Tampa speed cameras; experts review "The Odyssey"; Swedish candies

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Monday, Jul 20, 2026

 
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Good Monday morning. Start the week with more rain.

In today’s edition, read about residents’ anxiety regarding Tampa Bay’s environmental degradation; which Tampa schools will receive speed cameras; and a St. Petersburg candy shop’s Swedish candies.

 [LUIS SANTANA | Times]

Checking in with USF St. Pete’s Marine Science Lab two months after devastating fire

A brutal fire in early May halted vital research — from unraveling sea level rise to hurricane rapid intensification — within the USF College of Marine Science. 

After several weeks of ups and downs, the 150 students and faculty are eager to get back to work.

We visited the college to see how it's recovering.

 
 

AROUND THE BAY

Bad lettuce? A surge in cyclosporiasis cases has placed fresh produce under scrutiny. Here's how Tampa businesses that handle produce are responding.

Foot on the brake: Which Tampa school zones will soon have speed cameras? Here’s a list.

Educator wages: Should local taxes boost teacher pay? School board candidates are split.

Biggest-budget adaptation: We took two Homer experts to see "The Odyssey." Here's what they thought of Christopher Nolan's new take on a 3,000-year-old tale that they've been studying for decades.

Facing scrutiny: The Pasco school district suspended a bus driver without pay in March after he was arrested on a charge of felony domestic child abuse. Weeks later, the state dropped the charge, and the district let the driver return to work in August.

Residents aren't happy: A Hillsborough County land use hearing officer approved a special use permit for a private K-8 school on North Dale Mabry Highway.

Second-degree murder: In the five days Stuart Beck has been on trial, theories have abounded about what happened inside a Clearwater apartment in the early hours of July 6, 2022. On Friday, a jury decided what was closest to the truth.

“I’m hit! I’m hit!”: Body camera and drone video released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office show how quickly the shootings unfolded after two deputies pulled up in front of the suspect’s duplex last week.

No sign of her since: Fort Lauderdale police need help cracking one of their most widely known cold cases — the mysterious disappearance of a 15-year-old girl. They called in a psychic from Tampa Bay.

 

BRIGHT SPOT