Hurricane Milton is now lengthy gone from Florida, however the unwelcome visitor left the state a multitude that can take days, weeks and months to wash up. For a lot of, lives have been modified completely. At the very least 9 folks have been killed.
Highly effective results of the storm have been felt up and down the west coast of Florida and even throughout the state to the east coast. It entered the state as a Class 3 hurricane and was nonetheless a Class 1 because it exited the peninsula. Taking the brunt of the storm was the Gulf Coast from the Tampa Bay space by way of Sarasota and right down to Fort Myers. The storm formally made landfall in Siesta Key.
St. Petersburg was hit with a few of the heaviest rains (greater than 16 inches in some spots) and winds (gusting to 101 mph).
And that brings me, first, to an replace on the Poynter Institute.
My colleague, Angela Fu, reports that the institute’s headquarters in downtown St. Pete largely escaped Hurricane Milton’s damaging winds and rain. Poynter’s chief working officer and chief monetary officer Jessi Navarro mentioned Thursday, “There’s no cellphone service within the constructing. And there’s no energy. However in any other case, the constructing is completely wonderful — no home windows blown out, no water injury, no water entry. … (I’m) extremely grateful that the storm is previous us and didn’t do worse.”
However the constructing the place the Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Instances is was not so fortunate …
Probably the most dramatic scenes from Hurricane Milton plowing throughout the state of Florida got here Wednesday evening when the material roof of Tropicana Area, dwelling of the Tampa Bay Rays Main League Baseball group, was torn to shreds by winds that approached 100 mph.
As of Thursday morning, it was believed The Trop, as it’s known as, didn’t undergo any main structural injury, however the domed stadium had all of the sudden turn out to be, for the second, an open-air facility.
In the meantime, down the road about 9 blocks or so, one other dramatic scene was taking part in out. The Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Instances had a scary name when a crane slammed into the facet of the constructing that homes its newsroom, in addition to different companies. The crane was in place to construct a 46-story highrise that can home largely condos and will likely be positioned throughout the road from the Instances.
Native authorities reported no accidents.
Instances government editor Mark Katches mentioned Thursday morning that no Instances staff have been within the constructing on the time.
“We by no means are throughout storms,” Katches mentioned in an e-mail.
Katches mentioned that the Instances used to arrange a command heart on the paper’s printing plant just a few miles away from newsroom places of work throughout hurricane protection, however that constructing was bought and the Instances moved out in March 2021.
“So now all of us work remotely in as secure a state of affairs as we are able to discover,” Katches mentioned. “A lot of our employees left the realm, until they have been in nonevacuation zones.”
A core modifying group, together with Katches, was in Wesley Chapel, Florida — about 40 miles from St. Petersburg, however nonetheless inside the Instances’ protection space.
Katches mentioned, “And naturally we have now 5 mobilized ‘go groups’ within the discipline (reporters and photographers in rented SUVs who’re educated for these sorts of situations) At one level we had a couple of third of our newsroom with out energy or web (Wednesday) evening and (Thursday) morning, however we’re managing to do some actually vital public service journalism.”
It’s nonetheless too early to evaluate the injury to the constructing and decide when Instances can return to work there. The constructing is also dwelling to a number of different companies.
The Times’ Zachary T. Sampson and Chris Urso wrote that the constructing had a “gaping gap.”
They reported that the eight-story, 250,000-square-foot house at 490 First Avenue South in downtown St. Petersburg truly is made up of three buildings — inbuilt 1924, 1968 and 1988. All three are joined collectively. Instances Publishing Co., the dad or mum of the Tampa Bay Instances, bought the constructing in 2016 to a three way partnership of Convergent Capital Companions and Denholtz Associates, however remained a tenant.
Sampson and Urso wrote, “Town mentioned in a information launch that no accidents have been reported on the website. The constructing broken by the crane had closed forward of Milton’s arrival Wednesday. Nobody from the Instances’ newsroom was working inside when the crane collapsed.”
They added, “Mayor Ken Welch on Tuesday urged residents who dwell in buildings subsequent to a few development websites in downtown St. Petersburg … to relocate or take different precautions due to security issues with the neighboring high-rise cranes.”
I discussed this in Thursday’s e-newsletter, and the identical holds true for right this moment. Nothing beats native information protection on the subject of getting the very newest info that native residents must know within the aftermath of a storm. Issues like energy and water outages, highway closures, availability of fuel, airport openings, emergency providers and, sadly for a lot of, what to do if your own home is uninhabitable.
Native TV stations within the Tampa Bay space and the Tampa Bay Times have been my go-to sources whereas in our Dothan, Alabama, lodge. The protection has been wonderful, with the concentrate on the minute-to-minute info that residents want to start rebuilding their lives.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris responds to a query from Ivett Castillo, of Las Vegas, throughout a City Corridor occasion hosted by Univision, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, on the College of Nevada Las Vegas. (AP Photograph/Jacquelyn Martin)
Donald Trump has, on a number of events, turned down provides to debate Kamala Harris for a second time. Trump additionally turned down an interview with “60 Minutes” on the identical evening that Harris sat down with the enduring information present. So now CNN is making an attempt one thing totally different. It has invited Harris and Trump to take part in separate city corridor occasions on the identical evening.
CNN’s Brian Stelter reports the city halls would happen on Oct. 23 earlier than an viewers of supposedly persuadable and undecided voters in Pennsylvania.
In a press release, Harris marketing campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon mentioned, “Trump might wish to disguise from the voters, however Vice President Harris welcomes the chance to share her imaginative and prescient for a New Approach Ahead for the nation. She is joyful to just accept CNN’s invitation for a dwell, televised city corridor on October 23 in Pennsylvania.”
As of Thursday night, no phrase on whether or not Trump would settle for the invite.
Harris participated in a city corridor occasion hosted by Univision on Thursday on the College of Nevada Las Vegas.
- The Atlantic is endorsing Kamala Harris for president. It’s extra of an anti-Trump endorsement. Nonetheless, The Atlantic does write, “Having devoted her life to public service, Harris respects the legislation and the Structure. She believes within the freedom, equality, and dignity of all Individuals. She’s untainted by corruption, not to mention a felony document or a historical past of sexual assault. She doesn’t embarrass her compatriots along with her language and habits, or pit them towards each other. She doesn’t curry favor with dictators. She gained’t abuse the facility of the best workplace with a purpose to preserve it. She believes in democracy. These, and never any particular coverage positions, are the explanations The Atlantic is endorsing her.”
- The New York Instances’ Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum with “Inside the Turmoil at CBS News After a Tense Ta-Nehisi Coates Interview.”
- The Washington Post’s Patrick Svitek and Amy B Wang report, “Former president Donald Trump mentioned Thursday that CBS Information ought to lose a broadcasting license over the way it edited a ‘60 Minutes’ interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, though the federal authorities doesn’t subject licenses for such tv networks.” They added, “It was the most recent instance of Trump calling for media retailers which have angered him to lose their rights to broadcast — a push that evokes authorities management of media, which is a trademark of authoritarianism.”
- On that subject, Selection’s Ethan Shanfeld with “Kamala Harris Campaign Distances Itself From ‘60 Minutes’ Edit Controversy: ‘We Do Not Control CBS’ Production Decisions.’”
- And right here’s The Related Press’ David Bauder with “Trump’s complaints about ’60 Minutes’ put a spotlight on editing at the nation’s top newsmagazine.”
- Wonderful piece from The Washington Submit’s Ben Strauss: “Skip Bayless is off TV but not done arguing about sports.”
- The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin with “ESPN Hires Former NFL MVP Cam Newton as a ‘First Take’ Regular.”
- Axios’ Sara Fischer with “The Athletic, Yahoo Sports partner on new women’s sports content hub.”
Have suggestions or a tip? E-mail Poynter senior media author Tom Jones at [email protected].
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