* Florida’s DOGE accused the city of St. Petersburg of overspending its 2025-26 budget by $49.4 million. “A big chunk of it is personnel cost that they probably don’t need,” said Florida CFO Blaise Incoglia.
* “Who the hell would have believed this? Look at what hockey has become in Florida.” That was Lightning founder and NHL Hall of Famer Phil Esposito, on Tampa successfully hosting the highly hyped, Gasparilla-themed Stadium Series game with Boston at Raymond James Stadium before a crowd of 65,000. BTW, the Stadium Series marketing coup for Tampa was ESPN’s most viewed NHL regular-season game.