Not lost in all of the national attention given to the presidential primary were several municipal races scattered throughout Tampa Bay. Most significant of these local races was George Cretekos winning the Mayor’s office in Clearwater.  Cretekos beat out political newcomer Christine Marketos-Cuomo in Tuesday’s election, which saw less than 17,000 people make a choice at the [...]

The GOP buzz is officially underway, reports Katie Dolac of Patch. Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney swings through Pioneer Park on Monday afternoon (Jan. 30). City officials and businesses are preparing for large crowds, and have already issued two major road closures in the downtown area. Romney’s campaign staff rented the park for his last rally in Florida before [...]

What is on the mind of a local county commissioner? As Pinellas County Commissioner Kenneth Welch begins the launch of his new campaign, Daphne Streets (Daphne can be reached at dts.streetmedia@gmail.com) had an opportunity to speak with him about a few things on his mind. Homelessness in Pinellas County My first familiarity with Commissioner Welch began [...]

The Health and Human Services Coordinating Council is not just a really long name in Pinellas County that pops up as a blurb here or a slight mention there supporting this or that. Unfortunately for much of Pinellas, the powerful work the Council does behind the scenes too often goes unnoticed. The truth is, this [...]

Today, Governor Rick Scott announced the appointment of Glenton G. “Glen” Gilzean to the Pinellas County School Board. Gilzean, 29, of St. Petersburg, has been the executive director of Educate Today Inc. since 2009. Previously, he was a regional field director for the Florida Department of Education from 2006 to 2009. Gilzean has served on [...]

Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark announces that ballot mailings for the March 13 Municipal Elections are tentatively scheduled as follows for registered voters residing in the following eight municipalities: Belleair, Belleair Beach, Gulfport, Indian Shores, Madeira Beach, Pinellas Park, Seminole and Treasure Island. January 26 – Mail ballots to approximately 150 absent military and overseas voters [...]

Hillsborough Area Regional Transit and Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority boards voted Monday afternoon to oppose state legislation aimed at merging the two county bus agencies, reports Mark Holan. A bill would require HART and PSTA to contribute a total of $100,000 to the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority to “assist and facilitate” a study of the [...]

Manuel L. Sykes, president of the St. Petersburg NAACP and pastor of Bethel Community Baptist Church, is the latest to apply for the seat left vacant by Lew Williams, Gov. Rick Scott’s office told The Gradebook this morning. We’ve requested the application; we’ll post it when we get it.

State Sen. Jack Latvala is mounting a behind-the-scenes campaign for the Senate presidency that could alter the direction of the state Legislature and produce benefits for the Tampa Bay area if it succeeds, reports Windy March. Latvala recently launched a challenge to Sen. Andy Gardiner of Orlando, who is known as a hard-line conservative and [...]

After taking a hard look at the proposed district lines for the State Senate seat to be drawn for south Pinellas, Representative Darryl Rouson has reconsidered his bid for State Senate, will drop out of the race and run for re-election to the Florida House, according to sources very close to the campaign. Far from [...]