{"id":157060,"date":"2026-02-16T12:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T12:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/157060\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T12:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T12:24:24","slug":"morning-briefing-tampa-february-16-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/157060\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Briefing Tampa February 16 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, Tampa Bay.\u00a0Here’s what you need to know today.<\/p>\n

Your Weather Planner<\/p>\n

Winds could gust over 20 mph after a cold front moved through overnight.<\/p>\n

Highs will top out near 70 Monday at the coast, with mid-70s inland.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, expect partly sunny skies with a small chance of a passing sprinkle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lows on Monday night will fall to the upper 50s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

High:\u00a073<\/p>\n

Low:\u00a058<\/p>\n

Rain Coverage:\u00a010%<\/p>\n

Check your hour-by-hour forecast here<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Share your weather photos<\/a><\/p>\n

Around Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0AI, property tax bills garnering attention as legislature meets halfway point<\/a>
Lawmakers are in the second half of the legislative session in Tallahassee and a number of bills are still moving through committees.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Crews battle multiple brushfires across Polk County<\/a>
Polk County Fire Rescue crews responded to more than 30 brush fires throughout Polk County on Sunday.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Iconic 88-year-old restaurant reopens after 2024’s hurricanes<\/a>
The Seahorse Restaurant was destroyed by hurricanes Milton and Helene in 2024, but it is now welcoming customers again after rebuilding.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Many Tampa Bay residents say the price of buying a home might be unattainable<\/a>
Chris Jones, economics professor at the University of South Florida, said the average down payment for a home in Florida can\u00a0now top\u00a0$70,000, putting ownership out of reach for many buyers.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Florida lawmakers consider eliminating yellow vehicle registration stickers<\/a>
A bill advancing in Tallahassee would eliminate the yellow stickers on vehicles in Florida that indicate drivers have renewed their vehicle registration. Instead, renewals would be recorded electronically.<\/p>\n

Around the Nation & World<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Crew-12 docks with the International Space Station on Valentine\u2019s Day<\/a><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0FBI: DNA recovered from glove found near Guthrie home that appears to match glove worn by suspect<\/a><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0TSA agents are working without pay at U.S. airports due to another shutdown<\/a><\/p>\n

4. U.S. military reports series of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria<\/a><\/p>\n

Quote of the Day
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

For years, it was a daily McDonald’s trip for a cup of coffee with 10 sugars and five creams<\/a>. Later, it was Starbucks caramel macchiatos with almond milk and two pumps of syrup.<\/p>\n

Coffee has been a morning ritual for Chandra Donelson since she was old enough to drink it. But, dismayed by rising prices, the 35-year-old from Washington, D.C., did the unthinkable: She gave it up.<\/p>\n

“I did that daily for years. I loved it. That was just my routine,” she says. “And now it’s not.”<\/p>\n

Years of steadily climbing coffee prices have some in this country of coffee lovers upending their habits by nixing caf\u00e9 visits, switching to cheaper brews or foregoing it altogether.<\/p>\n

Coffee prices in the U.S. were up 18.3% in January from a year ago,\u00a0according to the latest Consumer Price Index released on Friday<\/a>. Over five years, the government reported, coffee prices rose 47%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning, Tampa Bay.\u00a0Here’s what you need to know today. Your Weather Planner Winds could gust over 20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2126,275,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-157060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-app-morning-briefing","tag-spectrum-news-staff","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}