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The newspaper is produced and printed on Indigenous land belonging to Tampa Bay’s Tocobaga and Seminole tribes.
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay keeps reaching into the mailbag, and treading carefully into the comments section. The exercise leaves us increasingly grateful for readers who come to us in print—and especially online—to read the news and thoughtfully respond. Keep it coming, folks (scan the QR code if you’re the emailing type), and we’ll keep posting it.—Ray Roa
When a feud affects the innocent (via email)
President Trump and Pope Leo XIV shift from a loud exchange of insults into something far more serious. The argument began with disagreements over immigration and the war in Iran. It has now reached into the heart of the Church’s humanitarian work.
Recent reporting shows that the administration abruptly canceled an eleven-million-dollar federal contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami. This organization has cared for unaccompanied migrant children for more than sixty years, beginning its work in the early 1960s and continuing through every administration since that time. Church leaders have said the program could shut down within months. This is not a symbolic gesture. It is a decision that affects real children who depend on experienced caregivers who have been doing this work longer than many federal agencies have existed. Some observers have noted the timing of the cancellation, which occurred while the president intensified his public criticism of the pope. Others have pointed out that Catholic Charities has been one of the few institutions consistently trusted to handle this work with competence and compassion. The message many Catholics, myself included, are hearing is unmistakable. The feud is no longer limited to rhetoric. It now touches the identity of religious institutions and the vulnerable people they have always served.
Ron DeSantis ‘flip flop’ on pro sports tax subsidies divides Republicans
[See p. 29] (via Facebook)
Now he flip flops, and evicts the Hillsborough County Tax Collectors office and FDLE. Deeding the 22 acres to HCC. No one has yet to address where they will have to relocate to, who will purchase the land, or who will pay for the construction of a new facility. If that wasn’t enough, he wants to eliminate property taxes, without defining where the funding for cities and counties will come from. Will we be, beholden to the state as to who gets how much? I see a lot of unintended consequences. But as always, politicians rarely hang around long enough to suffer the consequences of their bad decisions. Orlando Martinez
I’m glad he flip flopped. 25 years ago the city I’m from built 2 stadiums all on tax dollars. Not partial like Tampa Bay. And a much worse deal than the Rays are offering (the teams owned the stadium not the city and county. The Rays deal offers ownership to the city and county.) And that crappy deal and also 2 stadiums, cost me about $1 a week. All while I made a lot more than $1 a week because of those stadiums. The stadium will bring in more taxes than it costs. More jobs. More money in the local economy. More for small businesses. It’s a win win win win win deal!—Mike Stacy
Somebody tell DeSantis his political career is over and the wife will never have one—
Maureen Stewart
This moment forces every Catholic to pay close attention to national politics in the United States and to recognize that the separation of church and state may no longer feel like a settled hallmark of our country. The consequences of this feud now fall on the children who have no voice in it, and that reality deserves the full attention of anyone who cares about the mission of religion .—Tom Feaster, Tampa
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Supersize me
Photos by Dave Decker
Mac Sabbath brought heavy metal with a side of fries to Tampa on April 9. Part standup, part Black Sabbath tribute, the Los Angeles-based band’s show centers around McDonald's bits and fast food puns. The Orpheum set included a grill where the mic stand should be, PBR, chicken nuggets and extra-long straw bumps. See all the photos via cltampa.com/music.— Selene San Felice
A REALTOR ® HELPS YOU GET THERE.
Whether you're finding your first home or parting with one full of memories, a REALTOR® does more than guide you through the process—they walk beside you with local insight, trusted experience, and unwavering support. This isn’t just a transaction. It’s your next chapter. And they’re here to help you start it with confidence.
LIVE COMEDY SHOWS
THURSDAY, APRIL 23
7:00 PM: WEEKLY IMPROV DROP-IN CLASS
Give improv a try in a supportive, fun environment! No prior experience required!
8:30 PM: LONGFORM IMPROV SHOWCASE
Three great improv acts split the bill in this weekly show! Come for the Drop-In at 7:00, and stay for this show for free.
FRIDAY, APRIL 24
9:00 PM: TAMPA UNHINGED
Tampa UnHINGEd is raw, real, and ridiculous—an improvised comedy show tackling dating disasters, Tampa life, and the weirdness of just being human.
SATURDAY, APRIL 25
8:00 PM: IMPROV DOUBLE FEATURE: BRYAN VS. MUSIC & FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY Commodore Artist-in-Residence Bryan Fernando performs his touring solo improv show, while Justin Peters & Kelly Buttermore present their own nationally-acclaimed duo.
9:30 PM: THE DARK SHOW
Gina M. hosts this monthly showcase where Tampa Bay's top standup comedians perform the material they can't do anywhere else.
SUNDAY, APRIL 26
8:00 PM: THE COUNTDOWN IMPROV FESTIVAL 2026 PREVIEW SHOW & FUNDRAISER
America's biggest and best improv comedy festival returns for its 10th year this August! Join us as we reveal this year's lineup & schedule and all of the other big plans in store as we celebrate a decade of Countdown.
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from April 23 -30. See more on pp. 41 & 42
Shine your engines
In its ninth year, Mattel’s “Hot Wheels” Legends Tour kicks off in the Tampa Bay area before hitting just nine other American cities in between international stops in Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and more. The company’s Formula 1 car, a ride from the “Fast & Furious” movies, and the “Bone Shaker” Skeletor car will be on display alongside handpicked Hot Wheels cars come to life. Vehicles accepted into the show are judged on creativity, authenticity, and “garage spirit” aka elbow grease. One winner from all of the stops will be chosen to be made into a Hot Wheels 1:64 die-cast car after the fall finale this October in California. Last year’s selection—Paweł Czarnecki’s rally-themed Fiat 126B (pictured)—came from Poland. Autoblog said that, “The car reportedly took over 2,500 hours of wrenching and 800 hours of 3D printing components to reach its current stage.”
2026 Hot Wheels™ Legends Tour: Saturday, April 25. 8 a.m.-noon. No cover. Walmart Supercenter, 8001 N U.S.-Hwy-19, Pinellas Park. hotwheelslegends.com—Ray Roa
Shelf preservation
The Gilded Page in Tarpon Springs celebrates Indie Bookstore Day in style this weekend. The recently-opened shop joins other local shops participating in this month’s Bay Area Book Crawl. A Tarpon Springs street fair features a wide array of vendors, including local authors and artists, new and used book stalls, literary nonprofits and guest speaker panels. (Disclosure: this reporter will be in attendance, representing literary nonprofit Kitchen Table Literary Arts). Book lovers can participate by collecting a passport at their local shop and gathering stamps at any of the participating stores up to the day on April 25. The crawl concludes with a myriad of events hosted at each shop, where stamped passports can be turned in to enter a giveaway for literary-themed prizes.
Indie Bookstore Day: Saturday, April 25. Various venues across Tampa Bay. See a list of participating stores via cltampa.com/arts. Maroon Stranger
Proud of you
It’s been a rough year for the USL Super League’s defending champs Tampa Bay Sun FC. The Bay area’s first pro women’s soccer team sits at the bottom of the standings (below Fort Lauderdale United FC, which the Sun beat to win the title last year), with just 21 points after falling 0-4 to second-place Lexington SC last Saturday. The team comes home this weekend for a match against third place Carolina Ascent FC, and while fans will have to wait for the game to unfold to see how their side looks, the Sun will be decked out proper for the pregame thanks to a new, water-color-inspired Pride warm-up jersey. The Capelli threads say “Community” on the back collar and will be worn ahead of the game on Pride night celebrating, “community, inclusivity, and the game we all love.” The design is on Tampa Bay Sun FC’s TB Sports store page for $74.99 and will be available both at Suncoast Credit Union Field this weekend and at a prematch Pride Night happy hour at Tampa Heights’ Best of the Bay-winning Strandhill Public just across the river.
Tampa Bay Sun FC v. Carolina Ascent FC: Saturday, April 25. 7:30 p.m. $23 & up. Suncoast Credit Union Field at Blake High School, 1701 N Blvd., Tampa. tampabaysunfc. com—Ray Roa
MATTEL/HOT WHEELS
Motherly love
Most folks have adopted the idea that Earth Day is now an entire month, and the acknowledgement of our mother continues this weekend in St. Pete when the city’s youth farm hosts a full morning of growth. The message is built around sustainability and environmental awareness. There’s a free fruit tree giveaway along with farm tours, kid-friendly activities, plus singing bowls, vendors, a second market, and more. Advance registration is requested for 9:30 a.m. sourdough bread workshop and noon tea tasting. Anyone looking for extended Earth Day activities in the ‘Burg should head to Walter Fuller Park (7901 30th Ave. N) where the twoday Green Thumb Festival brings together more than 120 garden, plant and flower stands.
6th Annual St. Pete Earth Day: Saturday, April 25. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. No cover. St. Pete Youth Farm, 1664 12th St. S, St. Petersburg. stpeteyouthfarm.org/ earthday—Ray Roa
Smoke show
The building housing J.C. Newman Co.’s cigar factory has been a fixture in V.M. Ybor for over a century, and the family behind it is still hard at work sprucing up the block. The factory’s Founder’s Day includes free tours of the El Reloj Cigar Factory along with other family-friendly activities and local vendors. A Cuban sandwich eating competition will also go down featuring two teams led separately by iconic wife-and-husband competitive eaters Miki Sudo and Nick Wehry. Sudo is an 11-time Nathans’ Hot Dog Eating Contest Champion; her teammate in the eight-minute throwdown on Saturday is Tom Pestock, better known as WWE wrestler Baron Corbin. Wehry has been paired with this writer for the competition.
Founder’s Day: Saturday, April 25. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. No cover. J.C. Newman Cigar Company, 2701 N 16th St., Tampa. jcnewman.com—Ray Roa
Soft touch
For years, Janet Echelman’s “Bending Arc” installation hovered above the St. Pete Pier, acting as a sculpture, landmark and gathering point. Its removal in early 2025, following storm damage (and an unlikely collision with airborne furniture), left a noticeable absence along the waterfront. That pause has created space for something else. “Radical Softness” at Sarasota Art Museum closes after this weekend and spotlights the broader scope of her work. The exhibition traces her four-decade career, from early experiments to the complex systems behind her most recognizable pieces. Inside the museum, that evolution unfolds across mediums. Early works made with batik textiles, charcoal drawings and stitched fabric from the late-1980s and ’90s appear alongside rope samples, scale models and engineering studies that map out how her massive net sculptures come together. A new series of cyanotypes, made from digital renderings and photographs, translates those monumental forms into something quieter. She’ll talk about all that and more in Tampa on Friday. College students and TMA members get in free.
Janet Echelman artist lecture: Friday, April 24. 6 p.m. $25. Tampa Museum of Art, 120 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa. tampamuseum.org—Laura Troyer
Help keep local journalism alive this giving season.
For 36 years, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has amplified the voices others overlook. Now we’re launching the Tampa Bay Journalism Project to strengthen independent, local reporting on issues that matter—housing, transportation, arts, food, and accountability. Your tax-deductible support helps fund non-paywalled journalism for our community. Help support Creative Loafing Tampa during this giving season. Donating is easy, visit bit.ly/anfCLTampa
Out of office
Eight places to lay low if you’re trying to not testify about Jeffrey Epstein.
By Colin Wolf
Do you currently live in Tampa Bay? Were you supposed to appear at a federal deposition this month about your mishandling of the Jeffery Epstein investigation? Are top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee now saying you’re currently “evading a lawful congressional subpoena?” Well, relax. Tampa Bay has got you covered!
your turn to have some fun. At Adventure Island, you can’t weaponize an entire public agency against the president’s enemies, but you can weaponize the spray jets at Castaway Falls. Plus, no congressional subpoena is gonna pull you away from the mouthwatering barbecue options at Mango Joe’s!
Lettuce Lake Park
SATIRE
From high-end restaurants to sunny beaches, what follows are the best local spots to lay low if you’re desperately trying not to testify about Jeffrey Epstein.
Adventure Island
Bummed your former co-workers got to visit a certain island over and over again? Well, now it’s
Love to admire and protect predators? Look no further than this underrated Hillsborough County park. Be sure to climb the lookout tower to check for gators, and while you’re there, check your phone to see if the Dow is over 50,000!
Tampa Theatre
No one will look for you at downtown’s historic Tampa Theatre, especially if there’s a
chance the last time you were there you were booed out of a Mr. Roger’s documentary. The main theater is closed for renovations, but the smaller, more intimate screening room is still open, and it’s an equally satisfying place to get booed.
The Tampa Riverwalk
Still a little sad about how everyone got mad at you for releasing the names of victims, while redacting the names of powerful abusers? Well, set your mind at ease with a relaxing stroll on Tampa’s beautiful downtown Riverwalk. Just look out for speedy teens on bikes, those kids need to be sent to an El Salvadorian prison, amirite?
Pop into any of Tampa Bay’s awardwinning sushi spots
If you’re someone who was fired before you got to seize all the voter rolls from a Blue state, then be sure to visit any of the area’s famous sushi restaurants. Not even a pesky lib judge can tell you to put down these delicious sushi rolls.
Ben T. Davis Beach
This is a no-brainer. If everyone thinks you’re full of shit, then double down and spend a lazy afternoon at a local beach that is statistically the shittiest. Seriously, a turd can have a great day at this lovely patch of sand!
Visit one of Tampa Bay‘s many dogfriendly bars
Tampa Bay is packed with dog-friendly watering holes, and they are great for letting your pup run loose while you grab a cold one at the same time. After you’ve had a couple, be sure not to accidentally tell anyone you once stole a family’s dog after Hurricane Katrina, then had to be sued to give it back. Woof. Tampa’s “You know I had to do it to ‘em” meme location
You know what really gets people to chill out when they’re super mad? A funny meme. Testifying in front of congress about protecting the worst people on Earth will be a lot more chill if they know you posed in the same location as the “Had to do it to ‘em” kid.
THE APPRENTICE: Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in Washington, D.C. on June 27, 2025.
ROBERT V SCHWEMMER/SHUTTERSTOCK
Get in the Carlson
Tampa City Councilman announces run for mayor.
By Colin Wolf
To the surprise of no one, last Wednesday, District 4 City Councilman Bill Carlson filed paperwork for the 2027 race to be Tampa’s next mayor. In his announcement, the twiceelected city council member and president of locally-based marketing firm Tucker/Hall says his campaign will focus on discipline, transparency and competence.
“Good government is invisible,” said Carlson in a statement. “You don’t think about it. You just feel it — in safer streets, better jobs, faster permits, stronger neighborhoods. When the system works, everything works. Fixing that system is exactly what I’m running to do.”
In 2019, Carlson was first elected to his current city council seat, which covers South Tampa and Davis Islands. He was then re-elected in 2023 after being outspent more than 3-to-1 by his opponent and McDonalds tycoon Blake Casper, who was endorsed by current mayor Jane Castor (who is term-limited) and Carlson’s longtime political foe former mayor Bob Buckhorn.
His announcement came less than 48 hours after Buckhorn also announced his run for re-election. During his announcement, Buckhorn, who served as a councilman under former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco, told reporters that, “This government works when people stay in their lane and do their jobs.”
urban designer and USF assistant dean Taryn Sabia, entrepreneurs Gary Hartfield and Alan Henderson, plus business owner/Best of the Bay-winning online food critic Anthony Gilbert Jr., and more.
“I’m really excited about standing on the podium with them in debates,” added Carlson, “because I think it will enrich the process. And despite what people may think, there’s no frontrunner right now. It’s up for grabs, and that makes it exciting. The last few elections have shown that the people that raise the most money lose, and so we’ve got to be looking at where the best candidates are coming from, how they connect and even if they don’t succeed, what ideas they bring to the table, because they’re all important.”
ELECTIONS
Tampa municipal elections
Besides his city council seat, Carlson is also known as the co-founder of both the local civics forum Cafe Con Tampa, and the Tampa Arts Alliance. He also sits on the board for the Florida Tax Watch, The Dali Museum, Florida Chamber Foundation, and over a dozen other organizations.
Election Day: March 2, 2027 Deadline to register: Feb. 1, 2027 votehillsborough.gov
“During my eight years, our mantra was no drama. We weren’t interested in drama. We didn’t have the luxury of drama,” said Buckhorn. “My job is to execute, my job is to finish the job. I anticipate the council to be good partners in that. But at the end of the day, council has its lane and the mayor has its lane.”
Speaking on the phone with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay after filing, Carlson said he’s aiming for a more collaborative approach to the mayor’s office than previous administrations.
“Our economy has grown because of the economic boom that happened from 2010-2020, not because of anything any person or organization did. And we need to change that,” said Carlson. “The reason I got into government in the first place was to try to bring better government to Tampa, and that’s what I’ve tried to do the last two terms,” said Carlson.
“And so, with the structure of the City of Tampa, the only way that you can really bring meaningful change is to be mayor.”
With the addition of Carlson, there are now 11 candidates running for mayor, including Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak,
Hoyt Prindle will challenge Charlie Miranda in District 6
Tampa’s municipal elections kick up next year, crowded with 11 mayoral candidates and three filed for council—and the third returns for another showdown.
Local attorney Hoyt Prindle announced his campaign for Tampa City Council District 6 this month. The district stretches north to Forest Hills, to about Interstate 275 in the east, south to Palma Ceia, and west into Westshore. Prindle almost won the seat in 2023 in a runoff against Tampa’s longest-serving councilmember Charlie Miranda, who was first elected to the dais in 1974.
Miranda beat Prindle by only 135 votes in Tampa’s last municipal election, a razor-thin margin that challenged Miranda’s recent history of landslide turnouts. Before facing Prindle, Miranda’s last three races saw him beat candidates by an average margin of 7,313.
But while their voter margin was narrow, Miranda’s campaign received significantly more funding, with over $86,000 more in contributions than Prindle’s 2023 campaign.
Prindle, senior associate at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, told CL his campaign doesn’t have a dedicated PAC or committee, and it’ll receive donations directly. He is the only District 6 candidate filed to date. Prindle
has some council connections, too. He serves on Tampa’s Citizens Advisory Budget and Finance Committee—a seat he was appointed to by District 1 Councilman, and current council chairman Alan Clendenin. A press release says Prindle aims to lead a city “that is more responsive to residents and more focused on outcomes, not rhetoric.”
“Voters are tired of listening to politicians repeat talking points without actually improving
their daily lives,” Prindle said in the press release.
CL endorsed Prindle in 2023, highlighting his readiness and push for voter agency when it came to issues like the PURE wastewater reuse plan proposal—which voters opposed heavily. This time, Prindle said he’s ready to “roll up his sleeves and get to work for Tampa.”—Jasmin Parrado
RUN, BILL, RUN: Tampa City Councilman Bill Carlson on Feb. 23, 2023.
DAVE DECKER
Think positive
Tampa conference was a ‘gathering of union busters,’ according to local labor leaders.
By McKenna Schueler
Athree-day ‘positive employee relations’ conference came to Tampa this week, hosted by an organization that goes by the seeminglyinnocuous acronym “CUE.” But the gathering is drawing criticism from local labor leaders who are calling it a “gathering of union busters.”
The focus of the semiannual conference is publicly touted as “strengthening positive employee relations.” But as The Intercept reported in 2022, the conference, in practice, serves as a three-day brainstorming and strategy session for anti-union employers and the multi-million dollar union avoidance industry.
majority of nonunion U.S. employers report feeling unprepared to respond to union organizing activity.
to bring together scores of company representatives and union avoidance consultants—dubbed “union busters” by critics—to discuss topics such as the “u” word, how to “lawfully” and “effectively” talk to workers about unions, and how to handle worker strikes, according to a public agenda posted online.
LABOR
While large, multibillion-dollar companies like Amazon and Starbucks have run scorchedearth campaigns in recent years to counter union drives—utilizing high-cost labor attorneys and third-party consultants—the vast
Stephanie Yocum, a Polk County high school teacher and president of the West Central Florida Labor Council, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay in a statement that while CUE—formerly known as the Council on Union-Free Environment— claims to be a “community for positive employee relations,” an observer “only needs to look at the agenda and keynote speakers to see that this event is a gathering of union busters, a $400 million industry of parasites who earn a living making the lives of working families more difficult.”
Indeed, the group’s semiannual “employee relations” conference, which ran from April 19-21 at the Hilton Tampa Downtown, was expected
Participants even got the chance to walk through a “highly realistic” simulation of a union organizing drive, led by a representative of LuLuLemon. “What happens when early employee concerns escalate into visible protest actions, walkouts, legal challenges, and a union election?” a description of the workshop reads. “In this hands-on simulation, participants will step into the role of organizational leaders responding to a fictional—but highly realistic—organizing campaign.”
CUE Inc., a nonprofit and membershipbased organization, doesn’t publicly affiliate itself with the former “Council for a Union-Free Environment,” an organization founded in 1977 by the National Association of Manufacturers, a business advocacy group. According to union buster watchdog Bob Funk, that’s a calculated decision made by the industry as a sort of rebranding exercise.
“CUE is an organization that dares not speak its own name,” Funk, founder and executive director of the pro-union nonprofit LaborLab, told CL. “Its mission is to organize and arm employers to wage class war from above through ruthless, relentless union-busting. But it has to camouflage that mission because the vast majority of Americans support unions and workers’ rights.”
Countering the union ‘threat’
A Gallup survey published last August found that 68% of U.S. adults support labor unions— a near-record high—even though the rate of union membership in the U.S. is at a nearrecord low of 10%.
This decline may be in part attributed to a calculated investment by U.S. employers— coupled with decades of anti-union policy shifts—who collectively spend upwards of $400 million annually on union avoidance consultants and employer-friendly labor law firms like Littler Mendelson and Jackson Lewis to counter the “threat” of unionization. Many of these highpriced attorneys and consultants are expected to be at the CUE conference this next week.
continued on page 24
“ ...a $400 million industry of parasites who earn a living making the lives of working families more difficult.”
WAGE WAR: May Day protest in Ybor City on May 3, 2025.
continued from page 23
One of the conference’s keynote speakers, for instance, was Phil Wilson, a longtime labor consultant, CUE advisory committee member, and president of the Labor Relations Institute, also known as LRI Consulting. Described as “corporate America’s favorite union busting firm,” LRI is one of the most active union avoidance firms in the country, charging upwards of $400-plus per hour to persuade workers against unionization.
In 2025 alone, Wilson’s firm raked in at least $5 million from companies such as Domino’s Pizza, Petsmart, and Ford Motors’ electrical battery venture BlueOval SK, according to a financial disclosure report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. His firm has historically worked with the likes of companies such as Hershey, Williams-Sonoma, and Walgreens, while openly touting its talent for helping companies “prevent potential vulnerabilities” to unionization “before it’s too late.”
Yocum, the local labor council head, told CL that CUE and its attendees “are not welcome” in West Central Florida. As president of the Polk County teachers’ union, she’s well-versed in the state government’s efforts to undermine unions like hers through the passage of legislation in recent years targeting teachers unions at the behest of anti-union special interest groups.
Niles Commer, a consultant based out of Sarasota, for instance, was fired from a ‘union avoidance’ gig at a Montana hospital system in 2023 after nurses discovered an internal document of “sensitive information” that he had compiled, on behalf of their employer, to counter their organizing drive with the Montana Nurses Association.
LaThesia Hardy, a consultant based out of St. Petersburg, was paid six figures in 2023 and another $224,410 in 2025 to “communicate” with Amazon employees as a subcontractor of the Massachusetts-based anti-union consultancy firm Lev Labor. Katie Lev, the president of Lev Labor, is also a CUE committee advisory member. Her firm was paid $4.4 million by Amazon in 2025 alone, according to federal disclosure filings.
“The people who attend CUE have complete contempt for the human right to free association and collective bargaining,” Funk argued. “It is a group of virulently anti-union employers and modern-day Pinkertons committed to preventing or destroying any effort by workers to exercise even a modest degree of independent collective control over their working lives.”
LABOR
“Union busters get paid up to thousands of dollars per day to break union organizing efforts and have been found countless times guilty of violating workers’ rights to achieve that end,” she added.
A high-priced gig
Although there is nothing in federal law that necessarily bars companies from hiring union busters, the federal National Labor Relations Act does contain certain guardrails that forbid employers—and any union busters they contract—from firing workers, threatening their jobs, or otherwise retaliating against them in response to their organizing activity. This doesn’t stop them from doing so anyway.
Yocum said it’s “further insult” that the CUE conference was also scheduled to host a social hour at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City last Monday evening, considering Ybor’s radical and militant history of union organizing among the city’s cigar workers.
The Tampa Bay region, for its part, is no stranger to these union avoidance firms and individual consultants that report Tampa-area addresses to the federal government. Under federal law, third-party consultants who are contracted by an employer to “persuade” workers against unionization are required to file reports with the U.S. labor department disclosing this information, although actual enforcement of these reporting requirements is spotty.
Convening in the ‘billionaire’s playground’
The conference—which previously visited Tampa in 2018—came at a time when the U.S. rate of union membership is less than one-third of what it was in the 1940s, when roughly 33% of the U.S. workforce was unionized. Most Americans believe that unions’ decline has been bad for the country, as income inequality has only grown.
In Florida, less than 7% of the workforce has union representation and its associated benefits, such as stronger job benefits, reduced racial and gender wage gaps, contractual health and safety protections, and greater retirement security.
This past March, state lawmakers also passed a new bill (SB 1296), now awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis’s signature, that would make it harder for most public sector employees, in particular, to either keep a union they currently have or form a new one.
Public records show that bill was backed and partially drafted by billionaire-funded think tanks like the Freedom Foundation, an out-of-state group with ties to the union avoidance industry that positions government unions as the “root cause of every growing national dysfunction.”
“Florida has become a billionaires’ playground,” Dr. Rich Templin, director of politics and policy for the Florida AFL-CIO, told Orlando Weekly just ahead of the bill’s passage. “If you’ve got billions of dollars and a think-tank and you just want to have some fun with public policy that impacts hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people in some cases, you come to Florida.”
“We are not taking your tax dollars to do any stadium at the state level.”
Switch hitter
Desantis ‘flip-flop’ on pro sports tax subsidies divides Republicans.
By William March/Florida Trident
In 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis was blunt and concise about using tax dollars for professional sports. “I don’t support giving taxpayer dollars to sports stadiums, period,” he said to enthusiastic applause at a news conference in Orlando.
DeSantis had been asked about his veto of a $35 million appropriation by the Florida legislature for a Tampa Bay Rays spring training and youth sports facility in Pasco County.
Three years later, DeSantis was almost as emphatic discussing a new Rays stadium in the Tampa Bay area.
“We are not taking your tax dollars to do any stadium at the state level. It’s just not going to happen,” he said at a 2025 news conference. Today, with the Rays under new ownership led by a major DeSantis and Republican donor, the governor sounds different – in a way that even some of his Republican supporters are calling a flip-flop.
“Baseball belongs in Tampa Bay … The state is going to be supporting this proposal to use this Hillsborough College location to be the site of the new stadium,” he said in a Feb. 3 news conference at the college on a Rays proposal for a stadium on the campus.
He effusively praised the new ownership group, headed by Patrick Zalupski, a Jacksonville home building executive.
The owners have “a compelling vision” and “have really thought hard about what you need
to succeed in this day and age,” the Governor said. “I was very impressed to see how they’re thinking about that.”
DeSantis’s office didn’t respond to inquiries about whether he has changed his position on subsidies for pro sports stadiums or why.
A few weeks after his Feb. 3 comments, DeSantis led a move by the state Cabinet to give Hillsborough College 22 acres of state-owned land next to the campus so it can be included in the Rays package.
During the Cabinet meeting, DeSantis said the land wasn’t worth much, calling it “an underutilized area – not the best area.”
serving 900 visitors a day with a wide variety of government services in an underserved area.
Replacing it with comparable square footage, parking and public access would be “a complex undertaking” she estimated would cost $1620 million.
She asked that the commissioners “leave the existing Drew Park Tax Collector’s Office untouched and unaffected” by a Rays deal.
The total package of land contemplated in the Rays’ proposal, including the land given by the Cabinet to the college, is about 135 acres bounded by Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa Bay Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King and Lois avenues.
LOCAL NEWS
“Honestly I don’t know that it’s worth very much outside of this proposal.”
Attorney General James Uthmeier, also a Zalupski contribution recipient, echoed that.
The documents published in connection with the Cabinet’s consideration of the land transfer didn’t include an appraisal of its value.
According to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office, the 22 acres, though not taxed, is assessed at $21 million, and includes buildings and improvements valued at $26.5 million.
The buildings include a Hillsborough tax collector’s office, which Tax Collector Nancy Millan said in a letter to the county commissioners is the busiest of her office’s eight locations,
Under the Rays’ proposal, a portion of that land would be retained by the school for a new campus, and the rest leased to the Rays for a new stadium and residential/ commercial complex. No details were released.
With DeSantis’ support, the state Senate has included $50 million in its fiscal year 2026-27 budget proposal to replace college facilities that would be destroyed in building the Rays complex.
But the state House, which has clashed with DeSantis recently on several issues, doesn’t include the money in its budget proposal, and the two chambers haven’t yet finalized the budget.
The appraiser’s office assesses the total land package at $49 million, with $112.2 million worth of buildings and improvements – mostly campus facilities.
But on the open market, the land could be worth several times that, said county
Commissioner Josh Wostal, who suggested the land transaction could be “a crazy giveaway.”
Since 2016, Zalupski’s company, Dream Finders, has given slightly more than $2.1 million to Florida political committees and candidates, the vast majority to Republicans and GOP-oriented committees.
That includes $325,477 since 2022 to the state Republican Party; $285,000 to Republican legislative leadership committees; and $53,000 to Uthmeier.
In 2023, DeSantis appointed Zalupski, who is reportedly a billionaire, to the University of Florida Board of Trustees. A few months later, Zalupski gave $250,000 to DeSantis’s Never Back Down PAC.
DeSantis did not have such a cozy political relationship with the Rays’ former ownership group headed by Stuart Sternberg, who sold the team to the Zalupski group last year after a deal for a new stadium in St. Petersburg fell through.
The Rays under Sternberg did contribute heavily to the Florida Republican Party but also gave to some Democratic-oriented committees and candidates.
Sternberg himself has given heavily to Democrats including U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, Charlie Crist, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In 2018, Sternberg gave $3,000 to Andrew Gillum, then running against DeSantis for governor.
But when DeSantis vetoed the Rays spring training project in Pasco in 2022, he cited a different donation in addition to his philosophical opposition. continued on page 31
IF YOU BILL IT: Gov. Ron DeSantis (L) and Tampa Bay Rays CEO & co-owner Ken Babby.
Days after the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, the Rays gave $50,000 to Everytown for Gun Safety, a newly formed gun safety advocacy group, and tweeted, “This cannot become the new normal … The Rays organization stands committed to actionable change.” In his news conference, after saying he doesn’t “support giving taxpayer dollars to professional sports stadiums, period,” DeSantis added, “Clearly, it’s inappropriate to be doing taxpayer dollars for professional sports stadiums. It’s also inappropriate to subsidize political activism of a private corporation.”
The Rays proposal has divided Republicans, including exacerbating DeSantis’ antagonism with the state House leadership over issues including property tax reform and the investigation of First Lady Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida charity.
“Make no mistake: This deal will land squarely on taxpayers’ shoulders,” wrote two Hillsborough Republican state House members, Mike Owen and Danny Alvarez, in a recent opinion column.
the county’s Community Investment Tax to help pay for the $2.3 billion stadium.
Wostal said DeSantis hasn’t called him about the issue, but that he’s heard the governor is calling other Republican commissioners to urge support for the deal.
“I have a deep respect for the governor and I will continue to support him after this, but I will be acting to protect my constituents and our local revenues on this issue,” he told the Trident. But Republican Commissioner Ken Hagan has said the deal can’t go forward without the CIT money.
Republican Commissioner Christine Miller, appointed to the post by Desantis, is said by some insiders to favor the deal but she and Republican Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda haven’t staked out a public position and neither responded to messages for comment.
LOCAL NEWS
Local conservative political activist Sam Rashid, who’s active in county elections, said he’s an ardent DeSantis backer but will fight the governor on this issue.
“Residents have been told there isn’t enough money for roads, stormwater systems, water and sewer upgrades, or public safety, like the growing needs for more fire stations. But there’s plenty for a stadium? That contradiction … is indefensible.”
In an interview with the Florida Trident, Owen said he won’t vote against the state budget over the issue and wants the deal to go forward to keep the Rays – “But I’m not a big fan of funding any stadium out of taxpayer commitment.”
He said DeSantis’s position “sounds like a change in policy. I agree with the original stance.”
Among the Republican Hillsborough County commissioners, Wostal and Chris Boles have expressed skepticism or outright opposition to a key part of the deal – using $467 million from
“It is an absolute flip-flop by Gov. DeSantis,” he said. “I’ll fight it where we can at the local level.”
The public is also skeptical about the deal.
A recent poll by a respected, Republicanoriented polling firm, commissioned by Tampa Sports Authority member Andy Scaglione, found substantial majorities of likely Hillsborough voters favor a Rays stadium in Tampa, but oppose using CIT money for the project by a similar substantial margin.
About the author: William March has written about politics in the Tampa Bay area for the past 40 years. He has worked for newspapers in his native North Carolina and for the Tampa Tribune, the Tampa Bay Times and the Associated Press in Florida. This article first appeared on Florida Trident and is republished here under a Creative Commons AttributionNoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
continued from page 29
LOOKS CRAZY: Josh Wostal said the land transaction could be a ‘giveaway.’
Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist ON VIEW NOW THROUGH JULY 12, 2026
Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist is organized by the Katonah Museum of Art
This exhibition is curated by Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe, Director and Chief Curator, Katonah Museum of Art
THE LAST LIBRARY IV WRITTEN IN WATER ON VIEW THROUGH JULY 12, 2026
Ward Shelley (American, b. 1950) and Douglas Paulson (American, b. 1980), The Last Library IV: Written in Water (detail), 2025, Paper, wood, corrugated cardboard, laser-printed and hand-written labels, packing tape, acrylic paint, found and manipulated objects. Installation view. Photo by by Jimmy Fashner. Courtesy the Artist. Promised Gift of Jill and Jay Bernstein.
Shut the front door
Guy Fieri in downtown Tampa and Temple Terrace’s potential Aldi.
By Annalise Mabe
It looks like the Mayor of Flavortown touched down in Tampa Bay. On April 8, a Reddit post in r/tampa began to make its rounds, showing what appears to be well-known flameshirted food hero, Guy Fieri, posted up outside Supernatural Food & Wine in downtown Tampa. But was it really Mr. “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in the flesh? The sighting, first flagged by florida_man_13, placed Guy Ramsay Fieri outside Supernatural’s bright yellow awning, texting amid a small crew in tow while one commenter even joked that it looked like Creative Loafing Editor-in-Chief Ray Roa sat nearby. Roa declined to comment for this post and calls to Supernatural founder Wesley Roderick were not returned.
appear at Corona Cigar Factory. Fieri was also set to appear at Lueken’s Liquor on N Dale Mabry Highway that afternoon.
under-the-radar gems. Or maybe Fieri just wanted a really good glass of natural wine and a snack on one of the coolest blocks in town.
Other restaurants Fieri has visited in the Tampa Bay area include Ybor City’s Tampa Bay Brewing Co., St. Pete’s now shuttered Buya Ramen, and Keegan’s in Gulfport.
Temple Terrace is probably getting an Aldi
FOOD NEWS
Adding a little gasoline to the donkey sauce: the post speculates that the visit could be tied to an episode of the 58-year-old’s world famous Food Network show, which would make sense given Tampa Bay’s quietly booming restaurant scene, and Alton Brown’s christening of Supernatural’s breakfast sandwich, saying it was the “best he’s ever had.”
Roughly two years ago, Aldi purchased hundreds of Florida Winn-Dixie locations, and has since been in the process of converting them into the popular German discount grocer. Now, it appears a Temple Terrace location in Winn Dixie is next to get the Aldi makeover
office and more. The new Temple Terrace Aldi would also place the German grocer less than a quarter mile from the area’s closest Publix on Busch Boulevard.
Aldi has already completed a similar buildout in the newly-opened Armenia Avenue location, where it only used half of the former Winn-Dixie retail space, and is currently in the process of doing the same thing with the location just down the road at 9535 E Fowler Ave, in Thonotosassa.
One user spotted Fieri’s signature Camaro SS being unloaded the Tuesday before the sighting, the same day Mr. Flavortown was set to
Roderick previously told CL that Brown’s endorsement saved Supernatural—formerly known as Nojak’s—from closing. So, what’s going on? That remains to be seen, but this is how it usually goes. A casual sighting. A camera crew. A few days later, a beloved local spot is canonized in the Flavortown extended universe, propped up amongst other
According to a listing on the commercial real estate website Loopnet, an “ALDI Excess Space” is now available for lease where the current Winn Dixie is located at 8837 N 56th St., along with an Aldi logo.
The Temple Terrace Winn Dixie has a 41,000 square-foot footprint, which is almost double the size of a typical Aldi, which may explain why the listing is offering up 18,958-square-feet of the space.
The plaza currently is home to a Burger King, a Jersey Mike’s, a Crumbl Cookie, a post
As of now, Aldi has yet to file any building permits for the Temple Terrace spot, and has not responded to requests for comment from CL. But not all Tampa Bay Winn Dixies will end up getting the Aldi facelift. Since the acquisition from Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers in 2024, Aldi has sold back nearly 200 Winn Dixie locations to a new investor group called Winn-Dixie Co.
As for the remaining Winn Dixie locations now owned by Aldi, the German grocer has already converted a handful of the Tampa Bay stores, including the South Tampa location on Swann Avenue, and plans to convert all remaining 220 locations by 2027.—Colin Wolf
CALL A NEIGHBOR: The Mayor of Flavortown.
MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE
Mr. right
St. Pete artist wants to buy long-shuttered Haslam’s book store.
By Colin Wolf and Ray Roa
Local artist Filipe Bergson wants to sell enough t-shirts to bring back Haslam’s Bookstore in St. Petersburg. The iconic indie bookstore closed its doors back in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then the 30,000-square-foot building has sat vacant at 2025 Central Ave.—along with the nearly 300,000 new and used books still sitting inside.
Some estimates value the property at close to $3.7 million, but that doesn’t discourage Bergson, who can be seen posted up every Saturday in front of the building selling his custom-made $25 shirts.
“Yea, so, we have about 499,956 more t-shirts to sell if we are going to buy the property outright ourselves,” Bergson told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “But the more I learn about the owners, and the fact that they have yet to sell, re-open, or give away the books still inside, it seems like the Haslam’s are not motivated by money, which is something we have in common.”
“The reason I loved Haslam’s was because it was a portal to new ways of life, to new interests, hobbies, obsessions, and to new friends—but it was also a portal powered by the past,” explained Bergson to CL. “If the previous owner of the book hadn’t taken it to Haslam’s then I never would have been able to pick it up. And it was a great place for first dates.”
In 2021, Haslam’s co-owner Ray Hinst told Gabrielle Calise that he wasn’t sure what exactly he wanted to do with the property, which has been selling books since 1933.
LOCAL NEWS
“For a variety of personal and professional reasons Suzanne and I are still undecided about reopening the bookstore to the public,” Hinst explained. “We appreciate everyone’s interest and are trying to consider all aspects of the situation. In the meantime our kitties are very happy in their new homes in the area.”
bars and restaurants, as well as new condominiums and developments.
But Bergson believes there’s a chance that the bookstore’s owners are more interested in breathing life back into the storied building that was once a popular hangout for bookworms, cats and popular novelist and beat poet Jack Kerouac, who lived three miles away in Disston Heights before he died.
“I have this gut feeling that they are looking for a ‘Mr. Right’ to re-open the bookstore,” said Bergson. “As far as I know, most developers have tried to buy the property to turn it into something else; no one to my knowledge has ever just set up shop in front of the bookstore with the intention of carrying a legacy forward. If some donors are open to helping out, we would welcome them with open arms.”
Community Church will host a screening for the documentary, “Without Shade, Without Rest.”
The documentary follows the story of two organizations’ shared goals for safe outdoor labor in Florida, “in the wake of the hottest year on record.”
While the Coalition of Immokalee Workers established heat standards in its Fair Food Program to create a safer framework for labor conditions, WeCount!’s “Que Calor” campaign in Miami pressed the city to mandate heat protections for outdoor laborers. The coalitions approached their goals in different ways—and miles apart from each other—the documentary also follows their collaborative effort to push for state regulations.
“We have about 499,956 more t-shirts to sell if we are going to buy the property outright ourselves.”
If you’d like to help, the shirts, stickers and a zine available at spnchspnch.com, or at Berson’s pop-ups, which happen every Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m in front of Haslam’s.
Bergson, a St. Pete native, says he grew up with the store and has fond memories of exploring the aisles as a kid with his dad, and later as a young adult.
Creative Loafing was unable to reach Hinst for comment.
Haslam’s certainly has a valuable footprint. The section of Central Avenue that the bookstore calls home is growing, and is filled with popular
‘Without Shade, Without Rest’: New documentary highlighting fight for outdoor worker heat protections screens in Tampa
As Florida heat intensifies, so does the goal to protect workers from it—and coalitions from Immokalee and Miami tell that story in Tampa this April. On Thursday, April 23, the Tampa
The documentary was produced by Six Eye Films, a team co-founded by journalists José Jesús Zaragoza and Max Maldonado. According to Six Eyes’ site, the team “makes documentaries exploring critical issues in Florida, with a keen interest in telling stories about the American South and how its past seeks to reckon with a new future.”
A Q&A panel with filmmakers and featured workers will follow the screening.
The screening of “Without Shade, Without Rest” happening Thursday, April 23 at Tampa Community Church is open to all and starts at 6 p.m.—Jasmin Parrado.
GRAND GESTURE: Filipe Bergson will post up in front of Haslam’s every Saturday.
the code to regsiter or go to www.dfac.org/summer
The events listed in our Do This section on pp. 14-15 and the comedy lineup on pp. 42 aren’t the only things to do in town this weekend. Have a look at what’s going down the week of April 23-29 and beyond. All events—like the Saturday show from Alton Brown, pictured—are at community.cltampa. com unless noted otherwise. Head there for more and list your own.
ARTS
The Finest In Funk featuring AJ Hall Thursday, April 23. 9 p.m. $12.50. Hotel Haya, Ybor City
Remix: The Etruscans Thursday, April 23. 6 p.m. $55. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa Theresa Caputo Thursday, April 23. 7:30 PM. $78.65 & up. Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg
The Wonderment Weekend ThursdaySaturday, April 23-25. 3 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. Friday & Saturday. $795. The Paper Seahorse, Tampa
Zubrick Magic Fridays-Sundays. 7 p.m. Friday & Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. $50 & up. Zubrick Magic Theatre, St. Petersburg Alton Brown Saturday, April 25. 7:30 PM. $50 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater Patel Conservatory: Spring Music Spectacular Tuesday, April 28. 7 p.m.
$36. Ferguson Hall at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa Penn & Teller Tuesday, April 28. 8 p.m. $66 & up. Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg Instant Noodles (Community open jam)
Every last Wednesday. 7 p.m. No cover. Suite E Studios, St. Petersburg.
Alexia Benavent: De aquí, De alláConnecting with Home Daily through Saturday, May 2. 10 a.m. No cover with admission. Morean Center for Clay, St. Petersburg. moreanartscenter.org
Jenny Day: Happy Birthday Stinky! Daily through Saturday, May 2. 10 a.m. No cover with admission. Morean Center for Clay, St. Petersburg. moreanartscenter.org Fresh Squeezed 10: Emerging Artists in Florida Runs through Thursday, June 25. 10 a.m. No cover. Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg.
June Bunch: State Flower Ladies Exhibition Select times and dates through Saturday, May 2. No cover. Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg
LEARN
Cafe con Tampa Fridays. 8 a.m. $12. The Portico, 1001 N. Florida Ave., Tampa Conversation with a CEO: Bill Lombardo of Monin Americas Thursday, April 23. 8:30 a.m. No cover. Tampa Club, Tampa “In the Field” Recording, Sampling, & Production; and Taking Root: the Art of DJing Thursday, April 23. 7 p.m. No cover. Suite E Studios, St. Petersburg 26th Annual Old Seminole Heights Home Tour Sunday, April 26. 11:30 a.m.3:30 p.m. $28.52 & up. Rogers Park Golf Course, Tampa. oldseminoleheights.org Creatives Support Group Every other Monday. 7 p.m. No cover. Suite E Studios, St. Petersburg. @suite.e.stpete on Facebook
Nerd Nite St. Pete Tuesday, April 28. 7 p.m. $5. Hough Hall at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg Friendly City Foundation Art Club Wednesday, April 29, 6 p.m. No cover. Oscura, Bradenton
MARKETS
Dunedin Friday & Saturday Markets Fridays & Saturdays. 9 a.m. No cover. Pioneer Park, Dunedin Green Thumb Festival Saturday & Sunday, April 25 & 26. 9 a.m. No cover. Walter Fuller Park, St. Petersburg Seminole Heights Tampa Pet Fest
Saturday, April 25. 10 a.m. No cover. Health Mutt, Seminole Heights
Earth Night: Soundsystem Culture Day with Sun Drop Social + Eco Market
Sunday, April 26. 4 p.m. $12.51 & up. Suite E Studios, St. Petersburg Night Market Wednesday, April 29. 6 p.m. No cover. Pistil House, St. Petersburg St. Pete Street Market Every fourth Saturday. 12 p.m. No cover. Pinellas Ale Works Brewery, St. Petersburg Secondhand Market Every last Saturday through May 30. 9 a.m. No cover. 1664 12th
Street South, St. Petersburg
SPORTS
14th Annual 1 Voice Foundation Fishing
Tournament Saturday, April 25. 7 a.m. $150.
Finn's Dockside Bar and Grill, Tampa
Tampa Gators Annual Charity Golf
Tournament Saturday, April 25. 7:30 a.m.
$750. Westchase Golf Club, Tampa
Tampa Tarpons vs St. Lucie Mets
Wednesday, April 29. 4 p.m. $5.55. George Steinbrenner Field, Tampa
THEATER
The Meeting Select dates through May 3. $30-$50. Stageworks Theatre, 1120 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
The Thorn Friday-Sunday, April 24-26. Times vary. $49.70 & up. Morsani Hall at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa A Streetcar Named Desire Select times and dates through Sunday, April 26. $35 & up. The Studio @ 620, St. Petersburg Into The Woods in the park Select dates through Sunday, April 26. 7:30 p.m. $63. Demens Landing Park, St. Petersburg
Anastasia Thursday-Friday, April 23-24. 7 p.m. $13.60. Palm Harbor University High School, Palm Harbor
X ≠ X Multiple times and dates between Thursday, April 23 and Sunday, May 3. $31. LAB Theater Project, Ybor City
Opera Tampa: Macbeth Friday & Sunday, April 24 & 26. 8:00 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Sunday. $110.80 & up. Ferguson Hall at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa
Stereophonic Tuesday-Sunday, April 28-May 3. Times vary. $62.20 & up. Morsani Hall at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa
Interested in advertising around this listing? Contact jhoward@cltampa.com and acarbone@cltampa.com for details.
Cracked up: Tampa Bay’s best comedy gigs
Local comedians will be sharing laughs to help a fellow funnyman on Friday. The benefit show, which is free to attend and will have a donation jar and a 50/50 raffle, raises money for Steve Arik, a longtime performer who’s been telling jokes in the Tampa Bay area since the 1980s and is now fighting Stage 4 colon cancer. His long treatment journey and considerable related expenses are no laughing matter, but several of the Bay’s best comedians will be taking the stage to help with those costs. The lineup includes previous Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay winners Johnny B, Mike Rivera, Dick Ruse, Catherine Maloney and others. Anyone who cannot attend can still help Arik by donating to his GoFundMe at gofund.me/ cc9121a18.
Get info on that gig and more of the best comedy coming to Tampa Bay April 23-May 6. See more at cltampa.com/arts.—Michael Murillo
“Dr. Dirty” John Valby Thursday, April 23. 7:30 p.m. $25.80 and up. Side Splitters, Tampa
Bill “Bull” Ohse Thursday, April 23. 7:30 p.m. Sold Out. Snappers Grill, Palm Harbor omgitswicks Thursday-Saturday, April 23-25. 7 p.m. Thursday; 6:30 p.m. and 8:50 p.m. Friday; 6:30 p.m. and 8:50 p.m. Saturday. Sold Out. McCurdy’s, Sarasota Jeff Foxworthy Friday, April 24. 8 p.m.
$78.75 and up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater Steve Arik Benefit Show Friday, April 24. 8:30 p.m. No cover. Finley’s Irish Pub, Largo Adam Minnick Friday, April 24. 7 p.m.
$16.50 and up. Richey Suncoast Theatre, New Port Richey
Trixx Friday, April 24. 7 p.m. And 10 p.m. $25 and up. The Hardware Store, Brooksville Andrew Schulz Friday-Saturday, April 24-25. 8 p.m. And 10 p.m. Friday; 8 p.m. And 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Sold out. Side Splitters, Tampa
Matty Chymbor Friday-Saturday, April 24-25. 7 p.m. And 9:30 p.m. $23.80. Side Splitters, Wesley Chapel
Ms. Pat Friday-Saturday, April 24-25. 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday; 6:30 p.m. And 9:15 p.m. Saturday. $37 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City Comedy Hypnosis with Bob Lauver Friday-Saturday, April 24-25. 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $32.50. Snappers Grill, Palm Harbor
Matt Vita Friday-Saturday, April 24-25. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Sunshine City Comedy Club, St. Pete Beach
Clay Miles Friday-Saturday, April 24-25. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Clearwater Comedy Club, Clearwater
Nick Alex Saturday, April 25. 6 p.m. $23.80. Side Splitters, Tampa
Jay Hewlett Tuesday, April 28. 7 p.m. $20. Clear Sky on Cleveland, Clearwater Broken Down Boomers with Jay Hewlett Wednesday, April 29. 7:30 p.m. $10. O’Brien’s, Tampa
Emma Willmann Thursday, April 30. 7:30 p.m. $28.80 and up. Side Splitters, Tampa
King Bo Thursday, April 30. 7 p.m. $27 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City
Sit Down For Stand Up! with Matt Fernandez Thursday, April 30. 7:30 p.m. $30 and up. Palladium, St. Petersburg
Alvin Williams Thursday-Saturday, April 30-May 2. 8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. And 9:30 p.m. Friday; 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $23.80. Side Splitters, Wesley Chapel
Kevin McCaffrey Thursday-Saturday, April 30-May 2. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $22.50. Snappers Grill, Palm Harbor
Randy Feltface: Gimmick Friday, May 1. 7
p.m. And 9:30 p.m. $32 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City
Britton Emert Friday, May 1. 10:30 p.m.
$29.47. Sunshine City Comedy Club, St. Pete Beach
James Yon Friday, May 1. 7:30 p.m. $23 and up. Firehouse Cultural Center, Ruskin
William Montgomery Friday-Saturday, May 1-2. 7:30 p.m. And 10 p.m. Friday; 8 p.m. And 10:30 p.m. Saturday. $33 and up. Side Splitters, Tampa
David Jolly (From Kill Tony) FridaySaturday, May 1-2. 8 p.m. $25. Laugh Out Lounge, Winter Haven
Britton Emert Saturday, May 2. 7 p.m.
$23.80 and up. Side Splitters, Wesley Chapel
Jeff Gerbino Saturday, May 2. 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $20. Coconuts, St. Pete Beach
Michael Blackson Saturday-Sunday, May 2-3. 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $46 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City
Cam Bertrand Sunday, May 3. 6 p.m. And 8:15 p.m. $28.80. Side Splitters, Tampa
Joel Kim Booster Wednesday, May 6. 8 p.m. $30 and up. Side Splitters, Tampa
Nasser Al-Rayess Wednesday, May 6. 7 p.m. $37 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City
Tom Wise Wednesday, May 6. 8 p.m. $20. Coconuts, St. Pete Beach
The Zoo Uncaged with Johnny B Wednesday, May 6. 7:30 p.m. The Zoo, St. Petersburg
Refer Three Friends, Get Yours Free
SHOW PREVIEW
WMNF Tropical Heatwave w/Cracker/Keller Williams/Eilen Jewell/Have Gun, Will Travel/McKinley James/Betty Fox Band/Greg Roy/Sonora Tukukuy/Hex Appeal/The Gulfport Gecko Amalgamated Marching Band. Saturday, April 25. 5 p.m. $50-$60. Cuban Club, 2010 N Avenida Republica de Cuba, Ybor City. wmnf.org
REVIEWS PROFILES MUSIC WEEK
Wave and see
Eight things to know about WMNF’s Tropical Heatwave.
By Ray Roa
Tropical Heatwave returns to Ybor City this weekend, continuing community radio station WMNF-Tampa’s now more than 40-year tradition of bringing an eclectic slate of music to the historic district. As the radio station’s loyal following gears up for the party at the Cuban Club, here are eight things a Tropical Heatwave newb might want to know before getting their freak on.
The festival started as a fundraiser and was stylized after Ybor City’s famed Artists and Writers Ball Bud Lee was named Life Photographer of the Year in the late-‘60s after his coverage of the Newark riots of 1967 saw him capture an image of an 11-year-old boy shot in a spray of bullets. As his career wound down, Lee found himself in Ybor City, he taught public school students in Plant City and cultivated a generation of Bay area artists all the way up to his passing in 2015. Lee and David Audet’s Artists and Writers Group—itsef borne from an admiration of artist parties in Paris in the 1920s—staged its ball at the Cuban Club, with a new theme each year. It was a precursor to Tampa’s long defunct Guavaween, and also the inspiration for the first Tropical Heatwave in 1982.
The first Tropical Heatwave lineup included six local bands That’s according to the Tampa Tribune which previewed the festival set for Saturday, May 22, 1982 by listing six bands including Zenith Nadir, a skinnytie-wearing band that was known for bringing sloppy, sweaty and fast rock to long-shuttered venues like the Buffalo Roadhouse on the corner of Armenia and Buffalo Avenues (the latter is now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard). The Fallopian Tubes, an all-woman sextet playing a mish-mash of blues, rock, pop, jazz, punk and country were also on the lineup along with Tampa punk band Voodoo Idols, A New Personality, Your Relatives, and The Backbeats. The Tribune added that “reggae music, theatrical performances, a psychedelic light show, silent films, jugglers, comedy…” were also scheduled. Tickets were $5 in advance and $6 at the door.
Homegrown acts, once again, are a huge part of the Heatwave lineup in 2026, with blues powerhouse Betty Fox and Americana hero Have Gun, Will Travel among the highlights alongside Ladies Rock Camp alum Hex Appeal.
The festival’s name was inspired by Carmen Miranda, and the food used to be as basic as it could get “At the first Tropical Heatwave, we had a Carmen Miranda look-alike contest, and it was almost all gay guys in their glory. I don’t think very many, if any, women entered,” Janine Farver, WMNF station manager when Heatwave first started, told Creative
The first festival was also a sell-out, but attendance estimates vary In the same 2006 oral history for Heatwave’s 25th anniversary, attendance at the festival was reported between 1,000-3,000 people. WMNF volunteer and festival co-founder John Durble does remember it being a sell-out that made the station a nice chunk of change. Three years after the station first went on the air, Durable remembers his thoughts when people started pouring into the Cuban Club. “...it was like a Sally Field moment: ‘They love us; they really love us.’ We got the sense that night that the future was bright.” Heatwave remains the station’s signature event of the year. Festivals are more expensive than ever to book, and its success will help determine its viability.
Tropical Heatwave’s first big artists included Bo Diddley and Sun Ra Linda
Loafing Tampa Bay back in 2006. Miranda’s performance of “Heatwave,” a song by Ethel Waters, inspired the name. The station sold microwaved, homemade cheese and pepperoni French bread pizza and Italian ice, and Farver vividly remembers someone dropping a cooler of beer which then cascaded down the Cuban Club steps. There’ll be plenty of libations this year, along with food trucks parked in the venue’s El Pasaje Plaza.
Reisinger started at the station in ‘79 as the host of “Friday Nite Crusin’,” which was on the airwaves for 26 years, and in 2024 she told CL about driving up to Hawthorne in Alachua County to knock on Bo Diddley’s door and ask him to play. “He took us out to his shed where he practiced with his guitar, and he introduced us to his daughters who had a band then,” Reisinger said, alluding to The Diddley Darlings. The famed guitarist played Tropical Heatwave in 1985, attracting attention
to a festival that would go on to sell out in 1986 (prompting people to hop the fence, according to former program director Randy Wynne), while bringing acts like Sun Ra and his Alter-Destiny 21st Century Omniverse Arkestra (1987), Andrew Bird (2001), Mofro (2005), Carolina Chocolate Drops (2011), The Hold Steady (2014) and more. This year’s lineup Tropical Heatwave headliners this year include the return of ‘90s rock band Cracker (which played 2011), plus high-energy jam scene darling Keller Williams, globetrotting party band Sonora Tukukuy, and Idaho Eileen Williams, another Heatwave alum who is actually taking a break from touring after her current tour. In comments to Marcie Finkelstein on WMNF’s “Words & Music” program, Williams noted how her 12-year-old daughter, Mavis, needs her at home. “It’s a tough decision to make, because nobody likes this decision,” Jewell added, noting how her decisions affect the livelihoods of others like her bandmates. “I don’t even like it. It’s like a bitter pill that has to be swallowed.”
The party went on hiatus 10 years ago Speaking of bitter pills, in 2016, a year after being hired for the job, then General Manager Craig Kopp (now a reporter and host at WUSF) announced plans to put Tropical Heatwave on ice, citing $40,000 in losses and rising costs for bands as part of the “difficult decision.” Kopp ended up a pariah at the station, not just over Heatwave, but his firing of late station co-founder and news director Rob Lorei. After helping WMNF do a Heatwave Royal Caribbean cruise in 2018, Kopp resigned in 2019. Talks about a May 2020 return died with the arrival of the pandemic, but in 2023 Heatwave finally restarted with a 16-band lineup.
The tradition continues in 2026 Putting on music festivals in these times is no joke. The concert world is stacked against indie promoters, and the volatility of hard costs continue to cloud any organizers ability to forecast overhead. WMNF, powered by an army of volunteers, however, soldiers on. Doors for Tropical Heatwave this Saturday open at 5 p.m., with the Gulfport marching band kicking things off on the patio shortly thereafter. Nine bands will play between the patio and indoor cantina stages while the Cuban Club theater hosts spoken work and poetry. The ballroom hosts a silent disco. Kids under 12 get in free, too.
SHIT’S TIGHT: The band formerly known as Glove at Tropical Heatwave 2023.
THU APRIL 23–THU APRIL 30
By Ray Roa
FRI 24
C Boogarins w/Timothy Eerie/Domino Pink Boogarins recently celebrated a milestone anniversary for its 2013 debut, As Plantas Que Curam . Throughout its career, the Brazilian psych-rock band has been known for how it taps into its influences (early Pink Floyd, more of the mind-bending Beatles stuff) and marries them with the energy of a sweaty basement jam session plus textures of the tropicália that’s long-colored South American music. Three albums after Plantas , Boogarins arrives a couple years after releasing 2024’s Bacuri , an LP that is a nod back to that breakthrough record, and one that was named one of the 50 best albums of 2024 by the São Paulo Art Critics Association. The Bay area gets a visit from Orlando rock king Timothy Eerie to mark the occasion. 7 p.m. $20-$25. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg
SAT 25
C BTS Jin must really like the fishing in Tampa. After visiting downtown for a two-night stand last year, the K-pop star is bringing his supergroup BTS to Tampa as part of a world tour with just 10 stops in the United States. The show sold so well that the band featuring the 33-year-old and his bandmates RM, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook added two mor. Saturday-Sunday, & Tuesday, April 25-26, & 28. 8 p.m. $172 & up. Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
Busch Gardens Food, Wine & Garden Festival: Hanson When Busch Gardens released the 2026 lineup for its Food, Wine and Garden Festival concerts, one slot remained open for a surprise artist. We now know who that band is, and its name rhymes with “MMMbop.” The Hanson brothers—Isaac, Taylor, and Zac—play the theme park on the same weekend as ‘90s pop-punk band Bowling For Soup. The group, three decades into bandom, still relishes opportunities to share Hanson’s love of vintage pop with fans that’ve grown up with the group. 7 p.m. Free with park admission. Busch Gardens, Tampa
C Monufest: The Tim Version/ Thunderclap/Chimes/The Eradicator/ Last Bias/Big Sad/Walled City/more
Nearly 30 years after its founding Tampa punk band The Tim Version says the time has come to hang it up. The band, formed in 1999, emerged alongside other Sunshine State punk icons like Hot Water Music and Less Than Jake, released records on ADD and No Idea, then faded away due to life. The quartet—guitarists Russ Van Cleave and Scott Laval, plus drummer Shawn
Watkins, and bassist Mike Paul—reunited last year and will go on one last weekender that includes this appearance at New Port Richey’s Monufest, the night after one last throwdown at Crowbar, which is set to close in Ybor City before the fall. Gainesville doom-rock outfit will join Tim Version for both shows. 3 p.m. $7.18 & up. Ordinance One, New Port Richey
Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival: Rick James Stone City Band w/Althena Rene/Boá/Tina P & Friends/Stokley/ Trill 6attle/LeoNell Teape/Piarry Oriol/ Sarasota Slim Tampa Bay’s Black Heritage’s month-long celebration comes to a head this weekend with its big music festival. A band playing Rick James’ biggest songs is on the lineup along with homegrown blues hero Sarasota Slim. Keep an eye out for Boá (stylized all-caps, too). Florida Sentinel Bulletin reports that the pop-jazz band playing on Sunday includes an alum of Blake High School. Saturday-Sunday, April 25-26. Noon10 p.m. $40 & up. Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Tampa
C New Tampa Jazz Nights: Dave Stryker One of jazz’s greatest living guitarists is joined by Florida all-stars of the genre, including the University of South Florida’s retired Director of Jazz Studies, saxophonist Jack Wilkins, plus bassist Mark Meunschwander, University of Central Florida drummer McClenty Hunter. 8 p.m. $10 & up. New Tampa Performing Arts Center, Tampa
TUE 28
C Florence + The Machine w/CMAT Heaven is here. Following a year off for the band, Florence Welch (who still made a point to join Taylor Swift at all three of her Miami “Eras Tour” shows last year) spearheaded its brandnew, Halloween-released album Everybody Scream. The record, which features contributions from The Nationals’ Aaron Dessner and Idles’ Mark Bowen, is Welch’s most personal work to date, being partially inspired by lifesaving surgery she had two years ago. This show marks the first time Welch and friends have been to Tampa Bay since 2012, when they pushed their sophomore album Ceremonials at the USF Sun Dome (now Yuengling Center). Irish indie-pop up-and-comer CMAT opens. 7:30 p.m. $74.95 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa—Josh Bradley
The Maine w/Grayscale/Nightly/Moody
Joody After a snazzy set at Orlando’s massive Vans Warped Tour, John O’Callaghan and The Maine have confirmed that a new era is here. The Arizona group behind “Into Your Arms” has been hard at work on its 10th studio album, which promises to lay the foundation for the new chapter. But 2025 kicked off with a surprise release of Dyed, a collection of unreleased cuts from each of its preceding albums. You’ll still hear jams that made the last few Sad Summer tours (and 2022’s 97x Next Big Thing) all the better, but at a headlining gig like this (the guys’ first local since a 2019 stop at the sinceshuttered Ybor City Orpheum location), don’t be shocked if there’s a bit of unfamiliarity. 5:30 p.m. $49.75. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg —JB
THU 30
C Alabama Shakes w/Lamont Landers Alabama Shakes is dusting itself off. The band fronted by Brittany Howard exploded onto the scene with its 2012 debut album Boys and Girls, immediately garnering both critical and public acclaim for a rhythmic blend of reverb-heavy guitar and haunting, emotional vocals. From its formation at the end of members’ high school years in 2009, it wasn’t long before the spacey, bluesy band was sharing stage time with Jack White and The Kings of Leon. But success at such a young age made guitarist and vocalist Howard ponder the path she was speeding down. Less than three years after Alabama Shakes’ 2015 triple-grammy-winning second album, Sound and Color, Howard decided to step away from the band. She followed with a more dance-heavy solo album in 2019, still retaining her signature cosmic-soul sound. At the end of 2024, Brittany Howard played a solo-billed show in Nashville, briefly popping off stage for a guitar change only to return with the members of Alabama Shakes. The surprise reunion sparked plenty of speculation, much of which proved to come true. After nearly a decade, the band is back with a new single (“Another Life”), a new tour, and hopefully much more to come. 7:15 p.m. $75 & up. The BayCare Sound, Clearwater—J.C. Roddy
See an extended version of this listing at cltampa.com/music. Submit your gigs to our user sumitted events calendar via community.cltampa.com. Thanks in advance for the help.
C CL Recommends
Alabama Shakes
UPCOMING SHOWS
APRIL 25
RAMIREZ Jannus Live
APRIL 28
THE MAINE Jannus Live
MAY 2
PURITY RING Jannus Live
APRIL 28
Sun-Ray Cinema
JUNE 29 SUBHUMANS Crowbar
MAY
MAY
COLD
Jannus
State of the Nation
Florida among states to win in antitrust suit.
By Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix
States red and blue, including Florida, won over a federal jury that has declared Live Nation and Ticketmaster constitute an illegal monopoly.
The ticket companies stood accused of breaking antitrust laws by controlling concert promotion and venue operations and blocking out potential competitors. The jury agreed, ruling certain tickets had been overcharged by approximately $1.72 each.
of Justice with Live Nation and Ticketmaster listed as defendants.
“The live music industry, like other heavily concentrated industries, is largely controlled by a well-known group of insiders who lead multiple interconnected companies with numerous conflicts of interest,” the states wrote in their complaint.
MUSIC NEWS
Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office said the company could be ordered, among other penalties, to pay the $1.72 back.
“Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster and monopolized the ticket industry, forcing venues into restrictive contracts and raising ticket prices — all while mocking Florida consumers,” Uthmeier said in a news release.
“Our victory in court will allow the free market to determine how much you pay for tickets, rather than a mega corporation that used the threat of financial ruin against venues to stifle competition. It’s a big win for Florida consumers!”
“These insiders have spent decades amassing, fortifying, and exercising power, particularly against anyone who seeks to disrupt the now-standard industry business practices and conduct. These business practices can, and often do, work against the interests of those with relatively little power and influence, especially working musicians and fans.”
A Live Nation spokesperson in a response to the Phoenix said, “The jury’s verdict is not the last word on this matter.”
“Live Nation can and will appeal any unfavorable rulings on these motions.”
“Pending motions will determine whether the liability and damages rulings stand,” the spokesperson said, “Of course, Live Nation can and will appeal any unfavorable rulings on these motions,” the spokesperson said.”
The Florida attorney general’s office said Uthmeier “secured a verdict” against the ticket giant. His news release did not acknowledge the dozens of other states in the lawsuit.
About 30 states and the District of Columbia fought alongside U.S. Department
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
After returning to Coachella last weekend, The Strokes have also shared plans to come back to Florida as part of a 2026 world tour. A press releases says Julian Casablancas’ revered indie-rock band will bring a new album, Reality Awaits due on June 26, to two dates in the Sunshine State this fall, including one in Tampa.
The Strokes have not been in the Bay area since 2015 when the band headlined day two of the long-defunct Big Guava Music Festival. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s review of that set noted how Casablancas & co. “blazed
The Queers w/Eleni + The Uprising Friday, May 1. 6:30 p.m. $22.95. Brass Mug, Tampa
Steve Forbert Sunday, May 3. 7 p.m. $36.22 & up. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg
Kayzo w/Gravedgr Saturday, May 9. 10 p.m. $31.15 & up. The Ritz, Ybor City
Mietze Conte Saturday, May 9. 7 p.m. $24.06. Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa
Ordinary Boys (Smiths and Morrissey tribute) Saturday, May 30. 8 p.m. $20. Crowbar, Ybor City
Bixby Saturday, June 20. 7 p.m. $29.71 & up. Crowbar, Ybor City
Thievery Corporation Thursday, June 25. 7 p.m. $52.85. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
Flux Pavillion Friday, June 26. 10 p.m. $20.77 & up. The Ritz, Ybor City
John Lodge Celebration: 10,000 Light Years Band w/Jon Davison Of Yes Friday, July 17. 8 p.m. $45 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater
Rocks The Cure: Vertical Horizon w/ Tonic/First Of The Day Friday, July 24. 6 p.m. $51.90 & up. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
The Pussycat Dolls w/Lil Kim/Mya Saturday, July 25. 6:30 p.m. $42 & up. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa
through a career retrospective setlist that spanned almost two dozen songs and ignited a ticking time bomb of nostalgia…”
Tickets to see The Strokes play Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida on Friday, Sept. 12 went on sale to the public on Friday, April 17 and started at $64.35 as f
Openers for the shows in Tampa and Hollywood, Florida have not yet been announced. See Josh Bradley’s weekly roundup of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.—Ray Roa
Grupo Frontera Friday, Sept. 11. 8 p.m. $71.40 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa
John Fogerty w/Steve Winwood Saturday, Sept. 19. 7 p.m. $67 & up. The BayCare Sound, Clearwater
Raise kittens and puppies in a safe home environment
Earn 4 volunteer hours per day
It’s personal
By Caroline DeBruhl
Dear Reader, over the past six years, I’ve written quite a few “very special columns” where I’ve pulled cards for the collective about ICE, about the loss of Roe V. Wade, about school shootings, the insurrection, and the second Trump election. Those types of columns were written as a call to action, a hope that by applying the question to the masses, more people could feel helped and find a path forward.
What I don’t write about here is how often I myself turn to the cards. It isn’t very couth of an advice columnist to admit that she herself feels lost or overwhelmed with the world or frightened about the future, but to be honest, I do.
I have a fear about the future, so worried about a war that will devastate and destroy the lives of many. I am overwhelmed with the hatred and cruelty that is calcifying in this country right now, and how that manifests with mass violence, sanctioned from the top and carried out all around us—as shootings and beatings and gleeful spite. And I feel lost as to what to do, especially when it seems others are feeling it, too. I hear people all around me start hedging their bets when they talk about travel plans, about job hunting, about plunging into credit card debt because fuck it, man, who’s to say we’ll be here in a year? There is a cynicism in the air, a tolerance for brutality, a feeling that we are all being scathed. On top of worrying about the future and the present, I worry that cynicism will seep into
my soul and stay there, a fate I am desperate to avoid for two reasons.
The first reason is that I have a curious toddler who needs to be shown the wonders of this world and needs a mother who can sing silly songs about whatever she discovers.
The second is that modern cynicism is tediously stupid and cartoonishly cowardly, and if I ever truly lost the ability to look at my fellow man and see someone capable of kindness, charity, and love with a spark of divine in their hearts, I’d probably throw myself off the goddamn pier.
So, in the interest of self-preservation, I turn to my Tarot deck and I ask: What can I do to avoid becoming cynical and maintain hope?
The cards I pulled were The Hierophant, The High Priestess, along with the Nine of Wands, and Six of Cups, both reversed.
I tend to secularize The Hierophant when I write about him in this column, talking about how he can be a symbol for many types of institutions, which is true.
But the Hierophant has always been a card of spiritual institutions, and when it appears for me, I know that means I need to be throwing myself into the minutiae of religious practice. It means I need to clean the floor and windows and doors, to light the incense and say daily prayers, to dress the altars and dust the shrines and pray, pray, pray. It’s the workings one would
do in a cloistered life, a “chop wood, carry water” for the occultist.
The next card is also the spiritual High Priestess, goddess and guardian of the Other Side and the unconscious. When she appears for me, it usually means to write more fiction. That might seem like a mundane take from a pretty woo-woo card, but if you think about stories as coming through a writer rather than being the creation of a conscious mind, then writing is essentially just mediumship, with characters instead of ghosts.
What happens when you think about characters all day long is that you start to know them well. You know their complexities, their backstories, their decisions, their inner lives, and their subconsciouses.
And when I spend the whole day thinking about the humanity of individual character—especially of evil characters—it becomes impossible to paint real humans with large brush strokes. There are no stock characters in this life; everyone has a story. It’s something I need to remind myself of.
of mine once said that to be naïve was “to have an untainted capacity for awe.” Maybe that’s the trick of it, to see everything like it’s the first time, to feel awe-struck whenever possible. I take this theory out on the road when, an hour after starting this column, my daughter wakes up, and I take her and the dog for a walk.
My daughter points up and announces that the moon is awake, and I think about how that rock has sat in the sky and watched every civilization rise and fall, that it’ll still be up there a thousand years after I’m gone.
ORACLE OF YBOR
Send your questions to oracle@cltampa.com or DM @theyboracle on Instagram
And then I think about all the people the moon has seen, since we became Homo sapiens, and I wonder who the first person to ever crack a joke was? Who sang the first lullaby, made the first soup, brought good news to a neighbor? Who was the first to pray over someone as they died and then dress them in finery for the hereafter?
The Nine of Wands is a hopeful card, one that feels a bit like the Serenity Prayer. Change what I can, accept what I cannot, but keep the hope alive that, one day, something will change those bigger things. Maybe down the line, maybe tomorrow. Work and hope.
The final card, Six of Cups, the card of childlike love and nostalgia, reminds me of my daughter and how she sees the world. A mentor
And I think that even in the most brutal of times, we have always carved out spaces of tenderness, that those spaces still exist now, that they will still be there in the future. That cruelty is a choice many may choose but even more will not. That everything is temporary, even if I may never see it end. That prayer and writing and working with hope and standing in awe is a way to save my soul. How obvious that all is once I see it laid out on the cards in front of me.
See more of Caroline and learn about her services via carolinedebruhl.com.
Outward bound
By Dan Savage
I’m a 26-year-old cis gay boy. I met my 28-yearold cis gay boyfriend in an actual bar and not an app—like it was 1978 or something—so we didn’t share our sexual interests before we met. We hooked up that night and things got serious pretty quick. He was the first guy I met in a long time who was actually single (I was 24 and already done dating married guys) and he was really into me. Which is why I hesitated to tell him about my kinks. I didn’t want to ruin it.
Six months in, I laid my kink cards on the table, like my gay sex guru recommends: I’m into bondage, from mild to wild, and absolutely need to get tied up once in a while. (Once in a while = once a week.) I knew I liked being tied up before I knew I was gay. Sadly, my boyfriend has no kinks, but he said he was open to mine. The first few times were great—I’d never been tied up by someone I was in love with before!—but now it only happens when I beg him for it. Even worse, he treats it like a chore. Once he was jacking me off while he was scrolling on his phone, and I had to ask him to put his phone down. Another time he tied me up and looked at me and said, “Happy now?” in this really sarcastic tone.
I don’t want him to tie me up anymore. It’s no fun being kink-shamed like this. But I can’t live without bondage and he’s not even willing to discuss opening our relationship, so me going off to get tied up by some guy who actually enjoys tying a boy up is a non-starter. Is there a fix? Bound For Disappointment
Thank you for writing in, BFD, I really needed—OMG, did I ever need—an easy question to kick off the column this week.
DTMFA. That’s your fix, BFD: dump the motherfucker already.
Or if you’re not ready to dump this motherfucker, BFD, you need to issue a credible threat to dump the motherfucker. Because one of you is gonna have to pay the price of admission— you’ll have to go without bondage, BFD, or he’ll have to let go of monogamy—and I don’t think it can be you.
Zooming out for a second: BFD’s boyfriend reminds me of the kind of wife who doesn’t like sucking cock—at least not her husband’s cock— but who sucks her husband’s cock once a year on his birthday. Badly. That way, when her husband starts turning down those bad birthday blowjob after 10 years, the wife can tell herself (and tell the husband) that it’s not her fault he doesn’t his cock sucked anymore. Because she’s willing to suck his cock—once a year, on his birthday, badly—which means he’s not allowed to complain about never getting his cock sucked (bad birthday blowjobs are still on the table) and he’s not allowed to find someone else to suck his cock (because that would be cheating).
Before we proceed: husbands who don’t go down on their wives— regularly and enthusiastically—aren’t allowed to complain about “only’ getting bad blowjobs on their birthdays. Good and enthusiastic oral sex is a less frequent occurrence the longer any couple is together, but good and enthusiastic oral—even if it only happens on birthdays—should always be reciprocal. Anyway, BFD, it sounds like your boyfriend has adopted the bad birthday blowjob strategy. He’s tying you up, he’s doing it badly, and he’s already gotten you to the point—in two years— where you’d rather he didn’t tie you up at all. But you aren’t allowed to complain (because bad bondage is still on the table) and you aren’t allowed to go find someone else to tie you up (because that would be cheating). And while I think going without oral is a price of admission someone could reasonably pay to make a marriage work, going without bondage isn’t something you will be able to do. Because if you were into bondage before you were into men, BFD, it’s not just one of many sex acts you might enjoy with your partner, it’s a hard-wired, deep-seated erotic compulsion.
If you’re not ready to DTMFA—if your boyfriend has redeeming qualities you failed to mention, BFD, and you wanna try to make this work—you’re going to call his bluff: “You’ve made it clear that tying me up is a chore that you hate, honey, and you’ll be glad to hear it’s not a chore you have to do anymore. Because I’m never going to ask you to tie me up ever again. But like I told you very early in our relationship, this is an important part of my sexuality. So, if we’re going to stay together—if we’re going to make this work—I’m gonna need a hall pass for bondage. There are guys out there who would love to tie me up without doing anything else, and there are bondage-only play parties I could attend. We would still be monogamous in all the ways that really matter. But you would need to think of this as finding someone else to do a chore you hate, not as cheating.”
monogamy—it just felt weird.) There is one issue I’m still stuck on: Should I be disclosing my very recent widow status? Should people know what they’re getting into? Or is my emotional vulnerability kind of covered because there’s always the possibility that someone’s going to cry or ghost you?
I think I may have already hurt someone’s feelings, and it was only a sexting situation.—Widow In Despair Only Wants Sex
P.S. Can we think of a better name than “widow’s fire” for those of us under the age of 70?
First, I’m so sorry for the sudden loss of your partner, WIDOWS, and I’m glad the conversations here about widow’s fire have been a comfort to you. As for what to tell people…saying, “Just so you know, I’m recently widowed and might go to pieces the first time we fuck,” could scare some guys off. On the upside, it will immediately scare the right guys off—it’ll scare off any guy who doesn’t want to take on the small bit of emotional responsibility (not even offering kind words to a casual sex partner in a moment of distress)—but it could scare off some good and decent guys, too, if you reveal it too soon.
SAVAGE LOVE
That said, I would encourage you to err on the side of disclosure for your own sake, WIDOWS, because you don’t want to break down in a room with a guy who can’t comfort you at that moment and/or tries to make it all about himself (getting upset that you didn’t warn him in advance and expecting you to comfort him ). I think you should wait until you’re fairly sure you’ve found someone you wanna hook up with in person. Once you start making an actual plan for a first meeting—in a public place, WIDOWS, for coffee and a vibe check—you should tell him what he’s signing up for: while anyone could fall to pieces during sex, there’s a slightly elevated risk you might. Reassure him that he doesn’t need him to shift gears and go from fuckbuddy to grief counselor if you go to pieces, you just need him not to be asshole. It’s not a high bar, WIDOWS, and you’re far less likely to go to pieces if you’re with a guy who is confident— and who has assured you—that he can clear it.
started making jokes with serious innuendos. He even once offered to kiss a scrape on my hand. I thought he was interested but I wasn’t ready. And some of these “advances” were kind of public, which spooked me. Despite the age gap, we have common interests. Did I miss my opportunity? Should I just blurt out, “I feel a certain vibe between us,” and see what happens? Do you have any constructive advice for me?—Feels Like Intense Passion
Instead of me saying something—I’m gonna spare you, FLIP, per your request—I’ll let my old pals Guy Lombardo, Louis Prima, and Doris Day do the talking:
Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think. Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink. The years go by, as quickly as a wink. Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.
P.S. Guy, Louis, and Doris—who are all dead now—are telling you from beyond the grave that you’re gonna be dead soon, too. (We could all be dead tomorrow at the rate things are going.) There are closeted guys out there in their twenties who haven’t sucked a dick yet, FLIP, but they have decades to make it happen for themselves. You do not. So, if you wanna suck some dick before you die, you need to get on it. Ideally, you would get the wife’s permission first, but if your marriage is loving and companionate but sexless… because you’ve been together forever or because you’ve been gay they whole time (just stating a fact here, FLIP, not critiquing your choices)… you could rationalize getting it (the dick) without getting it (the wife’s permission) first. But don’t wait forever to shoot your shot, FLIP, because Guy, Louis, and Doris are right: it’s later than you think.
P.P.S. This guy could be hitting on you… or he could be one of those weirdo straight guys who thinks it’s hilarious to flirt with other straightor-presumed-to-be-straight men. And seeing as you’re deeply closeted and very married to a woman (your closet would be pretty shallow if you were married to a man), this guy might think he’s playing gay chicken with another straight dude and not even realize he’s flipping your world every time he makes a joke about fucking your face.
Your boyfriend may not want to discuss opening up your relationship—just a crack, just for bondage—but once he realizes you’re issuing an ultimatum… and not asking him to have a conversation about scheduling a time to discuss the possibility of opening your relationship… you’ll get an answer out of him pretty quickly.
I lost my partner of nearly two decades semiabruptly last month. I really appreciate your recent widow coverage, because it let me know that being intensely, uncomfortably horny is extremely normal, and I’ve felt less bad about being on the apps. (I don’t feel like I’m not honoring my partner—neither of us was particularly attached to
P.S. Ghosting people is never OK—not even for widows. If you’ve been chatting with someone for a while and you know you’re not interested, send a final text letting the other person know. If you have the emotional bandwidth to be on the apps at all, you have the emotional capacity to send a thanks-but-no-thanks text.
I know what you are going to say, but please spare me. Your criticism for my life choices, even if deserved, won’t help. I’m in my late-60s and deep in the closet. (I’ve also been married for decades.) But a 31-year-old guy has flipped my world. I’ve completely fallen for him. First, he caught me off guard with unexpected compliments. Then he
P.P.P.S. Messy young(er) gay guys who make passes at straight married men in front of other people are a lot of things, FLIP, but they aren’t discreet. So, while you’re thinking about getting with a man who’s already demonstrated poor judgment and/or a lack of impulse control, FLIP, I’m thinking a guy like that might not be a closeted/DL guy’s best choice for a first gay experience. If things go well and he catches feelings, he could do something stupid and thoughtlessly out you. If things go poorly and he gets angry, he could do something vindictive and intentionally out you. What do you stand to lose if you were outed now? Give some thoughts to the stakes before you blurt something you can’t un-blurt. Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love!
