Tampa Bay Rays get their say for Tropicana Field redevelopment

1 big thing: The Rays get their say for new stadium

rendering of new Gas Plant District proposed by Hines and the Rays

Take your career to the next level

4 Tampa Bay road projects would be expedited under DeSantis plan

2. Construction ahead

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3. The Pulp: I'm back at the crossroads one last lime

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Find Filipino dumplings and halo halo at South Tampa's Lucky Tigré

4. Don't skip South Tampa's Lucky Tigré 

Tuesday's here, friends. Pull it together. 

🌫 Patchy fog early, then mostly sunny — 81°/64°. 

Sounds like: "Hellhounds," Andrea and Mud.

🚨 Situational awareness: Ten people were shot yesterday afternoon in midtown Lakeland, with two in critical condition, in what police say was likely a targeted attack.

Today's newsletter is 756 words, a 3-minute read.

🛼 Ben is shopping for Tampa Junior Roller Derby merch and you should, too.

🙋‍♀️ Selene is watching Trixie Mattel quiz the "80 for Brady" cast.

BTW: Become an Axios Tampa Bay member before midnight, and you could win a $200 gift card to a local restaurant. Terms and conditions apply.

Today's newsletter was edited by Alexa Mencia and copy edited by Carolyn DiPaolo.

Tampa Bay

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Get smarter, faster about what’s happening in your backyard with local reporter Ben Montgomery.

Axios Tampa Bay

Tom Brady's retirement means the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can move on

1 big thing — Brady Retirement 2: Electric Boogaloo

Photo illustration of Tom Brady at the helm of a pirate ship, tipping his hat towards the shoreline.

2. Citrus crops in crisis

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3. The Pulp: You say goodbye, I say orangelo

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4. Baby bear births to begin

A new career is waiting for you

5. 💔 1 missed connection to go

🌥 Mostly cloudy, then gradually sunnier throughout the day — 80°/66°.

Sounds like: "Groundhog Day," Em Beihold.

🐚 Situational awareness: While our friends up north wait to learn if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, we're watching the Keys' mollusk meteorologist for GroundCONCH Day.

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📚 Ben is reading WEB Du Bois' "The Souls of Black Folk."

🍪 Selene never fails to be cheered up by this version of the alphabet song. 

Tell a mollusk meteorologist to subscribe.

New College of Florida trustees replace president with DeSantis ally

1 big thing: New College president out, DEI stays for now

Students during a Defend New College protest in Sarasota, Florida, US, 

Plan your future

Manatee County Confederate memorial debate pushed

2. Confederate memorial debate pushed

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3. The Pulp: I might peel my ex, not the best idea

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4 ways to celebrate Black History Month around Tampa Bay

4. Ways to celebrate Black History Month around Tampa Bay

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🌤 Another foggy morning with a clear day ahead — 81°/62°. 

✊🏿 Today is the first day of Black History Month. Who in the Black community is making a difference and deserves to be recognized? Hit reply to let us know.

Today's newsletter is 794 words, a 3-minute read.

Ben is past "Ulysses" and moving on to WEB Du Bois' "The Souls of Black Folk." For those reading along with Asher's humanities class, time to swap.

📺 Selene is catching up on Michael B. Jordan's "SNL."

Nearly half of Tampa Bay's most-registered vehicles are pickup trucks

1 big thing: What in the actual truck?

2. You can't do that

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3. The Pulp: However do you want me? However do you seed me?

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4. Final Jeopardy

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Is a new job in your future?

5. 📸 1 Gasparilla pirate fest to go

🏴‍☠️ Happy Post-Gasparilla Monday, Pedialyte pirates. 

😶‍🌫️ Foggy in the early morning, then mostly sunny. 82/64. 

Today's newsletter is 712 words, a 3-minute read.

📚 Ben is reading RJ Young's "Requiem for the Massacre."

🎧 Selene is listening to the "Imagined Life" podcast and wishes Wondery would bring it back.

Tell your friend who's HUMBL AF to subscribe.

Tampa Bay food prices still steep but below national average

1 big thing: Inflation hits the kitchen table

New jobs to check out

University of South Florida tennis teams to train with VR technology

2. 🎾 USF tennis gets techy

A female uses virtual reality headset and raquet to practice tennis.

3. The Pulp: It's not living, if it's not with yuzu

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4. 📸 1 Boss photo to go

Nils Lofgren and Bruce Springsteen of the E Street Band perform at the Amalie Arena on February 1, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

☔️ Showers and possible thunderstorms today — 76°/51°.

Sounds like: "It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)," The 1975.

📻 Situational awareness: Catch Ben on WMNF's "The Skinny" at 11am.

Today's newsletter is 723 words, a 3-minute read.

🔨 Ben is reading Du Bois' "The Souls of Black Folk" and building a shed.

😭 Selene is still sobbing over "The Last of Us" episode 3.

Manatee County commissioners postponed a vote Tuesday on whether to re-install a Confederate monument on the lawn of the county courthouse, where it was removed following a wave of protests in 2017.

What happened: The commission was poised to discuss bringing back the memorial at Tuesday's board meeting, after several residents raised the idea last month. But commissioners said the issue had been removed from the agenda at the last minute.

The commissioners in attendance said they didn't know who withdrew the agenda item or why. Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who expressed support for the monument at an earlier meeting, was absent.

Of note: The county hadn't returned Axios' request for records regarding the matter as of late Tuesday.

What they're saying: About a dozen protesters showed up, denouncing the monument that stood in Bradenton for more than 90 years as a symbol honoring white supremacy and racism.

"I don't understand how reasonable people think it's OK to erect a monument that glorifies crimes against humanity," resident Tina Shope told commissioners.

Some commissioners appeared to have soured on the proposal after hearing from outraged constituents.

"I think this is a conversation that didn't need to happen," Commissioner George Kruse said at the meeting. "I'm not using taxpayer money to fix this thing."

What's next: Kruse said he wanted the item on a future agenda so it could finally be resolved.

Commissioners postponed a vote yesterday on whether to re-install a Confederate monument in Bradenton.

The base of the granite obelisk commemorating Confederate generals and soldiers. It stood in front of the Manatee County courthouse until 2017. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Florida

Manatee County commissioners postponed a vote Tuesday on whether to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="re-install a Confederate monument" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/01/11/manatee-county-confederate-monument-bradenton" data-vars-content-id="0ebdd54b-90f5-40bd-a531-c99646305a2b" data-vars-headline="Manatee County Confederate memorial debate pushed" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/01/11/manatee-county-confederate-monument-bradenton" target="_self">re-install a Confederate monument</a> on the lawn of the county courthouse, where it was removed following a wave of protests in 2017.What happened: The commission was poised to discuss bringing back the memorial at Tuesday&#x27;s board meeting, after several residents raised the idea last month. But commissioners said the issue had been removed from the agenda at the last minute.

News

Axios Tampa Bay, anchored by Ben Montgomery and Selene San Felice, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.

I took my daughter, Mo, to Manila for some book work in 2014 and now have a deep appreciation for Filipino cuisine.

Trust me when I say Tampa's first sari-sari counter Lucky Tigré, which opened late last year, should be on your radar if you like steamed buns, sticky rice, and Filipino dumplings.

We tried almost everything on the simple menu and fell in love with the Suman Malagkit, which is jasmine rice soaked in coconut milk and steamed inside a banana leaf, and the dairy-free halo halo dessert, made of ube ice cream, coconut milk, crushed ice, banana, sweet red beans, mango jelly, strawberry jelly, lychee jelly, brown sugar boba and coconut slices.

Bonus: A good portion of the menu is plant-based.

Food from Lucky Tigre, a new Filipino restaurant in South Tampa.

Two kinds of dumplings, bistek with garlic rice, and oyster mushroom boa buns. Photo: Ben Montgomery/Axios

Make sure to order the Suman Malagkit, which is jasmine rice soaked in coconut milk and steamed inside a banana leaf.

Restaurants

I took my daughter, Mo, to Manila for some <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="book work" data-vars-click-url="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29005675-the-leper-spy" data-vars-content-id="44f53ba2-758a-443b-a47c-ac7636a24f13" data-vars-headline="Find Filipino dumplings and halo halo at South Tampa&#x27;s Lucky Tigré" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29005675-the-leper-spy" target="_blank">book work</a> in 2014 and now have a deep appreciation for Filipino cuisine.Trust me when I say Tampa&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="first sari-sari counter" data-vars-click-url="https://www.cltampa.com/food-drink/tampas-first-filipino-sari-sari-counter-lucky-tigre-soft-opens-this-weekend-14346552" data-vars-content-id="44f53ba2-758a-443b-a47c-ac7636a24f13" data-vars-headline="Find Filipino dumplings and halo halo at South Tampa&#x27;s Lucky Tigré" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.cltampa.com/food-drink/tampas-first-filipino-sari-sari-counter-lucky-tigre-soft-opens-this-weekend-14346552" target="_blank">first sari-sari counter</a> Lucky Tigré, which opened late last year, should be on your radar if you like steamed buns, sticky rice, and Filipino dumplings.

Food and Drink

The New College of Florida's overhauled board of trustees ousted the school's president on Tuesday night in their first swift move to reshape the liberal arts school into a more conservative college.

Driving the news: The board, with six newly seated conservatives, voted to appoint as interim president Richard Corcoran, a former Republican state House speaker and Florida education secretary. Corcoran is a close ally of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Yes, but: They could not muster the votes to rid the school of training that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed the new trustees, yesterday called for state colleges and universities to dismantle the programs.

What we're watching: The board voted to table the discussion until a meeting in February.

Why it matters: The public 700-student liberal arts school in Sarasota, which some refer to as "Barefoot U," is suddenly in the spotlight after DeSantis announced the shake-up to the college's 13-member governing board on Jan. 6. 

For many students and faculty, the overhaul is becoming disruptive to their lives and education. 

For DeSantis, the effort to transform one Florida college will be a test with political implications playing out under the national microscope.

Details: Hours into an emotional meeting, New College president Patricia Okker apologized to students for what she called a "hostile takeover" before the board voted to fire her and appoint Corcoran as interim president, starting in March. An administrator will serve as interim president until then.

The move was met with shouts of protest from New College students, faculty and alumni, who blasted what they see as an attack on educational freedom.

The other side: "This college is languishing. It needs to be revived," said new trustee Matthew Spalding, a former vice president of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Between the lines: Several of the new trustees, including Spalding, are not from Florida nor are they residents of the state.

These include professors and right-leaning authors Charles Kesler and Mark Bauerlein and Christopher Rufo — an activist who has spoken out against critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Rufo has promised to quickly revamp New College with a "top-down restructuring" and "a new core curriculum from scratch," he told the New York Times.

Another trustee, Eddie Speir, who founded a Bradenton school that teaches a biblical worldview, proposed ending faculty tenure, terminating all employee contracts and rehiring anyone who fits into the school's "new financial and business model."

What they're saying: Students and alumni of New College tell Axios they felt defeated after the meeting because the student body helped select Okker, but they were resolute in defending the college's four-person office overseeing the schools' DEI programs.

"Here we play chess," said Sam Sharf, a second-year student from Tampa, "not checkers."

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It's the first move to reshape the liberal arts school into a more conservative college after 6 new trustees were seated.

Students and alumni of New College of Florida protest before a meeting of the newly comprised board of trustees. Photo: Octavio Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Education

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a January press conference in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida.

The New College of Florida&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="overhauled board of trustees" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/01/09/new-college-of-florida-ron-desantis-appointees" data-vars-content-id="7a71c2da-14b1-475e-952f-bc168edf7bc6" data-vars-headline="New College of Florida trustees replace president with DeSantis ally" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/01/09/new-college-of-florida-ron-desantis-appointees" target="_self">overhauled board of trustees</a> ousted the school&#x27;s president on Tuesday night in their first swift move to reshape the liberal arts school into a more conservative college.Driving the news: The board, with six newly seated conservatives, voted to appoint as interim president Richard Corcoran, a former Republican state House speaker and Florida education secretary. Corcoran is a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="close ally" data-vars-click-url="https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2023/01/31/richard-corcoran-desantis-new-college-of-florida-president-patricia-okker/69859721007/" data-vars-content-id="7a71c2da-14b1-475e-952f-bc168edf7bc6" data-vars-headline="New College of Florida trustees replace president with DeSantis ally" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2023/01/31/richard-corcoran-desantis-new-college-of-florida-president-patricia-okker/69859721007/" target="_blank">close ally</a> of Republican <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Gov. Ron DeSantis" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/26/florida-desantis-african-american-studies-lawsuit-crump" data-vars-content-id="7a71c2da-14b1-475e-952f-bc168edf7bc6" data-vars-headline="New College of Florida trustees replace president with DeSantis ally" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/26/florida-desantis-african-american-studies-lawsuit-crump" target="_self">Gov. Ron DeSantis</a>.

Politics

How about a tennis match in the metaverse?

What's happening: The University of South Florida men's and women's tennis teams have partnered with sports virtual reality company Sense Arena to use VR tools to supplement IRL training.

How it works: The system, which the Bulls are using for free, uses the Meta Quest 2 headset and a properly weighted and balanced racquet-type device to give players visualization tools aimed at improving the mental aspects of the game — like timing, anticipation and quick decision-making — without requiring a partner, ball or court.

Sense Arena's VP for tennis Yannick Yoshizawa, who played at USF, tells Axios that a player can select from 35 drills for practice and the tool can introduce crowd noise, distractions, shade and wind.

The big picture: USF is the first NCAA team to use Sense Arena's tech for tennis since the product launched in November. The company says 10 NCAA Division I hockey teams — including Boston College, Harvard and Northeastern — use the company's ice hockey technology, which came out in 2018.

What they're saying: "It's not going to be overnight, but in a few months, the players should start to see concrete improvement," Yoshizawa said.

"It's the perfect tool to use on recovery days when we want to exercise our mind and train our brain, really focusing on the mental aspects of tennis," Cristina Moros, head of the USF women's team, said, per Tennis World USA.

The tech can introduce crowd noise, distractions, shade and wind.

USF assistant coach Vanja Klaric tries Sense Arena's new technology. Photo: Courtesy USF Athletics

Sports

How about a tennis match in the metaverse?What&#x27;s happening: The University of South Florida men&#x27;s and women&#x27;s tennis teams have partnered with sports virtual reality company <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Sense Arena" data-vars-click-url="https://www.sensearena.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwvsqZBhAlEiwAqAHElfiKsGYSuEgW7segR3UtwZ5hgQ5DOWlobpIfUtPG92Eow7HNpOKcCxoCjrUQAvD_BwE" data-vars-content-id="88d8ce2f-c69d-49ce-8b64-768c3ebe48ad" data-vars-headline="University of South Florida tennis teams to train with VR technology" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.sensearena.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwvsqZBhAlEiwAqAHElfiKsGYSuEgW7segR3UtwZ5hgQ5DOWlobpIfUtPG92Eow7HNpOKcCxoCjrUQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">Sense Arena</a> to use VR tools to supplement IRL training.

Business

Whats Next

Axios What's Next

Data: S&P Global Mobility; Chart: Axios Visuals

Four of the 10 most-registered vehicles in Tampa Bay are pickup trucks — vehicles that have been supersized and redesigned for comfort in recent decades, a far cry from the utilitarian and economical machines of previous years.

Driving the news: In the 1980s, about half of pickup trucks were categorized as small or midsize. But by the 2010s, small pickups had nearly vanished.

In a new special project, Axios' Will Chase, Jared Whalen and Joann Muller examined the past 50 years of societal and lifestyle changes behind pickups' ever-increasing size.

Why it matters: As trucks transitioned from farm and ranch workhorses to lifestyle vehicles, their design shifted accordingly: Cabs expanded to accommodate more passengers, while beds shrank.

Yet, pedestrian and road safety advocates say today's massive trucks are a hazard, given their size, weight, and driver blind spots.

One result of supersized trucks: greater risks to pedestrians and other drivers. 

Drivers of today's trucks sit much higher, creating a blind spot where small children or wheelchair users are hidden from view.

Moreover, pickups' weight increased by 32% between 1990 and 2021, meaning they strike pedestrians with more force. 

Plus, the tall front of a truck strikes pedestrians in the torso or head — increasing risk of critical injuries  — whereas the lower hoods of cars typically strike pedestrians in the legs.

Zoom in: According to data from S&P Global Mobility, Tampa Bay's bestseller is Ford's F Series, a prime example of how trucks have grown.

The first F-150s were 36% cab and 64% bed by length.

By 2021, the ratio flipped, with 63% cab and 37% bed, as trucks were being used more for carrying people than lumber, rubble or bags of concrete.

Pedestrian and road safety advocates say today's massive trucks are a hazard, given their size, weight, and driver blind spots.

Transportation

Four of the 10 most-registered vehicles in Tampa Bay are pickup trucks — vehicles that have been supersized and redesigned for comfort in recent decades, a far cry from the utilitarian and economical machines of previous years.Driving the news: In the 1980s, about half of pickup trucks were categorized as small or midsize. But by the 2010s, small pickups had nearly vanished.

Ben Montgomery

Stories

University of South Florida tennis teams to train with VR technology

Manatee County Confederate memorial debate pushed

New College of Florida trustees replace president with DeSantis ally

Find Filipino dumplings and halo halo at South Tampa's Lucky Tigré

Nearly half of Tampa Bay's most-registered vehicles are pickup trucks

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