• After overnight storms and morning sea fog, scattered showers are possible Wednesday, with highs in the low 80s, according to • 10Weather WTSP
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The latest Tampa Bay-area radar
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The latest 7-day forecast
• As you head out for your morning commute, check out our live blog for the latest traffic updates and road conditions across Tampa Bay.
• Brace yourselves, Publix fans, some stores in the beloved grocery chain are quietly putting a stop to one of its most popular freebies at the deli counter. Food critic Laura Reiley explains why.
• Three federal appellate judges on Tuesday lobbed critical inquiries at those challenging and defending President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration order — whose immediate fate now rests with the court. The three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals aggressively questioned a Justice Department lawyer about what he considered the limits on the president’s power and what evidence Trump relied upon in temporarily barring refugees and other citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
• The Florida State Fair is opening Thursday, but first read our guide here and learn how you can save a few bucks by buying tickets before it opens.
• The Pinellas County Commission can’t do anything to reform the Pinellas County Construction Licensing board, an autonomous agency that doesn’t report to the county. Nor could the commission do anything about the licensing board’s executive director, Rodney Fischer, who retired last week. But the commission could do something about Fischer’s tenure on the Pinellas County Housing Finance Authority: It voted Tuesday to fire him after 34 years on its governing board. Marke Puente explains why commissionerswanted Fischer out.
• When the weather is bad, or when there aren’t any planes available, pilots will sometimes train on flight simulators. Some of the most high-end simulators are manufactured by Tru Simulation and Training, which has a training center in Lutz. Later today, reporter Josh Solomon will be inside their newly expanded training center, which will bring an estimated 100 jobs to the area, to check out the equipment and see if he can land an airplane. Check back at tampabay.com/business for a story on the center.
• A top Tampa Bay economic developer warns legislation seeking to end state incentives meant to recruit and support Florida jobs could undermine decades of effort to make the Sunshine State a strong competitor and handicap long-term prospects for its economy, business columnist Robert Trigaux writes.
• Wayne’s World turns 25 this week? No way! Way! And there are special screenings in movie theaters tonight. Find out about that and why the 1992 comedy should still be appreciated on The Feed, our pop culture blog..
• Watching the Lightning’s 5-0 victory over the Kings on Tuesday, it felt like a flashback to the previous special seasons, Joe Smith writes. It remains to be seen whether the Lightning’s first back-to-back victories since Dec. 20-22 is a sign of a team finally ready to go on its elusive run. But considering Tampa Bay is still fighting for its playoff life, it’s very encouraging to get the much-needed results.
• When the Rays shifted Brad Miller from SS to 1B toward the end of last season, it didn’t look good for 1B Logan Morrison’s chances to return, Marc Topkin writes. But did, signing a one-year, $2.5-million deal, which includes another $1.25-million in incentives. Morrison made it clear how happy he was to return.
• From the Tampa Bay Times editorial board: Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida both have grown too large and flush with money, but a bill to abolish them outright is an overreach. As usual, compromise is what’s called for. Also, changes coming to the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board should be the beginning, not the end, of the reforms. Read the editorials and today’s letters to the editor at tampabay.com/opinion.
• Mehdi Zeyghami, a University of South Florida doctoral student who can’t return from Iran due to Trump’s executive order, hoped that the ruling by a federal judge that blocked the key parts of Trump’s executive order on travel would allow him to get his visa and return to the United States to finish his Ph.D. But Zeyghami traveled to the U.S. embassy in Armenia Monday to find that, according to U.S. officials there, only travelers who already have their visas in hand would be allowed to return. Check tampabay.com at 8:30 for a update on Zeyghami’s story.
• How did we go from a state budget surplus of $636 million this year to the forecast of $7.5 million for 2017-18 and, far more concerning, big deficits in the two years after that? Well, Hernando Times columnist Dan DeWitt writes, that sort of thing tends to happen when lawmakers trying to look like anti-tax crusaders turn their backs on $450 million in school revenue.
• The fifth annual St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs will be Feb. 15-17 at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Sponsors expect about 2,000 people to hear from the diplomats, professors, authors, business executives and artists on 30 panels. The conference is free. Among the topics: "Cyber meddling: what to do about it"; "Here’s a tweet: build that wall and make them pay"; "President Trump’s foreign policy: from tweets to reality"; "After Ukraine, Georgia and Crimea, where is Putin’s next land grab?"; "Music and art: how their impact overpowers political borders"; and "Like it or lump it, fake news is here to stay."
• From late-night talk shows to Saturday Night Live, movies and musicals, you’ve seen them together for decades, performing arts critic Andrew Meacham writes. Steve Martin and Martin Short have more in common than their reciprocal names and multi-disciplinary comedic styles. They’re also close friends and, for the last several years, partners in a variety show all their own. They’re performing Saturday at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.
• Here are the top things to do today in Tampa Bay including indie rockers Parquet Courts and Broadway’s Wicked.
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