Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream kicks off this weekend
There are just 50 days until Halloween, but it’s never too early to shit your pants in a haunted house. Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay can help and has added a new scary maze to its offering in 2026 (but please don’t ask anyone there to wipe your ass). “Anaconda: Fear Has No Escape”—complete…
St. Pete’s New Moon Makers Market returns for new season this weekend
Don’t let the machines fool you. Most of the things worth experiencing in the world are still analog. Lots of the good stuff is pretty gay, too. Just look at the New Moon Makers’ Market, self-styled as “st pete’s queerest & dearest market,” the bazaar is back from summer break and ready to kick off…
A Black history walking tour happens in Tampa’s College Hill this weekend
Every month is Black History Month, and Tampa is an endless well of opportunity for anyone looking to get learned. Fred Hearns, curator of Black history at the Tampa Bay History Center and Tampa’s Black History Museum, is the ultimate resource and he invites the community to East Tampa for a walk though College Hill,…
Another segment of downtown Tampa’s historic Jackson House has collapsed
A small upper room of the Historic Jackson House in Tampa was in a collapsing state last Monday, Sept. 7 on the heels of heated discussions about how to preserve the structure. The landmark at 851 E Zack St. in downtown was once a boarding house for Black travelers during segregation. James Brown, Ray Charles…
Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus holds general election candidate forum next month
Just a couple months from the midterm election, Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus will bring people together again for its general election candidate forum. The event invites all statewide and local candidates and residents across the state to First Baptist Church of Progress Village, located at 8722 Progress Village Blvd., on Thursday, Oct. 8. The…
Tampa Bay’s hottest new restaurants to open this summer
Tampa Bay restaurants are up against quite a bit. Despite rising rents and food costs, pesky inflation and even GLP-1 weight loss medications, local restaurants are still making it happen. And, even though summers are often the slower months for local eateries, Tampa Bay still witnessed a slew of new spots to explore. From new…
How Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri became an architect of mass deportation
You can’t accuse Bob Gualtieri of going with the flow. The Pinellas County sheriff has the rare combination of brains and guts to go against the current and move the needle on nationwide policy. His undertakings are enabled by his legal savvy and the respect held for him by law enforcement and legislators. One of…
Letters: St. Petersburg pastor has a modest proposal for a safer city
Crime is a serious problem, and our public officials have reminded us of an important principle: if a surveillance tool helps solve crimes, and you are not committing crimes, what exactly do you have to worry about? So I would like to offer a modest proposal. Let us begin by requiring every resident of St.…
Florida wants to penalize corporations with AI chatbots that contribute to crimes
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called Tuesday for legislation imposing criminal penalties for corporations running chatbots that engage in criminal activity. Acknowledging you “can’t lock up a company behind bars,” the AG said in Tampa on Tuesday that his office is looking into the extent of involvement of corporate executives in chatbot behavior. “What designs?…
Florida’s property tax amendment would cripple local governments’ abilities to prepare for hurricanes, says Sierra Club
The Sierra Club has become the latest organization to announce opposition to Amendment 3 on the November ballot, saying that if passed it “will effectively gut the buckets of local governments in Florida.” The Republican-controlled Legislature placed the measure on the ballot in June. If approved, Amendment 3 would constitute one of the most significant…
Photos: In St. Pete, Swamp Bois ‘Lubor Day’ wrestling raises money for gender affirming surgery
Labor Day is a moment for the working class to celebrate making it another turn on the earth, and a chance for people everywhere to remember that it’s them—not their bosses—that make the world go ‘round. Also, it’s a holiday to just blow off some steam. Swamp Bois, a collective of transmasculine folks doing mutual…
New Mexican restaurant Lolita’s Coastal Cocina opens in Clearwater Beach
It’s not quite clear if Tampa Bay currently has too many modern Mexican concepts, but nevertheless a new luchador has entered the fight. Lolita’s Coastal Cocina recently opened at Opal Sol on Clearwater Beach, located at 400 Coronado Dr. The new waterfront restaurant is open to hotel guests and non-guests and centers around a menu…
Tampa’s extremely-popular Indie Night concert series is expanding to The Ritz with big Halloween party
Last summer, Indie Night co-founder Andres Hernandez stared at the end of his series’ run at the now-shuttered Crowbar and told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the party would simply have to look for a bigger room the next time it happened. “We’ll keep growing it,” he added, “and just kind of raise the bar…
Oracle Of Ybor: I want to run for public office, but have anxiety about what that would entail
Dear Oracle, For many years now, I’ve toyed with the idea of running for office. Of course, when I was much younger, I had very grand ambitions (President) but as I’ve aged, I thought about doing something on the local or state level. However, I don’t know what that would entail financially, what it would…
Billionaire Tampa Bay Rays owner used private jet to take a Jacksonville councilman to a game
Jacksonville City Council President Nick Howland hopped on a billionaire real-estate developer’s private jet this past weekend to attend a Tampa Bay Rays game at Tropicana Field, a trip that Howland, when asked by the Florida Trib about the excursion, said was connected to his political committee. Howland joined Patrick Zalupski, the founder and chief…
Bill Bellamy, Fluffy, and ‘SNL’ vet Kevin Nealon among best comedy gigs coming to Tampa Bay this month
September is more than the beginning of football and hockey seasons. It’s also a good time for laughter, and local venues have dozens of opportunities to provide it this month: Fluffy (Gabriel Iglesias) has his makeup date from an April reschedule on Sept. 25 at Benchmark International Arena. “Def Comedy Jam” alum Bill Bellamy visits…
Co-founder of Tampa comedy theater is battling brain cancer, with help from friends throwing a benefit this weekend
When Justin Peters is staring someone dead in the eyes, everything else kind of stops. The 45-year-old journalist, comedian, and author, apparently, has always had a gift for listening and for holding an audience’s attention. Since December 2023, his wit, curiosity, and compassion have been a driving force of the “Salud and Happy Days” series…
Seminole Heights wants a Trader Joe’s, Rocky Point is getting a Yard House, and more in Tampa Bay food news
OPENINGS/CLOSINGS After two years of renovations, St. Pete’s Historic Manhattan Casino finally reopens After closing its doors in 2022, the Historic Manhattan Casino in St. Petersburg is finally ready for its debut. The space, which once hosted some of the most famous Black jazz and blues performers back in the day, will open its doors…
Yellowcard tops 97X ‘Legends’ lineup coming to Clearwater on Friday
Your waistband is always there to remind you that Yellowcard’s breakout LP, Ocean Avenue, is 23 years old. While the Jacksonville pop-punk hero has a new album to share (Better Days, released last year), expect frontman Ryan Key, fiddler Sean Mackin & co. to lean into the nostalgia for this throwback edition of 97X’s Next…
John Morgan boasts about recording staff at home, a policy that pushed 23 employees to quit
While billionaire Orlando attorney John Morgan’s law firm fights to protect the rights of U.S. workers, Morgan revealed last week that he’s not above creating a surveillance state for his own workforce. Speaking to hosts of the podcast “Iced Coffee Hour,” Morgan said that when his personal injury firm, Morgan & Morgan, created its work-from-home…
