Axios Tampa Bay

March 19, 2025
It's Wednesday! We're halfway there.
🧴Another sunny day. 82°/60°.
- Sounds like: "Spring breakers," Charli xcx
Today's newsletter is 932 words, a 3.5-minute read.
1 big thing: 🚗 1 big tariff impact
President Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico could drive up the cost of car insurance in Florida, a new report finds.
Why it matters: Sunshine State drivers are already saddled with the fifth-highest car insurance rates in the U.S. — at an average of $263 per month for full coverage. The tariffs could contribute to a 13% hike.
- That's according to a new report from Insurify, which helps drivers compare quotes from multiple providers.
Catch up quick: Trump made a one-month exemption to his tariffs for the auto sector, which relies on the free movement of vehicles and parts across borders. That exception expires in April.
- Under the new tariff regime, levies will be added each time unfinished vehicles cross the border, creating layers of increased costs, Axios transportation correspondent Joann Muller wrote.
- Plus, new tariffs are coming soon on steel and aluminum, which will add to those higher costs.
The big picture: The cost of annual coverage in Florida is expected to reach $3,576 by the end of the year — up $410 (or 13%), with $92 of that increase attributable to tariffs, according to Insurify.
- From 2023 to 2024, the state saw a 9% average premium increase.
How it works: Insurify based its projection on estimates that 32% of U.S. auto parts come from Canada and Mexico, parts make up 60% of a repair bill and vehicle damage coverage accounts for 60% of full-coverage car insurance costs.
- Higher auto part prices mean higher repair costs, which means insurers will have to shell out more cash for claims and then pass those costs to consumers through higher premiums.
Yes, but: "It will take some time for that cost to work through the system," Andrew Whitman, professor of finance at the University of Minnesota, said in Insurify's report.
- "Insurance companies have to file for rate increases, and those rate increases have to be based on increased claim costs," he added.
2. 🤩 Tampa Bay, movie star
Tampa Bay is coming back to the big screen.
- On Wednesday, 12 years after its nationwide premiere, IMAX and independent film studio A24 will re-release the crime comedy "Spring Breakers."
Why it matters: Along with Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez and James Franco, the film stars Tampa Bay, cast as a quintessential sunny place for shady people.
Zoom in: Much of the film takes place in Pinellas County, at beach spots such as The Molloy in Treasure Island and the Undertow Beach Bar in St. Pete Beach, but also in locations you won't find on vacation bucket lists.
- Those include the now-closed B & M Country Cooking in Lealman, which our fair spring breakers rob for road trip money; and Lake Maggiore Park, where the girls talk about life with Alien, the drug dealer-rapper played by Franco.
Zoom out: Among the other Tampa Bay locations: the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, New College of Florida and Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Hollywood Nites strip club in Tampa, and the Gulfport Police Department.
If you go: The showing is at 7pm. Participating theaters include AMC Sundial 20 in St. Pete, AMC Veterans 24 in Tampa and AMC The Regency 20 in Brandon.
- Find more details and buy tickets here.
3. The Pulp: 🛣️ New Howard Frankland Bridge to open next week
🚘 A new span of the Howard Frankland Bridge will open next week. The new bridge is for southbound drivers heading from Tampa to St. Petersburg, while the existing southbound bridge will switch directions to carry northbound drivers. (Bay News 9)
- The Florida Department of Transportation expects to switch drivers onto the new routes Monday night into Tuesday, weather permitting.
⚾️ In the days since the Tampa Bay Rays announced they were backing out of the stadium deal, at least four parties have said they want to and have the means to buy the team. (Tampa Bay Times)
- Rays president Matt Silverman said last week on a radio program that the team isn't for sale.
😮💨 Two teenagers who went missing while paddle-boarding off Cedar Key were found safe. (WTSP)
4. 😩 This one hurts
👋 Kathryn here. Of all the recent bleak retail news, this one hit my millennial ass the most.
What's happening: Forever 21 stores in the U.S. are poised to go out of business after the company that owns them filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Axios' Nathan Bomey and Kelly Tyko report.
Why it matters: Goodbyes are on the horizon for locations at the Countryside Mall, Brandon Town Center and The Mall at University Town Center.
Yes, but: The real "why it matters" is much more existential, and by that I mean:
- Where are the girls going to find the perfect last-minute going-out top for $6 and half a pack of gum?
- Where will the Future Fashion Students of America cut their teeth?
- Why didn't I keep all of my body-con dresses and graphic T-shirts to peddle as "vintage" on Depop? Oh right, because they disintegrated after one (1) wash.
💭 Yacob's thought bubble: I guess Forever 21 was just a lie, huh?
Look, I haven't shopped there in years, and I've mostly moved away from fast fashion, but this is the end of an era for fashionistas of a certain age.
- I see you. I feel you. Let's pour one out for all the peplum tops sitting in some landfill and stinking of our youth.
5. 🗳️ Riverwalk vs. everyone
Y'all helped it defeat the St. Pete Pier.
- Now, the Tampa Riverwalk needs you again.
The big picture: Tampa's 2.6-mile water feature is up for "Best Riverwalk" in USA TODAY's 10BEST Readers' Choice Awards.
- Fans can vote here once a day through April 8, per Friends of the Riverwalk.
🎹 Kathryn hasn't seen "Spring Breakers" (somehow) but is a fan based on this scene alone.
🎬 Yacob might see it tonight.
This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.
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