TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — After two costly delays, the Pinellas County Commission is set to vote Tuesday on its share of financing for a new $1.3 billion Tampa Bay Rays ballpark. Rays officials say they’re confident of approval this time.
The overall plan was approved by the county commission and city of St. Petersburg officials this summer, but votes on the funding for the deal had been postponed.
Earlier this month, the St. Petersburg City Council voted to approve its share of the bonds necessary to build the new 30,000-seat ballpark. Now it's up to the county to decide whether to issue the bonds, which would be paid for by tourist taxes that can’t be spent on things such as hurricane recovery.
Under the agreement, the city and county would put up about half the cost, with the Rays covering the rest, including any cost overruns.
“We're upholding our part of the bargain,” City Council Chair Deborah Figgs-Sanders said at a meeting earlier this month. “We said we were going to do this. We're doing it. Now what you got?”
The proposal caps years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future, including possible moves across the bay to Tampa, or to Nashville, Tennessee, or even to split home games between St. Petersburg and Montreal, an idea Major League Baseball rejected.
Under the stadium deal, the Rays commit to remain in St. Petersburg for another 30 years. But the Rays will play this season in Tampa at the New York Yankees’ spring training site, Steinbrenner Field, because of hurricane damage to Tropicana Field.
The proposed stadium is a signature piece of a broader $6.5 billion revitalization project known as the Historic Gas Plant District, which refers to a predominantly Black neighborhood that was forced out by construction of the Trop and an interstate highway spur.
Supporters say the development would transform an 86-acre (34-hectare) tract in the city’s downtown, with plans for a Black history museum, affordable housing, entertainment venues, plus office and retail space — and the promise of thousands of jobs.
“This is much, much bigger than a stadium,” Pinellas County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters said at a November meeting. “It’s about the investment we can make and the return on that investment that can guarantee we can keep our taxes low.”
FILE - Members of the Tampa Bay Rays take batting practice at Tropicana Field before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, July 24, 2020, in St. Petersburg, Fla.. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
FILE - The roof of the Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian state government on Tuesday proposed new restrictions on protesters in response to rising antisemitism, including a ban on demonstrations outside places of worship.
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan proposed the new laws after arsonists damaged a Melbourne synagogue this month and protestors kept fearful worshippers trapped inside a Sydney synagogue for three hours a week earlier.
“That’s not peaceful protest. It’s menacing behavior,” Allan said.
“Antisemitism is a cancer and we must leave no stone unturned to fight the evil of antisemitism, to fight the evil of this racism in all of its forms and also to continue to work to help heal our multicultural community, to help build on that social cohesion and continue to support our strong, united Victoria,” she added.
The new laws would protect the right of people to “gather and pray free from fear, harassment and intimidation,” her office said in a statement.
The proposed laws, which will be voted on by the state legislature early next year, would establish safe access areas around places of worship and prohibit disturbances of religious gatherings.
The laws would also ban protesters flying flags and displaying symbols of groups listed by Australia as terrorist organizations. Face masks used by protesters to conceal their identities and protect against capsicum spray would also be banned.
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich, a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia, welcomed the proposed law.
“Today, the Victorian government has declared war on hate and antisemitism — and it’s about time,” Abramovich said in a statement.
“Victoria has drawn a line in the sand and sent a thunderous message to the hate-mongers, the graffiti cowards, the firebombers, and the social media trolls: Your days of terrorizing our communities are over,” he added.
The arson attack on Adass Israel Synagogue on Dec. 6 marked an escalation in targeted assaults in Australia since the war between Israel and the militant Hamas group started over a year ago in the Gaza Strip.
Authorities have declared it a terrorist act, which increases resources available to investigators.
A federal law passed in January banned the Nazi salute and the public display of Nazi symbols in response to growing antisemitism, and the government appointed special envoys this year to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Australia is an increasingly multicultural society. The latest census in 2021 found that Australians born overseas or with a parent born overseas formed a majority for the first time.
A man reads messages left on the fence outside the fire damaged Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Con Chronis/AAP Image via AP)
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan speaks to media during a press conference, in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)
