Good morning! Fun fact: Florida is experiencing its driest winter in over a decade, which means your lawn is about to learn what "tough love" really means. Speaking of things that are hard to swallow — yesterday the state's Chief Financial Officer showed up in downtown St. Pete to tell us we've been spending taxpayer money like we're Jeff Bezos shopping for yachts. So there's that.

Florida's Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia rolled into St. Pete Wednesday afternoon with charts, posters, and some opinions about how the city spends your money. His verdict? St. Petersburg overspent by $49 million over the past six years, with most of that going to personnel costs.

Ingoglia held a press conference at The Birchwood on Beach Drive — because nothing says "fiscal responsibility" like calling out a city at one of its nicest waterfront spots — and laid out his case as part of Florida's DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) initiative. His whole thing is that local governments across Florida are spending way more than their population growth justifies, and St. Pete is Exhibit A.

Here's what he specifically called out: $258,000 for Pride event support (though the city says that's after reimbursements), $300,000 for a climate action plan (mostly paid with BP settlement money), and various other spending he considers wasteful. The bulk of his concern? Personnel costs. Ingoglia's argument is that St. Pete's spending ballooned beyond what's needed even after accounting for inflation, population growth, and pay raises.

Mayor Ken Welch? Not impressed. His office called the claims "unsubstantiated" and pushed back on the methodology. The mayor's team says Ingoglia's numbers don't account for things like hurricane recovery, infrastructure needs, and the reality of running a growing coastal city.

This is part of a statewide push tied to property tax relief — Ingoglia's touring Florida trying to prove local governments don't need as much property tax revenue. He's already hit Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, and other big counties with similar claims totaling over $1.1 billion in what he calls "wasteful spending."

Bottom line: The state's CFO thinks St. Pete is spending too much. The mayor disagrees. Expect this to become a thing as Tallahassee debates property tax relief in the upcoming legislative session. Tampa Bay Times has more | 10 Tampa Bay coverage

We’re planning our first paid upgrade for this newsletter and want it to be genuinely useful, not spammy. Pick the one idea you’d actually pay for so we build the right thing (We have some cool stuff planned for you guys, help us make it a reality!)

Advertise with us

This one's heartbreaking. A 43-year-old St. Pete mother has been charged with first-degree murder after her 4-year-old son was found dead Tuesday afternoon in their Shore Acres home.

Diana Elizabeth Cullom was arrested early Wednesday morning and appeared in court, where prosecutors asked for no bond. The judge granted it. Here's what happened: Cullom's 16-year-old daughter came home from school around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to a scene no teenager should ever see — blood throughout the house and her mother holding her younger brother, Finley Cullom, in bed.

Police initially thought the child had been stabbed because there was blood everywhere and Cullom herself had multiple self-inflicted cuts. But the medical examiner determined Finley had no stab wounds — he'd been suffocated with a plastic bag.

The teenage daughter found a note at the scene. Police Chief Anthony Holloway said investigators believe the scene is contained to the home and there's no danger to the community. Neighbors told police there had never been any calls to the residence before.

Cullom was treated at a hospital for her non-life-threatening injuries before being taken into custody. She's now being held at the Pinellas County Jail with no bond.

Police have not released a motive or disclosed what was written in the note found at the scene.

Bottom line: A tragic case in one of St. Pete's quieter waterfront neighborhoods. That 16-year-old is going to need a lot of support. Bay News 9 story | Tampa Bay Times coverage

Hope you like brown grass, because Tampa Bay just got hit with tighter water restrictions. The Southwest Florida Water Management District declared a Modified Phase II water shortage on Tuesday, and starting February 8, you're limited to watering your lawn once a week.

Here's why: The region has a 13-inch rainfall deficit compared to average, water levels in aquifers and rivers are dropping, and Tampa Bay Water's reservoir is sitting at 9 billion gallons when it should be around 15 billion. We're talking a 25% drop in water supplies.

The restrictions apply to all of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, Polk, Citrus, Hernando, DeSoto, Hardee, and Sumter counties, plus chunks of a few others. If you're on a private well, you're not exempt — these restrictions apply to you too.

What you need to know:

The good news? If you're already in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Dunedin, or a handful of other cities that went to once-a-week watering earlier, nothing changes for you. The rest of the region is just catching up.

Tampa Bay Water saved an estimated 4 billion gallons over the past two years by going to once-a-week watering. That's... a lot of showers. The bad news? The forecast doesn't show much rain coming anytime soon, so these restrictions will be in place through July 1.

Bottom line: Welcome to drought life. Water your lawn on your assigned day, and maybe embrace the Florida natural landscape look. The aquifer will thank you. Tampa Bay Times on the drought | 10 Tampa Bay explainer

⚡ Lightning hosting Winnipeg tonight: The Bolts take on the Jets at Amalie Arena at 7 p.m. Tampa Bay's been on fire lately with a 13-game point streak. Perfect excuse to dodge doing laundry.

🎶 The Wombats at Jannus Live: British indie rock band The Wombats are playing Jannus tonight if you need a midweek concert fix. Doors at 7 p.m.

🏗️ Trails Crossing master plan meeting: Friends of Trails Crossing and the city are hosting a public meeting today at 6 p.m. to shape the future of the big park project. If you care about what happens to that space, show up.

🌡️ Cold mornings continue: We're still in the 40s and low 50s for morning temps through the weekend. Not freeze-your-face-off cold, but definitely "where did I put my hoodie" weather.

📚 Harm Reduction Conference wraps up: The 4th Annual Florida Harm Reduction Conference continues today at the Hilton St. Pete Bayfront if you're into public health policy and community advocacy.

☀️ Weekend warming: Highs climb back into the mid-70s by Saturday. Just in time for the Saturday Morning Market.

🎸 The Wombats — 7:00 PM at Jannus Live, 16 2nd St N. British indie rock bringing the energy. Tickets still available.

🏞️ Trails Crossing Public Meeting — 6:00 PM at location TBD. Join the city and Friends of Trails Crossing to help shape the master plan for this major park project.

🎨 The Dalí Museum — 10 AM to 6 PM at 1 Dalí Blvd. Currently featuring the "Dalí Alive 360°" experience and "Van Gogh Alive 360°" in the Dalí Dome.

🍺 Thursday Night at 3 Daughters Brewing — Various times at 222 22nd St S. Local craft beer and a solid spot to decompress midweek.

We couldn't dig up anything that happened specifically on January 29 in St. Pete history — if you know of something, hit reply and let us know!

In the meantime, here's a random cool St. Pete fact: The St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, founded in 1924, is the oldest and largest shuffleboard club in the world. At its peak in the 1960s, it had over 5,000 members and 110 courts. Today it's still going strong on Mirror Lake with live music, food trucks, and people who take shuffleboard way more seriously than you'd expect. It's peak St. Pete — quirky, historic, and somehow still relevant.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ AMAZING!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, do better
⭐️ You didn't bring the heat