Neither recently fired HART CEO Ben Limmer or current PSTA CEO Brad Miller ever submitted employment applications for their jobs, public records obtained by The Guardian show. All other employees, including the lowest paid ones,…
It was announced last Monday that Tim Nickens, long time Editor of Editorials at the Tampa Bay Times, is retiring this spring. That claim of “retirement” might have been believable if the Times had not…
USF geosciences professor Ping Wang and his research team were seen driving a pick-up truck on the beach in Indian Shores on January 12th. Wang claimed to have a state permit for doing so. When…
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) interim CEO Carolyn House Stewart does not like being questioned by reporters. She feels “attacked” by their questions and their reporting. This past Monday, WTSP 10 Investigates reporter Jenna…
Records obtained by The Guardian show that the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is not eligible for funding of its Central Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (CABRT) project. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has told PSTA…
The Florida House is now “cracking down” on the “taxpayer-backed” non-profit called the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV), and governor Ron DeSantis wants to review contracts with additional private agencies. This after Tiffany Carr,…
At PSTA’s Legislative Committee meeting on February 5th, PSTA’s federal lobbyist Harry Glenn spoke of a list that the FTA has. “It’s actually a list of projects…that kind of gives the Congress an expectation of…
At a special meeting yesterday, HART’s board of directors fired its $210,000 per year CEO Ben Limmer for violating several HART policies. The firing was “for cause,” meaning that Limmer will not get the severance…
At yesterday’s monthly PSTA board meeting, Pinellas County commissioner Pat Gerard somewhat surprisingly commented that “riding the [PSTA ] buses all the time, you see what kinds of things they [the bus drivers] deal with…
During a panel discussion yesterday, All For Transportation (AFT) President Tyler Hudson claimed that voters only wanted “some modicum of oversight” for the $16 billion sales tax increase he helped pass in Hillsborough County in…
The agenda for PSTA’s October board meeting was packed with costly surprises for the taxpayers. There was a half million dollar cost overrun that went undetected for three years, the revelation that 56% of PSTA’s…
“There’s no media allowed, Bubba,” Anthony Pedicini told the Guardian reporter (whose name was not Bubba) after the reporter has introduced himself by name. “You want to come in, you write a check for the…
PSTA’s Central Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (CABRT) project has received another setback. The project will not be funded in the federal FY2020 budget. That information reached PSTA in March, yet no mention of it was…
St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman’s “Bike to Work Day” drew only 24 riders this past Friday. Despite the city’s extensive promotion using a happy and colorful flyer, three advertised gathering points, and an appearance by…
Lightning owner Jeff Vinik has violated Florida law every year since he purchased the team by not registering the out-of-state corporation that owns the team with the State of Florida. In doing so, Vinik has…
In a court filing released this morning, Florida state attorney Dave Aronberg’s office labeled the video of New England Patriots Robert Kraft allegedly receiving paid sexual services as “obscene” and “pornographic.” In other words, and…
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is once again attracting negative press. The Tampa Bay Times reported last week that PSTA misled the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) about local financial support for the so-called Central…
The federally funded St. Pete Housing Authority (SPHA) sent a mass e-mail last week urging recipients to “reach out to your Congressional Representatives and demand that a fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill for HUD be…
