Gabrielle Lazor

The rising cost of goods and labor is driving Tampa Bay restaurants to implement mandatory fees on diners’ bills, and it’s not always clear where the money goes.

After a summer covering Tampa Bay’s life and culture, our Tampa Bay Times intern proposes new nicknames for the area inspired by her wild experiences.

Seafaring advertisers set out along the Gulf Coast for nine hours a day, rain or shine.

A trio of artists and poets have taken to the south alley from 20th to 28th streets on Central Avenue with a staple gun, posting upwards of 60 posters on telephone poles.

The Tampa Bay Times won 17 awards on Thursday from the Florida Society of News Editors, including one for the most distinguished journalist in the state.The Times won a coveted gold medal recognizing two separate efforts — the newsroom’s hurricane coverage and an investigative series on the dangers of kratom.Enterprise reporter Lauren Peace won the Paul Hansell Award for Distinguished Achievement in Florida Journalism for her work in 2023. The award comes with a $1,000 check.It was the most wins…

Thank goodness Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott took the stage on Wednesday at Amalie Arena — dripping in Swarovski crystals, looking supa dupa fly — because any local will tell you Tampa Bay isn’t built for someone who can’t stand the rain ’gainst her window.The rap icon’s Out of This World tour finally landed at Amalie Arena after she postponed the tour to care for her elderly dog. Elliott assembled a stellar opening lineup of collaborators, including Timbaland, Ciara and Busta Rhymes. After nearly…

The beloved 13-year-old bat dog retrieved her final baseball bat at Friday’s game against the Fort Myers Mighty Muscles.

The global internet outage Friday that originated from a faulty software update caused a slew of disruptions in the Tampa Bay area, including hundreds of canceled and delayed flights, restaurants having to accept only cash and information technology workers scrambling to get computer systems on track.Much of the region had recovered from service delays by the afternoon. The local airports were largely the most affected businesses in the area as thousands of passengers waited for flights they hop…

TAMPA — At first glance, Busch Gardens’ latest thrill ride Phoenix Rising appears daunting. With a 1,831-foot track that brings riders to the brink of flipping upside down on an over-banked curve, it reaches an 80-foot maximum height before launching into a series of twists and turns.The theme park’s 10th coaster, which opens to the public on July 21, mimics the sensation of the legendary phoenix taking flight, complete with echoing “caws” during the experience that lasts one minute and 26 secon…

ST. PETERSBURG — The zombie apocalypse is upon us. At least, it will be at Sandbox VR’s newest St. Petersburg location. On July 17, the full-body virtual reality’s first Florida venue is opening at 2228 Central Ave.The immersive gaming experience offers eight virtual reality adventures. That includes its zombie-hunting Deadwood Mansion Experience, which is the first hyperreality escape experience ever created, according to Sandbox retail marketing manager Sierra Lawrence.“Florida was definitely…

On Thursday, the Tampa and Orlando Fringe festivals released an open letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, formally offering to give up their approved grants for the 2025 fiscal year.The nonprofit International Fringe Festival of Central Florida was slated to receive $102,629, with Tampa’s festival expecting significantly less, $7,909.In exchange, the festivals requested that the governor approve a legislative turnover of his $32 million veto to arts and culture funding.The proposal comes after DeSantis…

Beginning July 22, the Florida Holocaust Museum in downtown St. Petersburg will temporarily close for renovations, with plans to reopen in early 2025.Following construction, the updated museum will aim to offer a more visitor-centered experience. A remodeled entrance will feature enhanced security features, an open-air second-story balcony and space for the Danish rescue boat Thor.The vessel, acquired by the museum in late 2022, was part of a 1943 evacuation operation that brought nearly the ent…

TAMPA — At 1:16 p.m. on a Tuesday, Richard Sokol taps his badge to enter Season’s Café at St. Joseph’s Hospital. The assistant nurse manager’s lunch break lasts 30 minutes, a precious respite in the midst of his 12- to 14-hour shifts. Each minute is priceless.Suspended from the ceiling like little digital ornaments are 363 cameras, aimed at every sandwich, baked good and buffet item. They are ready to detect what Sokol selects. He skips the parmesan-crusted chicken, passes the dill-pickle pizza…

In January 2020, Mike Hazlett began transforming the property at 221 Second Ave. N. into St. Petersburg’s first single-screen independent theater, Green Light Cinema. His plans for opening that May were derailed by, well, you can guess what.Four years later, the theater is restructuring and forming a nonprofit: The Friends of Green Light Cinema.The downtown art house theater — devoted to showing indie productions, documentaries, cult favorites and foreign films — has one screening room furnished…

ST. PETERSBURG — Wearing pink tights and blonde hair wound into a tightly bobby-pinned bun, 8-year-old Olivia Keener was ready for dance class at the Academy of Ballet Arts on a recent Monday morning. But when she walked into the studio, Olivia noticed something was wrong.Her ballet teacher, Suzanne Pomerantzeff, was logging off a Zoom call with other arts leaders, where they discussed how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had recently slashed $32 million for arts and culture funding . The veto, only a…

ST. PETERSBURG — The Sunshine City boasts an eclectic art scene. But residents no longer have to visit popular downtown spots like the Dalí Museum or the Museum of Fine Arts to appreciate visual masterpieces. With more than 500 public murals, St. Petersburg has become an explosion of spray paint.Street art wasn’t always appreciated. It was often associated with graffiti, which is illegal, whereas murals are commissioned with owners’ approval. The 21st-century mural movement is an outgrowth of an…

Calling all carboholics: The complimentary bread basket is endangered. It has been for some time now. Many restaurants find it more financially and environmentally sustainable to charge for higher quality bread. Offering cost-free carbs that might not get eaten, and therefore end up in the trash, is wasteful. Some have ditched the predinner tradition altogether, making the moment a fresh-baked bounty hits the table that much more special.Here’s a list of nonchain restaurants in Tampa Bay offerin…

TAMPA — Michele “Mik” Oca’s mission is to optimize every square inch of a space for maximum amusement. The founder of US Design Lab, based in Tampa, specializes in revitalizing vacant commercial spaces. Kind of like a fairy godfather for fun.Or, as the company’s LinkedIn, puts it: “We don’t have a magic wand, but we sure work hard to help our customers identify what makes them different and build a brand around their strengths.” Oca advertises himself as a “one-stop-shop” to investors, combining…

Dig a little deeper into Disney’s latest attraction, based on the 2009 movie ‘The Princess and the Frog.’ It opens later this month.

Sweltering heat, dripping ice cream cones and hurricanes on the horizon: Summer has undeniably arrived in the Sunshine State.The season, unofficially book-ended between Memorial Day and Labor Day, reaches its peak with the Fourth of Jul– er… Halloween?Despite 90-degree temperatures, some local retailers are already stocked with decorations for the fall holiday. This merchandising phenomenon, known as “holiday creep,” refers to festive decorations arriving to stores earlier and earlier in the sea…