The Tampa City Council is playing hardball with the Rays, but a new financing plan pitched by council member Bill Carlson could give the team the vote it needs to keep the dream of its "Forever Home" alive.

Why it matters: The Rays say shovels need to be in the ground next month to have a new stadium ready for Opening Day 2029, leaving the team with little time or leverage to win over a so-far resistant City Council.

Catch up quick: The City Council has made its dissatisfaction with the state of negotiations with the Rays clear — delaying votes on stadium financing twice and denying the team's land-use amendment.

• Carlson, who voted to approve the memorandum of understanding in May while promising to oppose the final deal, has so far kept his word, pushing to delay funding decisions and voting against the amendment.
• He said the Rays haven't done enough to include the City Council in negotiations. But now, after discussions with the team, Carlson could be the swing vote needed to move the stadium deal forward.

Driving the news: Carlson unveiled a new financing arrangement last week that, according to WUSF, has been well received by the Rays.

• The current memorandum calls for the City of Tampa to contribute $180 million toward the new ballpark, with the funds drawn from the half-cent sales tax and the Drew Park Community Redevelopment Agency.
• Carlson's new proposal would leave both funding sources intact and instead finance the stadium using property taxes generated from the mixed-use district planned alongside it.

Between the lines: The new funding structure could also answer a billion-dollar question hanging over the stadium deal.

• As written, the memorandum of understanding offers no guarantee that the Rays will build the surrounding mixed-use development. Carlson's plan would give the team a financial incentive to do so.

The big picture: Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners Chair Ken Hagan said no further action on the Rays deal will be taken until the City Council grants approval.

• The City Council's final meeting of the month is Aug. 27 — which could be the last chance to approve the deal in time to keep construction on schedule.

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It may be a quiet hurricane season, but don't get too comfortable.

State of play: The National Hurricane Center was tracking three systems in the Atlantic as of Monday afternoon.

• The first disturbance, located a few hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, has a 60% chance of becoming a tropical depression or storm in the next seven days, NHC warns.
• The two other systems have only a 10% chance of developing over the next two to seven days.

Yes, but: The storm models indicate that the first system will likely avoid Florida and the Caribbean and head north into the open ocean, according to the Miami Herald.

The big picture: With the peak of hurricane season approaching next month, NOAA says it still predicts a below-normal season with seven to 13 named storms.

What's next: If the first disturbance's maximum sustained winds reach 39 mph, it would be named Cristobal, joining Arthur and Bertha this season.

Spread the word

🕵 Tampa City Council members, claiming a lack of transparency from Mayor Jane Castor, floated a possible investigation into her administration during a workshop yesterday. (Tampa Bay Business Journal)

• Members said they hadn't been given access to the city's full proposed budget with enough time to digest it, among other complaints.

💸 Weedon Island Preserve could lose its funding from Pinellas County at the start of 2027 due to a $42 million budget shortfall. (WTSP)

• Other proposed reductions would affect lifeguard staffing at Fort De Soto and Sand Key and eliminate funds for Shell Key Preserve.

👷 A former Office Depot at the Tampa Commons shopping center off North Dale Mabry Highway will soon be demolished to make way The Mabry, a 320-unit, seven-story residential project. (TBBJ)

🙏 Metropolitan Ministries' Pathway to Hope program, which partners with Hillsborough County Public Schools to identify and help families at risk of homelessness, is expanding. (Bay News 9)

In the last decade, the rate of twin births has declined in the U.S., per CDC data.

The big picture: Early use of IVF contributed to a national twin baby boom.

• But once fertility treatments got more advanced, doctors increasingly recommended transferring a single embryo to reduce pregnancy risks.

Between the lines: Fraternal twins can result when two embryos are transferred during IVF or when a woman releases two eggs in the same cycle, which becomes more common with age.

By the numbers: The national twin birth rate rose 79% from 1980 to 2014, before dropping an average 1% per year after that, according to the CDC.

Zoom in: The biggest twin birth declines were for mothers age 30 and older. Rates dropped …

• 18% for mothers 30-34.
• 27% for mothers 35-39.
• 46% for mothers 40 and older.

Yes, but: Black mothers already had the highest twin birth rate, and that rate rose 5% nationally over the decade.

• The CDC didn't determine what drove the increase.

👋 Yacob here. In the spirit of back-to-school week, I'm sharing a photo from my first day of kindergarten in 2007.

• That's me beside my older brother, headed to Claywell Elementary School in Carrollwood, wearing baggy jeans, an oversized shirt, and a buzz cut.

The bottom line: Have a great school year, kiddos!