By: Kelly Littler, Emily Wolodkowicz, Sheena DeRocker, Macky Brazina and Candice Royer
There’s a thriving food business located inside the old Historic Seaboard Train Station that you may have never noticed passing by 22nd St. S. and crossing 5th Ave. S.
It could easily be one of St. Petersburg’s best kept secrets.
The CA Cafe, named after sisters, Corrie and Abbie opened in March of 2012 as a family business. Their specialty: deli-style sandwiches and drinks. Corrie Parker, the owner, said, “We had a rough start dealing with the city since it’s in a historic building. It took over a year and a half to open.”
The building — constructed in 1926 by the Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad company — became the second railway line to enter St. Petersburg. The Seaboard Train Station operated as part of the Sealine Air Line Railroad as a freight depot until 1967.
In 1993, the City of St. Petersburg placed the Depot on the Local Historic Register. The building is made of brick, in masonry vernacular style, and is known as the cities only unaltered example of railroad architecture.
By Kelly Littler
Seven years later, costing over a million dollars, a two-year renovation of the building was complete. Renovating, and adding personal touches were difficult to pass under the city’s strict standards.
“We had to make blueprints of our renovations, and get it approved which took several attempts, and a lot of re-drawings.”
The cafe isn’t allowed to have a sign out front, according to the St. Petersburg Historic Preservation Commision to keep the original design authentic. This reason alone makes it often difficult to attract new customers outside of their local community.
Without the attention that a normal sign usual brings, it is hard attracting a solid crowd, and a bigger following.
“I had a custom made sign for the cafe, hung it up outside, and the city immediately took it down,” Parker says that most of their advertising now is done through either word of mouth, or via social media platforms, such as Facebook, or Instagram.
After renovations were approved by the city, Parker’s father kept in mind the old building’s history, and decided to keep the cafe under a train station theme, and named all menu items after train terminology. Items such as The Caboose, The Coal Car Tuna Melt, and The Crew Car Chicken Caesar are some of the options to choose from.
The atmosphere of the cafe emotes coziness, the food is homemade, and the building itself is a vision of the past. A hidden gem that the city of St. Petersburg is lucky to call now a part of the community remains delightfully hidden but open for business.
By Aaron Otis, Marilyn Bloomberg, Kelli Carmack, Erik Mishiyev, and Vanessa Rivera
“We take the skate to the people.”
This is the mantra of Local Longboard Company, a locally-renowned skateboard business in St. Petersburg, Fl.
Frequent visitors to downtown St. Petersburg may be familiar with the company being on Central Avenue. But, Jon Stine, one of the original business owners, sold that store location Aug. 1, 2017. He realized a more cost-effective manner of running the business was to transition into using a van and promoting it near local events.
The van is located right outside the Stine Custom Woodworks LLC. warehouse which is in the Child’s Park area of Midtown. With the help of his new business partner, Aron Retkes, Stine handcrafts their boards for their customers.
Stine and Retkes handcrafting their locally-renowned longboards. Erik Mishiyev
Decorated with brightly colored skateboard trucks hung on the doors, the van houses displays with a variety of different types of wheels to choose from in clear plastic cases. Beyond the initial displays are the actual longboards.
Close up shot of some of Local Longboard Company skateboard trucks. Kelli Carmack.
Ranging from small to large, the boards line the inside of the truck. Some are painted, and others are polished to a shine.
The smallest boards, called Penny boards, nestle in the bottom of the board racks while the more expensive boards find home directly above them. A single board can take six to eight hours to manufacture.
Inside shot of Local Longboard Company’s van. Erik Mishiyev.
“You can’t buy a bicycle without trying it first, same with a longboard,” says Stine. That is why the van supplies demo boards for customers to try and figure out which one suits them best before buying it.
The Local Longboard Company prides itself on having its own niche in the St. Petersburg community.
“We try to deal with other local businesses as much as possible when it comes to material and art supplies. Part of the gig is supporting other smaller businesses,” says Stine.
The company has been at the starting line of the “Keep St. Pete Local” movement; they still believe in that mission but have started branching off into a more regional sense. They have taken their business as far out as Clearwater and Sarasota, but they still call Child’s Park home.
When asked if they would ever expand their business, Retkes replied by saying “If this stuff starts selling like hotcakes and we need a fleet of five trucks that cover the whole state, then yes, we are all about that.”
Since going mobile, the pair believes in going to the customer rather than having the customer go to them. Their demographic reaches nearly everyone, but most of their sales come from college students and adults.
Stine and Retkes are constantly on the prowl for new events that they can take part of, whether it’s an exhibition or a midnight market.
“All we have to do is ask ‘will you have us?’ and that’s our store,” says Retkes.
By: Imani Craig, Yazlin Mercado, Mariya Lebedeva, Kay-Kay Smith and Arman Mouradian
“Sharing God’s Abundance with our neighbors,” is a sentiment Operation Attack carries out with their active community involvement.
Based out of Lakeview Presbyterian Church, volunteers strive to provide new and gently used clothing, including underwear and socks, to children from newborn to high school age. To serve the community of south St. Petersburg in the best way possible takes manpower. Operation Attack can only function and function well with the time and energy devoted to the volunteers.
Diane Klamer, a lead volunteer, has been attending Lakeview Presbyterian since the age of five.
“I love being able to help people when they need things. It is an important part of this church. I could become more involved now since I am retired,” Klamer says.
Operation Attack is a multi-congregational ministry located in south St. Petersburg under the stewardship of Lakeview Presbyterian Church. Given a referral from partnering organizations, families in need from south of Ulmerton can receive aid once every three months.’
If a family needs additional assistance beyond the clothing, such as housing, Operation Attack helps put them in contact with organizations that can provide the services they need.
Walking from the parking lot into the lounge of Operation Attack, visitors are welcomed with cheerful volunteers as they direct them where to go. Recipients go through a process where they are to provide volunteers with their referral prescribed to them by a local doctor or pastor.
Once that information is validated the last 4 digits of the applicant’s social security number is gathered solely for the purpose of keeping accountability of who has been served within a 3-month period.
Carts are provided to haul clothing around the center while applicants sort through the racks to pick clothing for their children. A washer and dryer are also available on site, provided by EBSCO appliances, to ensure cleanliness of the clothing.
If a family has a child under the age of 2, they are also provided with a layette filled with 10 items ranging from diapers, towels, clothing, socks, and even a toy for the toddler to play with. Clothing is also provided through donations to Operation Attack. Volunteers then sort through the clothes to size and ensure that what they are giving away is in good condition.
Located next door from the section of Operation Attack that holds clothes and essentials is the “Prep area”.
/Arman Mouradian
The room houses various food items, clothing, and books that are categorized and organized by the volunteers. Clothes are sized, tagged, and sent to the section next door to be given away. This is where volunteer Mary Turner spends most of her time.
Turner, 92, is seen putting together paper bags for the food bank that runs monthly out of Lakeview Presbyterian Church.
Volunteers joke about the longevity Turner has been with Operation Attack after her modest answer.
“I bet we could say you have been here 25 years. Tell them that. We have some lifelong people here,” Klamer says.
Operation Attack partners with the Neighborly Care Network to provide food to different areas once every three months.
Since her early start as a volunteer, after retiring from being an art teacher in 1988, Turner has witnessed the growth the organization has achieved. Robert Davis, 63, is an active member of the community of South St. Petersburg and works alongside Turner to pick up groceries used at the food bank.
“It’s beneficial for the children and it’s convenient since I’m only about a 3-minute walk,” Davis says on why he likes to help out with the organization.
The local is also able to provide an interpersonal outlook when engaging in conversation with Operation Attack participants.
Arman Mouradian
“Mary leaves her home, picks Robert up, then goes to pick up the food at the food bank which is now in Joes Creek, and they high tail it out there and then all this food is available to us for the food bank. Robert and Mary then make a decision on what we need. Robert puts the food in her car and when he gets here he takes it out of her car. Mary used to do it but then it got to be too much,” Klamer says.
According to the volunteers, donating food and clothing is essential in keeping Operation Attack afloat but with more members constantly coming in, and receiving referrals from other churches what they need is time.
“There is such a need for volunteers in this organization. A lot of other organizations already have a lot of volunteers. This organization does not, ” Klamer says.
BY: Haley Jordan (story) and Ambria Whalum (photos).
ST. PETERSBURG – “At the end of the day, we have got to recognize in St. Petersburg, Fla., that we have a problem here with the racial, social and economic injustices that impact African-American communities,” Maria L. Scruggs, president of St. Petersburg’s NAACP, said to those gathered at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Debriefing.
“And when we enter into this struggle, into this battle of recognition, the responsibility is for us to recognize that we have a problem, and then we need to be at the forefront trying to fix it,” Scruggs said.
This story was originally published by The Weekly Challenger on February 8, 2018. To read the full article, please click on the link below.
BY: Haley Jordan, Corey Mapp and Kelli Carmack, Neighborhood News Bureau
Martin Luther King Day brought the community of St. Petersburg together with a Day of Services to benefit the residents of the city. Murals were painted to brighten up the streets. Fraternities and sororities handed out food and family care packages. Information booths were set up to provide new moms and dads with support. People helped paint the city, tend to the community garden, volunteer at the animal shelter, and more.
This story was originally published by The Weekly Challenger on January 18, 2018. Click on the link below to read the full article:
Kenadi Smith is a second grader who attends the annual Candlelight Vigil honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum. There, she watched the performances of two young African-American’s, Maya Stevenson and Aleisha Mandela, along with the Florida Orchestra. While watching the Florida Orchestra, Smith noticed the one African-American woman who played the violin next to all white males. While Smith is not old enough to have experienced racial segregation, she understands that life should be full of love, peace, unity, and harmony.
This story was originally published at The Weekly Challenger on January 18, 2018. Click on the link below to read the full story:
The Environmental Protection Agency says that lead levels below the action level don’t require public action, but 45 homes in the St. Petersburg Midtown area tested positive for lead in the water.
Most of the homes that were tested contained very low traces. However, according to the EPA, any amount of lead is dangerous, especially for young children under the age of six.
A journalism class, the Neighborhood News Bureau (NNB), class from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg (USFSP) St. Petersburg worked with students at Academy Prep to conduct the testing in the fall of 2016. Each student took home vials to collect water with specific instructions based on a protocol developed by the same Virginia Technological University’s laboratory that tested the water of Flint, Michigan during the water crisis.
The analysis was conducted by Kelly Quinn, a research associate at the USF College of Marine Science. The chosen method was much more rigorous than St. Petersburg’s program, which tests 50 homes at random every three years based on a contested EPA protocol. St. Petersburg was one of the cities exposed by a report published by The Guardian on June 2, 2016 as one of the cities “cheating” on water testing protocols.
Academy Prep students visit the Oceonagraphic Recent Center in USF St. Petersburg to learn more about the process for water testing the samples they gathered in their homes. Neighborhood News Bureau.
Students at Academy Prep were asked to acquire three draws from their homes and their neighbors’. The first draw required the water to be unused for six to eight hours, which gives an accurate indication of how much lead accumulates in the water as it sits in the pipes. The other two draws measure lead levels after water has been flushed.
Kevin Riskowitz, the interim manager of the city’s environmental compliance division said that the city’s lead testing program only takes one draw. The EPA typically only tests water using the first draw as well.
The EPA says that concerned homeowners can test their own homes, which ranges from $20 to $100 in cost.
“As Midtown fits with the characteristics of most of the communities affected by lead poisoning in their tap water, I believe that it would be good to make sure children (and adults) were not in danger”, said Dr. Bernardo Motta, a USFSP assistant professor who initiated the collaboration between the Neighborhood News Bureau class and Academy Prep.
Sources of the toxic metal can be found in water that travels through lead pipes, which are common in old homes, and in pipes that contain parts made of or welded with lead, which can be found in homes built until 1986. The natural corrosion of these pipes compounds the issue. The result is water containing a trace amount of lead in consumable tap water.
To alleviate the problem, John Palenchar, the interim director of St. Petersburg’s Water Resources says that the city uses corrosion control. This method of water treatment creates calcium buildup in the pipes. Calcium helps to slow the corrosion process.
Palenchar attributed the problems in Flint, Michigan, to the lack of proper corrosion control.
In 1986 lead piping installation and repairs nationwide were banned under the amended Safe Drinking Water Act, but many homes in St. Petersburg still have old piping systems held together by lead solder.
Seven of the homes tested by Academy Prep students that came back above 1 part per billion were built before 1986.
At 2.1 parts per billion on average, the amount of lead found in St. Petersburg’s water supply is low. The EPA’s guidelines mandate that action is taken if levels are found to be above 15 parts per billion.
Even the house with the highest amount of lead in the water tested below the EPA’s action level with 13 parts per billion in the first draw.
Per EPA standards, the city must take action if five or more of its 50 samples come back above the action level of 15 parts per billion.
According to the EPA, in children, low levels of lead exposure are linked to damage to the nervous system. Symptoms and permanent health effects include learning disabilities, impaired hearing and impaired function of blood cells.
“It doesn’t matter what level is found on the sample tests, my main concern is always numbers,” said Cynthia Keeton, a lead poisoning prevention coordinator for the Florida Health Department in Hillsborough County.
Although blood lead concentrations below five micrograms aren’t recognized as threatening to the body, Keeton believes that such levels should be lowered to zero in all children’s cases.
The Academy of Pediatrics recently reported that cognitive deficits and behavioral problems can occur at blood lead concentrations below that level, making the case for preventive measures at home even more urgent.
“Food is the thing that gets the lead out of a child’s body. They need to eat rich foods in iron and calcium. You have to put that back in the body. There’s no quick fix unless this child’s blood lead level gets to be 45, they have to go to the hospital. Otherwise, a crucial diet is the solution,” Keeton explained.
Children enrolled in Medicaid receive a blood lead screening test at 12 and 24 months, and those who are between 3 and 6 years of age must also be tested if they haven’t before.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, blood tests that monitor for lead levels range from $10 to $75.
Young children, in many cases, tend to be picky eaters, which makes the absorption of lead higher, due to an empty stomach. Keeton details that in the end, her main responsibility is to educate parents as key players against lead poisoning, even if it’s challenging.
“You got to get parents to do their part. It takes a parent who has had a lead poisoned child, and knows what it does to the families, to take action sometimes,” she said.
The city’s Community Redevelopment Plan (CRA) currently offers funding programs to property owners who want to upgrade old plumbing systems. Only properties that are considered “affordable housing,” or where an income by a number of people living in the household is between $33,050 to $69,856, can qualify to receive the grant. According to the Funding program, the minimum investment must start at $10,000.
Based on data collected by Neighbourhood News Bureau student’s in 2016 and 2017 last year, many properties can be individually eligible for the grant. However, in order for seven house pipe systems, built before 1986, to be replaced, homeowners would have to invest in the project privately. To apply for the grant, homeowners need to have the full money for the job and then use the grant for reimbursement.
Moreover, replacement of corrosive pipelines may also be covered by an income-based mortgage loan through the city Housing and Community Development division, which has primarily worked on roof repairs, lead-based paint mitigation, and electrical hazards.
There are many options besides pipe repair and replacement to reduce the amount of lead found in water. For most homes with low-level lead-contaminated water, a filtered pitcher will suffice. According to the EPA, one of these simple pitchers costs about $20 but requires maintenance at various time intervals to ensure that the filter’s quality doesn’t degrade over time.
In October, Keeton visited A Perfect Start Early Learning Childcare Center located in Tampa, as part of the National Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Week program. Children between the ages of four and six asked her about the toxin, as she guided them through preventive steps to take in their homes and avoid consuming lead at all costs.
Although she’s currently the only staff member of the Childhood lead poisoning and healthy homes program visiting child care centers in Hillsborough County, and orienting children and parents about prevention methods, she explains she’s able to work efficiently because the County facilitates a lead poisoning screening map that identifies 25 zip codes across high-risk areas.
“Inner cities always have more lead because of the age of the houses. The zip codes tell me exactly where I need to be going. I target certain zip codes at certain times of the year too, like in the summer when children are more prone to be outside, they are very much exposed to lead”.
According to Hillsborough County’s Reportable Diseases Frequency Report, powered by the Florida Department, 79 cases of lead poisoning have been confirmed in 2018. Last year a total of 132 cases were reported, and four were identified in minors varying from newborns to four-year-olds.
Unlike the Hillsborough’s preventive program, the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas does not follow up with lead cases based on screening maps.
“For children normally pediatricians routinely screen for lead at their 12 and 20-month visit”, explained epidemiologist Rebecca Bohinc. According to Bohinc, who’s in charge of all reportable lead cases through the County’s Disease Control and Health Protection Division, even if a child lives in a high-risk area that isn’t monitored, pediatricians will normally conduct blood tests.
In Pinellas County, between 2017 and 2018, 23 cases have been confirmed and only two cases of lead poisoning have been traced back to newborns up to the age of four.
Keeton’s recent visits to the Tampa neighborhoods coincide with a recent amendment of the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2017 (S.1854). The bill, which excludes lead found in tap water, aims to protect children living in federally assisted housing from lead-based poisoning.
The bipartisan bill, if passed, would require Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to ensure mandated risk assessments for lead-based hazards in low-income housing constructed prior to 1978 before a family moves in.
The Childcare Center on East 21st Ave is neighboring with older houses built pre 1978 that have lead-based paint, as Keeton explained. Three blocks south from the Center, two uninhabited houses showed noticeable paint chips and lead dust on their walls and railing.
“If I were to go up here and touch this area, that’s where the lead is. A family probably lived here, in this condition and moved recently”, she said referring to an uninhabited house on 14th Ave, just a few feet away from the highway traffic of I-4.
Pinellas County, however, has not been nearly as proactive as Hillsborough. Pinellas doesn’t have a counterpart for Keeton’s position or a process for mitigating lead poisoning that resembles Hillsborough’s current program.
Ryan Callihan and Evy Guerra contributed to this story.
SOUTH ST. PETERSBURG—The presence of Hurricane Irma was the cause of stress and panic leading up to its arrival, and the reason for frustration and relief after it left. For the schools stepping in as shelters, this was no different.
After tracking Hurricane Irma through various spaghetti models and varying paths, some schools in St. Petersburg had to prepare to not only close their doors to students during the storm’s arrival but to open them to evacuees as well.
Principal Nicole Wilson of Thurgood Marshall Fundamental and Principal Reuben Hepburn of Gibbs High School knew once Pinellas County Schools closed for students, their next step was to take the appropriate steps to anticipate becoming a shelter.
“I was still in ‘principal mode,’” said Principal Hepburn. “Here we are concerned about student achievement and moving student achievement forward so that our students can get the best possible education from Gibbs High School, and now we have to shift our thinking.”
Principal Hepburn and his administrator tracked the storm. Once the schools closed and the storm still projected to hit Florida, his conference room became “command central” for Gibbs High School’s transition into a shelter.
The whiteboard became an organized chart, Hepburn’s name at the top as EOC commander. People were assigned to their titles and roles.
“We’re going to be a shelter. Our community is going to be looking to us for refuge, a safe haven, to escape this devastating storm,” said Principle Hepburn.
As the storm grew closer and Principal Wilson monitored the storm and followed the district’s instructions on what steps to take to shift from school to shelter, she was hit with a twist.
“It was Friday that I got word that my school was not going to be a shelter because it was in a flood zone. I was being moved to Campbell Park Elementary to be Incident Commander at Campbell Park,” said Wilson. “I got that information Friday evening around 6:30 and that was kind of scary because I don’t know the school.”
Within an hour that evening, Principal Wilson met with Principal Young-Parker, of Campbell Park, to walk the campus for Wilson to come up with the best plan for her and her team on very short notice.
Less than 12 hours later, Campbell Park would open their doors at 6 a.m. to welcome those seeking refuge.
Principal Hepburn and his team opened doors Friday; same time but a day early.
Both principals and their teams organized and managed the crowds in their own ways while still achieving and possessing the same goal to get everyone in as quickly and safely as possible.
At Gibbs, “We had to create a system, almost at like a theme park, where they could form lines,” said Hepburn.
These lines then lead people to registration signs to inform them on which items the shelter allowed and where to go for registration.
The gymnasium and their media center were the two main areas where people would reside because they were convenient entry points.
Hepburn saw these two buildings’ accessibility important to keeping their system intact. Vehicles were able to drive up, load and unload passengers. Hepburn also made sure they had a ramp for those in wheelchairs.
People were also given wristbands in correlation with which tier they were assigned to. The gymnasium was Tier One and the media center were Tier Two.
To add to the impromptu stress at Campbell Park, Principal Wilson was assisted by Campbell Park’s assistant principal with maps of the school to figure out with which rooms would be best for people to stay in since their principal, Young-Parker, has only been at the school since August.
In addition, Principal Wilson points out how delegating roles to her team in a school she was not familiar with was slightly daunting.
“The team that I had that was going to work under me were not my staff employees here on campus,” says Principal Wilson.
Her team was made up of principals and assistant principals from various schools. The only person she worked with on a daily basis was her assistant principal at Thurgood Marshall Elementary.
“I had to assign tasks and responsibilities, like registration, safety, supervision, security,” said Wilson. “Those are things I just had to assign to people without even really knowing them.”
Once they were registered, people were then organized into different sections: single males, single females without children, families, elderly and special needs.
The staff at both locations had their own sections as well.
Since Principal Wilson had to relocate, she and her cafeteria manager had to bring their food and supplies from Thurgood Marshall over to Campbell Park to feed the guests.
Some of the meals had to be served cold at Campbell Park because about an hour into the storm, they lost power. The backup generators they had only kept the lights on.
“For the most part, we tried to give them a heated meal when we could,” says Principal Wilson.
Campbell Park housed about 730 people and Gibbs housed about 1,300, both hitting capacity.
For security, the St. Petersburg Police Department was a presence on both campuses. EMS was also on the scene if anyone needed medical attention. Within the first hour of the storm, Campbell Park Elementary lost power. Gibbs, however, never lost their power.
Despite the panic and stress, both principals see a glimmer of a hope to the experience.
Both responded positively to the overall experience. They didn’t mention having any issues they could not handle.
Principal Hepburn read thankful emails from those who stayed with him in their time of fear and panic, complimenting Hepburn and his steam on their hospitality.
They also gave their teams high praise.
“I worked with a dynamic team. …Phenomenal assistant principals and principals that just stepped up,” said Principal Wilson.
“When you have a collaborative effort of minds that think alike and we’re all trying to achieve the same goal, you get the best result,” said Hepburn.
The 2017 hurricane season has been tumultuous and nerve-wracking. Many are not only concerned about the intensity of these storms, but how frequent they are becoming.
Just two weeks after watching Hurricane Harvey demolish Houston, St. Petersburg residents were fearing for the worst as Hurricane Irma prepared to hit.
While many flock to Florida for the beautiful, white sand beaches, those living close to shore are concerned about the impacts of these storms because of their homes’ exceptionally low sea level.
The seemingly simple, yet thoroughly complex, factor for these storms is, in fact, climate change. Despite being a largely debated topic in the political realm, climate change is a fact according to leading scientists around the world. According to NASA, the world has experienced the hottest temperatures three years running, which inevitably leads to warmer waters at higher sea levels.
This poses a great dilemma for Floridians as much of the coastline is nearly at sea level. When a hurricane strikes, a major concern for St. Petersburg is not just the vigorous winds, but the substantial rainfall. The combination of high quantities of rain and the threat of storm surge threaten the safety and security of residents and their homes.
Tom Reese, an environmental lawyer, and USF alumni says that policy and procedure regarding human activities contributing to climate change are not getting the attention needed, although the effort has been prevalent for decades now.
He remembers back in the 80s and 90s when currentSenator Bill Nelson was highly involved in climate change activism.
In the 1900s Sen. Bill Nelson held the office of Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshall of Florida. He made it a point to focus on how climate change has impacted the insurance industry in Europe and used it as a model for progress in his own state.
However, many feel that the current administration, both at a federal and state level are not doing enough. The Trump Administration has declared a withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. On Oct. 9, Head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, announced his repeal of the Clean Power Plan.
Reese believes the Paris Climate Accord is a necessity to acknowledge human impacts on climate change.
“Many cities are adopting the policy on their own,” Reese stated. “St. Petersburg has been rather involved in this battle and may choose to adopt some measures on their own.”
Governor Rick Scott’s administration had received criticism in 2015 for allegedly banning government employees from using the terms climate change, sustainability or global warming. When asked about his opinion of climate change and the scientific opinion that human activity is contributing to it, Gov. Scott has often avoided answering by saying, “I am not a scientist.”
Former employees of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have confirmed these allegations, some claiming this policy was, in fact, why they lost their positions. The FDEP has assured that “this is simply not true. There is not, nor has there ever been any such [F]DEP policy.”
The FDEP currently undergoes many projects to analyze and prevent any damage done or may occur in the future due to climate change. They “regularly coordinate with a number of local, state, and federal agencies to address the challenges of sea level rise statewide and to ensure that Florida’s communities and natural resources are protected.”
The FDEP’s primary role in studying climate change is to assist with projections, mapping and monitoring data to support coastal resilience planning. They also fund projects related to coastal changes and backwater flooding like a five-year project that is currently underway which “evaluates sea level rise risk and vulnerability assessments.”
The FDEP believes this project will “provide information needed to assist local comprehensive plans” and “post-disaster redevelopment plans statewide.”
Former Governor and current Congressional Representative of St. Petersburg, Charlie Crist, has long time been an advocate of climate change.
“I am persuaded that global climate change is one of the most important issues that we will face this century,” Crist said in his initial State of the State address.
“Florida is more vulnerable to rising ocean levels and violent weather patterns than any other state. Yet, we have done little to understand and address the root causes of this problem, or frankly, even acknowledge that the problem exists.”
The FDEP’s recent work has led to the 2017 Florida Statute Section 161.101(1) that states the department designates shorelines that have become critically eroded due to natural processes and/or human activity. This means that Florida policy is beginning to acknowledge the real dangers of climate change on our population.
Attorney Tom Reese believes the best prevention from the impacts of climate change if a devastating hurricane strikes St. Petersburg is to stop development in low lying areas. This is particularly prevalent in areas like downtown St. Petersburg where construction for high-rises is seen in every direction.
In 2008 “the city of St. Pete annexed 21 acres on Terra Verde intending to build a 22 story condo,” Reese stated. “It was annexed, but when they tried to increase the density it was successfully challenged by my team and the civic association in Terra Verde.”
Another major concern for St. Petersburg during a strong hurricane is the topic of evacuation. When the news and officials are warning residents to leave their homes and head for safety- when is the right time to leave? Where is the best place to go?
Many companies classify their jobs as “essential” and “non-essential” during a storm. The essential employees are often managers or leaders of businesses that will be sheltering people, doctors, nurses and first responders, who are required to be at work throughout the storm. The non-essential workers are generally excused from work and are free to act as they see fit until work resumes.
However, many businesses often do not close until just before the storm, attempting to make as much money as possible before they close down for an unknown amount of time and face potential damages and losses. This leaves the workers staying in town instead of evacuating for fear of losing their jobs.
Unfortunately, there is very little legal protection for employees in this situation because Florida is a right-to-work state. This means that employers have the upper hand when employees fail to show up to their job, for any reason. Florida has no specific law stating that if there is a hurricane, people must be allowed to evacuate.
There are tiny glimmers of hope though. According to Reese, if one evacuates and lives in a zone that was under mandatory evacuation, there might be some protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act, a statute stating it is illegal to be fired for refusing to break the law. “If you are in a really low-lying area, you might have some type of whistleblower defense,” Reese claims. “But it’s all situational. Evacuations aren’t necessarily the ‘law.’”
Evacuating Pinellas County is also tricky because it is the most densely populated county in the entire state, home to almost 1 million people in 608 square miles. Since most of Pinellas County’s perimeter belongs to at-risk properties and the highly populated areas, it is important to evacuate the area completely if you have the physical and financial means to do so as quickly as possible.
For residents who do not have those luxuries, it is important to know where the closest shelter to your home is and to get there as soon as possible. Director of Pinellas County Emergency Management, Sally Bishop, has expressed concerns in the past when dealing with an evacuation.
“When you’re talking about 600,000 people, that’s pretty staggering to have that many having to get out of the way of storm surge,” he added.
Expanding knowledge of health through urban agriculture
BY MIKE SINGER
The Et Cultura festival was hosted in South St. Petersburg from Nov. 15-19. There were a number of themes of the event, including music, art, healthy eating, addressing the future of St. Petersburg and its schools and more.
On Thursday, Nov. 16, the Et Cultura theme was SEEDS, which deals with sustainable healthy food systems and urban agriculture.
The morning SEEDS session, called “Prescribing Food as Medicine,” had a panel of experts in the urban agriculture field. As moderator and public health specialist, Mark Trujillo, spoke with John Correy of PlantPure Inc.; Randall Russell, President & CEO of Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete; Dr. Roland Lajoie, board-certified endocrinologist; Dr. Bob Linde, Owner of Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies; and Reverend Katie Churchwell from the Cathedral of St. Peter.
Of the five on the panel, one person stuck out from the crowd as someone who is not necessarily an “expert” in the urban agriculture field, and that was Churchwell.
And she will admit it.
Churchwell doesn’t know a whole lot about urban agriculture, but what she cares about is people.
“Here’s the thing – you’re probably going to encounter a lot of people where [urban agriculture] is their passion,” Churchwell said. “They love growing food; they love the health aspect. But my passion is people. I have to be really honest that this is really exciting for me to be in a place like this and learn from people because this is not my area of expertise. It’s not even a personal area of enjoyment. So much of this is nothing that I know about. But what I really care about and what I’m really passionate about are people.”
“Next year, it’d be really easy for you to see me talking about housing or economics. I’m not a housing expert and I really know nothing about the economy other than I love to shop local.”
Churchwell did have a reason to be selected on the SEEDS panel of experts though. There can be a lot of “talk” about initiating urban agriculture programs in Midtown St. Petersburg, but Churchwell is actively leading a community outreach initiative.
Campbell Park Recreation Center is located on 14th Street S. and 7th Avenue S. and is home to the Food is Medicine program. It is a six-week class that engages in health, diet and nutritional needs. Each member of the class also receives a free health care screening from community health nurses from Baycare.
Food is Medicine is a collaborative effort comprised of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Baycare Health Systems, Gulfport Produce, The Cathedral Church of St. Peters, and the city of St. Petersburg.
“It is modeled after the Florida Hospital System West Division’s Food Is Medicine program,” Churchwell explained. “One of the requirements for determining the placement of a Food Is Medicine site is that the location must be situated within a food desert.
“The Cathedral Church of St. Peter, already having a robust and joyful relationship with Campbell Park Elementary School, felt that it made a lot of sense to set up Food Is Medicine St. Pete at Campbell Park Recreation Center, just across the street from the elementary school. In working with the City of St. Petersburg, we are glad that we were able to secure – as an in-kind gift – the room use at Campbell Park Recreation Center.”
Trujillo, was a key contributor in helping the St. Petersburg chapter of Food is Medicine launch.
“He was instrumental in bringing everyone to the table,” said Churchwell. “His hard work made Food Is Medicine St. Pete happen.”
Currently, Food is Medicine St. Pete has been showing progress as it has reached its third-class series (it launched Aug. 16). Churchwell noted that they are still learning more about the community’s needs, and they accomplish that by conducting class surveys.
“I have been really intrigued by what I have seen coming out of the urban agriculture initiatives in St. Pete and have even sampled some of the delicious and healthy produce,” Churchwell said.
The Food is Medicine program could extend to other areas across the state of Florida that finds itself in a food desert.
“Food Is Medicine St. Pete is a standard template of free health screenings, free health education and access to fresh produce,” Churchwell explained. “This template can be replicated and altered to fit the needs of any community – to help address the needs and concerns of specific communities.”
