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Plant High School Chorus Showcase Ricks Café: A Stunner

The Plant High School Chorus presented their 2023 version of Rick’s Café, a 37-year-old tradition of performance for the choral group. They were also celebrating the retirement of choral director Bruce Yost. The 30-song, two-hour show showcased the Plant High chorus’s full cast and solo and group performances from remarkably talented singers and dancers.

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

Former Tarr Furniture Building 520 N Tampa Street demolished

The former Tarr Furniture building was demolished today as Kotler Urban prepares to build its 55-story condominium tower ONE Tampa. According to reports, the structure will be the tallest residential development on Florida’s west coast. The 311-unit tower plans to incorporate a facsimile of the Tarr building into its design.

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

Alternative Products Expo debuts new supplies for the legal marijuana industry

I feel old. It used to be (friends tell me) that someone would score an ounce of weed from a friend or dealer. It was Mexican on regular days and Columbian on good days. On payday, people smoked the buds, and when those ran out, they were left with shake (seeds that popped like popcorn mixed with leftover weed). There was a bag and a bong (or rolling papers), and it all happened in private. Supplies were

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

La Gaceta: The Documentary premiers at the Cuban Club in Ybor City

Emmy award-winning documentarian Lynn Marvin Dingfelder has produced a new work titled La Gaceta: The Documentary, and it premiered Friday night at the Cuban Club. The nation’s only tri-lingual newspaper recently celebrated its centennial. Dingfelder rounded up a dream team cast, including current and former politicians, journalists, and some of Tampa’s top-notch historians, to document the paper’s journey.

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

Happy Trails: Ronny Elliot Wraps Up His U.S. Residency

I got to see a bittersweet concert last night with Ronny Elliot and friends playing at the New World Brewery Music Hall in Tampa. Bitter because it was one of Elliot’s last concerts here as a resident as he prepares to move to England. After a long career of playing

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

Hillsborough County Fair: A Thin Slice of Southern

Life at times is just too noisy. I needed a break and headed out to the country for the Hillsborough County Fair for a taste of home town love. Located in East Hillsborough County, there’s lots going on here but it just seems less frenetic.

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

Tampa floats it's Inaugural Pride on the River Boat Parade and Festival

Tampa celebrated it’s inaugural Pride on the River celebration with a Drag brunch, a diversity boat parade, and a riverside festival at Armature Works in Tampa. Following the success (and well attended) boat parades this years following the Tampa Bay Lightening, Tampa Bay Rays, and The Super Bowl winning Tampa Bay Bucs championship wins, it seemed like a good theme to follow

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

Seminole Heights Baptist Church coming down

The 72-year-old Seminole Heights Baptist Church is coming down. In 2020 the church saw permission to tear down the building and it was granted. The biggest concern from the community was for the City Fire

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

Burgert Brothers celebrated in new book

The Burgert Brothers are a celebrated commercial photography company who made their home in Tampa, Florida. From the late 1800s through the mid 1960s their collection records a remarkable visual history of people, places, and events in the city and beyond. This book features over 150 photographs of seeing Tampa then and now

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

It's Aliive! Shooting with a Kodak Duaflex IV and Kodet f15 Lens

It sat on my shelf for 20 years, and has been a family relic for as long as I can remember. Surrounded by a dozen other cameras, it never occurred to me to try it. After all, they don’t make 620 film anymore and the shutter never seemed to work years ago when I tried it. Here’s what happened.

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

Art on the Block Mural Day Brings a Message of Unity and Inclusion

Temperatures in the high 90s and oppressive humidity didn’t slow artists and volunteers from participating in the Art on the Block Mural Day happening in five intersections across the city of Tampa on Saturday. Rollers rolled and brushes brushed transforming normally black asphalt into works of art. The city commissioned local artists to come up with work that promoted unity and inclusiveness for this one-day project.

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Chip Weiner Chip Weiner

The Florida State Fair 2020: Things That You Might Not See (but Should)

Carnival rides and funky fried food seem to get the majority of the press when the annual Florida State Fair comes to town. But if you are willing to do a little digging (research entertainment schedules online) you will see some thrilling acts and lively entertainment. While some are tucked in to the back crevasses of the fairgrounds, they are worth finding.

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