Issue #651: Tampa Councilman Pitches Taxpayer-Safe Rays Deal, Tampa Palms Lands World’s Largest Ebisu, Ira Glass Goes Live, Shake Shack Robbery Twist

In this issue of NewTampa | WesleyChapel Local Pulse

Our Event Calendar - (Please post events of interest to our NT|WC Live Events Calendar) - Sorry - Out of Order

WEATHER 

Local News 

— Tampa Councilman Proposes Rays Stadium Deal Designed to Protect Taxpayers

— World’s Largest Ebisu Life Store Opens Friday in Tampa Palms

Entertainment

— ‘This American Life’ Creator Ira Glass Bringing Live Storytelling Show to Tampa Theatre

OMG!

— Shake Shack Worker Accused of Robbing His Own Store, Then Returning to Work

Tampa Councilman Proposes Rays Stadium Deal Designed to Protect Taxpayers

A new proposal for financing a Tampa Bay Rays stadium could replace direct city funding with a mechanism supporters say would generate up to $2 billion for Tampa infrastructure.

City Council Member Bill Carlson proposes eliminating roughly $80 million from the city and $100 million from the CRA currently contemplated for the project. Instead, property-tax growth within a special district would support infrastructure through tax increment financing. Carlson says no money would go directly to the Rays, with funds restricted to publicly owned roads, sidewalks, parks and flooding improvements.

The proposal could create a $1.5 billion to $2 billion infrastructure fund while giving Drew Park greater control over its redevelopment area.

Council Member Charlie Miranda remains opposed, arguing taxpayers still bear the cost and Tampa has more pressing needs.

Carlson hopes a draft agreement could emerge soon, while the Rays continue targeting March 2029 for opening day.

Read More: tampabay28.com

World’s Largest Ebisu Life Store Opens Friday in Tampa Palms

Japanese lifestyle retailer Ebisu Life Store is opening its largest location in the world Friday, Aug. 14, at 10 a.m. in Tampa Palms.

The new 21,597-square-foot store at 6234 Commerce Palms Drive occupies a former Joann Fabrics space in the Market Square shopping center. It surpasses Ebisu’s 14,756-square-foot Orlando location, previously the chain’s largest.

Founded in Osaka, Japan, in 2013, Ebisu specializes in imported Japanese snacks, candies and drinks, cosmetics, plush toys and kawaii collectibles. Stores also feature blind boxes, arcade-style claw machines and rows of Gashapon capsule-toy machines.

To celebrate the Tampa opening, Ebisu will offer special deals and giveaways on snack bags, blind boxes, cosmetics and other merchandise with qualifying purchases.

The retailer’s arrival gives Tampa Bay shoppers an unusually large destination dedicated to Japanese pop culture, specialty foods and collectibles.

Read More: cltampa.com

‘This American Life’ Creator Ira Glass Bringing Live Storytelling Show to Tampa Theatre

Ira Glass, creator and longtime host of This American Life, will bring his acclaimed storytelling to Tampa Theatre on December 5 for a special live performance.

Glass launched This American Life in 1995, building it into one of public radio’s most influential programs. The weekly show reaches more than three million listeners and has earned eight Peabody Awards, three Emmys and the first Pulitzer Prize awarded to a radio program or podcast. It also helped launch the enormously successful podcasts Serial and S-Town.

The performance will take place inside Tampa Theatre, the historic movie palace that opened in 1926 and is nearing completion of a major renovation. The landmark has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978.

WUSF and WSMR members will receive early access to tickets beginning in September, ahead of general public sales.

Read More: thatssotampa.com

Astonishing Fact: This American Life once devoted an entire episode to retracting one of its own most popular stories. In 2012, the program discovered that key details in Mike Daisey’s report about workers at Apple supplier Foxconn in China had been fabricated. Rather than quietly removing the episode, Ira Glass brought Daisey back on the air and publicly dissected what went wrong—including how Daisey had misled the show during its fact-checking process.

The episode was simply titled “Retraction.” Turning a major journalistic failure into an hour-long examination of its own mistake was an unusually transparent move for a nationally distributed radio program—and remains one of the more remarkable episodes in the show's 800-plus-episode history.

Shake Shack Worker Accused of Robbing His Own Store, Then Returning to Work

A Shake Shack employee accused of robbing his own workplace at gunpoint was arrested after returning to the same Scottsdale, Arizona, restaurant two days later, authorities said.

Police allege Keondre Simmons, 33, entered through a rear door Aug. 3 with a handgun, forced an employee into a walk-in cooler and ordered a manager to surrender approximately $2,800 from the store safe. He allegedly locked both workers inside, confiscated their phones and destroyed the devices in water.

Investigators said the robber’s voice, physical characteristics and detailed knowledge of employee-only areas led coworkers to suspect Simmons, who had called out sick that morning. Surveillance footage, cellphone-location records and a vehicle description also supported the investigation.

Detectives arrested Simmons when he returned Aug. 5. Police later recovered a firearm resembling the robbery weapon and cash denominations consistent with the stolen money.

Simmons was held on $100,000 secured bond.

Read More: ABC15.com

Astonishing Fact: One of the biggest theft threats to restaurants may already be behind the counter.

The National Restaurant Association has estimated that employee theft accounts for roughly 75% of inventory shortages and about 4% of restaurant food costs. What makes it especially difficult to detect is that theft isn't always cash disappearing from a register—it can involve unauthorized free meals, under-ringing purchases, voiding transactions after payment, stealing inventory, or manipulating time records.

For a restaurant operating on thin margins, a surprisingly small amount of recurring employee theft can erase much of its profit, meaning the person quietly giving away food may ultimately cost the business more than an occasional dramatic robbery

Useful Arts & Entertainment Event Links

The Arts
- The Exhibiting Society of Artists (new)
- USF College of the Arts
- USF Steinway Piano Concert Series

Theater
- NTPAC - New Tampa Performing Arts Center
- New Tampa Players
- USF School of Theatre & Dance
- Wesley Chapel Theater Group
- Carrollwood Players Theatre

Misc
- Carrollwood Center Events
- Craft Festivals (new)
- Fall (Farmer’s) Market Guide for Tampa Bay (new)
- The Krate, WC
- The Shops at Wiregrass, WC
- visitflorida.com

For Kids
- Fun4TampaKids

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