Tiki Huts, Acclaim-Seeking Poachers, and Stock Exchange Delistings

Plus today's weather, news briefs, currents, and the civic calendar.

Oct 09, 2023

Happy Monday. Following the late-September announcement that the New York Stock Exchange was delisting the stock of Digital Media Solutions, we have removed the company from our list of the top 24 publicly traded companies in the Bay Area (plus Publix) and replaced it with the locally significant packaging company Crown Holdings Inc.

WEATHER

Temperatures Remain Cooler Though Rain Will Return

Cooler temperatures with partly cloudy skies. Light afternoon showers or thunderstorms return starting Wednesday, according to this week’s forecast from The Weather Channel:

MONDAY ⛅️ Sunshine with some passing clouds.
🌡️82° / 62° 💦 51% / 68% 🌅 7:26 a.m. / 7:07 p.m.

TUESDAY ⛅️ Partly cloudy with overcast skies later at night.
🌡️87° / 72° 💦 58% / 73% 🌅 7:27 a.m. / 7:06 p.m.

WEDNESDAY 🌨️ Cloudy with rain developing later in the day.
🌡️86° / 76° 💦 75% / 92% 🌅 7:28 a.m. / 7:04 p.m.

THURSDAY ⛈️ Thunderstorms likely.
🌡️87° / 79° 💦 85% / 90% 🌅 7:28 a.m. / 7:03 p.m.

FRIDAY ⛈️ Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, then mainly cloudy.
🌡️88° / 79° 💦 81% / 90% 🌅 7:29 a.m. / 7:02 p.m.

SATURDAY 🌩️ Thunderstorms in the morning, then mainly cloudy.
🌡️87° / 72° 💦 80% / 82% 🌅 7:29 a.m. / 7:01 p.m.

SUNDAY 🌤️ A few clouds early, otherwise mostly sunny.
🌡️79° / 63° 💦 62% / 88% 🌅 7:30 a.m. / 7:00 p.m.

Publicity-Hungry Poachers: According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, multiple suspects were captured in late September thanks to posts on their social media accounts. In St. John’s County, Senior Officer Thomas received a tip regarding red drum bag limit violations posted on a social media page. Officer Thomas along with Officer Specialist Lawrence and Officer Aultman investigated the parties’ social media accounts, and two suspects subsequently admitted to violations. They received three misdemeanor citations for red drum bag limit violations and one misdemeanor violation for removing a tarpon over 40 inches from the water. Meanwhile in Monroe County, investigator Chris Mattson, working on a tip from Officer Venus Garcia, secured an active warrant for a subject who also posted content to social media. A video on the suspect’s YouTube channel showed the subject catch a small tarpon near Lower Matecumbe, remove it from the water, and discard it on land. The person was charged with four violations, including harvesting or destroying tarpon, possessing a tarpon, harvesting without a tag, and failing to release tarpon where it was caught.

Women’s Hall of Fame: The Hillsborough County Commission on the Status of Women is accepting nominations for the 2024 Hillsborough County Women’s Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was created in 2011 to honor and celebrate the achievements of Hillsborough County women who have made significant contributions in areas such as business, education, philanthropy, the military, and public service to improve the lives of residents in Hillsborough County. Nomination forms are available at HCFLGov.net/WHOF. Nominations will be accepted until 5 p.m. Mon., Nov. 13.

Sick Turtles: Help the FWC identify sick turtles. The commission recently launched a new reporting tool to track freshwater turtles infected with the virus fraservirus 1 or TFV1. Find the form online at MyFWC.com/TFV1. This public web reporting tool assists in enhancing turtle disease research, allowing observers to report sick, abnormal, or diseased turtles. A turtle could be infected with TFV1, formerly known as bunyavirus, if it: appears sluggish, unresponsive, or reluctant to flee; stays in shallow water or beached on banks for prolonged periods; outstretches and flattens it head and neck along the ground; has sunken, swollen crusty and/or cloudy eyes; has reddened skin on head, neck, limbs, or bottom of shell; swims irregularly (sideways, in circles, or is unable to submerge). The report form asks the public to answer a few questions, provide location information, and upload any photographs to document instances of sick or dead turtles. The virus has been confirmed in turtles from Brevard, Collier, Indian River, Lake, Monroe, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Putnam, and Seminole counties, but could be present in additional counties throughout the state. TFV1 has been detected in softshells, cooters, sliders and snapping turtles. Reports of sick or dead turtles from the public can help the FWC detect TFV1 in other counties more quickly and understand if it infects other species of turtles.

TODAY’S SPONSOR

The Navigator is sponsored by Mary’s Little Lamb Preschool at 7311 N. Armenia Ave. in Tampa. We are a nationally accredited preschool established in 1959.

Free Childcare and a paycheck. We are currently seeking a qualified toddler teacher or teaching assistant. The ideal candidate must be creative, energetic, dependable, nurturing, patient, have a passion about the growth and development of the children, and be a team player. Requirements: pass a level 2 background screening, high school diploma or higher, completed or willing to start and complete the DCF 45 training hours, get CPR/First aid certified.

Interested in sponsoring the Navigator? We need to talk.

CURRENTS

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?

*Business is booming in the Tiki hut industry. Photo by Judith M Gallman*

Party Houses and Conversation Starters

A lone, weathered tiki hut sits abandoned in a field on State Road 54. It’s near Bexley, southwest of Land O’ Lakes, and oddly out of place on a highway studded with storage facilities, strip malls, and convenience stores. The traffic speeding past this throwback nods toward simpler times, in a mildly decrepit sort of way.

What’s up with that?

If you call the number on the sign out front — Victoria’s Tiki Huts 813-527-8131 — Victoria Wylie most likely will answer. And from what she suggests, Florida is awash with such tiki huts. She builds customers the tiki huts of their dreams, starting at $1,500. These structures last upward of 25 years or longer with proper re-thatchings about every seven years (about $735).

Wylie’s business is “super busy,” and she is carrying on what her husband, Jack, started in the 1970s when he “dedicated his life to them.” He died in 2018.

When asked how many Victoria’s Tiki Huts have been built, she replied, “I’m not sure, but a lot of them.”

Victoria’s Tiki Huts brings the goods to you if you live within 100 miles of Odessa, and erects the personal tiki masterpieces on site. Learn more about them at Victoria’s Tiki Huts.

Olav Malm, a resident of Lake Allen in Lutz and an owner of Cameo Salon and Spa, is a happy customer of Victoria’s Tiki Huts. His hut sits on his dock and has a reputation as something of a party house. It can be quite a conversation starter. He’s had it about 10 years, and has had it rethatched by Victoria’s Tiki Huts.

Malm is very pleased with his tiki hut. “I love it,” he said. “I like to look at it, and the temperature is nice and low underneath.”

Tiki bars are popular in Tampa, yet residential tiki huts still feel a bit novel. If you’re in the market, there is no shortage of choices, and here’s a quick sampling, with a few words culled from websites:

Big Kahuna Tiki Huts, serving Florida and the surrounding area: “Let our design team work with you to achieve a ‘Tropical TIKI Dream’!”

Florida Seminole Tiki Hut, which “specializes in building custom Tiki Huts structures, Seminole chickee hut style. We utilize only traditional materials found in the state of Florida, as the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians did for hundreds of years.”

Florida Tiki Huts, “The Original” Tiki Huts, Spring Hill, with this mission: “To bring paradise to your backyard. No matter the location, we get you the shade you need. All shapes and sizes are available. No tiki is too big.

Native American Tiki Palm Huts of Florida, Inc., self-described big-time middlemen: “Let us work our magic with you to achieve your own beautiful ‘Backyard TIKI Paradise’ in Florida.”

Suncoast Tiki Huts Inc., which says, “Known around the world as a Bali hut, bohio, palapa, tiki hut or chickee, it’s that wonderful tropical hut you sat under while on vacation wishing you never had to leave … Suncoast offers many ways to get inspired so you can escape to your own backyard.”

TAKING STOCK

A weekly look at the performance of 25 locally important stocks.

GET INVOLVED

Civic meetings of note during the coming week Sept. 26-Oct. 2.

TUESDAY: The Hillsborough County School Board will hold a workshop on property evaluation for future school siting decisions. Hillsborough County Public Schools Instructional Service Center, 2920 N. 40th St., 10:00 a.m.

TUESDAY: Speak up about traffic concerns on Waters and Sligh avenues at Plan Hillsborough’s public engagement meeting on the Vision Zero Streets Study. Salvation Army, 1100 W Sligh Ave., Tampa. Oct. 10, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Interact with Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission captive wildlife section staff about captive wildlife regulations in Florida on permits to operate a native wildlife rehabilitation facility. If you cannot attend, you can still submit comments online. Hyatt House Tampa Airport / Westshore, 5308 Avion Park Drive, Tampa. Oct. 11, 6 p.m.