Property taxes, Dump Duke and the future of Tropicana Field were among the issues that set St. Petersburg's mayoral hopefuls apart at a candidate forum last week.

Why it matters: It's one of just a few opportunities to hear from the slate of candidates before the Aug. 18 primary.

• You can watch a recording of the forum here.

The candidates: Incumbent Mayor Ken Welch is running for reelection and has drawn five challengers in the nonpartisan race:

• Charlie Crist, a former governor and congressman.
• Brandi Gabbard, a City Council member representing District 2.
• Maria Scruggs, a past NAACP St. Petersburg president.
• Jim Large, the city's former fire chief.
• Kevin Batdorf, a past Shore Acres Civic Association president.

💸 Property tax dilemma

Kicking off the forum was arguably the biggest question facing the city's next leader: What will be on the chopping block if voters approve a property tax overhaul headed to ballots in November?

• Crist didn't give specifics but appeared confident he could find the money somewhere, saying he already has a plan to cut the city tax rate.
• Scruggs and Batdorf said they'd look at the top for cuts, while Large said he'd keep the focus on funding unspecified "core services."

Yes, but: Incumbents Welch and Gabbard sent a more urgent message:

• City leaders already exercise fiscal stewardship each budget season, they said. Cuts won't come easy.

⚡️ Dumping Duke

Stances ranged from Gabbard's continued embrace of the campaign to Large's and Batdorf's criticism of a recent City Council vote to spend $590,000 to study the possibility.

• Crist pointed to his experience suing power companies as attorney general but didn't take a stand on whether to ditch Duke.

🏟️ Gas Plant tensions

State of play: Welch, who has made the project a cornerstone of his mayoral legacy, has four proposals from developers in hand and is slated to pick one as early as this month.

• He defended that path at Thursday's forum.

The other side: Gabbard led calls to slow the process down and engage in a big-picture planning process that would include an Urban Land Institute study of how best to use the land.

🏗️ Development vs. charm

A question about how to balance the city's explosive high-rise development with its artsy, eclectic identity became mostly about infrastructure and how to ensure it can handle the growth.

• Gabbard and Scruggs said more work should be done to strengthen neighborhoods outside the downtown core.

What they're saying: "The focus has been downtown, downtown, downtown and how can the buildings be higher, higher, higher," Scruggs said.

• "Missing from that conversation is ... how does that impact the people that live in the adjoining neighborhoods?"

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What will future generations think of Florida when they open America's Time Capsule?

• The nationwide project aims to preserve pieces of U.S. history as part of the country's 250th anniversary celebration.

Why it matters: The 900-pound steel capsule reportedly includes over 200 letters and artifacts from the federal government and all 56 states and territories, meant to create an authentic record of American life in 2026.

• It will be buried in Philadelphia with the idea that future Americans will open it in 2276 — 250 years from now.

What's inside: A whale bone from Maine, a George Washington prayer medal from Utah and a diamond from the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, to name a few.

What Florida is burying

The Sunshine State decided to keep its offerings government-focused:

• A set of four challenge coins representing the Florida attorney general, the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• A House of Representatives Florida pin attached to a note to Americans from Daniel Perez, speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
• A booklet on the 2024-2026 Florida Senate, which lists elected officials and a brief history of Florida, including state animals and fun facts.
• An America250FL booklet highlighting Florida's Semiquincentennial Celebration.

What else Florida should have buried

We think the state could have fit in a few more mementos representing Florida's past and present.

• Artwork from Seminole painter Noah Billie or one of the Highwaymen
• Sand from one of our beaches
• Clothing made out of python skin
• A Weeki Wachee mermaid tail
• Sweet Tomatoes stickers

You tell us

What do you think Florida should have buried in America's Time Capsule? Hit reply to share your thoughts.

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⚖️ The South Howard Business Alliance is suing the City of Tampa, claiming officials failed to hand over public records regarding the planned construction of a major stormwater drainage system. (WMNF)

• The system is designed to relieve flooding, but the alliance fears construction could disrupt business access.

🧘 Reformer Pilates plans to open a location in Water Street Tampa, the chain's third studio in Tampa Bay. (The Business Journals)

Alligator Alcatraz, the controversial immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, is shutting down, companies hired by the state to operate the facility were told yesterday. (CBS News)

• The facility reportedly cost the state $1 million a day to operate and faced allegations of "inhumane and unsanitary" conditions.

The planned year-round ferry service connecting Tampa and St. Petersburg is another step closer to casting off.

The latest: The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority yesterday announced that it had purchased two vessels, currently dubbed the Bay Breeze and Clipper.

• Those ships will become the debut fleet for the new Tampa Bay Ferry.

Yes, but: They still have to get here.

• Per the PTSA, next month the boats will be loaded onto heavy-lift vessels that will take them through the Panama Canal and then to a Fort Lauderdale shipyard for refurbishment and upgrades.

What we're watching: No launch date for the service has been announced.

• The PSTA in a statement said it "will have a clearer prediction of service launch once the two vessels arrive in Florida and begin refurbishment."