Mayor's Tax Fails, Future Hurricane Strengthens, and Insurers Tally Losses
Plus, Homegrown Hillsborough wants to hear from you, and 4 questions with photographic historian Chip Weiner
CURRENTS
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s proposal to increase the property tax rate by 16 percent died on Tuesday when council members Bill Carlson, Lynn Hurtak, Guido Maniscalco, and Charlie Miranda voted against it. Even Council member Luis Viera said feedback to his office overwhelmingly opposed the tax hike. The mayor will now have to submit a revised budget to the council. Tampa Bay Times $ (subscription required)
Florida initiative to prohibit abortion restrictions qualifies for state court review. The Center Square
Seven private insurers received state approval to roll up to 202,000 home insurance policies over from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to the private marketplace. News Service of Florida via Creative Loafing
Tampa attorney filing lawsuit against Spectrum Cable after Disney/ESPN blackout. ABC Action News
Today’s Sponsor
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Flu/Covid-19/RSV Season: The American Public Health Association recommends getting vaccinated this fall for flu, Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. An updated Covid 19 shot is coming this fall, an RSV vaccine was approved recently, and getting an annual flu shot is a good idea.
Record-high temperatures prompt 'heat crisis' in Florida prisons without air conditioning. Advocates say lack of AC harms guards, volunteers and inmates. ABC Action News
Meteorologists declare 2023 hottest summer on record. The World Meteorological Organization released the data on Wednesday. ABC Action News
Honoring Veterans: Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, the County’s Consumer & Veterans Services, and the Veterans Council of Hillsborough County will commemorate veterans at the 22nd Anniversary Patriot Day: 9/11 Remembrance event. A component of the event includes “a solemn escort of the beam,” which is a 35-pound section of steel salvaged from New York’s Twin Towers that rests at Veterans Memorial Park to honor the sacrifices made on 9/11. The event is at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 8, at Tampa’s Veterans Memorial Park & Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins Jr. Museum.
DeSantis built a massive network of big donors. Many have ditched him. Politico
Judge says DeSantis’ congressional map is unconstitutional, orders lawmakers to draw new one. Politico
Neo-Nazi groups displaying swastikas and DeSantis flags marched through Orlando. Creative Loafing
Disney wants to narrow the scope of its lawsuit against DeSantis to free speech claim. AP via Spectrum Bay News 9
Former Bucs wide receiver Mike Williams dies after construction site accident. 10 Tampa Bay
Root for the Rowdies: There are only three Tampa Bay Rowdies games left this season. Your chance to see the guys at Al Lang Stadium are Superhero Night on Sept. 9 versus Louisville, Hispanic Heritage Night on Sept. 30 versus Loudoun United, and Fireworks and Fan Appreciation Night on Oct. 7 versus Pittsburgh.
USF researchers say Pinellas County beaches severely eroded following Hurricane Idalia. Fox 13 News
VIDEO: 3-legged bear breaks into Florida home's lanai, drinks 3 White Claws 'Oh my God, look at him!' Fox 13 News
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4 QUESTIONS
Pixel Peeper Chip Weiner
Chip Weiner is a freelance photojournalist, food photographer, Tampa photography historian, and a licensed mental health counselor. He loves digging through archives full of local imagery and impressively photographed historic Tampa in the same fashion as the famed Burgert Brothers photographers. Go to ChipShotz.com to learn more about Weiner, Chip Weiner Photographic Arts, and his Tampa books, Burgert Brothers: Look Again, Volume 1 and Volume 2 and Burgert Brothers: Another Look, which is a pared down cross-section of before-and-after images from the prior 950-page two-volume set.
What was your first camera?
A Canon A-1. I still have it and still shoot with it. I graduated from film to digital in the mid-’90s because digital was all the rage and is easier to use. With film, you had to develop it yourself or send it out to be developed and you weren’t sure what you’d get. With digital, it’s instant feedback, and I got off on that and did that for years. Two or three years ago, when I did the Burgert Brothers project, I got back into film and bought another film camera to play with.
How’d you get into the historic book project?
It was a personal project I started around the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. I was working on some other stuff that kind of got shot down. The first book was a big success and served as a proof of concept of my idea — to show what the same photo the Burgert Brothers took would look like today. Now there are three books. I took great care to capture the same scenes, in the same light, with a similar lens and perspective as the Burgerts used. Because I was in photojournalism for a long time, I was sensitive to getting the best information I could as the source material, and I relied on the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library, the University of South Florida Digital Collection, collectors, conservationists, Tampa newspaper archives, and several websites with historic perspective. Even though I’ve done a lot of research, some historic details could be off.
What was your favorite shot?
I get asked that question a lot. It’s like being asked to pick your favorite child. There are so many images in there, but if I had to pick one, I’d pick the service station on the corner of Columbus and Highland that now is Avelar’s Body Shop. The reason I like it so much is that there was this proud, pristine, newly opened gas station but now it’s a sweaty, old, beat-up body shop and you can still see the bones of its heyday peeking through. I really like the juxtaposition especially. I’ve seen other now-and-then photos of Tampa, but don’t think they’re as focused on the details.
What are you up to now?
When I was wrapping up the Burgert project, I met with Andy Huse, the curator of Florida studies at the University of South Florida Libraries, to get input from him. He’s also an author, and he and a couple of others were writing a book on the Cuban sandwich [The Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers]. When I asked him what he was doing about art for the book, he said was using stock art, and I said, ‘Hell no you’re not!’ So I did that. I was jonesing for something else and came across the collections of Tony Pizzo, this crazy-good Tampa historian who died in his 80s, and the Gandy collection, 80,000 photos by Skip Gandy — his grandfather built the bridge — and his family. I was astonished at what was in the collection and thought, ‘We gotta do something with these!’ They’re getting digitized and coming out in early 2024, all of the images available to the public under a digital commons license. It’s bigger than the Burgert collection. The Burgert’s photos looked at Tampa from the 1900s to the 1960s, and the Gandy collection picks up from the 1960s to 2000, so there will be a 100-year visual history of Tampa.
REPORTER
Atlantic tropical depression likely to become hurricane this weekend
By Christian Casale
As Florida continues to recover from Hurricane Idalia’s landfall on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center is eyeing a tropical depression it forecasts to become a major hurricane this weekend.
The center said by the time it reaches hurricane status, with the name “Lee,” the storm could already could have affected the Leeward Islands, southeast of Puerto Rico.
The forecasts for the storm’s path are uncertain, and none puts Florida in immediate danger. The NHC projects tropical storm-force winds reaching Puerto Rico by Saturday evening.
The depression is halfway between West Africa and the Caribbean, with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph as it moves northwest. The NHC said the depression’s environment appears conducive to strengthening in a forecast that puts the potential storm’s ceiling at Category 4, with a maximum wind speed of 140 mph.
Read more at the Florida Phoenix
Estimated insurance losses from Idalia now near $90 million, state says
By Mitch Perry
As insurance companies begin reporting their claims from Hurricane Idalia, the state has seen nearly $90 million in estimated insurance loss claims according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
Initial estimates of how significant Idalia’s damage could prove to Florida’s insurance markets have been readjusted by insurance analysts. USB Bank estimated that insured losses in Florida could be around $9.3 billion, Reuters reported. Verisk, a global data analytics company, now estimates that insurance losses to onshore property for Idalia will range between $2.5 to $4 billion.
The effects of Idalia could have a deleterious effect on reinsurers that could affect the premiums that they charge customers. Annual property insurance premiums have exploded in recent years in Florida. In 2022, the Insurance Information Institute reported that average annual premiums had risen to more than $4,200 — triple the national average. That organization now says the average premium is nearly $6,000.
During the past two years, eight small insurers have gone bankrupt in Florida and Farmers Insurance announced in July that it would stop renewing almost a third of the policies it had written in the Sunshine State.
Read more at the Florida Phoenix
Homegrown Hillsborough Wants To Hear From You
By Judith M. Gallman
If you live in Hillsborough County and care about food — growing it, eating it, sharing it, or even composting it — Homegrown Hillsborough might be for you.
“Homegrown Hillsborough is a community development initiative that is based in food system education and engagement,” said Monic Petrella, food systems coordinator of the new countywide program.
The goal is to connect all manner of food-oriented community members to improve a strong food system and strengthen Hillsborough County residents’ connection to their food. To do so, it hopes to reaching across a broad cross-section of food-related constituencies, including production, processing, distribution and marketing to access, consumption and waste recovery. The idea is to figure out who’s doing what and where their interests can intersect or crossover fruitfully. Then Homegrown HIllsborough hopes to find funding to implement people’s shared desires.
“Everybody has their own relationship with food,” Petrella said. “Food is a big part of everyone’s way of life.”
For instance, Petrella said, some people like trying new recipes or enjoy food for its cultural aspects. Others may be concerned about how food or the lack of it affects health, or the ability of kids to concentrate in school. Some residents may want to buy locally grown food, or grow their own, or just find a way to access and eat healthier. Others may want to help preserve local farming, or solving food insecurity in the county. Still others like food festivals, cooking classes, or demonstration projects that foster community.
Homegrown Hillsborough wants to pull all those aspects together.
So if you’re a farmer or rancher; a chef who cooks with seasonal and local ingredients; a health professional promoting more nutritious meal options; or a member of church, food bank, or nonprofit organization putting food into the hands and mouths of your neighbors, Homegrown Hillsborough wants your help.
Take the Homegrown Hillsborough survey to identify programs, projects, needs and desires relative to Hillsborough County food interests and values.
“We want to get the community involved, and the survey is allowing them to help guide the use in our program development,” Petrella said. “The more input, the better.”
The survey continues until the end of the year. The results will be analyzed and studied for about two months and then plans will be formulated.
What happens then? With the help of four part-time “ambassadors,” Petrella will look for ways in which people’s diverse interests might come together to benefit one another. Then comes the pursuit of funding, such as government grants, private donations, or contributions from partner organizations.
“The cool thing is, there are a lot of specific federal dollars for these types of projects,” Petrella said. “Plus, in many cases, we have experts and resources ready to help you.”
With a background in food and resource economics, agri business, and community development, Petrella seems up to the challenge and described her current role as her dream job. “My only job is to keep things organized and facilitate relationships,” she said. “It is a big job.”
Here’s where to learn more about HomegrownHillsborough.com. Interested parties can contact Petrella directly by email, PetrellaML@hillsboroughcounty.org.
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