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The Daystarter: Cross-Bay Ferry is one step closer; about Snell's All-Star outing; solving crime one app at a time

 
Brittany Lincicome watches her tee shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship golf tournament at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer, Ill., on June 28. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Brittany Lincicome watches her tee shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship golf tournament at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer, Ill., on June 28. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Published July 18, 2018

Catching you up on overnight happenings, and what to know today.

• Rinse and repeat for another hot July day: Overnight showers will hit the coast in the morning and move inland over the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Isolated thunderstorms have the best chance of opening up over Tampa at about 1 p.m. Temperatures will remain in the 90s.

• As you head out for your morning commute, check out our live blog for the latest traffic updates and road conditions across Tampa Bay.

• Here are the top things to do today in Tampa Bay including a $5 showing of Mary Poppins in a historic theater, a food truck rally in downtown St. Petersburg and the 30th anniversary of Big brings the Tom Hanks hit back to local theaters.

• Toxic algae blooms are erupting all over Florida — from the St. Johns River to Lake Okeechobee as well as on both coasts — and scientists are pointing a finger at one likely fuel source: pollution from leaking septic tanks. Craig Pittman explains how leaking septic tanks are fueling algae blooms, and how hard it is do something about the problem in Florida.

• It's like stepping off Kennedy Boulevard right into Ybor City. From the exposed brick and wrought iron accents to the street lamp-styled globe lights hanging from the ceiling and the signage — blue and red divided by a ribbon of gold — the new La Segunda Bakery is a like piece of Ybor history smack in the center of South Tampa's business core. While the original La Segunda will continue to focus on wholesale baking and counter service, the new location at 4001 W Kennedy Blvd. — which has its grand opening today — is more about the customer experience and seeing the work in action.

• Seminole golf star Brittany Lincicome is getting ready to make history: The LPGA Tour star is set to become the sixth female golfer to play in a PGA Tournament starting Thursday at the Barbasol Championship in Nicholasville, Ky. Rodney Page profiles the life of a Tampa Bay golfing legend.

• Tampa police caught a man accused of stealing four packages from the porch of a Palma Ceia home last month. But video caught on a Ring Video Doorbell led officers to make an arrest. It's part of a new wave of technology helping police solve crimes. Tampa police, for example, said it will team up with an app called Neighbors to create a digital neighborhood watch. Bre Bradham explains how other law enforcement agencies are also using technology to connect with residents and solve crimes.

• Columnist Sue Carlton writes about the lawsuit NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer filed against five men, accusing them of harassing and threatening her. There's no doubt some of the attacks have been ugly and beyond the pale, Carlton writes, but it's easy to understand where all this anger comes from as people keep dying from gun violence.

• Could the Cross-Bay Ferry return to Tampa Bay? It took another step toward reality when the Pinellas County Commission signaled Tuesday that it supports St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman's request that the county contribute $150,000 to subsidize it. St. Pete and Hillsborough County have already agreed to do the same and Tampa is also leaning that way. What will it take to get Pinellas' official support? Mark Puente explains what the commissioners want to see before they make it happen.

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• Tonight's Democratic gubernatorial debate will be the fourth of the election cycle. But in some ways, it might feel like the first. For the first time, all five Democratic candidates will spar over their competing visions for Florida at the one-hour debate, hosted by Southwest Florida's WINK News. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. and will be moderated by the network's Chris Cifatte and Lois Thome from Fort Myers.

• Blake Snell's first All-Star experience started with, well, a bangm. The first pitch the Rays left-hander threw, a 98 mph fastball, was knocked over the leftfield wall by Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. Snell seemed a bit unsettled initially in his first turn on such a grand stage, though he didn't allow any more runs, working the third inning and getting the first two outs of the fourth — including a strikeout looking of hometown star Bryce Harper — before being taken out in what ended up an 8-6 10-inning win for the American League Tuesday.

• Nearly 20 lawmakers as well as newspaper executives, including Chairman and CEO Paul Tash of the Tampa Bay Times, testified Tuesday against newsprint tariffs that have already had severe effects on a struggling industry. "I am here today because tariffs on newsprint are causing tremendous damage to American newspapers. The tariffs will harm local communities that newspapers serve. And soon, the tariffs will hurt our newsprint producers, including the one that brought this case," Tash said in prepared testimony before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

• MGM Resorts International has sued hundreds of victims of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history in a bid to avoid liability for the gunfire that rained down from its Mandalay Bay casino-resort in Las Vegas. The company argues in lawsuits filed Friday in Nevada and California that it has "no liability of any kind" to survivors or families of slain victims under a federal law enacted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

• We show you how to build your own progressive dinner, sometimes called a dine-around, in different pockets around the Tampa Bay area, including Tampa Heights, South Tampa and Safety Harbor.

• Just as we are planning where to go to lunch today, food critic Laura Reiley gets to the bottom of this bowl tren sweeping across Tampa Bay. Check out her top picks.