Most of us will have to go back to work today, but a few lucky new millionaires may think twice about it. There was no Powerball winner over the weekend, so for tonight’s drawing the jackpot it will be the third-highest prize in Powerball history at $900 million. There were three million dollar winner, one in Colorado, two in Texas.
It was one year ago this weekend that the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline number became available, and at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay they say they’ve had a 200% increase in calls, and nationwide that number was over 5 million according to stats from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The personal information of some 11 million HCA Healthcare patients were exposed by a data breach from what administrators call an external storage location. That information includes names, ages, city and state of the patients as well as patient appointments. HCA Healthcare is offering credit monitoring and identity protection services to those affected, and would like to hear from you with any questions at 844-608-1803.
Mosquitoes are more than annoying pests, some carry malaria. That has triggered a statewide mosquito-born illness advisory from the Florida Department of Health. There are now 6 confirmed cases in Sarasota County, and with plenty of us heading for the parks and beach this weekend, make sure you protect yourself with repellent, and make sure you don’t have standing water outside the house. For more on how to protect yourself and get free, mosquito-eating fish in Hillsborough County, check Ann Kelly’s podcast in Dove Featured Audio at wduv.com and on the app at @1055thedove.
A terrible loss at John’s Pass Village last week as fire destroyed the Alligator & Wildlife Discovery Center and also damaged Beach Bites & Burgers. The owner of the Discovery Center, Sonny Flynn, said she lost just about all the animals but hopes to rebuild and is heartbroken over the loss. The Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber have set up a donation site to help which you can access here. Ann Kelly has more from Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce CEO Robin Miller on that and the other businesses that were affected in the What’s Good in Tampa Bay podcast.
Farmers Insurance Group will stop writing policies in Florida, which include homeowners, auto and bundled policies that will affect some 100,000 people. If you have a policy with Farmers, you are supposed to receive a 120 day window to find other policies. AAA also announced Thursday they will drop what the describe as a “small percentage” of policyholders in Florida, but also said they will continue to write new policies.
There’s a valuable new tool for hurricane season with the launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) new Hurricane Forecast and Analysis system. This should give us a more accurate track for the path of storms. For the latest, make sure you have the Dove app downloaded to all your devices and check the Dove Hurricane Guide more what you need to know with our meteorologists from 10 Tampa Bay Weather.
If things smell a little smoky around Pinellas Park, it’s because of a mulch fire over the weekend that crews are monitoring for flare ups at a recycling and brush collection site on 126th Avenue.