Grant supports student recycling program
ST. PETERSBURG — WM has awarded Keep Pinellas Beautiful a $10,000 Go Green Grant for its youth recycling programs.
The money will buy equipment for the nonprofit’s plastic fabrication STEM program, in which students collect small plastics that curbside programs won’t take, shred them and remake them into custom products.
“Our program builds upon a project which began at Admiral Farragut Academy,” Executive Director Patricia DePlasco said. The grant, she said, will let the organization expand the program to its youth advisory council, 12 high school chapters and its VolunTEENs program.
Pollinator count returns to county parks
Pinellas County is inviting residents to take part in the 2026 Parks for Pollinators BioBlitz, a monthlong citizen science project run by the county’s Parks and Conservation Resources department through its Bee City USA program.
Participants visit a county park or preserve during September, photograph pollinators and pollinator-friendly plants and upload the images to the free iNaturalist app. The count is part of a national effort to track pollinator populations and conserve their habitat. Last year’s BioBlitz logged more than 4,300 observations.
Guided outings are set for 10 a.m. to noon on two Saturdays: Sept. 12 at Patti Johnson Farm, 6199 94th Ave., Pinellas Park, and Sept. 19 at Moccasin Lake Nature Park, 2750 Park Trail Lane, Clearwater.
A Wildflower and Pollinator Festival will follow from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at Brooker Creek Preserve.
For more information, email brookercreek@pinellas.gov.
Mosquito control expands to slow dengue spread
Pinellas County Mosquito Control is stepping up spraying and inspections and is urging residents to take precautions as dengue fever cases climb across the Tampa Bay area.
More than 30 locally acquired cases have been confirmed in the region, according to the Florida Department of Health’s most recent arbovirus surveillance report. The department’s Pinellas office has placed the county under a mosquito-borne illness alert.
Crews are concentrating ground inspections and dawn fogging in Palm Harbor and St. Petersburg, and will continue daytime backpack fogging, daily surveillance and door-to-door inspections. Because the mosquitoes that carry the virus breed largely on private property, the agency is asking residents to let technicians check their yards for breeding sites.
“Dengue does not stop at county lines,” said Alissa Berro, director of the agency. “The mosquitoes that transmit the virus generally stay within a relatively small area, but people travel throughout the Tampa Bay area every day. As cases rise across the region, so does the potential for additional local transmission in Pinellas County.”
Officials advise residents to dump standing water, wear light-colored long-sleeved clothing and closed-toe shoes outdoors, and use repellent containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
Clerk’s office plans Halloween wedding ceremonies
CLEARWATER — The Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court will hold its fifth annual Halloween-themed “Scare-amonies” from Oct. 1 to 30 at the downtown Clearwater courthouse, 315 Court St., Room 150.
The themed ceremony room will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, and walk-ins are welcome. Couples may wear costumes and bring up to 10 guests. Because everyone present must be identified before the ceremony, heavy makeup is not allowed until identities are verified; masks are permitted if they can be removed.
A valid marriage license is required. Photographs are available for $10 and a commemorative Halloween wedding certificate for $5. The traditional ceremony room remains open to couples who prefer it, and married couples may schedule vow renewals.
Information on marriage licenses is at mypinellasclerk.gov. Recording Services can answer questions at 727-464-3008.