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July 15, 2026 13 mins
Ryan, Dana, and Read Shepherd discuss several Tampa Bay headlines, including Pasco County approving a large-scale data center moratorium, Bradenton police warning about Riverwalk teen takeovers, the MLB commissioner’s latest comments on the Rays’ stadium plans, and Pinellas County Schools approving new e-bike rules and a ban on smart glasses.

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
So Ryan Gorman Show podcast presented by Farah and Farah
Accident Attorneys, Tampa.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good Morning Read, Good morning Ryan, Good morning, data Well.
The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners has become the
latest in the area to approve a one year moratorium
on any new applications for a large scale AI data center.
This has become quite the hot button across the country.
Commissioners unanimously approved or voted to approve the measure yesterday.

(00:32):
Dozens of people appeared before the commission talking about things
like wild the impacts on wildlife, concerns with water use,
concerns with electricity, property values, noise, potential health impacts, you
name it, they talked about it. Pasco joining Citrus, Hernando,

(00:53):
the city of Zephyr Hills. Now the city of Lakeland
is expected to vote on a moratorium next month. So
Pasco County becoming the latest to say no, at least
not right now. Give us some time to look these
things over, Give us some time to you know, look
into the look into the impacts of these data centers.

(01:14):
They take up a lot of resources, especially electricity and water,
and people are concerned about that as they should be.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, I think the big issue, the bigger of the
two issues, is the water because I do think you know,
in time, you can probably find ways to solve the
electricity issue, whether it's the data centers, you know, paying
more or you know, utilizing some other options on site,

(01:42):
like solar in addition to some of the energy they
need from utilities in the air. I think there are
easier ways to deal with that than the massive amount
of water usage they need because we're a state with
limited water resources.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
You know, we've been in a drought for a while.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
That's the problem, and I think from what I've read
data centers here in the Florida region they require even
more water because of our hot temperatures. It takes more
to keep these servers and systems cool, right, So that's
the problem that I don't know how you fix that one.

(02:24):
Pretty much everywhere this has come up for a vote
or there's been a push by residents for moratorium, it
has passed.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yet.

Speaker 5 (02:33):
It was packed yesterday, absolutely packed with people, and it
was interesting to looking at some of the other comments
from residents, Like one woman said, we don't need the
oligarchs to be in charge of our country. We don't
need more data centers right now, we need us to
be in charge. So she thinks that this is about
oligarchy and surveillance and all that. And then another person said,
I'm twenty years old, and what I'm seeing in college

(02:54):
classes and in high school classes is that students are
using AI to solve problems and get answers with out
doing the real work. So there's going to be a
brain drain on people if we keep letting this go.
So that's another concern people have is they just don't
like AI in general.

Speaker 4 (03:10):
Well, I don't have that concern today, right, that's exactly right. Yeah,
AI does everything for me.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
So I'm a little concerned about these data centers and
these moratoriums and the lack of these centers here in Florida.
Because the one thing that we talked about with I
think it was Kevin Surreally, the futurist that we have
on the show who's an expert in all these kinds
of topics, was that you can't just have data centers
like out in the in the Midwest, or you know,
pack them all into like Iowa or something like that.

(03:41):
They have to be spread out across the country in
order to provide the services that AI is going to
provide in the future, and there are some people who
you know, have their issues with AI. I think a
lot of people don't realize how much they're utilizing AI
without even knowing it at this point because companies are
using it, you know, non stop.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
They slow down.

Speaker 5 (04:02):
If you go to use a chatbot on any website,
now it's AI, and it's they suck. I mean, I
don't think they work very well at all, but it's AI.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
The fact of the matter is is that AI is
becoming more and more a part of our daily lives,
and these data centers are needed to support the increase
in AI usage. And I also think as far as
the electricity goes, Ryan stopped me if I'm wrong, But
wasn't there a piece of legislation in Tallahassee that the

(04:32):
people behind the data centers could not pass the extra
electricity costs onto residents. And I'm not sure what the
status of that was, right, how that's all going to work?
I mean, there are lots of unknowns with all and
that's why I don't have a problem.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
With these moratoriums.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
I think they're probably the right thing to do to
get a better sense of how to deal with this.
There was another interesting note that I saw yesterday Fort
Mead LLC. That's the company trying to build that big
data center in Fort Meade. They donated ten thousand dollars
to friends of Byron Donald's a couple of weeks ago. Okay,

(05:09):
first political donation here in Florida. Now Donald's he has
supported expanding data centers here in Florida. He does say
that these companies need to protect residents and their finances
and all of that. But he's had a bit of
a different tone from some of the other candidates running
for governor on the Republican and the Democratic side. And

(05:30):
I don't know that's a donation that I wouldn't want
made to my campaign. Right I'm not seeing the groundswell
of opposition that we've seen to these data centers.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
It's just not popular at the moment. What else is
going on this morning? Read?

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Okay, Well, props to Bradenton Police. They got in ahead
of time and put a stop to another one of
these team takeovers. This was Saturday evening at Rossi Park
along the Riverwalk in Bradenton. It's estimated that over three
hundred teams and young people had gathered down there, and
the cops moved right in and said you got to

(06:06):
go home.

Speaker 4 (06:06):
It's time to leave.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
The other good part about it is that they were
able to control the crowd. There was no violence, there
were no arrests, there was no damage to any businesses.
Nobody threw a rock through window anywhere, So that was
they stopped it in time. Now, of course, we've had
other situations in Tampa. We've reported on twenty two arrests

(06:29):
in Tampa, shooting in Clearwater Beach. So it's good to
see the police getting a handle on these things. They
got in ahead of time. They're monitoring social media a
lot more closely with these with these takeovers going on.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
So it's because the one thing that's notable about this
is that you've got these teams still trying to conduct
these takeovers. So law enforcement's gotta stay vigilant and in
front of this because despite all the bad publicy city
and the arrests and all of that, law enforcement saying
don't go down this road, Clearly they're not listening, and

(07:07):
they tried to build, yeah, a massive team takeover in
Bradenton and Bradenton also there was another story tied to
that city. The swatting hoax. Did you see that? At
the Twin Dolphin Marina. You had somebody call the National
ninety eight eight Suicide and Crisis lifeline and claimed to
be armed on a boat, said he had killed at

(07:29):
least one woman, threatened suicide, provided a local boat owner's
phone number. So then you got patrol, you got a
drone unit, you got swat you got hostage negotiators.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
They all rushed to.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
The marina and the boat owner and a woman on
board were like, well, what are you talking about?

Speaker 1 (07:47):
What?

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, and now luckily they attracked a guy who did this.
But these swanting things, we haven't had one of these
stories in a while, but they can be very dangerous,
you know, because law enforcement doesn't know what they're walking into.

Speaker 5 (07:58):
Right, they have to take their work for it, and
then they show up with the whole team. That's insane.

Speaker 4 (08:02):
You know.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
Look, I may sounding like an old fart, but it
does seem like these these teens are just depending on
social media way too much and listening to what's happening
on social It's like, come on, I.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
Was a thirty three year old guy who is the
suspect of slaughter. Yeah, it wasn't a kid a kid.
All right, Let's get to one more quick story. Okay.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manford sitting down with the
Tampa Bay Times during the All Star break in Philadelphia. Basically,
he says he likes the design elements that the Rays
have shared for their for their stadium. He's pleased with
what the ownership group Ken Babby has all been doing
with the negotiations with Tampa and Hillsboro. So far, so good.

(08:47):
He likes it, but he says, let's get the job done.
That's that's the bottom line right there.

Speaker 4 (08:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Look, I agree with the commissioner the renderings. They're beautiful, credible,
the ballpark looks amazing. But same that, he was pleased
with the way that ownership has handled the negotiations with
Tampa and Hillsborough County. Well, the way they've handled them
is they've tried to strong arm.

Speaker 5 (09:12):
It.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't agree with that part. One
thing that happened last night at the All Star game. Boy,
there for a second, Yeah, Junior Camenaro, our star player
for the Tampa Bay Rays, hit on the left hand
by a ninety eight mile per hour pitch. He was
in pain after that. You can understand it. He thought

(09:33):
that he had bones broke and luckily X rays came
back negative. We'll see if he can play on Friday.
But boy, that's not what I've seen is he will.

Speaker 2 (09:42):
What I've seen is he will be in the lineup
on Friday.

Speaker 3 (09:45):
Good, good, but a scary moment last night at the
All Star Game, reed Shepherd with today's top stories read
thanks so much. The Panales County School Board approve new
rules banning smart glasses on school campuses and buses, while
also tight restrictions on student e bikes. Students who bring
e bikes to school have to leave them at bike

(10:06):
racks instead of taking them inside to charge, and students
are going to be required to walk e bikes once
they reach the school perimeter, so the zipping around school.
The superintendent said the district is responding to the rapid
growth of e bikes while trying to improve student safety
and prevent theft. Now, the smart glasses ban that was
prompted by concerns about things like hidden cameras and cheating

(10:31):
and privacy. You can understand that both rule changes take
effect in the coming school year, and I would think
you would see a lot of school districts doing this
exact same thing.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
It just makes sense. Oh yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 5 (10:45):
I mean with the glasses, it's just insane the number
of things that kids can do with those glasses that
they shouldn't be doing. And then on the e bike thing, absolutely,
because when I pick my son up from school, you
see just all the kids. They're riding their bikes on
the little path that comes away from the you know,
from where the bike rack is, and so there's so
many kids and they're so dangerous, and yeah, I think

(11:06):
that definitely needs to be Yeah, they're speeding around, yeah,
right on school grounds, around all these kids.

Speaker 3 (11:11):
We had a conversation recently on the show about e
bikes how much of a problem they become. The governor
vetoing a bill to regulate them, and there were some
problems with that bill passed by the legislature, and then
what other states are doing to rein them in. We
got a lot of reaction to that on social media.

Speaker 5 (11:26):
What was the sentiment we did and some of the
commons surprised. We know, there were a lot of people
who said that we need common sense safeguards, and they
agreed that we need some laws. But then Vince said,
one point seven million injuries yearly due to automobile accidents.
Maybe we should ban cars that go over fifteen miles
an hour.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Well, kids don't get to drive cars. And that's what
this was all about, this bill. Right, how old kids
can be when they ride it?

Speaker 4 (11:50):
You know things?

Speaker 5 (11:51):
Do they have to be sixteen?

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (11:53):
All of that that was part of the discussion.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Right.

Speaker 5 (11:55):
Mark said, how about letting their parents handle the situation, which, yeah,
but a lot of parents just I think they just
don't even know any better. They don't realize how dangerous
they are until an accident happens. Alan said, my e bake,
my e bike came with a sticker stating that no
one under sixteen should operate it. What's so hard about
common sense? And then Brian said, E bike derangement syndrome

(12:17):
is real.

Speaker 3 (12:20):
I think apparently he doesn't get out much and have
to interact with people are on these freaking things.

Speaker 5 (12:24):
I know they're very scary. I see kids every single day.
I've said it so many times, and it's an accident
waiting to happen. And there have been kids that have
gotten hit on e bikes in my development and one time,
the mom admitted that her daughter was going faster on
the bike than the car was, and my friend who
knows who this kid is, said, I'm not surprised at
all because I see her every day and she isn't

(12:46):
paying attention and drives that thing like an idiot.

Speaker 4 (12:48):
So that's right. Live have a.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Ryan Gorman Show on iHeartRadio every weekday morning on WIOD
and Miami, w FLA and Tampa, presented by Verah and
Farah Accident Attorney's Tampa
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