Happy Tuesday!

⛅ Today's weather: Partly sunny, with a high of 83 and a low of 68.

Sounds like: "Everybody," Backstreet Boys.

🇺🇸 A quick programming note: We'll be off Wednesday in observance of Veterans Day.

• To all veterans, thank you for your service. We'll see you Thursday.

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Today’s newsletter is 1,066 words — a 4-minute read.

The first major financial decision facing Hillsborough County after voters approved a sweeping property tax overhaul is whether to advance funding for a new Rays stadium.

Why it matters: Commissioners are being asked to commit hundreds of millions of dollars toward a ballpark while county staff warn of possible layoffs and service cuts.

• The stadium deal would tie up more than $300 million from the county's half-cent sales tax, one of its few remaining tools to offset the forthcoming losses.

Driving the news: The outgoing County Commission is set to vote this morning on a four-part stadium financing package.

• Two votes involve the half-cent sales tax. One adds the ballpark to its project list, and the other sets aside $90 million for the stadium, the first of four annual installments.
• Another two involve the tourist development tax. One lets that money go toward the stadium, including $40 million in cash, and the other authorizes borrowing up to $263 million.

Follow the money: In all, Hillsborough County would put up to $796 million toward the stadium, primarily drawn from the half-cent sales tax and tourist development taxes.

• Tampa would contribute up to $80 million for the stadium, paid in four annual installments, to be used for roads, sidewalks, parking and other public infrastructure around the site.
• The team would cover the remaining cost of the $2.36 billion ballpark, plus any overruns.

Between the lines: Commissioners Donna Cameron Cepeda and Joshua Wostal are sure "no" votes, which leaves the five commissioners who backed the deal in August with little room to waver.

• Losing two of them could stall the court validation the county needs before it can issue bonds, a process that already takes months.

The bottom line: The team is racing against an ambitious construction timeline.

• How much delay it can stomach is anyone's guess.

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Nearly a quarter of flights landing at Tampa International Airport arrived at least 10 minutes late in November and December 2025, according to an Axios analysis of federal airline data.

Why it matters: Before booking holiday-season flights, especially any with tight connections, it's worth checking how often flights get delayed at the airports on your route.

The big picture: Axios analyzed more than 1 million Bureau of Transportation Statistics flight records from the last two months of 2025, including the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons.

• About 23% of departures and 24% of arrivals were delayed at least 15 minutes.
• December was especially rough: Nearly 27% of all flights arrived late.

Between the lines: Delays can snowball across the entire air travel network, even when there's blue sky out your airport window.

• Late-arriving aircraft accounted for about 40% of all reported delay minutes during the analyzed period. In other words, the flight was late because the one before it was late.
• Airline-related issues, including maintenance and staffing delays, contributed another 32%.
• Bad weather directly accounted for only about 6% of delay time.

By the numbers: Sundays were especially prone to delays last year, with 32% of flights arriving late, compared with about 18% on Wednesdays.

• On Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025 — the end of Thanksgiving weekend — almost half of all flights arrived at least 15 minutes late.

Zoom in: Search and sort the table above to compare travel delays at the 100 busiest U.S. airports last year at this time.

• In our analysis, we defined "busiest" as the airports with the most daily departures during our timeframe.

🛴 The Hillsborough County Commission will also consider new limits on e-bikes, a ban on a potent kratom byproduct and a moratorium on AI data centers this morning. (County agenda)

🧬 Moffitt Cancer Center secured a $47.3 million grant to build a new cancer innovation hub in Tampa Bay focused on radiopharmaceuticals. (Tampa Bay Times)

🏗️ Construction began yesterday on a workforce housing project in Brandon for employees of Tampa General Hospital and USF Health. The development will include over 100 units. (Tampa Bay Business Journal)

It's never too early to start planning for the weekend.

• Here are some ways to spend it in and around St. Pete.

✍️ Print Party at the Preserve, St. Pete: Screen print a T-shirt with 5801 Print House, make a zine with local artist Abby Knauff, block print clothing with More Love Studio and more at this celebration of all things printmaking.

• Saturday, 11am-4pm at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. Free.

🎨 Booker Creek Arts Festival, St. Pete: View artwork and interactive exhibits from more than 100 artists at shops, restaurants, hotels and more venues throughout the EDGE District, at this inaugural event.

• Thursday-Sunday at these locations in the EDGE District.

🐶 Dogtoberfest, Dunedin: Enjoy food trucks, a tent full of adoptable pets and a dog parade at this fundraiser for the Suncoast Animal League. Bring your pup for a lure course ($15) and photos with Santa.

• Saturday, 11am-5pm at Highlander Park. Free.

🎶 Blues, Art & Seafood Festival, Gulfport: Catch live music from performers including the Boca Ciega High marching band, Delta Swamp Rats and Tommy Z, plus vendors selling seafood, art and more.

• Saturday, 10am-8pm at Trolley Market Square.

🍁 FallFest, St. Pete: Sip on seasonal beer and cider with live music by Kimi Tortuga and vendors selling hot dogs, plants and more, followed by a Mario Kart tournament.

• Saturday, 1-4pm at Grand Central Brewhouse.

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Tired: Spirit Halloween. Wired: Spirit Christmas.

State of play: Spirit Halloween's Yuletide spinoff is now open at the former Stein Mart in Clearwater, 2522 McMullen Booth Road.

• The seasonal pop-up swaps skeletons and jump scares for Frosty, giant inflatables, ugly sweaters and holiday displays, our friends over at Axios Richmond reported.

If you go: The store is open from 10am-9pm Monday-Saturday and 10am-6pm Sunday.

Tell Santa

📺 Kathryn is watching the new season of "The Gilded Age."

🍿 Yacob is rewatching movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe ahead of "Avengers: Doomsday."

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This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.