#Pinellas).

[gwydionmisha]

I have a special dread of what happens to prisoners in major crises like this.

[cis-advantage]

Office Renovation & Disaster Restoration Experts.

From Water Leak Detection to Mold Remediation to Commercial Buildouts. Request a Free No Obligation Estimate on Your Project Today. Website: https://cis-advantage.com/ Phone: (727) 797-5205

[darkangel1791]

Tampa Bay Times

May 30 2024

No Pinellas bus will be decorated for Pride this year. Why?

For the first time since 2015, a bus won’t sport rainbow colors to celebrate LGBTQ pride. Rep. Linda Chaney claimed credit — but did she have anything to do with the change?

https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2024/05/30/psta-st-pete-pride-buses-wraps-linda-chaney/

In 2023, St. Petersburg kicked off Pride celebrations with an event outside City Hall that included a Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus with a "Ride with Pride" wrap. After wrapping a bus for Pride each year since 2015, the tradition will be nixed for 2024 because of what the agency said were legal concerns around new yet-to-be-announced Department of Transportation guidelines — but not because of the urging of a state legislator, Rep. Linda Chaney, who has taken credit for the change. 

By Jack Evans

Times staff

For the first time in nearly a decade, Pinellas County will be missing a bus wrapped in bright colors in celebration of Pride month this summer — but not, officials said, because of the demands of a local legislator who has taken credit for the change.

The decision to pull the plan, which would have had one Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus bedecked in tie-dye swirls and rainbow hearts on the streets throughout June and July, came as the agency awaits new advertising guidelines from the Florida Department of Transportation, officials said Wednesday.

The transit authority’s board of directors had been set to vote Wednesday on whether to approve a slate of advertising wraps for buses including the Pride wrap. Such displays are typically timed to an event, such as St. Pete Pride or other parades, and involve a single bus that displays the wrap for some time afterward.

The item was removed from the board’s agenda last week. St. Pete Beach Republican Rep. Linda Chaney intimated in a Facebook post Saturday night that she had put a stop to the Pride plan.

“When I learned that this is how PSTA buses, a 93% tax payer-funded service, planned to wrap buses for TWO months in celebration of Pride month I immediately began discussions that ended with PSTA withdrawing the plan,” Chaney wrote. “There will be No Pride wraps on tax payer-funded PSTA buses.”

But transit authority spokesperson Stephanie Weaver said the decision had nothing to do with Chaney. Nor was it related to recent local moves against other LGBTQ pride visuals, such as the cancelation of rainbow lighting for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and vandalism to the Progressive Pride street mural on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg.

Brad Miller, the transit authority’s CEO, has met with Chaney and several other lawmakers about new advertising regulations going into effect later this year, Weaver said. They include a measure passed earlier this year that requires the Department of Transportation to establish marketing and advertising guidelines for local transit authorities.

But the move to halt approval of the Pride bus wrap this week was based solely on word that the Department of Transportation will announce those rules this summer, Weaver said. The transit authority wanted to avoid a scenario in which the Pride bus is already on the street but turns out not to comply with the new regulations when they’re announced.

“This is not about a representative calling us and saying, ‘We don’t want this wrap,’” Weaver said. “It’s about trying to follow the law.”

A slide from a presentation originally set for Wednesday's Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority board meeting shows the planned — now scrapped — designs for bus wraps celebrating Pride month. [ Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority ]

The transit authority has wrapped buses for Pride since 2016, Weaver said. But it wasn’t the only advertising plan affected by the decision to postpone the board’s approval. Had the item not been pulled from Wednesday’s agenda, the board would have voted on the Pride wrap alongside three others: recurring two-month wraps celebrating Veterans Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a wrap celebrating the agency’s 40th anniversary, which would have been put on buses later this year and stayed on for a year.l

Chaney said Wednesday she was traveling and unavailable for an interview and offered to answer questions for this story via text message. She then declined to answer several specific questions. Instead she referenced legislation she filed earlier this year in an unsuccessful effort to overhaul the transit authority, most notably by downsizing its board of directors.

“I remain focused on that and the key elements in that bill,” she said. “I will continue to work towards that end.”

Some measures of that bill made it into the same statewide transportation bill that includes the Department of Transportation’s guideline-creation orders, but that idea did not originate with her legislation.

Chaney’s Facebook post noted the taxpayer funding the transit authority relies on, and some — but not all — commenters thanked her for keeping taxpayer money away from Pride advertising.

“The gay community does not agree with the LGBTQ aggressive agenda,” Chaney told the news site Florida’s Voice on Tuesday, citing an unnamed gay Facebook friend as evidence. “This is not about anti-gay, this is about responsibility to the taxpayer.”

But taxes don’t go toward any of the transit authority’s celebratory wraps, according to the agency. Instead, revenue from paid advertising — such as the ads for law firms that often appear on buses — covers the expenses. Chaney’s post showed renderings of the bus wrap design from either side but omitted a rendering showing the rear of the bus, which includes a disclaimer that taxpayer money wasn’t used.

The legislation passed earlier this year also prohibits transit authorities from using state money to pay for bus wraps.

And though Chaney emphasized the planned duration of the Pride wraps, the two-month span wasn’t unique to this summer’s promotion — the wraps for Veterans Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day would also last two months under the proposed schedule. All of that is part of planned changes in the duration of promotional bus wraps: The two-month span is a decrease from the transit authority’s practice of leaving them on buses for six months, and the agency has proposed having wraps timed with three holidays going forward, down from six occasions per year in the past.

Regardless of whether Chaney was responsible for the change in plans, she has become the focal point of criticism over the decision. On Facebook, Equality Florida CEO Nadine Smith decried what she called Republican politicians’ “obsession with LGBTQ people.”

“And like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Linda will learn it isn’t the wraps and the bridge lights, any more than it was the presents and the roast beast feast — it’s the joy and community,” Smith wrote.

Miller said Wednesday that transit authority staff will bring a new wrap proposal before the board when the Department of Transportation releases its guidelines. Though that won’t happen in time for this year’s Pride celebrations, the transit authority will still participate. As in years past, it’ll be the official transportation partner for St. Pete Pride — the largest Pride celebration in Florida — and will offer free park-and-ride service from Tropicana Field and St. Petersburg High School for the June 22 parade.

And though it will lack the bright colors it’s often sported for the occasion, a transit authority bus will still be part of the parade.

[paraparaparadigm]

[ilovethebigapple]

Is this what Robert F. Kennedy will have for dinner?

Warning: Do not click or look if you’re not accustomed to seeing dead animals on the road in the United States of America. You’ve been advised of the armadillo, the possom or opposum, or deer, or bear, or fish, or …. Here’s the armadillo…

[palmharbor]

How to stay on track with your fitness goals

You have decided that you want to remain fit. However, just a few days and you start losing focus. Within no time, you are back to square one, and there are no changes to your body. You must be committed to the cause to achieve all your fitness goals. Here, we will share ways to keep on track with your fitness goals.

Create a realistic goal!

It goes without saying that you must set a goal that you can eventually meet. For instance, trying to reduce 5 pounds in a week is just not possible. See your present health condition and decide what your targets are. Maybe your weight range is acceptable, and only body toning is required. Once you have zeroed in on the goal, it becomes easy to proceed ahead.

Hire a personal trainer.

By hiring a trainer for personal training Dunedin, you can keep your eyes on the target. He would tell you ways in which you can maintain the pace. This consistent approach would surely help you get all the results you are looking for.

Know that this is not a race!

You must keep reminding yourself that you are not running a race. The results would show in some time. Waiting for quick results in fitness goals is just not sensible. Approach your goals with focus and be consistent for results to show.

Drink loads of water

Your body needs hydration when it is exercising. By drinking water in sufficient quantities, you can ensure it can manage the changes happening. Plus, remaining hydrated helps our body to work on tasks like fat burning and digestion. Water could also naturally suppress the appetite, thus controlling the calories.

Summing Up

Remaining fit helps us lead a happy life, too. If you are among those who cannot stay steady in their fitness goals, the above tips would help. Hiring a personal trainer reduces your work as he guides you in every way possible.

[sincosma]

Well, I guess I make big posts on Tumblr now about hurricanes because WHAT THE FUCK.

So, I live in the Tampa Bay Area, specifically in Pinellas County, which is the most densely populated county in the state of Florida. We haven't had a direct hit from a hurricane in over 100 years. And despite that, Helene completely devastated our county with 5 to 8 feet of storm surge.

I have friends and coworkers living in hotels and other people's homes who have lost everything. Our barrier islands reek with raw sewage and dead marine life. As I speak, they are still trying to remove the FEET of toxic sand on the barrier islands that the storm surge pushed inland. There were 12 deaths in my county from that storm surge. It's the worst hurricane damage our area has ever received in the modern era. And that was from a storm that stayed 100 miles offshore.

Hurricane Milton is currently heading our way. Right now, models are showing a potential landfall in the Tampa Bay Area as a cat 3, maybe 4, hurricane. We're still struggling to recover from Helene, and now we're right back in the crosshairs. My point here is that things can change very quickly. If you live on the west coast of Florida, please prepare and please stay weather aware.

If evacuations are called in your area, please spread the word to your neighbors, especially if they are elderly, have disabilities, live in poverty, or have other evacuation challenges. CHECK ON YOUR NEIGHBORS. I cannot stress this enough. If you live near vulnerable people, check on them and talk to them about their plans if evacuations are called. Check with your county website to see what services are available for evacuation and shelters.

Stay safe, fellow west coast Florida friends. <3

[arctic-hands]

“We’ve got a problem, and the problem is that way too many people in Zone A aren’t listening,” said Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff in Pinellas County, which encompasses Clearwater and St. Petersburg, in a Thursday morning news conference. “We’ve been out there this morning, there’s just way too many people in the area.” Other local and state officials, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, warned residents to leave vulnerable areas before the massive storm unleashes a barrage of life-threatening conditions, including flooding rains and winds potentially as high as 131 to 155 mph Thursday night.

"If you're in an evacuation zone or you've been told to evacuate, you do have time to do it now – so do it. But don't wait another six hours, seven hours," DeSantis said early Thursday. Gualtieri said that while the county won’t face much danger from rain and wind, the barrier islands and low-lying coastal areas face 5 to 8 feet of storm surge. “This is dangerous. No question about it and it’s not something we’ve seen recently,” he said. “They’ve got to get out, and there’s going to reach a point where you’re on your own because we’re not going to get our people killed because you don’t want to listen to what we’re saying.” While nearly every county along the western coast of Florida has ordered evacuations, four of them, including Franklin,  Taylor, Liberty and Wakulla have ordered all residents in the county to leave. "This will not be a survivable event for those in coastal or low lying areas," Wakulla County Sheriff's Office Sheriff Jared Miller said in a Facebook post. "There has not been a storm of this magnitude to hit Wakulla in recorded history." A.J. Smith, the sheriff in Franklin County, said he's never seen as many residents evacuate before a hurricane as he has in recent days. He said, however, there were still people who decided to stay for various reasons. "I've said publicly that when the storm comes in and the weather's so bad that the first responders can't get out, you're on your own because we can't get to you," he said, adding: "If I wasn't sheriff, trust me – I wouldn't be here."

If you chose to stay or can't evacuate in time, might want to write down your information in sharpie on your arm so you can be identified if help can't come

[gh0stsp1d3r]

Hello, I have personally put together some gofundme’s and donation links for people in my home city, people who have been hit hard and still are struggling with the storms after effects. Please share, or donate if you are able. I will be updating this list as much as possible. If you want a link to be shared onto this, I would love to support you and your family and friends (:

Hurricane relief fund

areas like John’s pass and the barrier islands and beaches are where most of us grew up, where we all could gather without a worry in the world, where people with nothing could put down roots in their dreams for starting a business.

Big corporations will never care about the little people, and we are truly seeing this problem now. Your donation will mean more to these people than you realize or know.

Help restore lives on barrier islands.

Restoring hope to John’s pass.

Donate to seabird seaside sanctuary.

Help elderly victim after hurricane Helene’s impact.

Urgent aid for seniors affected by hurricane Helene.

Help heather with funds after Huricane Helene.

Support Eric’s family in their time of need.

Support Lexi’s family in their time of need.

Here’s some for places like Appalachia, Georgia, and Tennessee as well, where they got affected terribly. My heart goes out to everyone there.

Don’t forget the backroads.

Raising funds for those in Appalachia affected by Helene.

Help my family survive: water and power crisis in Appalachia

Help Appalachia

Support hope and resilience in Appalachia.

Support East Tennessee community in this time of need.

Help Georgia marine veterans rebuild lives

Help bring aid to victims

Volunteering if you’re near any area affected is also great ! This weekend i flew out to go volunteer with Keep Pinellas Beautiful, some family businesses, along with overall helping my community and giving back. And it makes a change, whether you believe it or not.

When I entered the beach for the first time to do a cleanup, it was devastating. I talked to some smaller business owners over there as well, most of them thinking they will have to demolish their places completely because it’s too much.

[phoebe-twiddle]

Let this be a lesson to you: don’t cook without your glasses on.

[eopederson]

Tourist treasures: Sponges, Tarpon Springs, Pinellas County, 2012.

[transfloridaresources]

Pinellas County locations to cool off & charge phones if you're without power from Hurricane Helene. Open from Sept 28, 2024 until further notice.

Please add your own if you have other resources for hurricane relief around Florida!

[hyper-coasters]

hope ur ok after milton???

Hey, thanks for checking in, Keter :3 Physical health is overall okay, my allergies have been acting up horribly, and my fiance and myself had some chronic illness flare-ups from the stress & heat, but we are overall safe & healthy and so are all our animals.

Our house experienced some external and plumbing damage, but nothing crazy. Our fence was blown away, but thankfully, our neighbor has a chain link fence, and our dogs get along, so they've been having a lot of playdates. Unfortunately, some of my friends and family were not as lucky as we were. There is a lot of post-storm flooding from the rivers in Pinellas and Pasco counties. It is causing major flood damage to homes, especially during high tide. I have neighbors whose rooves caved in, and so did my fathers.

I am unable to reblog or share gofundmes or help others in central Florida through tumblr due to no power, but to anyone reading this feel free to add some on or send some to me to try and reblog and donate to when I have power again.

I was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area and pretty much never left. In fact, I moved closer to Tampa as an adult. This is the worst destruction from a storm I've seen on the west coast of FL.

One charity I know is that doing worlds to help right now is Hank's Bark Box. They are taking donations and distributing pet foods - even some pet perscriptions, first aid care, etc - in Pinellas. I know a lot of animals that got hurt or hurt their owners in stress and panic, and a lot of people's food and pet medications were damaged or lost from the storm. Here is the link to their Facebook.

EDITING TO ADD: PLEASE consider looking into any organization thats feeding children. Schools can not open, and even if they did, Pinellas County schools have lost ALL food reserves for the low income food programs for students. So please, if anyone is able to add organizations here I will make seperate posts when I can return.

[joeinct]

This is an outstanding interview with Herb Snitzer, talking about his remarkable life as a photographer and intimate witness to the jazz scene in New York during the 1950s and 60s. Worth a listen.

[ddexpresspropertyinvestors]

How Can I Secure A Fast Cash Sale During The Divorce?

Divorce is a challenging and emotionally charged life event, and when it comes to dividing joint assets, the home often poses a significant hurdle. The value of a home cannot be divided without liquidating it first. Moreover, if you find yourself going through a divorce during a time of economic uncertainty, it adds an additional layer of complexity to the situation. However, by approaching the process with rationality and considering various factors, you can successfully navigate selling your home to cash home buyers during a divorce in Tampa. Read more: https://ibuyhouses4-cash.com/blog/how-can-i-secure-a-fast-cash-sale-during-the-divorce/

[suzannetownsend]

Meddling: The woman bringing women’s local history into focus in St. Pete

Jessy Breckenridge describes the research she did for the St. Petersburg Museum of History exhibit Meddling: The Women Who Built St. Pete. 

The St. Petersburg Museum of History is strikingly modest for its downtown location. Plain white and undergoing some construction, the museum is nested at the base of the St. Pete Pier across from the Museum of Fine Arts and houses some gems of this peninsula’s great history. One of its latest exhibitions is Meddling: The Women Who Built St. Pete, curated by Jessy Breckenridge. “It started off as a bet,” she said. She grinned as she explained that she’s actually the archives and collections manager at the museum, not the curator. “It was women’s history month and I bet our executive director that I could find and write a profile on a different historical woman in St. Pete every day for the month of March, which has 31 days. And I did.” Breckenridge said.

Soon the project became an idea for an exhibit, and then an actual exhibit. Mainly using digital archives of newspapers, Breckenridge started her research with the founder of the museum itself, Mary Wheeler Eaton. Each research subject led to several more and soon enough Breckenridge had 30 profiles ready for the gallery walls and a slideshow of many more. “‘Meddling’ comes from one of our St. Petersburg history books which was quoted as saying that the men of the town did not quite like the meddling women of St. Pete,” she said.

Breckenridge explained some of the challenges she came across during her research. First of all, until the mid-1980s, if a woman was married she was almost always only referred to by her husband’s name. This made finding information about the woman herself difficult, and having to sift through everything that was only about her husband tedious. 

Another challenge came because Black history is not as well documented as white history, which makes it even more challenging and important to discern an accurate historical narrative. Breckenridge said the only woman without a photo in the exhibit is Anna Donaldson, who alongside her husband was the first permanent Black settler in Pinellas County. 

Despite the challenges, the exhibit has been received very well. Breckenridge’s work has even inspired the community here in St. Petersburg to get involved in its own local history. She said people have been calling in to the museum to tell about an additional woman from the city’s history to add to the exhibit’s slideshow.

“It’s really exciting to be able to tell these stories,” she said.

The museum is exploring ways to make “Meddling” a permanent exhibit.

Executive director Rui Farias said, “Probably some time after the first year we’ll be looking at moving it into a larger gallery space,” said Rui Farias, executive director of the museum.