🌱 Seminole Heights Church Survives As Art + Gasparilla + TPD Crime Information Hidden

Happy Sunday, neighbors! Here's everything you need to know to start today off on an informed note, shall we? Here's everything you need to know today in town.

First, today's weather:

Clouds breaking and cool. High: 60 Low: 41.

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Here are the top five stories in Tampa today:

1. The two-time NFL world champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will serve as grand marshal for the upcoming 2022 Seminole Hard Rock Gasparilla Pirate Fest on Saturday, January 29th. The team representative participating in Gasparilla on behalf of the Buccaneers will be released soon. Jalem Robinson, from Brothers United Building Brothers Alliance (B.U.B.B.A.) in Tampa, will also be this year's honorary community hero. (Tampa Patch)

2. 73 Florida basketball players have been named for the McDonald's All-American Games this March in Chicago. Locals named include Joline Raposo of Bloomingdale High School in Valrico, Jaela Davis of Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa, and Halei Murrell of Lennard High School in Ruskin. (Florida Patch)

3. The Seminole Heights Baptist Church which served as a Tampa landmark for over 70 years is going on as artwork using part of the spire after neighbors fought to save it. Ella's Americana Folk Art Café owner Melissa Deming was part of that fight and joined with artist Jennifer Kosharek. The artwork is located on Nebraska Avenue, about a quarter-mile south of Hillsborough Avenue and more plans are underway for its future. (Fox 13 Tampa)

4. Tampa Police Department has stopped sharing crime information by block, citing Marsy's Law which passed in 2018. Brittany Suszan, Vice President of crime data company SpotCrime, says there is nothing in the law that says general public crime information should be affected in the law. Tampa lawyer Mark Caramanica says the change, "removes vital crime information from the public, from people who rely on this data to keep themselves and their family safe, or even decide where they want to live when they move here." (Creative Loafing Tampa)

5. A new billboard by non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is calling out Tampa General Hospital for the McDonald's restaurant housed on its first floor. The billboard located on Adamo Drive says, "I'm not lovin' the ventilator." (Bay News 9)

Today in Tampa:

• Yoga at Skippers Smokehouse. (12:00 PM)
• Carnival at The Grove at Wesley Chapel. Free admission. (12:00 PM)
• The Sneaker Travelers Tampa Pop Up 2022 at Bryan Glazer Family JCC. (12:00 PM)
• Mardi Gras at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. (12:00 PM)
• Medicinal Herb Walk With Bob Linde at Sweetwater Organic Community Farm. (1:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Visit Tampa Bay has launched an all-in-one ticket offering discounts for Tampa Riverwalk attractions including The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Henry B. Plant Museum, The Florida Aquarium, Glazer Children's Museum, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa Bay History Center and the Pirate Water Taxi. (WTSP)
• Armwood High put its pride and spirit on full display this past week to celebrate biology teacher, Laura Widerberg, being named Hillsborough County Public Schools Teacher of the Year. (Facebook)
• Wondering what to do with your beads after Gasparilla? Take them to one of Tampa Parks & Recreation's bead collection sites so that they can be cleaned and reused. (Facebook)
• AGoldPhoto Pet Photo Studio has decided to create a second volume of its Tails of Gratitude coffee table book and that it will benefit Humane Society of Tampa Bay and homeless animals in need. (Facebook)
• Join the next virtual Rome Yard Public Meeting on Monday, January 24th to share your ideas for what an 18-acre empty lot in West Tampa can become. (Facebook)

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Thanks for following along and staying informed! See you tomorrow for another update.

— Carlos Hernandez

About me: Hello my name is Carlos Hernandez and I am a food writer with over 10 years of experience in the industry. I write the food blog Carlos Eats (http://www.carloseats.com) and also contribute to several newspapers and magazines with food-related blogs and articles.