Tag Archives: Tampa Bay Times

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Tampa Bay Times: Not every beach community in Pinellas County wants to be like Clearwater Beach

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times. Aug. 5, 2016.

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Longtime residents of Madeira Beach remember when they affectionately referred to their sleepy gulfside community as a “fishing town with a drinking problem.”

But then came the condominium towers. And now some say two proposed projects valued at a combined $200 million threaten to change the landscape of Madeira’s quaint, beachy atmosphere.

“That old quaintness has somewhat gone away already and probably will never come back” said Joe Jorgensen, who has lived on Madeira Beach since 1984. He and other residents started a petition to fight against the development, which generated more than 1,000 signatures in two weeks. “I’m not against all development. I just want to see something that is conducive to our lifestyle. We don’t want to turn into Clearwater Beach.”

Tourism has boomed in Pinellas County since 2011, shattering records set before the recession and driving up hotel room rates from St. Pete Beach to Clearwater Beach. Mom and pop motels that have operated along Pinellas County’s “middle beaches” in Treasure Island and Madeira Beach since the 1950s could face new competition as local municipalities tweak ordinances to attract new development.

Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.

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Tampa Bay Times: Virtual reality headsets and video games could be the hottest gifts this holiday season

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times. July 6, 2016.

For the first time, Alex Yparraguirre felt like he was actually in a video game.

He could look up, down and behind him and still be sitting in the passenger seat of a getaway car in the London Heist Getaway game for Playstation 4’s new virtual reality system. Using motion sensing controllers, he could reach out to grab a gun or take hold of the car’s steering wheel. He could punch with his hand to break the glass windows.

One five-minute demo of the new Playstation virtual reality system, which will be released Oct. 13, wasn’t enough to satisfy his curiosity. So Yparraguirre, 28, got in line to try it again at the GameStop store on Causeway Boulevard in Brandon.

After all, he drove all the way from Fort Myers just for this.

Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.

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Tampa Bay Times longform: Adventures in plane spotting in the post-9/11, social media age

By Justine Griffin, Tampa Bay Times. For Floridian Magazine, June 29, 2016.

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Travelers stream from the covered asphalt lots to the main terminal, fussing with their luggage and monitoring check-in times on their iPhones, hardly noticing the two men.

The pair of millennials don’t seem to have a destination.

The taller one wears a crisp Chicago Bulls ball cap and a grey hoodie over his cargo shorts. The shorter one has on his usual worn blue Tampa Bay Lightning T-shirt with Steve Stamkos’ name and number on the back, a cheap pair of plastic sunglasses jutting out from the pocket of his dark shorts, and everyday Chuck Taylors on his feet.

They’re racing around Tampa International Airport, bouncing from the long-term to the short-term to the economy parking garages in between the two major runways, conscious of the security personnel who occasionally pass through the rows of cars.

The shorter one, Adam Juriga, squints at the Flight Radar app on his phone, looking at the flights headed inbound in the next hour. He and Wes Bencon Rodriguez dart back and forth from the east to the west ends of the rooftop deck, watching the planes taxi at the main terminal and keeping an eye on the time.

Eventually the men reach into their cars and take out bulky Nikon 3200 DSLR cameras with long lenses.

Adam checks the weather again. He’s checked it every day for the past week. It will be sunny and clear for the next eight hours. Perfect for photographing airplanes.

“Don’t waste your battery on Southwest,” Adam says over the dull drone of faraway jet engines.

Southwest Airlines is Tampa’s largest domestic carrier, so dozens of Southwest planes stream in and out all day. They all look the same. Adam leans over the concrete wall, seven stories up, waiting for a more interesting flight to appear on his iPhone screen.

Wes keeps snapping photos anyway. He’s found something near the hangars in the distance, not on the runway.

Silently, they each hope they’ll have the better shot and the rare-enough plane that will impress judges and bring international recognition.

The only obstacle in their way is each other.

✈ Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.

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Tampa Bay Times: The wizards behind the Tampa Bay Lightning’s pre-game show made the 2016 season memorable

John Franzone grips a stopwatch in his left hand. Its nylon Timex lanyard is wrapped tightly around his palm.

He’s counting the seconds in between videos playing on the 28-foot-tall Jumbotron over the ice at Amalie Arena, making sure the show stays on time. Tampa Bay Lightning players are already on the ice warming up for Game 6 of the NHL Eastern Conference final, and the seats are filling up with fans. Franzone and his team of 12 are in place all over the arena.

They’re gearing up for their big show — the eight minutes or so before the puck drops at the start of the first period.

Franzone, the vice president of presentation at Amalie Arena, is in charge of creating inspiring material to pump up the sold-out crowds. He grits his teeth as he points to the disc jockey seated next to him, signaling Thunderstruck by AC/DC to begin. A lightning bolt is projected onto the ice and follows a young hockey player who hoists a lit-up hockey stick to the beat of “Thun-der.”

“We didn’t have any of this when we won the cup in 2004,” Franzone said. “We didn’t have any of this five years ago.”

A small smile cracks Franzone’s lips when it’s all over — after the Tesla coils fire off bolts from above and the lasers from atop the impressive organ go dark against the arena’s ceiling. Nearly every fan is out of his or her seat cheering.

Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.

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Tampa Bay Times: You can can use your chip credit card Walmart and Target, but why not Publix?

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times. May 18, 2016.

Last year credit card companies began installing chip technology that was expected to dramatically reduce the likelihood that a thief or hacker could steal from customers’ accounts.

Stores in the Tampa Bay area — ranging from big chains like Walmart and Target to independent shops like Buddy Brew Coffee and Juxtapose Apparel & Studio — began installing chip card readers seven months ago.

But for a privacy revolution, it hasn’t started with much of a bang. A study by the Strawhecker Group says only about 37 percent of stores nationwide are now equipped with readers; another study by Boston Retail Partners says it’s only about 22 percent.

Most notably missing among Florida companies is Publix Super Markets, the state’s most popular grocer with more than 1,000 stores, which has yet to allow customers to use embedded chip technology because it’s still upgrading its computer systems for the switch.

Some credit card experts say that could ultimately hurt Publix.

“The longer retailers go without upgrading their terminals, the more likely it is to put them in a competitive disadvantage because consumers will perceive them as being a less safe place to shop,” said Matt Schulz, a senior industry analyst with CreditCards.com. “That’s a big deal.”

Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.