🌱 Tampa Bay Rays Donate $50K To Gun Control + 'Love Your Park' Tampa

Welcome back, Tampa! I'm here in your inbox this morning to get you caught up on everything you need to know about what's going on in town.

First, today's weather:

A t-storm in the afternoon. High: 89 Low: 74.

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Here are the top five stories in Tampa today:

1. Following increased vandalism in city parks, the city of Tampa launched a new "Love Your Park" campaign on Friday. Incidents cost taxpayers thousands of dollars and take away resources from regularly scheduled maintenance projects in Tampa Parks and Recreation facilities. (Tampa Patch)

2. St. Petersburg-based Tampa Bay Rays have donated $50,000 to Everytown, a nonprofit that advocates for stricter gun control, and also recently shared gun facts from the nonprofit across the team's social media channels. This comes after years of donations to the Florida Republican Party. (Creative Loafing Tampa)

3. Matthew Terry, 47, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the early Saturday morning discovery of a dead woman in Lithia, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies. Detectives said Terry fled the crime scene and was found in "overgrown brush and trees" off Lithia Pinecrest Road. (Subscription: Tampa Bay Times)

4. Law enforcement response in the Uvalde, Texas school shooting is being criticized by agencies across the United States including locally. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd blamed the response on a lack of officer training and what he said is not enough of an armed presence at the Uvalde school. (ABC Action News)

5. The team behind Oxford Exchange is opening a new concept on the ground floor of Cora in Water Street Tampa called Predalina. The restaurant will include a huge wine cellar, a 2,000-square-foot outdoor patio and a raw bar, according to Strategic Property Partners. It is expected to open in early 2023. (That's So Tampa)

Today in Tampa:

• Memorial Day Observance at Veterans Park. (10 a.m.)
• Sunshine Sunday at Glazer Children's Museum. (10 a.m.)
• Big And Little Chef: Food Revolution at Publix Aprons Cooking School Of Citrus Park. (10 a.m.)
• Memorial Weekend Splash Party at MacDinton's Irish Pub. (11 a.m.)
• Chase West, Galo, + Very Special Guest at The Attic At Rock Brothers Brewing. (10 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• City of Tampa's Solid Waste team is hiring for a WTE Utility Operator I. Minimum qualifications include high school graduation or equivariant with 6 months of basic experience in a mechanical or electrical maintenance environment. (Twitter)
• Longtime Tampa Bay sports executive Rick Nafe has died at age 70. Nafe was a top sports executive for nearly 40 years and played a major role in the Tampa Bay Rays organization and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (WTSP)
• Four Green Fields has opened in Channelside at 802 North 12th Street and features an outdoor patio area and a mural paint homage to its long-running original location. (That's So Tampa)
• Tampa workers currently would need to work three jobs to afford an apartment at minimum wage or work about 92 hours per week. (WFLA)

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You're officially in the loop for today. See you all 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.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Tampa Daily? Contact me at SouthTampa@Patch.com