CONTRIBUTORS Josh Bradley, Thomas Hallock, Jennifer Ring
PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Decker, Phil DeSimone
POLITICAL CARTOONIST Bob Whitmore
FALL INTERNS Riley Benson, Anthony Ozdemir
Creative Services
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jack Spatafora
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Joe Frontel
ILLUSTRATORS Dan Perkins, Cory Robinson
Advertising
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Anthony Carbone, Scott Zepeda
CIRCULATION MANAGER Ted Modesta
Chava Communications Group
FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Michael Wagner
CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Cassandra Yardeni Wagner
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Graham Jarrett
VP OF OPERATIONS Hollie Mahadeo
DIRECTOR OF AGENCY SERVICES
Kelsey Molina
SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Meradith Garcia
DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY
Colin Wolf
ART DIRECTOR David Loyola
DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Jaime Monzon chavagroup.com cltampabay.com cldeals.com
EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa Bay is a publication covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.
Creative Loafing Tampa is published by Tampa Events & Media, LLC, 633 N Franklin St., Suite 735. Tampa, Florida, 33602.
The physical edition is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampabay.com. Copyright 2023, Tampa Events and Media, LLC.
The newspaper is produced and printed on Indigenous land belonging to Tampa Bay’s Tocobaga and Seminole tribes.
For the third week in a row, Creative Loafing's cover is about a natural disaster and the toll it’s taken on community members like Shaneyli and Nachely Suarez (L-R on p. 1). Not since the pandemic has a singular horrible thing dominated our print issue, but just like that nightmare summer of 2020, our communities are coming together to pick each other up and dry out. As the world around us fights like hell to move on from—and forget—Hurricanes Milton and Helene, we’ll also make sure to mix in non-hurricane-related stories and content about things to do, news, concerts, etc. But right now, as you’ll see in this issue full of work from photographer Dave Decker and suggestions on how to pitch in, CL will continue to share information about what is sure to be months of recovery so that the least of us will not get left behind. Please keep CL in the loop with any recovery efforts we can amplify (rroa@cltampa.com).
—Ray Roa
•
• Repetitive muscle overuse in sports like tennis, golf, and running also decreases flexibility.
•
• Stretching helps to enhance mobility and range of motion, speed up recovery, and improve posture and circulation.
• Top athletes regularly incorporate stretching into their lives.
• Stretching improves your general wellbeing. Reasons We Lack Flexibility
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from October 17 - 23
Vote
Elections have consequences. As Tampa Bay deals with the aftermath of two hurricanes, constituents of four particular local electeds should be thinking about their decision. Gus M. Bilirakis, Laurel M. Lee, Anna Paulina Luna, and W. Gregory Steube—who represent districts in the Bay area—all voted “no” on HR 9747 last month. The spending deal with the White House passed and funds the government—including FEMA—through the November election. Post-Helene and Milton, most of those politicians are all of a sudden calling for congress to reconvene to get additional FEMA funding moving. Thankfully, local supervisors of elections in Pinellas and Hillsborough are not playing political games and have clearly communicated how voters—displaced and otherwise—can still cast ballots by mail, by voting early in-person, or even on Election Day at polling sites (including alternatives to polling places damaged by the storms). Visit cltampa.com to get links to more information.
General election: Tuesday, Nov. 5. Early voting starts Monday, Oct. 21 in Hillsborough and Pinellas—Ray Roa
Hand up
While power has been restored almost everywhere, so many parts of Tampa Bay were battered by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. Throughout it all, local members of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (MADR), have been gathering supplies to help those in need. As this went to press, MADR was still running a daily market at Tampa’s Waters Avenue Church (noon-4 p.m., 609 W Waters Ave., Tampa) where it distributes supplies, wellness services, lending tools and sharing its resources. Victims of the storms could also acquire items such as clothes, shoes, socks, soap and hand sanitizer. Everyone is welcome, and all items are free. But doing the work takes support. For more information about donating or providing remote support, visit mutualaiddisasterrelief.org, @mutualaiddisasterrelief on Instagram or contact mutualaiddisasterrelief@gmail.com. For those who are unable to donate to MADR, local mutual aid causes like Tampa Bay Mutual Aid, Tampa Food Not Bombs, Tampa Period Pantry, and more are recommended. mutualaiddisasterrelief.org—Riley Benson
Pole work
After two back-to-back hurricanes, thousands are still without power around Tampa Bay, and the biggest local celebrities right now are without a doubt the linemen. As a thank you for working tirelessly to turn the juice back on, one Tampa strip club wants to make sure these linemen are also turned on... but with strippers. Since last Sunday,Thee Dollhouse has been throwing nightly “Power Up” parties, offering free admission and one free drink to all linemen. “All linemen and emergency responders, and anyone helping their neighbors restore the area receive free admission and 1st drink free,” wrote the strip club on social media. “Yes, we have power and we’re turning up the energy! Join us for an electrifying night of fun, music, and unforgettable performances.” Now that’s so Tampa. The special is also offering up $20 buckets of beer and $5 shot deals.
Power Up: Nightly Friday-Monday. 8 p.m.-3 a.m. No cover for linemen and emergency responders. Thee Dollhouse, 1010 N Westshore Blvd., Tampa. @theedollhouseoftampafl on Instagram—Colin Wolf
DAVE DECKER
Heal artists
Art heals, and right now our local creatives need healing, too. This year has already seen the governor’s arts veto, and now damages from back-to-back once-in-a-centurystorms. Tampa Arts Alliance and Creative Pinellas, have stepped forward to provide resources for Tampa Bay artists who’ve been adversely affected. The week following Helene, creativepinellas.org set up a hub for essential Hurricane Helene disaster relief resources, started a pet food and cleaning supply drive, began offering free temporary studio space for displaced artists, and announced that its Nov. 9 Arts Annual party is now a Hurricane Relief Fundraiser. Tampa Arts Alliance is assembling resources for Tampa artists post-Milton. It’s already posted several valuable resources to tampaartsalliance.org, including tips for salvaging artworks, instructions on applying for FEMA assistance, and additional emergency funds and resources. Get links to all of it via cltampa.com/arts.—Jennifer Ring
Give back
Between Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, local Food Not Bombs chapters, Florida For Change and larger entities like the Salvation Army, there are many places that offer support for victims of Hurricanes Milton and Helene. But many of the same organizations offer chances for folks who got lucky in the storm—or got help picking themselves up—a chance to pitch in. The City of St. Petersburg is encouraging folks to volunteer by signing up on volunteerflorida.org, and the City of Tampa has its own sign up portail for anyone looking to take part in post-hurricane relief efforts. Florida for Change has also rapidly activated to get chainsaws and other labor to homes and families in need (reach out via @floridaforchange on Instagram to sign up). Get a link to more volunteer opportunities at cltampa.com/news.—Ray Roa
Bite back
For the third week in a row, Tampa Bay’s live music calendar is a mess (read p. 41). But Fangsgiving organizers and the 14 bands donating their time are committed to pulling off its seventh charity concert this weekend. “This is the show that Tampa needs right now. The whole music community coming together to help support the next generation of musicians who may not get a chance to play music otherwise,” Crowbar owner Tom DeGeorge, pictured, said in a press release. The show features local outfits playing cover sets all to benefit Instruments 4 Life, a nonprofit “that empowers youth through music education & mentorship” regardless of socioeconomic status. This year the song list includes works by Warren Zevon (Andy & the Argonauts), Elliott Smith (Adam Randall), and Andrew W.K. (Navin Ave.), plus a surprise set from Have Gun, Will Travel and Bangarang, an orchestral take on Cyndi Lauper (Same Day Delivery Orchestra) and a superjam set featuring songs by the GoGo’s, Face To Face, Spinal Tap, and Soundgarden.
Fangsgiving VII w/Have Gun, Will Travel/Bangarang/Navin Ave./more: Friday-Saturday, Oct. 18-19. 8 p.m. $15-$20. Crowbar, 1812 N 17th St., Ybor City. crowbarybor.com—Ray Roa
RAY ROA
DAVE DECKER
“$600 million could go a long way fighting the kind of storm that shredded the Trop’s Teflon-coated top.”
Picturing folly
St.
Petersburg weathers the storm, but is this still our city anyway?
By Thomas Hallock
The images heaped insult upon injury. A crane from the 46-story 400 Central tower crumpled over the offices of the Tampa Bay Times. Hurricane Milton tearing the roof off Tropicana Field, the Teflon-coated fabric flapping in the breeze.
Billed the tallest residential building on Florida’s Gulf coast, 400 Central has been a headache from the get-go. For over a year, construction has clogged up traffic in a downtown ill-prepared to move people in and out. Like a beached cruise ship, the outsized oval mocks the adjacent post office and arcades, the sidewalk-scale establishments that made St. Pete special.
This building has bad juju. It sits over the former Pheil Hotel, previously known as the Cheese Grater for its ugly aluminum facade. Underneath the Cheese Grater was an 11-story historic structure, with a theater inside and elegant original facade still intact. Following the classic developer playbook, owners let the property rot, city council rejected landmark designation, and demolition came as an inevitability. St. Pete’s stalwart Preserve the ‘Burg ranks the Pheil Hotel as bad decision Number 9 in its tally of 11 Buildings We Lost.
For long-time residents, the image of the Times crushed by a crane carries an added weight of sorrow. Over the past two decades, we have watched our once-proud local paper slowly wither. With each budget cut, death or forced retirement, the paper has failed to replace a performing arts critic, media critic, music critic, outdoors editor, award-winning feature writer, and so on. Entire sections have vanished. The one-time daily is now a twice-weekly, with a paltry online app that (for some reason) cannot remember I have a subscription. Even with Florida stories, the Tampa Bay Times no longer serves as my go-to source. As Helene and Milton barreled across the gulf, I followed the news through another Times. The one in New York.
It’s a damn shame. Ask any local, would you rather have a solid newspaper or another overbuilt residential tower? When my wife Julie and I moved to St. Petersburg in 2001, we entered into a tight community of makers. We bought a home cheap, fixed up the property, and wrote. The sleepy little foot at the sock of Pinellas County sheltered poets, playwrights, activists, artists, and small business owners. Folks who could focus on what they loved, not on making rent. I personally came here during an in-between phase, my career stalled as an adjunct professor; St. Pete’s
nurturing homegrown culture, are displaced by people who can afford to live in 400 Central. We have given our city away, recklessly and on the cheap. Which leads to the Trop. Earlier this June, as summer temperatures warmed up the same Gulf that juiced Milton to a strength that could tear the roof off Tropicana Field, St. Pete’s City Council approved a $1.3 billion stadium for the Rays. The deal was financially suspect before Milton and Helene; after the hurricanes, call it downright irresponsible. Subsidizing the wealthy franchise owners, city and county will kick in $287.5 and $312.5 million respectively. St. Pete will also hand over 65-acres of prime downtown, at well below market value. Anyone with a lick of sense (check out No Home Run) recognizes the boondoggle. So what about that torn roof? $600 million
COLUMN
including capital improvements to reduce pollution and nurture mangrove habitats. Boston will spend between $1.7 and $3 billion on waterfront parks, “prioritizing nature-based solutions over hard infrastructure for coastal protection.” These blueprints exist for St. Petersburg. Instead, we’ll build a ballpark. Instead, at my state-job at the University of South Florida, lawmakers prohibit me from even using the term “climate change.”
The images from Helene and Milton expose the depth of our folly. The offices of a local institution crushed by the crane from a ridiculous tower the city neither wants or needs. The tattered cloth roof. What are we doing? What’s happening to the city we love?
“How much longer do you want to live here,” my wife asks on the drive back from our evacuation. Silently and simultaneously, we wince at the amber message looming over the Suncoast Expressway: “Tolls Suspended By Order of the Governor.”
RAYS’ ROOF: The Rays stadium deal was financially suspect before Milton and Helene; after the hurricanes, call it downright irresponsible.
low overhead gave me time to publish, focus, and build the life I wanted for myself.
That city of possibility is now much harder to find. St. Pete got hot, downtown turned into the cringey DTSP. Developers caught wind. Housing skyrocketed. Local government took few steps to protect the locals who upscaled St. Pete in the first place. I have heard the complaint again and again: the very creatives who raised up this community,
could go a long way fighting the kind of storm that shredded the Trop’s Teflon-coated top. We have precedents. Two-thirds of the world’s metropolitan areas skirt the coast, the Global Center on Adaptation reports, and smarter municipalities have taken steps. The internet tells me that the city of Behai, in coastal China, has sunk $491 million (roughly the public tab for a stadium) into “marine ecological protection and restoration,”
We talk increasingly about selling our home, a funky bungalow close to downtown. I cannot bear losing a house that has absorbed countless hours of hard work, the citrus trees and native plants that tell the story of my adult life, the front porch where I am writing this column right now. We have friends and family here. From my porch, I relish the morning breeze off the bay, the first cool touch of October, healing memories of the storm. I also feel an early stage of what social scientists call climate grief. I am angry.
When I see the picture of the construction crane crashing into a local institution, I cannot help but feel an ironic sting. The Trop roof and shortsighted questions that follow (where will the Rays play now?) smack of corporate welfare, the public subsidy for a stadium—with prior plans pushed down the list. Who wants to live here?
In a vulnerable city with a cryptofascist governor? With the culture that drew us here priced out by high-rise developments? Julie and I did not leave St. Petersburg during Hurricane Milton.
Our city was already gone.
Thomas Hallock teaches English at USF’s St. Petersburg campus. For more of Tom’s reflections on St. Pete home, check out “Happy Neighborhood” (Mercer University Press).
Welcome to Florida
DeSantis chimes in on development, climate change after Hurricane Milton.
By Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix
Days after Hurricane Milton caused widespread damage to areas still rebuilding after Hurricane Ian two years ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis last Friday dismissed a suggestion that the state limit development in coastal areas vulnerable to dangerous tropical storms.
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Sarasota last Wednesday evening, bringing high winds, storm surge, and flooding to much of Florida’s west coast and central peninsula. The storm spun off tornadoes, claiming 17 lives, including at least five in St. Lucie County.
DeSantis did not provide a comprehensive update on the storm’s death toll during the morning news conference in St. Petersburg.
“The reality is, is people work their whole lives and work hard to be able to live in environments that are really, really nice, and they have a right to make those decisions with their property as they see fit,” DeSantis said in response to a question during a news conference in Bradenton Beach.
“It is not the role of government to forbid them or to force them to dispose or utilize their property in a way that they do not think is best for them,” the governor said.
LOCAL NEWS
Milton arrived roughly two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused extensive damage in Florida’s Big Bend before spinning up through the Southeast causing catastrophic flooding. It was the third hurricane in the Big Bend within the past year or so.
Despite the damage, DeSantis said government prohibitions on rebuilding in areas repeatedly demolished by natural disasters are off the table.
DeSantis said the demand to live in Florida can override the threat of natural disasters.
“These things are very tough. What I see is people have a lot of resilience,” DeSantis said, summarizing damage from hurricanes Ian and Michael, which heavily damaged the Panhandle in 2018.
“And a lot of people were saying, ‘Oh, you know, are people going to want to live in Southwest Florida?’ And, like, within two weeks [after Ian] you had people buying up homes. I mean, people wanted to get down there. So, I think that there’s always going to be a demand to live in a beautiful part of the world.”
According to the governor’s office, more than 1,600 people and 140 pets had been rescued from floodwaters, rubble, or other hazards as of last Friday morning.
DeSantis says climate change and weather control are both conspiracy theories
Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed the idea that burning fossil fuels affects the frequency or intensity of hurricanes last Thursday, after Hurricane Milton racked the state, when a reporter asked him about a conspiracy theory that the government can control hurricanes.
He dismissed that conspiracy theory, too.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, was among those posting the weathercontrol theory on social media. “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done,” she said in an X post.
DeSantis straddled the issue during a Fort Pierce news conference called to update the public on Milton recovery.
“This is on both sides. You kind of have, some people think government can do this [control the weather], and then others think it’s all because of fossil fuels,” he said. “The reality is,
“I think that there’s always going to be a demand to live in a beautiful part of the world.”
is what we see. There’s precedent for all this in history. Like it is hurricane season, you are going to have tropical weather.”
A similar claim was echoed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who said the federal government could have stopped Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from Florida’s Big Bend through to the hills of North Carolina and Tennessee.
When asked if the number of tornado warnings and touchdowns for Hurricane Milton could be associated with climate change, the governor said, “I think you go back and find tornadoes for all of human history, for sure.”
“I just think people should put this in perspective. They try to take different things that happen with tropical weather and act like it’s something. There’s nothing new under the sun,” DeSantis said. “You know, this is something that the state has dealt with for its entire history, and it’s something that we’ll continue to deal with.”
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.
TRASH TAKE: The governor said prohibitions on rebuilding in areas repeatedly demolished by natural disasters are off the table.
Nowhere to go
Florida seniors struggle to recover from back-to-back hurricanes.
By Kylie Williams/Fresh Take Florida
Libbie Bowers sat near the wreckage of her storage shed, deciding which of her belongings were salvageable. Some of Bowers’ possessions floated in the lake behind her house, while other bits lay strewn across neighboring lawns.
Bowers, 85, chose to stay in her Bradenton duplex during Hurricane Milton, which roared through her retirement community Wednesday night with winds over 100 mph. As she sat in her bathroom with food, water and her tabby cat, Sadie, Bowers wished she had heeded the evacuation orders. “It was just like a train coming through,” she said.
The retired social worker emerged from her home Thursday morning to see her carport and shed were demolished during the storm, and many of her belongings tossed among fallen tree limbs. Bowers began the long process of cleaning up but struggled due to her age and knee replacement surgery last year.
already devastating hurricanes, she said. Losing access to electricity, water and cell service after a storm can be dire for an elderly person, especially if they live alone. “If I didn’t live here, I don’t think I could handle it,” Strickland said.
In nearby Sarasota, the retirement community of Orange Acres was left in tatters after both hurricanes. Richard Asp, 77, stood on a ladder last Saturday morning attempting to fix the side of his roof. Asp lost his roof to Hurricane Ian in 2022 but said he never dealt with anything like the double whammy of Helene and Milton.
LOCAL NEWS
Helene took out Asp’s carport and lanai, and he boarded his windows in anticipation of Milton. Without those preparations, Asp said he’s not sure there would’ve been much left of his home.
nursing assistant, are considering going back to work after Helene and Milton. They applied for FEMA assistance and are awaiting a home inspection from the agency.
Another Orange Acres resident, Nancy Sarson, 82, saw only minor damage to her roof and carport during Helene – then Milton struck just two weeks later. The storm demolished Sarson’s lanai, mangled the roof and crumpled the metal shutters on her home like paper.
After Milton, Sarson’s existing health conditions made an already nightmarish recovery process worse. Sarson had part of her lung removed after having lung cancer, and said she’s afraid her leaking roof will grow mold. Without electricity or a generator, the heat makes it hard for her to breathe, she said.
to get in touch with friends or watch the news has left her feeling isolated, she said.
Sarson’s food stamps and limited income aren’t enough to survive, she said, let alone adding the cost of damages from Helene and Milton.
“I have $20 in the bank, and I have no savings, and I have no insurance,” she said. “And I don’t know what to do.”
Denise Bruno, 66, is one of the youngest residents of Orange Acres. Bruno said many of her neighbors have serious health conditions or lack the mobility to recover from hurricane season.
When Hurricane Milton hit, Bruno was on shift as a housekeeper.
“I have $20 in the bank, and I have no savings, and I have no insurance.”
“I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to live there,” Sarson said, her voice choked with tears. “But I have nowhere else to go.”
Friends and neighbors from her community pitched in to help Bowers clean up debris, salvage what they could and dump what was too waterlogged to keep. Without help from those around her, Bowers said she wouldn’t have been able to manage. Despite the loss of her shed and carport, Bowers said she was fortunate to suffer little damage to her home.
“I wanted to cry,” Bowers said. “Then I said, ‘No, don’t cry. Be thankful that everything in here is intact.”
Florida has long been a draw for senior citizens, with warm weather and seaside views drawing millions of retirees to the Sunshine State. Gov. Ron DeSantis once joked that Florida was “God’s waiting room.” Yet the neighborhoods of RVs, small condos and manufactured homes, popular among the 65-and-up crowd, aren’t built to withstand the wrath of a major hurricane. After suffering back-to-back blows from hurricanes Helene and Milton just two weeks apart, Gulf Coast seniors are struggling to recover from a devastating storm season that’s not yet over.
Ruth Strickland, 87, lives in the same retirement community as Bowers and chose to evacuate for the first time in her life during Hurricane Milton. While her duplex survived the storm, Strickland said this hurricane season has been the worst the community has seen.
Strickland has a severe hearing disability and back problems, making it difficult for her to evacuate or handle the fallout of a storm. With both of her adult children living out of state, Strickland relied on members of her retirement community to help prepare her home and flee further inland. Many of Strickland’s neighbors also have physical disabilities that compound the effects of
Asp and his wife Joelanne, 78, live on a fixed income as retirees. Trying to make ends meet amid rising inflation has been a struggle, Richard said – adding in the cost of hurricane repairs makes that situation impossible. “We have a certain amount each week that we spend on groceries,” Richard said. “And we just have less and less in our cart.” Richard Asp, who worked in software, and Joelanne Asp, a retired
Sarson said she damaged her shoulder dragging wreckage from her home to the curb because she couldn’t find anyone to help. She has no family, and has struggled to get in contact with FEMA for assistance. The Orange Acres managers do their best to help, she said, but there’s only so much they can do.
Dealing with the aftermath of two hurricanes alone has been “really hard,” Sarson said. Milton cut off Sarson’s access to cell service and electricity to charge her phone. Not being able
During the storm, she repeated the phrase, “I don’t have a home,” to herself over and over to prepare for the worst, she said.
Milton swept away Bruno’s shed, ruined her washing machine and dryer and shattered her windows. Despite the damage, Bruno considers herself lucky, she said. Many of her neighbors had their roofs ripped off, while her home of over a decade only saw some damage.
“I was really scared,” Bruno said. “But you know, you gotta pick up the pieces and move on.”
This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at williamskylie@ufl.edu. You can donate to support our students via uff.ufl.edu.
KEEPING HOUSE: Denise Bruno stands outside her damaged home in Orange Acres in Sarasota on Oct. 12., 2024
Living expense
Experts worry hurricane season could wipe out recent homeowners insurance ‘fixes.’
By Christine Sexton/Florida Phoenix
Floridians already pay the highest homeowners insurance premiums in the nation, and while the state’s top politicians contend that they have taken steps to fix that, a rash of major hurricanes may have blown any progress.
Hurricane Milton slammed into the state late last Wednesday near Sarasota and maintained hurricane-force winds all the way across the Florida peninsula before entering the Atlantic Ocean.
There were fears that the storm would take a direct hit at the Tampa Bay region, a low-lying area vulnerable to storm surge. That didn’t happen, and the state avoided the “worst case scenario,” according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Still the damage could run into the billions. And that could have a cascading effect on what residents ultimately pay. This is now the third hurricane to make landfall in Florida this year and storm season doesn’t end until Nov. 30.
price levels. Reinsurance costs are a primary expense for insurance companies.
Gains could evaporate
The analysis warned that some insurers—especially those operating in Florida only—may run into financial trouble and that the signs of progress toward more manageable premiums that state leaders have touted in recent months may evaporate.
“The hard reinsurance market, possible local insolvencies, and declining capital among insurers concentrated in Florida will significantly pressure the Florida property market,” A.M. Best reported.
LOCAL NEWS
DeSantis last Thursday, however, pushed back again some of the initial damage projections, especially those from Wall Street analysts who had suggested Hurricane Milton might have caused upward of $50 billion in insured damage.
filed with Citizens Last Insurance Corp., the state-backed insurer of last resort.
On Friday the OIR reported that Milton left at least $586 million in insured damage in its wake.
A Citizens spokesperson said last Friday that the carrier had already received nearly 12,000 claims associated with Hurricane Milton. That number is expected to grow significantly as people who evacuated return to their homes and assess the damage.
Citizens maintained a financial surplus heading into hurricane season but had significant exposure in the Tampa Bay area. If the company exhausts its reserves, it could impose a surcharge on a broad array of private insurance policies, including auto insurance, meaning every policyholder in Florida could pay more.
Rickety market
“Homeowners rates are likely to continue to increase as insurers seek to match price to rising risk,” warned the rating agency Moody’s in a report issued last Thursday, shortly after Milton hit.
A.M. Best, an insurance rating agency, put out a commentary ahead of the storm’s landfall warning that the damage could prompt reinsurance companies that provide backup financial support to insurers to maintain their existing
“How the hell would a Wall Street analyst be able to know? It’s been dark all day,” DeSantis said at a morning press conference. “I mean, give me a break on some of this stuff.”
Even before Milton showed up, Hurricane Helene hit Florida two weeks ago before sweeping through the Southeast and has produced nearly $1.2 billion in insured losses in Florida so far, according to the state Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). More than 12,500 claims related to Helene have been
Florida’s insurance market has been rickety for years due to an uptick in the number of storms hitting the state over the past eight years (following a 10-year hiatus from hurricanes) as well as companies’ costs of defending policyholder lawsuits. Some insurers raised rates, while some went bankrupt or withdrew from the state.
DeSantis and Republicans in charge of the Legislature responded in late 2022 by strictly limiting lawsuits against insurers. They didn’t require insurers to lower their rates, but state
officials insist the law has encouraged new companies to come to Florida; they note, too, that many companies did not ask for rate hikes in 2024. Just hours after Hurricane Milton pounded the state, Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky insisted that the market was getting better and said that one company—USAA—had committed to continue to invest in the state following a meeting he and the governor had this week with company representatives.
The trends “point to continued strengthening of Florida’s property insurance market, which is contrary to the narrative that has been circulating about our industry in recent months,” Yaworsky said.
The OIR did not directly answer whether the meeting between DeSantis, Yaworsky, and USAA representatives occurred before or after Milton made landfall.“OIR maintains open dialogue with all insurers in Florida. Discussions with USAA began prior to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and remain ongoing as they support their members in their recovery efforts,” said Shiloh Elliott, press secretary for the OIR. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.
WADE AND SEE: (L-R) Cody and Samantha Fleisher and their dog Porter wait for the Withlacoochee River to crest.
HAPPY HOUR AT AMSO
Monday - Friday, 4pm-7pm
Saturday 3pm-6pm
$4, $5 & $6 Liquor, Beer & Wine
$8 Hand-Cra ed Cocktails
Make it rain
Sen. Scott: House speaker could be convinced to reconvene congress and work on FEMA funding.
By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
Florida GOP
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said last Friday that he’s asked the federal agencies involved with disaster relief to tell him what are the dollar figures they’ll need from Congress to help Floridians harmed by hurricanes Helene and Milton over the past two weeks.
“I talked to the FEMA administrator yesterday and said, ‘Give me a number. … Tell me when you need it and I’ll be very helpful in trying to get it done.’ So, I’ve asked that from FEMA, and I’ve asked that from the SBA administrator [the] same thing, and then I asked the president, ‘If you give me the numbers, I’ll be very vocal about it.’”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s director is Deanne Criswell. The SBA is the Small Business Administration.
President Biden last Thursday joined other Democrats calling on Congress to return to Washington sooner rather than later to pass additional disaster relief following the two storms. But he’s opposed in that effort by GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who has said that Congress will address those funding needs but only after the general election next month.
Speaking to reporters after taking a boat ride with Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad
Chronister and others who were making rescue missions to save residents from flooding, Scott said he believed Johnson could be convinced to return to Washington.
“If we need the money, I’ve very comfortable that Mike Johnson will be supportive of us going back to get it done,” he told the Phoenix.
The Naples Republican, running for re-election against Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, said that President Biden has thanked him this week for being vocal in ensuring that FEMA, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Agriculture are fully funded so that they can provide the proper relief to Floridians.
“I don’t think there’s any question that the climate’s changing, so let’s acknowledge [that],” he told reporters.
“You look at 2017, with the storm surge we had with Irma down in the Keys. Look at 2018, with the storm surge at Mexico Beach,” Scott continued.
So, what we have to do is, we have to think about how we’re going to deal with it. When I was governor, what we did, we funded studies, we spent quite a money on both beach renourishments, sea level rise, studies on it, we did flood mitigation. … As citizens, we’re going to have to figure out how to deal with this.”
LOCAL NEWS
The president appeared in the Tampa Bay area last Sunday to visit areas affected by Hurricane Milton.
Climate change?
Scott repeated comments he made following Helene’s assault on Florida when asked if he felt the powerful storms are a result of a warming planet due to carbon emissions.
Florida Democrats were less impressed by Scott’s speaking up for FEMA funding on Friday, noting that Scott skipped the vote in September when Republicans opposed supplemental disaster funds in a continuing resolution to continue funding the U.S. government.
“Floridians desperately need disaster relief funding to rebuild from Helene and Milton, but Rick Scott wasn’t in Washington to fight for it when it mattered most. Scott wants to be the hero, but he can’t change the facts: He’s voted against disaster relief time and time again. Floridians
“Scott wants to be the hero, but he can’t change the facts.”
are sick of Scott’s performances and will hold him accountable in November,” party chair Nikki Fried told the Phoenix in a written statement.
The emergency boat rescues conducted by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies took place as the Alafia River in Lithia, east of Tampa, had risen about 15 feet since Milton dumped more than 15 inches of rain in the county on Wednesday night.
“This isn’t a boat ramp,” Chronister told reporters while standing in front of a pool of water several feet deep.
“This is a neighborhood that’s flooded that we’re able to use to launch a lot of our equipment. ..This six feet of flooding that these poor residents are enduring were a mile away from the river. These residents are resilient, they’re used to a little bit of flooding. They’re not used to this level of this kind of flooding, and how fast it occurred.”
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.
MONEY CHASER: Democrats were less impressed by Scott’s speaking up for FEMA.
Premier Specialized MedicalCare in Your Community
through outreach, advocacy, education, and research.
Testing & Treatment
Prevention, Education & Outreach
Lab Draws
Linkage to Care Services Medical
2349 Sunset Point Road
Suite #405
Clearwater, FL 33765
O ce: (727) 216-6193
ST. PETERSBURG
3251 3rd Ave N #125
St. Petersburg, FL 33713
O ce: (727) 498-4969
Patient
PrEP & nPEP Services
Ryan White Provider
Spanish Speaking
Support Groups
Telehealth Services
Transportation Services
4758 Rowan Road
New Port Richey, FL 34653
O ce: (727) 312-2040
2105 N Nebraska Ave. Tampa, FL 33602
O ce: (813) 769-7207
408 7th Street West
Palmetto, FL 34221
O ce: (941) 803-7939
RESTAURANTS RECIPES DINING GUIDES
Meat me there
4 Rivers’ Sunday hours, and more local food news.
By Colin Wolf
Sunday may be the Lord’s Day for some, but it’s also a chance to kneel before some savory barbecue. Last month, Florida-based barbecue chain 4 Rivers Smokehouse announced that many of their locations are now opening their doors on Sundays for the first time.
“This decision was made to uphold the company’s mission to support the local community, protect jobs and ensure stability and prosperity of their dedicated team members,” said the company in a press release. “The team is looking forward to welcoming in their guests all seven days of the week and smoking up some delicious food.”
All 4 Rivers locations will be open on Sunday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. The Orlando SoDo location will not offer Sunday hours.
The family-owned company is known for its signature 30-day aged smoked angus brisket, BBQ platters, and homestyle sides. Established by John Rivers in Winter Park in 2009, 4 Rivers has since expanded with locations across Florida, including Tampa, South Florida, Lakeland, Jacksonville, and Gainesville.
New St. Pete bar The Ball will open in former Saint location this November
The folks behind popular St. Petersburg gay bar Cocktail are ready to show off The Ball, which will drop this fall in the former location for The Saint speakeasy. In August, The Saint announced plans to close and be resurrected as something new, and well, now we know.
According to parent company Pour Behavior, “The Ball: At The Base of Cocktail” will open around Nov. 9 at 49 24th St. N in St. Pete. Led by the interior design team at ZaZoo’d, The Ball will feature “pop-art inspired” decor centered around a massive custom designed disco ball DJ booth.
It acts as an enchanting invitation to meet others, dance freely, and be yourself. With this in mind, The Ball was born,” says the company in a statement.
“The Ball will be a sexy, effervescent upscale bar and lounge supported by some of Tampa Bay’s most talented DJs. Guests can expect a concise menu of carefully crafted cocktails in addition to an array of light sharable bites to keep the party going into the night under a ceiling of disco balls.”
“Our goal is to take just one week to completely transform the space into ‘The Ball,’” says the press release.
The company says the certain decor and antiques from The Saint will be available for auction, and the proceeds will benefit a local charity. More details regarding the auction will be released in the coming weeks.
Florida Tex-Mex concept Tacos & Tequila Cantina coming to Tampa Bay in 2025
Launched in Naples in 2013 by Aldo’s Italian Table & Bar founders Kelly and Aldo Musico, the chain started as a sort of side project for the couple.
“He’s never liked Mexican food,” says Kelly Musico in a 2022 interview. “So I said, ‘I’m going to open my own restaurant, and I’ll be your competition.’ That’s how it started, and we had no idea that it would grow into what it has now.”
The company currently has four locations across Naples and Fort Myers.
“The disco ball is one of the most iconic queer motifs, particularly within LGBTQ+ nightlife.
As for The Saint, the speakeasy will exist in its original form until Sunday, Oct. 22 and will then be transformed into “Club Saint” until Nov. 2, which will operate with no dress code or reservations. Club Saint, will be “a divine dance club experience that will give as many sinners as possible the chance to experience The Saint one last time,” says Pour Behavior.
Tampa Bay has no shortage of quality taco options, but a popular Florida Tex-Mex chain is headed to the Tampa Bay region regardless. HMC Hospitality Group, formerly known as Hooters Management Corporation, announced plans this week to bring Southwest Florida chain Tacos & Tequila Cantina to the Tampa Bay region and The Villages over the next few years.
The chain’s menu spans everything from traditional style street corn and tacos to its signature “T&T Tacos,” which includes tacos made with less conventional ingredients like fried chicken, Buffalo chicken, cheeseburger toppings, pancakes, steak and American cheese, and more.
“Partnering with Kelly and Aldo was a no-brainer to continue to grow our portfolio beyond the Hooters brand. We have similar company values and commitment to providing the ultimate customer experience through quality food and a fun atmosphere. We look forward to emulating their success throughout the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida and working together for many years to come,” said HMC Hospitality Group Chief Development Officer Bill Moore in a statement.
No exact opening date or location was announced, but HMC Hospitality Group says it hopes to open its first Tampa area Tacos & Tequila Cantina location sometime in 2025.
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar’s new flagship location is now open in Tampa
A new, highly-anticipated Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar flagship location made its debut last month in Tampa’s Westshore area. Located at 4342 West Boy Scout Blvd., the new outpost opened in the former Roy’s location, right next to parent company Bloomin’ Brands’ corporate headquarters. The 13,000-square foot space seats 350 guests, and features a new daily lunch service, live music, a glass wine vault holding over 2,500 bottles, 16-foot tall floor-to-ceiling windows, a six-course tasting menu, private rooms for parties, and a daily happy hour from 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
Besides Flemings, Tampa-based Bloomin’ Brands Inc. also owns Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill.
LARD HAVE MERCY: Kneel before 4 Rivers’ savory barbecue
BOOKS
‘Hotels, Motels & Inns of Florida: Historic and Beloved Places to Stay in the Sunshine State’ w/Kristen Hare Sunday, Oct. 20. 3 p.m. No cover Hotel Flor. 905 N Florida Ave., Tampa oldfloridahotels.com
MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE
Still standing
Author Kristen Hare explores the resiliency of Tampa Bay’s beloved historic hotels.
By Ray Roa
For her new book about Florida, Kristen Hare spent two years entrenched not just in state and newspaper archives, but rummaging through brochures, piles of postcards, plus pictures old and new. She listened to the stories of families who ran, and in some cases still operate, the most beloved places to stay in the state we call home. Then she managed to squeeze more than a-century-and-a-half of stories into less than 200 pages.
“Hotels, Motels & Inns of Florida: Historic and Beloved Places to Stay in the Sunshine State” brings buildings to life. It’s a bonafide guidebook for anyone who wants to relive history for the price of an overnight stay— and a must-have for Floridaphiles who crave knowledge of the unique buildings and homegrown businesses that are getting harder and harder to fi nd around here.
After its Sept. 1 release on Reedy Press (which has published three editions of Hare’s “100 Things to Do in Tampa Bay Before You Die” book) the Tampa Bay Times obituary writer started on a book launch tour that’s already visited Tombolo Books, Oxford Exchange, The Vinoy, and Tampa Bay History Center. On Thursday, the journey brings Hare to Safety Harbor before culminating in a special talk this Sunday in downtown Tampa.
“That’s led me to think a lot about not just resilience, but the determination that it takes to live here—that we don’t often need, but that exists,” Hare told Creative Loafi ng Tampa Bay.
“Many of these places are perfect examples of what that looks like in physical form.”
Some of the hotels in Hare’s book, like the Island Hotel in Cedar Key, have survived mul-
In full disclosure, this writer is part of the conversation because he doesn’t like to pass up a chance to talk face-to-face with one of the Bay area’s most celebrated journalists. We are supposed to discuss old Florida hotels, nostalgia and lore, but launching a book alongside the arrival of backto-back once-in-a-century storms has been an eye-opening experience for Hare, who is also Faculty and Director of Craft and Local News at the Poynter Institute. Not just because of the sleepless nights and horrifying images of destruction around the Bay area, but because of what it’s been like to check in on some of the nearly 80 hotels, motels and inns in the collection.
“But it’s still there, and it’s still this incredible place to go.”
Closer to home on Pinellas’ barrier islands, the resilience is a little more obvious. Like on Treasure Island five miles away, Helene turned roadways into canyons of sand outside St. Pete Beach’s Bon-Aire Resort. Milton’s winds blew the big letter B right off the hotel’s iconic neon. While
tiple hurricanes. Inside its limestone and oyster shell walls is a mural of Neptune with a pair of topless mermaids. Hare said that a close look reveals stains from the ‘50s when a storm took the roof off the former general store.
“Storms left a mark on that mural the way that they leave a mark on all of Florida, and now, after the last two weeks, all of us,” she added.
guests from across generations have wished the hotel well and offered to help, Bon-Aire’s social media account found light in the situation with a caption that says, “We will B back to normal in no time!”
“I just want to take a page from their book and follow their example,” Hare said of the hotel’s ability to dust itself off and keep going
with grace. “It feels, to me, like something that is part of Florida. Like, ‘Fuck it, let’s, let’s do it again.’ Just that resilience.”
And just down the street from Hotel Flor where Hare appears on Sunday is Tampa’s everlasting symbol of resilience: The Jackson House.
The road towards “Hotels, Motels & Inns of Florida” started in 2019 when Hare wrote an obituary for Willie Robinson Jr. who spent his life trying to save the home he was born in. The house, which currently sits seemingly on the edge of destruction in what used to be The Scrub, housed the likes of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, and Ray Charles who could not stay at whites-only hotels during their travels on the Chitlin’ Circuit.
The back-and-forth fi ght to restore the landmark, at times, seems nowhere near resolution. But like the nearby former Bing Rooming House in Plant City (now a museum), Tallahassee’s Tookes Hotel (set to become an Airbnb this summer), and Tampa’s Rogers Hotel (burned down in 1974), Jackson House tells the story of folks whose entrepreneurship not only felt like resistance, but the beginning of the Black middle class.
“They were places that had to be created out of necessity so that people could be safe,” Hare said, adding that many of the nearly one-dozen historic Black hotels in her book fell victim to highway expansion and redlining. “But for this brief amount of time, they were like islands in a really hostile world.”
Resilient because of the community around them, many of the hotels detailed in Hare’s book offer a bit of a boost to not just to our region, but others like places in North Carolina that are also in the throes of recovery.
“It’s this sense of doing what you have to, when you have to,” Hare explained. “People step up and come out, and we get to see who we really are.”
RIDE IT OUT: Jackson House (left) during better days in Tampa’s Central Avenue district.
Revelations
Important lessons I learned from Helene and Milton.
By Colin Wolf
After feeling the wrath of both Helene and Milton, Tampa Bay has arguably experienced the worst couple weeks in recent history, and we’ll be learning lessons from this for years to come. But for now, here are a few important revelations I’ve experienced so far.
The Jackson House will never fall over At least by a hurricane.
There’s no shame in leaving, and you don’t win anything for staying “Yay, I won ... trauma.”
Securing a spot for your car in an elevated parking garage is better than sex Honk if you’re horny for hurricane protection.
COLUMN
Listen to your local meteorologist, not an unqualified, doom and gloom TikToker Denis Philips is the only guy allowed to wear suspenders in Tampa Bay for a reason.
Maybe cranes shouldn’t be left up during peak hurricane season? You know, because they fall on stuff.
When the traffic lights stop working, it’s a four-way stop. But no one knows what that means It’s pretty simple, actually—cars with Flo-Grown stickers get to go fi rst, Salt Life goes second.
The people saying the ‘experts’ and the media were wrong about Milton and Helene clearly don’t understand how science works It’s fucking weather, not a pizza you’re following on the Domino’s Tracker.
The Florida Republicans who recently voted against FEMA funding should have to personally rebuild their constituents homes And now they want the funding, I wonder why?
Driving on the shoulder is for maniacs, even when it’s legal I’m making great time driving over all this shoulder debris and garbage.
That Lt. Dan Guy is an idiot and shouldn’t be given any praise or attention He also likes to use the N-word, so uh, yeah.
People’s destroyed homes and property aren’t there for your Instagram clout
There’s a fi ne line between informative reporting and just plain “disaster porn.”
Tampa Bay is absolutely not prepared for a direct hit But at least St. Pete is going to spend $600 million on a new baseball stadium.
Water is basically poop during a hurricane Get out of the poop water!
Back roads when evacuating are good, back roads when returning are bad YOU SHALL NOT PASS
If there’s on silver lining, hurricanes will make you appreciate your neighbors A beer with your neighbor after clearing debris all day is weirdly, somehow, a top 10 beer.
If you’re hiding a hatchet in your attic, that’s your sign to not be in your house at all When the water rises, I’ll just hatchet my way through the roof and into the safety of this deadly hurricane.
The people who believe in weaponized weather control are going to vote. I know for a fact that the libs are behind these hurricanes because Milton turned my dog gay.
For the last time, FEMA disaster money comes from dedicated funds that cannot be used for other purposes You gullible numbskulls.
This state will probably never willingly limit development in coastal areas Nothing another taxpayer funded beach renourishment can’t fix.
Florida basically could operate with just booze, gas and generators Everyone should get all three from the government, TBH.
“A beer with your neighbor after clearing debris all day is weirdly, somehow, a top 10 beer.”
Pig Jig gets new date, Jazz Holiday gets canceled, after Hurricane Milton.
By Ray Roa and Josh Bradley
While the fallout from Hurricane Milton forced Clearwater Jazz Holiday to cancel its weekend plans altogether, Tampa Pig Jig was able to salvage the core of a lineup that was supposed to play downtown Tampa this Saturday.
The festival will now happen on Sunday, Nov. 3 and remain at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park where three of the festival’s main acts—Dierks Bentley, The Revivalists and Chase Rice—are still on the bill. “ ...more artists to be announced soon,” organizers wrote in a press release.
They added that the nonprofit Tampa Pig Jig, now in its 13th year, is heartbroken over the devastating impact of the storm, which still has many parts of the city without power. The new date, organizers wrote, allows “the city time to heal and ensure adequate resources to support the event.”
Since its founding, Tampa Pig Jig has raised more than $7 million to help patients and families affected by the rare and debilitating kidney disease focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.
Its big draw besides the music has always been a barbecue competition between teams vying to win top honors in four different categories: brisket, butt, ribs and the wild card. Lawn games and food vendors are also part of the experience. Tickets for Tampa Pig Jig 2024 happening Sunday, Nov. 3 at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa are still available and start at $130. Children under 10 are admitted free with an accompanying adult. All tickets purchased for the original date will automatically be honored next month, and existing ticket holders need no additional steps.
This weekend’s Clearwater Jazz Holiday is canceled in the wake of Hurricane Milton
But no amount of improvisation could save Clearwater Jazz Holiday from Hurricane Milton. If you got lucky in Milton’s wrath and need a wakeup call for just how serious the damage it caused was, Clearwater Jazz Holiday canceled its entire four-day festival, which was set to kickoff Thursday, Oct. 17.
Reps for the 44-year-old festival took to social media last Sunday to make the announcement. “In making this difficult decision, we have explored every option to continue the 45-year festival tradition. Many factors contributed to the cancellation including critical operational and support services, accessibility of important infrastructure and materials, power outages, and other important considerations,” the statement read.
“The decision to cancel is heart wrenching and devastating to our organization, which relies on the festival income as its largest program service to support Clearwater Jazz Holiday Foundation’s mission of year-round music, education & outreach in schools, neighborhood family centers and other organizations and to support young and local musicians.”
Refunds will be made available to ticket holders in the coming days, with an additional option to support the foundation—which facilitates music education in the Bay area—in lieu of a refund.
The festival’s return to its roots has been a slow one. Last year, following a long few years at Clearwater’s BayCare Ballpark, Clearwater Jazz Holiday came home to Coachman Park, with main acts taking the stage at The BayCare Sound (then known as The Sound).
This year’s rendition, which was scheduled to feature the likes of pop-rock pianist Bruce Hornsby (a replacement for Sierra Ferrell who dropped out over the summer), and gospel legend Mavis Staples. Soul outfit St. Paul and the Broken Bones, was supposed to play The Green, the grassy, field-like area stage-right of the amphitheater, as a tribute to the festival’s origins.
This is the second year since its inception in 1980 where Clearwater Jazz has been axed, the first being in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Editor’s note: We hope to be back next week with the regular Music Week live music previews. In the meantime, we’ll try and post about shows still happening in town (like Fangsgiving at Crowbar, p. 13) via cltampa.com.
Make magic
By Caroline DeBruhl
In a very real way, a hurricane brought me to this profession. While I was a deeply anxious child already interested in the occult, it was Katrina that landed me in a therapist’s office for the first time. The madness of the aftermath in my hometown led me to look for a spiritual cure to what ailed me.
I knew as I watched this storm develop in the Gulf and then hit that, for many, it would be a clear divide. There would be “before the storm” and “after.” I also knew this storm hit with a sliding scale of severity because that’s how these things go.
Someone in Seminole Heights might have emerged Thursday morning only to see their pack of cigarettes still balancing on their porch railing. Across the Bay in St. Petersburg someone else might have watched the storm come through their front door and destroy everything. Another family would have lost a freezer’s worth of food, someone their life. Some homes would be gone completely; some would have only lost power for the night. But, regardless of where we each personally sit on the scale, we have to recognize that our community, as a whole, has been dealt a heavy blow. Much like COVID, we cannot go at this alone. In order for a community to heal, we have to do what we can, each of us. To figure out where to start, I turned to Tarot because, for me, that’s how these things go.
To begin: In the immediate aftermath, those who can afford to give financially should. With the King of Pentacles and the Nine of Pentacles, material wealth will be what’s necessary for many people to get back to their homes, feed themselves, and replace the things they need. People may have lost their jobs, houses, cars, clothes, and everything to the storm, and with these two cards reversed, a steady cash flow will be a necessary lifeline for months.
This generosity can and should extend beyond the material, too. We need to be generous with each other, give people grace and offer help where we can.
This might be helping your neighbor clear their yard, bringing extra eggs over to a co-worker’s house, or letting it go if someone is kind of an asshole in line at Publix. The “P” in PTSD means “post,” so now that there is time to process everything that’s happened, people might be doing so in strange and ugly ways. Let them.
belief that things will improve, which will be good for morale. It might also be a time when we, as individuals, take stock of what we really need/want in our lives. Again, like Covid, the aftermath of a disaster shows us with glaring light what our priorities were and if we want to keep those centered in our lives.
This extends to our communities, too, especially with local business and municipal policy.
serving our community. What do the different communities in our city need, including yours? How can these needs be met?
ORACLE OF YBOR
Send your questions to oracle@cltampa. com or DM @theyboracle on Instagram
In the following weeks, leadership will be necessary, and the Ace of Swords might be someone (or many people) who emerges from this disaster and directs those willing to put in some Two of Wands hard work on where to go. There is hope in these efforts and a genuine
The calm and steady Knight of Pentacles knows that it’s our responsibility to support what we want to see in our community, and the Seven of Pentacles includes reevaluating what we want to invest in. As many local businesses across Tampa Bay had to close for days leading up to the hurricane—some for a week or more afterward—many probably need financial support. Coming off the slow summer season and shutting down for two or more weeks might put places you love in great financial risk. So, if you can, go buy that artisanal cupcake or that book or get a gift certificate for that restaurant that can’t reopen just yet. Kick $5 bucks to that GoFundMe. FEMA and insurance money may come through eventually, but if a business is operating on slim margins to begin with, it might shutter before that check arrives.
Responsibility about money doesn’t just extend to our own spending. With an election coming up, it’s also worth evaluating what our city counselors, school boards, and other programs are spending money on and if that’s
Finally, the energy of a city can change dramatically after a dramatic event. When the Wall came down, East Berlin ceased to be, even though it had the same streets and same buildings, and people. New Orleans changed, too, after the storm, though it was able to get its magic back over time because people rebuilt it. They put their energy into the city and coaxed it back.
That is what we need to do. As The Magician, the powerful conductor of the Major Arcana, we need to raise that energy again. The Six of Cups asks us what we love about our cities. Many of us chose to make a home there, so what was it about these places we loved? Why did we settle in Sarasota and not St. Louis? What is it that we love that we want to bring back or to preserve?
We can do it. We can rebuild. It will take time, and certainly, it will take money, but most importantly, it will take effort. We cannot afford to sit back and say, “Remember when?” or “I miss how that used to be.” We have to make our cities into the places we love, and we have to fight to keep what we love alive.
But most of all, we need to be there for each other. I know that sounds so kumbaya, but fuck it, it’s true. We all need to get through this and it’ll be a long time before it’s over. So until then, use your own magic. Be there for one another. It’s how these things have to go.
See more from Caroline and learn about her services via carolinedebruhl.com.
Ace pace
By Dan Savage
I am a 28-year-old cisgender sex-repulsed asexual gay man. While some asexuals choose to have sex for the pleasure it provides their partner, sexrepulsed asexuals like me do not engage in sexual activity and do not wish to be exposed to it. As a sex-repulsed asexual gay man, I feel alienated when I enter gay spaces like bars, parties, clubs. Gay allosexuals don’t seem to be aware that hypersexualized spaces make asexual men like me feel unsafe and unwanted. We are forced to choose between being isolated or entering spaces where other gay men are kissing, grinding, or worse. Also, bartenders are often shirtless, there are go-go dancers, and even the posters on the walls feature sexually explicit imagery. When gay sex is foregrounded like this it makes gay men like me feel like we are not welcome in the gay community. And to answer the obvious question: I go to gay bars for many of the same reasons allosexual gay men go to gay bars: to socialize and feel safe and to meet potential romantic (not sexual) partners. I also go because gay hookup apps are terrible for everyone, but they’re especially terrible for asexual gay men.
I feel like there should be one night a week where gay bars are safe spaces for asexual gay men. It doesn’t feel like asking people to remain clothed and refrain from groping each other one night a week is too much to ask if it makes a marginalized group within our own community feel welcome. I am curious what you think of my proposal and whether this is an idea that you would get behind.—Gay Ace Gay Space
“I’m a 28-year-old gay man, just like GAGS, but I’m not asexual,” said Jonathan, a regular commenter at Savage.Love who I’ve tapped to speak for all allosexual gay men everywhere. “I’m an enthusiastic gay bar, club, and partygoer. I went to Town in DC for the shirtless twinks and twunks and go to the Eagle in NYC for the hot leather guys in jockstraps. We go out because of the dancing, kissing, groping, grinding, hot bartenders, and go-go boys. We like it this way! If we wanted weak drinks in a nonsexual environment, we’d go to Applebee’s.”
Jonathan argues—and I, another allosexual gay man, happen to agree with him—that gay men clumped up in urban areas to create spaces where we could be ourselves. When the first gayborhoods began to appear (or, more accurately, began to enter public consciousness), those spaces were pretty much limited to bars (sexually charged) and bathhouses (extremely sexually charged). But as more gay men and other queer people came out and moved in, lots of other kinds of spaces in gayborhoods—less sexually charged spaces—became places where we could be ourselves, e.g., cafes, restaurants, bookstores, gyms, sidewalks, city halls, etc., etc., etc.
“GAGS should try gay sports leagues, gyms, meetup groups, book clubs, youth mentorship
programs, supper clubs—all of those have the nonsexual vibe he wants,” Jonathan said. “And if there isn’t a scene he likes where he lives, he should create one. My city didn’t use to have a fisting club or an ABDL night but now, thanks to friends, it does. GAGS should focus on cultivating the environments he desires instead of asking other gay men to censor ourselves. We aren’t interested in being demure. It also wouldn’t be profitable for the venues.”
Kevin Kauer, who co-owns and curates Massive, a bar in Seattle created for the whole LGBTQIA+ community, agreed with Jonathan on the venues point.
“I strive to create a space that’s safe and welcoming for all,” Kauer said, “but GAGS proposal sounds like an unprofitable flip of the fun switch to off. While certainly fun for some, what he describes is just not the essence of a large queer nightclub. Maybe GAGS could try a house party?”
more supportive, and to build solidarity with men whose gayness looks different from theirs.”
So, what does Daigle-Orians think of your modest proposal: one night a week when gay bars ask bartenders to keep their pants on, lock go-go boys in their beer coolers, and ask men to keep their lips and hips to themselves?
“I can’t agree with GAGS’ suggestion,” said Daigle-Orians. “Gay bars have a long history, of which sex is a part. They’re sexually charged spaces and that’s OK. The freedom to express your Big Gay Sexuality on the dance floor at the gay bar is one I’m glad allo gay men have. It’s something they should have.”
Like Jonathan, Daigle-Orians thought you might be looking for love—and community—in all the wrong places.
SAVAGE LOVE
You may have a hard time filling a house party. While there are roughly 40 million men in the United States between the ages of 21 and 40— age-appropriate potential romantic partners for a 28-year-old gay man only 2% of those men are gay (800,000), only 1% of gay men are asexual (8000), and only a small percentage of asexuals are sex-repulsed (as opposed to sex-positive, sex-neutral, and sex-negative). While you’re not limited to dating or partnering with other asexuals— because of course you aren’t—you’re asking bars owners to set one night a week aside for asexual guys and their admirers and, I’m sorry, but there aren’t enough asexual guys for a night like that to pencil out.
OK, since I don’t want to be accused of stacking the deck against you—or ganging up on you—by only quoting allosexuals, GAGS, I reached out to Cody Daigle-Orians, the author, educator, and asexuality advocate behind “Ace Dad Advice,” a social media-based asexuality education project.
“The gay male community can make ace men feel like shit,” said Daigle-Orians. “Ace men meet a brick wall of invalidation, dismissal, and being rendered invisible in the gay male community. And there’s absolutely room—and a real need—for allosexual gay men to catch up on the range of ways one can inhabit gayness, including gay ace men, and to be gentler,
“There are other ways to find gay social connection,” said Daigle-Orians. “There are gay book clubs, bowling leagues, gaming groups, rugby leagues, softball. The choice isn’t ‘gay bar or isolation,’ as GAGS frames it, because ’gay spaces’ aren’t only bars, parties, or clubs. Just as there are multiples ways to be gay, there are multiple ways to socialize with those gays. So, I would encourage GAGS to broaden his ideas of where gay community can be found and built. It’s more likely they’ll find the like-minded friends and possible romantic partners they’re seeking in places other than the gay bar, anyway. Leave the backroom to the allos.”
P.S. Even though you’re unlikely to find a partner in a gay bar, GAGS, don’t despair of finding a partner. Cody Daigle-Orians—who identifies as queer, ace, and agender— has three: his husband of 10 years (met online), his other partner of three years (met online), and a platonic partner (his husband’s other romantic partner). I’m confident you can find the right guy or guys for you too!
P.P.S. Congrats to everyone out there who got the “hips or lips” reference.
Follow Cody Daigle-Orians on Instagram @ AceDadAdvice and learn more about his work and order his books—”I Am Ace” and “Ace and Aro”—via acedadadvice.com. Follow Kevin Kauer on Instagram @kk_nark. Follow Massive on Instagram @massive_club. Full disclosure: my husband—who can you follow on Instagram @disappearing_tm— hosts a monthly fetish night at Massive.
I’m a 38-year-old gay male. I recently got back on dating apps, and I’ve been chatting with
other gays online. I’m not unattractive and I get a fair amount of hits when I post pictures. To my surprise, I’ve accidentally connected emotionally with a few guys who quickly expressed an interest in exploring something long-term with me. The problem is that I was diagnosed with terminal cancer years ago and not given long to live. I’ve made a miraculous recovery, but I still have cancer, and I’m told it’s still terminal. I could pass in weeks, months, or after another couple of years. I haven’t lied to any of the men I’ve been chatting with, but I haven’t been entirely forthcoming with them either. It’s day two of chatting with these guys and now I’m in some situationships. I don’t know what to do. I want to feel normal, but I don’t want to string these guys along. Please advise.—Cancer Announcement Now Could
End Relationships
First, CANCER, I’m so sorry about your diagnoses—but given that it’s been years since you were given months to live, I’m hoping you’ve gotten a second, third, and fourth medical opinion. Cases of spontaneous remission are rare when it comes to cancer but they have happened, CANCER, and people have been misdiagnosed with cancer. I’m sure it’s already occurred to you to explore both possibilities—and ones that haven’t occurred to me—but on the off chance you haven’t, you might wanna.
Second, CANCER, about the men you’ve been chatting with for two days—torso pics that went from “sup” to “let’s explore something longterm” in 48 little hours— they’re bullshitting you. And if you think you’re in a situationship or any other kind of ‘ationship with any of these men, CANCER, you’re bullshitting yourself. Forgive me for being blunt… but you’ve gotten worse news and survived… and I don’t wanna waste what little time you have left beating around the bush.
Dating sites and hookup apps are crawling with fakes and flakes, CANCER, and while swapping text messages with a stranger can be fun and sometimes it feels like we’re catching feelings for someone we haven’t actually met in person yet, when someone you’ve never met claims they wanna make explore a long-term commitment… that’s a red flag. That person either isn’t who they say they are (and they’re about to hit you up for the money they need to buy a plane ticket to come and meet you) or they are who they say they are (and they’ve just outed themselves as too emotionally immature and/or too emotionally manipulative to risk meeting, much less dating).
In that pile of responses you’ve gotten, CANCER, there are guys who are open to chatting but who aren’t trying to rush things—chat with them, block the others.
Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love! Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love.
Legal, Public Notices
NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE Pursuant to Section 715.109, notice is hereby given that the following property will be offered for public sale and will sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash: a 1987 SNAD mobile home, VIN LFLSP1AH177013658, and the contents therein, if any, abandoned by previous owners Renee Louise Muchler and Bob Muchler on Friday, October 18, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at 18811 Cayman Drive, Hudson, Florida 34667.. ICARD, MERRILL, CULLIS, TIMM, FUREN & GINSBURG, P.A. Alyssa M. Nohren FL Bar No. 352410 2033 Main Street Suite 600 Sarasota, Florida 34237 Telephone: (941) 366-8100 Facsimile: (941) 3666384 anohren@icardmerrill.com smenasco@icardmerrill.com Attorney for East Lake Landings MHC
NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE Pursuant to Section 715.109, notice is hereby given that the following property will be offered for public sale and will sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash: a 1979 TWIN mobile home, VIN T2395847B and the contents therein, if any. abandoned by previous owners Kenneth Hastie and Shirley Hastie on Friday, October 18, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at 10720 Poplar Street NE, Lot 70, St. Petersburg, FL 33716.. ICARD, MERRILL, CULLIS, TIMM, FUREN & GINSBURG, P.A. Alyssa M. Nohren FL Bar No. 352410 2033 Main Street Suite 600 Sarasota, Florida 34237 Telephone: (941) 366-8100 Facsimile: (941) 3666384 anohren@icardmerrill.com smenasco@icardmerrill.com Attorney for Pinewood Co-Op, Inc.
17-23, 2024 | cltampabay.com
70 Bird word
71 “Going to the party, ___?” 74 Cops in helmets 75 “Tough day, ___?” 79 Teen’s filler word
