Mayor Rick Kriseman

While others his age went to college parties or planned careers, Stephen Peterson was learning how to walk again after an explosion in Afghanistan took his right leg.
 

Peterson was six months into his Army tour as part of Operation Enduring Freedom on July 1, 2011, when a bomb exploded beneath his vehicle and tore off his leg above the knee.
 

The bar conversation started out as a debate about what the Rays should do with pitcher David Price. Should he stay or should he go? Will the Rays ever be able to keep a superstar? Would a new ballpark really make a difference?

The discussion about a new ballpark and where it should be grew into a comparison of downtown Tampa and its counterpart across the bay. Everyone agreed that St. Petersburg's has much more to offer. "It's 10 times better than Tampa's," remarked one guy.

With convenient flights through Panama and a new visa waiver program, Tampa Bay area business leaders have their eyes on Chile as a future trade partner.

In December, the mayors of Tampa and St. Petersburg, along with Hillsborough and Pinellas county commissioners, plan to visit the small, politically stable nation along the western edge of South America.

Many of the skateboarding enthusiasts who arrive at the Local Longboard Company on Central Avenue are breaking the law.

They arrive via skateboard, which is illegal downtown. But it's so common that co-owner Travis Hise moved a sales rack near the door as a "parking area."

Starting Friday, 3,500 City of St. Petersburg employees can ride any PSTA bus or trolley anywhere, anytime for no charge.

Their fares are prepaid by the city, which also subsidizes 50 employees' public transportation to reduce employee parking demand.

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