🌱 Tampa Mayor Gifts Bikes + Gasparilla Festival Of The Arts 2022 Announced

Morning, Tampa! Let's get you started this Sunday with everything you need to know going on today in Tampa.

First, today's weather:

Humid with showers around. High: 79 Low: 67.

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Here are the top stories in Tampa today:

1. City of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and the charity OnBikes surprised about 75 to 100 kids with brand-new bicycles on Friday. This year's celebration was called Caroling with Castor and happened at Forest Hills, Copeland Park and Highland Park. (Fox 13 Tampa)

2. A Clearwater man was arrested on Friday after police said he threatened to use a bomb to kill himself and others at the Judicial Qualification Commission (JQC). 41-year-old Beau Bloomer threatened a judge and others if he lost custody of his child and is now charged with false report of a bomb. (WFLA)

3. Only 39% of Florida nursing home residents have taken the COVID-19 booster shot or third dose. Early studies show current vaccines are less effective against the highly transmissible Omicron COVID-19 variant and a third shot improves protection. Florida ranks third from the bottom in the nation. Only Arizona and Nevada are worse. (WMFE)

4. Tampa police are investigating the discovery of a body found floating in the Hillsborough River around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. The body was found near the 6600 block of North Riviera Manor Drive by the police marine unit. (Tampa Patch)

5. The 52nd Annual Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts will be held at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park on March 5th and March 6th of 2022. Tampa Bay native Janet Echelman will jury the 2022 show. (That's So Tampa)

Today in Tampa:

• Yappy Hour at MacDinton's To Benefit Humane Society. (11:00 AM)
• Holiday Fair at Licciardello Stables. (11:00 AM)
• Santa’s Holiday Brunch Cruise at Yacht StarShip Cruises & Events (12:30 PM)
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Amalie Arena. (3:30 PM)
• Hands At Heart Yoga’s Winter Solstice at Veterans Memorial Park. (3:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• Governor DeSantis shared a stage with an activist who posted QAnon-related conspiracy theories on social media. (Politico)
• Bucs’ WR Breshad Perriman was placed on the reserve COVID list Saturday and is out for tonight's game vs. Saints. (Twitter)
• “Selling Tampa” is now ranked the No. 1 Netflix TV show in the U.S. (Creative Loafing Tampa)
• Startup of the Year Summit is coming to downtown Tampa in January 2022. Up to $50,000 in funding will be up for grabs. (83 Degrees Media)
• Florida COVID numbers doubled this week, with 8,000+ more cases added on Saturday. (Twitter)

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You're officially in the loop for today! I'll catch up with you bright and early tomorrow with your next 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.