5 Things to Know in St. Pete: July 3

1. The application deadline for St. Petersburg families to share their home and culture this July by serving as a host family for visiting high school students from our Sister City of Takamatsu, Japan, has been extended to Friday, July 6. The high school students will be housed with host families for one week in July, either July 20 to 25, or July 26 to Aug. 2. Information on the Student Ambassador Host Family program is available in the Homestay Exchange Guide and Host Family application at stpete.org/hostfamily.

2. During the holiday week of July 2 to 6, there are no changes to residential trash collections in St. Petersburg. City Hall, public libraries, and recreation centers are closed July 4th. Facilities OPEN to the public on Wednesday, July 4 include Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, The Pier, three city golf courses (Mangrove Bay, Cypress Links and Twin Brooks), North Shore Aquatic Complex, 8 neighborhood pools and Sunken Gardens attraction (business offices closed). Brush sites will also be open on Independence Day.

3. This week 43 contestants will compete for the title of Miss Florida and try to represent Florida at the annual Miss America pageant. In addition to the Miss Florida title, another 30 young ladies will compete for Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen. Preliminary pageants will be held July 4, 5 and 6 at the Mahaffey. The final pageants will be Saturday, July 7, with the teen pageant at 5 p.m. and the Miss Florida finals at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available for all pageants at ticketmaster.com .

4. Take notice St. Peter drives, you may soon have to take an alternative route if you drive along 54th Avenue S. Traffic along 54th Ave. S. will be reduced to one outer lane in both directions between 19th Way and 16th Court S. while crews repair a sewer line. Construction is scheduled to begin July 9 and will last approximately one month. 

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