Imagine this: You walk by a storm drain and know it like an old friend – because this year, it’s your responsibility. To the average person, that might sound like a burden. But to you, a ‘Burger with a sense of duty to your community, it’s the ultimate love letter to the city.

Starting this summer, the City of St. Petersburg is launching the Adopt-a-Drain program, which allows residents and organizations to “adopt” a local drain of their choosing and commit to keeping it clear for a year.

“It’s our newest program, and really it relies on volunteerism from our community,” said Ivan Fountain, a neighborhood specialist for the City of St.… Read More

In the heart of Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest open-water estuary, an initiative is unfolding that aims to bridge the persistent gender gap in STEM careers. For 34 years, the Oceanography Camp Especially for Girls (OCG), hosted by the University of South Florida College of Marine Science, has helped to guide young women in Pinellas County towards too often uncharted waters of scientific exploration. This year, the ANGARI Foundation, in its eighth consecutive year of support for this pivotal research cruise, once again collaborated with USF to take a group of female Pinellas County 9th graders aboard their research vessel, R/V ANGARI.… Read More

The fourth annual St. Petersburg Press Literary Event, held May 13 at The Palladium’s Side Door venue, celebrated the literary scene with the theme, “The State of the Word.” And the state of the word was good.

St. Petersburg Press is the foremost book publisher in the Tampa Bay area. The business was the brainchild of Joe Hamilton with collaborating insight from his coffee klatch buddies Paul Wilborn and Roy Peter Clark. All three are writer-celebrities in the local literary scene and beyond. Hamilton is not only the founder of St. Petersburg Press, but also of St. Pete Catalyst. Wilborn, who is the executive director of the Palladium Theatre, wore his familiar dual hats as master of ceremonies and chief piano player providing entertainment breaks for the event, now a tradition.… Read More

As the old saying goes, “the grass is always greener…”. But soon, sea grass will be greener at St. Pete’s North Shore Park – or rather, just offshore. 

Starting in late 2025, the City of St. Petersburg will be restoring 32 acres of seagrass habitat near the entrance to Coffee Pot Bayou. The restoration will begin by repairing a dredge hole just offshore using 470,000 cubic yards of fill from a recent channel deepening project at SeaPort Manatee. Over the summers of 2026 and 2027, manatee grass, turtle grass, and shoal grass plugs gathered from a donor site just to the north will be added to this new bay bottom, then monitored for growth.… Read More

You wouldn’t expect a busy doctor and a small-business owner to spend their precious evenings picking up trash and old fishing line. But nearly every night after dinner, Ashley and Lorenzo Hernandez do just that.

Their nightly walks along Coffee Pot Bayou in St. Petersburg have become a ritual. The couple walks the same path with trash pickers in hand, collecting cigarette butts, discarded bait containers, and bits of tangled line. It’s quiet, methodical work that they say started organically. 

“We were already walking every night,” Ashley said. “May as well help clean up while we’re out here.” 

Ashley says this while trying to keep one of her four dogs from yipping and jumping; the couple have three miniature Pomeranians and a one-eyed Yorkie with a big personality.… Read More

Last year, three major hurricanes – Debbie, Helene, and Milton – had a huge impact on our city. Debby was a near 100-year storm event, dropping almost 12 inches of rain in parts of the city in 30 hours, and generating a 3.4-foot surge. While Hurricane Helene landed 172 miles north of St. Petersburg, it generated a surge as high as 7.2 feet in some areas. Hurricane Milton was predicted to generate a devastating surge of as much as 10 to 15 feet.  Fortunately, Milton wobbled to the south, and Tampa Bay instead experienced a 3-foot negative surge rather than total devastation. Nevertheless, our city experienced a record “1,000-year” rainfall event with 18.75 inches of rain falling in parts of the city in 24 hours.… Read More

For over thirty years, Tampa Bay Watch has served as stewards of the watershed, dedicated to the conservation and restoration of our local marine and wetland environments. As important to their mission as the projects they spearhead is education and outreach – and since 2020, the Tampa Bay estuary has had an immersive, interactive advocate in the 3,000-square-foot Discovery Center on the St. Pete Pier.  

The Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center has a sweet nostalgia factor for anyone with an affinity for The Pier Aquarium of the old, inverted triangle. In this brighter, more accessible space, Tampa Bay Watch engages visitors from all over the world with exhibits connecting them to Tampa Bay’s ecosystem.… Read More

Since its completion in the late 1920s, the Don Vista building has been many different things. It began as a temporary residence for Thomas Rowe, who oversaw the building of the Don CeSar, then became its administrative offices and bank. When the US Army took over the site during WWII, it transformed into offices for doctors. It housed the Fisheries and Wildlife Library. It hosted the St. Pete Beach fire truck in the section that later became a boutique gift shop and gallery. Finally, in 1984, it became the home of the Suntan Art Center. The arts organization resided in the building for over four decades…until the hurricanes of 2024.  … Read More

As was the case for so many others in our community, Hurricane Helene showed no mercy to the St. Petersburg Woman’s Club. This 112-year-old historic landmark in Snell Isle suffered damage that had devastating effects on the club. Flood waters rose over two feet throughout the lower level of the building destroying floors, carpets, cabinetry, and furniture. FEMA required the club to throw out almost everything; they had to rebuild their kitchen, bathroom, and main meeting and event spaces, as well as upgrade the electrical system. 

While the storm destroyed many documents and records, Club President Barbara Sundholm said, “Fortunately, we moved all of our archives upstairs, and so those important historic items were not damaged.” … Read More

As St. Pete grows, so does the interest in our culture and history. Currently, there are many popular and informative tours of downtown and beyond, but only one examines one of the most important times in our city’s history: Civil Rights Era. 

The St. Petersburg Museum of History’s Historic Civil Rights Trolley Tour invites passengers on a compelling ride into the city’s often overlooked past. Winding through streets of St. Petersburg once marked by segregation, the trolley takes passengers through neighborhoods and by landmarks that once stood at the center of the city’s local civil rights movement. 

Lead by Museum Director Rui Farias, the tour immerses passengers in powerful stories about pivotal moments and courageous individuals who helped shape the area’s fight for racial equality.… Read More