SPOTLIGHT
Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a tourist attraction and marine mammal hospital that has expanded significantly over the last 15 years, has announced plans for another multiyear expansion of its facilities both here and abroad. Fueled by a fundraising campaign called Rising Tides, upgrades to the stateside aquarium will include renovation and expansion of its animal hospital, a manatee rehabilitation center, and new species added to its care including sea lions, penguins and alligators. Over the summer, a Manatee Rescue and Educational Center will break ground in Belize. The aquarium is best-known for its appearances in the movies Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2, starring the late Winter, a dolphin with a prosthetic tail.
NON-PROFITS
- The Mosaic Co. awarded a $65,000 grant to All Faiths Food Bank in DeSoto County for its BackPack and Mobile Pantry programs. The BackPack program distributes backpacks filled with food for DeSoto County students to eat on weekends and during school holidays. Over the past 12 years, Mosaic has donated nearly $800,000 to All Faiths for these programs.
- The Guadalupe Center in Immokalee received a $20,000 grant from Suncoast Credit Union Foundation. The funds will be used for improving instruction and providing tuition assistance for students in the Early Childhood Education Program. The program serves 535 children ranging from 6 weeks to 5 years old across five campuses and is funded through income-based tuition rates, private philanthropy and grants.
CONSERVATION
- A 1,600-acre cattle ranch in Highlands County will be shielded from residential and commercial development under a conservation-easement deal with the state. The Hart Preserve, a cow-calf operation with seasonal hay and sod production, will be preserved through the state’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. The ranch contains natural wetlands and uplands as well as pastureland. A segment of the Old Cracker Trail that was part of a Fort Pierce to Fort Myers cross-state cattle drive route from the 1800s to the mid-20th century is still present on the property.
DEVELOPMENT
- A Lakeland developer who bought the former Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Club in Haines City has plans to build nearly 1,900 homes, townhomes, duplexes and apartments on the 536-acre former golf resort in northeast Polk County.
- In June, construction is scheduled to begin on LEO at Cypress Creek off State Road 52 and east of I-75 in the San Antonio community in Pasco County. The $93.5-million development spans 40 acres and will feature 315 build-to-rent cottages, duplexes and townhomes. The first rental units are to be available starting June 2025.
ENVIRONMENT
- The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission okayed a 40-day scallop season in the waters off Pasco County, from July 10 to Aug. 18. The county couldn’t have a scallop season for 25 years because its scallop population couldn’t sustain a harvest. Fish and Wildlife approved an annual 10- day season beginning in 2018 and a 31-day season beginning in 2022.
HEALTH CARE
- HCA Florida Blake Hospital in Bradenton was designated a Level II trauma center after it demonstrated that it has surgeons on hand 24/7, as well as specialists in orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology and critical care. Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, that city’s oldest and largest hospital, has been renamed Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, referencing the non-profit chain that purchased it in 2020. It’s the second rebranding in a decade for the hospital, which was formerly known as Bayfront Medical Center. With 480 beds, it’s the only Level II trauma center in Pinellas County.
HIGHER EDUCATION
- The American Association of University Professors voted to sanction New College of Florida, saying the Sarasota school’s leaders have imposed “an aggressively ideological agenda” since taking over its board of trustees in January 2023. The association says its sanctions are intended to inform the public that “unsatisfactory conditions of academic government exist at the institutions in question.” A New College spokesperson called the announcement “a headline grab.”
HOUSING
- The Tampa Housing Authority broke ground on a $63-million project to add 188 affordable rental apartments to an effort to revitalize Tampa’s downtown west of the Hillsborough River. Related Urban Development Group, an arm of the Miami-based Related Group, is partnering with the housing authority on the venture. Construction is projected to be complete by November 2025.
IN MEMORIAM
“Culture is integrity. It’s honesty. It’s respect.”
— Ken Pendery, co-founder and longtime CEO and chairman of the First Watch breakfast and lunch restaurant chain. He died in March at the age of 70. His quote is displayed prominently on a wall of the company’s home office in Bradenton.