On September 11th, the St. Petersburg Civitan Club celebrated its 100th year of services to the community. Although the club was officially chartered on April 12, 1921, like many other clubs and volunteer organizations, the recent pandemic delayed their centennial festivities from last spring until now. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman issued a proclamation recognizing the Club’s centennial on its actual anniversary last April.

The first Civitan Club was formed in Birmingham, AL, in 1917, with St. Pete starting its own club four years later. The organization’s guiding principle is to build good citizenship through volunteering with an emphasis on helping people with developmental disabilities.… Read More

Bobby Finke stunned swimming fans around the world when he came from the middle of the pack of swimmers in the men’s 800-meter freestyle race to capture an Olympic gold medal in a final, thrilling sprint at the end. He went on to repeat the breathtaking, gold-medal-winning finish for the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle race a few days later. The 21-year-old Clearwater native who grew up swimming at North Shore Aquatic Complex has since been called the greatest long-distance swimmer in the world.

Even his journey home was memorable. While connecting through Newark airport, Bobby’s carry-on luggage triggered a security alert with the TSA.… Read More

This year is the Diamond Jubilee of the St. Petersburg-Takamatsu, Japan, Sister City Partnership. Sixty years ago, some in St. Petersburg were not all that enthused about becoming a Sister City with any Japanese city. 1961 was only sixteen years after the end of World War II. Many still had bitter memories of Japan from the war. On the other hand, Takamatsu had bitter memories as well, especially dating from July 4, 1945, when about 80% of Takamatsu was destroyed by US bombing.

The Sister Cities Program was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Eisenhower envisioned a network of sister cities that would be a “champion for peace and prosperity by fostering bonds between people from different communities around the world.”… Read More

Disgraced ex-police detective Jane Byrne is on the run. After surviving a brutal excessive-force civil lawsuit that scarred her with PTSD, she blows into New Orleans on her Ducati motorcycle looking for a fresh start, never expecting to uncover a hate-crime serial killer targeting NOLA’s inclusive LGBTQ community.

After reading this description of the fictional crime thriller, Love Power, I’m intrigued to meet the author, Martha Reed, who lives in Crescent Heights and retired last year as a senior project consultant for a local financial services firm.

It’s hard to imagine working in the financial world by day and writing mystery and crime fiction by night.… Read More