Express lanes, a pedestrian bridge, and the possibility of future light rail are among the updated elements of a redesigned Howard Frankland Bridge, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2020. The changes, announced Monday by officials with the Florida Department of Transportation, are due, in part, to input received over the summer during the Tampa Bay Next Process.
One business day after Chad Chronister was officially sworn in as the new Hillsborough County Sheriff, he filed his paperwork to run for (re)-election in November of 2018. Chronister was tapped by Gov. Rick Scott to replace David Gee in August. He was the only applicant for the position.
Tempers are flaring in the increasingly hostile Hillsborough County House District 58 contest, as early voting begins in a race marked by accusations of false attacks and heated threats.
Angry at the NFL players who refused to stand during the national anthem, about fifty people protested at a rally Sunday just blocks from Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, where the New York Giants faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . “My attitude is, if my flag offends you, then I’ll help you pack,” said Jim Heckman. “You need to leave America if you can’t stand the flag.”
While Florida’s senators expressed outrage at the Cuban government Friday, Tampa area Democratic Representative Kathy Castor is offering a noticeably less punitive response. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio were angry after the U.S. State Department announced it will remove more than half its staff from the American embassy in Havana in the wake of mysterious attacks that have injured 21 people associated with the embassy.
The card is set for the special election in House District 72, and four candidates have qualified in the race to replace former Rep. Alex Miller, who left the House Sept. 1.
Since the demise of the Go Hillsborough initiative last year, transit officials and Tampa Bay-area lawmakers have pinned their hopes on a transportation study overseen by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART). On Friday, organizers behind the study — which was paid for by the Florida Department of Transportation — released their top five recommended projects. The number one ranked option is a light-rail system from Wesley Chapel to the University of South Florida Tampa campus and on to St. Petersburg.
