Stephinitely

2 days ago | tampabay.com | Stephanie Hayes

Tampa has long labored as a tidy pop culture punchline. Need we count the ways we have been poked and prodded everywhere from standup sets to “30 Rock”? If Florida is the root of all absurdity, Tampa is the juiciest fruit on the tree, er … cob. Usually, though, this region gets lambasted from afar, perpetrators lobbing digs at our sweaty idiosyncrasies before running back to West Village apartments with four roommates. The culprits don’t often make fun of us to our face.

3 days ago | tampabay.com | Divya Kumar

Hillsborough County schools Superintendent Van Ayres pledged to remove more books from district shelves during a heated state Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, as board members suggested firing all county media specialists or exploring criminal charges as possible alternatives. The meeting in Miami followed letters from Education Commissioner Manny Diaz and Attorney General James Uthmeier sharing concerns about the content of six books including “pornographic materials” in school shelves.

3 days ago | tampabay.com | Rebecca Liebson

In 2020, St. Petersburg Rick Kriesman put out a request for proposals to build a new baseball stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays and transform the surrounding 86 acres where a Black neighborhood called the Gas Plant District once stood. Five years and two collapsed deals later, the dream of replacing the now-dilapidated Tropicana Field seems all but dead. But as that door closes, it opens the possibility for a whole new kind of development in the historic Gas Plant District.

3 days ago | tampabay.com | Jeffrey Solochek

Acting on the recommendation of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the State Board of Education on Thursday named Anastasios I. Kamoutsas Florida’s 32nd education commissioner. Kamoutsas, 36, is one of four deputy chiefs of staff in DeSantis’ office. Before taking that post in 2023, he served as a general counsel and chief of staff to the Department of Education, taking an active role on high profile issues such as reopening schools during the pandemic and eliminating diversity programs.

3 days ago | tampabay.com | Jeffrey Solochek

The Pasco County school district continues to shift its school leaders amid year-end retirements, resignations and promotions. Pasco High School’s next leader will be Mark Feldman, who will be promoted from his post as an assistant principal at Fivay High School. Feldman, who joined the district in 2011, replaces Kari Kadlub, who leaves Pasco High after 13 years to become the district’s executive director of high schools, a new position.