unhiring” by County Administrator Mark Woodard after he had…
At today’s PSTA board meeting, Oldsmar mayor and PSTA Board member Doug Bevis said that reallocating miles from some bus routes to other routes means “we are cutting”, even when the total number of miles remain the same. However, Bevis began his…
