The "Cross-Bay Ferry" now has a roll-out timeline, including online ticket sales beginning in October and operations commencing in November. I for one am totally stoked about the opportunity to try it out, and also about Tampa Bay transit finally evolving to the point that it includes a mode of transportation already in use in America for more than 300 years.
The passing of the Sewagegate football continued with St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman placing two of the city's top officials in charge of wastewater on unpaid leave. Pity the guy, who quite obviously inherited a problem that didn't just spring up during his administration, yet seems one extended thunderstorm away from having to go door-to-door in hip waders carrying a five-gallon Home Depot bucket.
A new National Safety Council report says Florida traffic fatalities are way, way up so far this year. How to stem the tide? We've got some ideas, but morons won't like them, because our ideas generally conflict with the moronic view that getting into a two-ton killing machine after 7 drinks and driving the wrong way up on off-ramp while texting somebody about where to go next is every American's birthright. (It's not.)
And finally, Hellview Cemetery, the St. Pete haunted house that's an annual fundraising holiday tradition, won't be operating this year, seemingly because of neighbor complaints. So yeah, somebody who doesn't like the noise and lights and sights of something that's gone on FOR YEARS is now keeping it from raising money for charity. Those interested can donate directly to The Kind Mouse, an organization that helps folks who have lost the ability to support themselves financially, to help offset the loss of proceeds usually generated by Hellview.
This article appears in Sep 22-29, 2016.