Two local police departments have started using a simple tool to connect people in mental distress with mental-health services and avoid having to use the Baker Act to confine them involuntarily in a psychiatric hospital.

• And it seems to be working.

Background: When police officers respond to help a person in mental distress, they often have three choices:

• Leave and do nothing, arrest the person and take them to jail, or initiate the Baker Act, which means holding citizens involuntarily for 72 hours in a treatment facility if they meet certain criteria.

What's new: A new program equips officers with tablets they use to call a professional counselor who can talk virtually with the distressed person about getting the help they need.

What they're saying: "A Baker Act is not treatment. It is a period of crisis stabilization," says April Lott, president and CEO of the Clearwater non-profit Directions for Living, whose counselors are working with police through the program.

• "This period is fleeting, and if we can stabilize you that will pass and we can get you connected to treatment."

Details: Largo police officers were given tablets and trained on TRACE — or Telehealth Remote Access to Crisis Evaluation — in November, and they have reduced by half the number of Baker Acts the department initiates.

• The Belleair Police Department began using TRACE this month.
• Six other local departments have inquired about it since a television news report ran, and USF got a grant to study the effectiveness of the program, per Lott.

Go deeper

Florida's Republican-backed HB 233, which passed both House and Senate and needs only the governor's signature, would make colleges and universities ask professors annually about their political beliefs to "assess the status of intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity."

The legislation comes as conservatives complain about a so-called liberal indoctrination of students, Florida Politics reports.

• Republican Sen. Ray Rodrigues, who shepherded the legislation through the Senate, opposed assertions that the effort is political.
• The bill says the survey should be "objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid," but doesn't say how results should be used.

The big picture: As Inside Higher Ed points out, a similar bill was introduced in Florida in 2019 and met with faculty opposition. College faculty across the state have also opposed this bill, saying it would have a chilling effect on free speech.

• Some critics asked how a new survey would help when numerous studies demonstrate that professors are overwhelmingly liberal and despite this, students tend to develop more positive attitudes about both liberals and conservatives after a year of college.

Stephanie Agudelo pops.

She’s the bubbly burst of color St. Petersburg can’t get enough of, from her gorgeous curls ("no, it’s not a perm") to her bright, surrealist portraits.

Her style: Agudelo, 31, has perfected the posed shot, with fruits, disco balls, butterflies, junk food wrappers, and lots of glitter, paint and neon colors.

• "I like to dive into setting a mood for the viewer," she told Axios. "I guess that’s just how I frame things, making photos as vibrant and as obnoxious as possible.”

Her roots: That vibrancy comes from growing up in Colombia, she says. She was born in New Jersey and raised in Colombia until the late '90s, when her family came to Florida.

• "Everything’s colorful" in Colombia, she said. "Buildings are colorful. The way people dress is colorful. It’s just an explosion of color."

After a decade doing her art on the side while working in service, she took the leap a year ago to do photography full time.

• Now, she works out of Coastal Creative in downtown St. Pete, where she’s also an art curator.
• Her next step: A studio of her own, but no plans to leave St. Pete.

"There’s something that keeps me at peace when I’m near the water. I thrive in this heat."

Find more of her work on Instagram @sagudelo0357 and book a portrait session here.

👯‍♀️ Two St. Pete strip clubs with full-service bars, dance floors and DJ booths are for sale for $2.2 million. (Creative Loafing)

⭐️ A Pinellas County sheriff’s sergeant has been demoted after an investigation found he took over 5,000 rounds of ammunition. (FOX13)

🐝 A Gulfport beekeeper relocates "pest" hives for the Pinellas County School District to a hidden spot in the woods. (Gulfport Gabber)

👨‍🚒 The Hillsborough County Firefighters Union says the county has fallen behind on its public safety plan due to lack of funding. (Bay News 9)

🐍 A big developer wants to change the name of Moccasin Wallow Road in Parrish and the locals are like, hell no. (Bradenton Herald)

🌴 Florida is becoming one of the least affordable states in the U.S., per a new report. (Tampa Bay Business Journal)

Quote du jour:

"When the bikes start rolling in, with the hearse in tow and the police escorts, it’s going to be really impressive."

This weekend kicks off National Park Week.

• Florida has three national parks (Everglades, Biscayne, Dry Tortugas), a national preserve (Big Cypress) and the Florida National Scenic Trail.

💊 Saturday is Park Rx Day and visitors get free admission to any national park.

Flashback: The Everglades back then

Fifty years ago yesterday, the Bradenton Herald's front page warned that the Everglades, which was dry in places and on fire, was perilously close to disaster.

The next 50 years: Starting with the Clean Water and Endangered Species acts of 1973 and the establishment of the Big Cypress Preserve in '74, a series of legislative initiatives and billions of dollars dedicated to restoration have helped save the Everglades.

Yes, but: A 2020 report said the conservation outlook for the 'glades is "critical" due to issues such as water quantity and climate change.

Denzel Johnson-Green, head of Neptune Poetry Magazine, shared this buzzy poem with us for National Poetry Month.

• Find him on Instagram @djgstpete.