While You Were Sleeping: Tuesday, Oct. 20

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the ALCS Monday night at Tropicana Field to win the American League pennant, WWSB reports. Richie Palacios drove in two runs with a two-out double in the second, Junior Caminero hit a two-run homer off the left-field foul pole in the seventh, and Yandy Díaz added a two-run homer in the eighth. Freddy Peralta held Cleveland scoreless through five innings.

Why it matters: It's the Rays' first trip to the World Series since 2020, and Game 1 is set for Friday at 8 p.m. in Milwaukee.

In-person early voting for the Nov. 3 general election started Monday in Sarasota and Manatee counties, and both counties are running extended schedules through Sunday, Nov. 1, WWSB reports. Sarasota County sites are open 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Manatee County sites 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the state's mandatory early voting period is Oct. 24 through Oct. 31. Sarasota has 11 sites, including new locations at North Port Village and the Twin Lakes Park community building, and Manatee's sites include G.T. Bray Park, Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, the Palmetto Library and the Supervisor of Elections office on 301 Blvd. W.

Why it matters: Voters in both counties now have more than two weeks to cast a ballot in person before Election Day.

At a Manatee Chamber of Commerce forum, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said Amendment 3, which would expand the homestead exemption, could cut $23 million from his budget in the first year and a total of $50 million by the second, WWSB reports. Wells said that could force hard choices on staffing, contracts and services, including school resource officers, and Commissioner George Kruse criticized how quickly the measure was written and the lack of an implementation bill. Separately, Sarasota County has moved to a more restrictive hiring approach ahead of the vote and had 162 vacant positions as of Oct. 9, Suncoast Searchlight reports.

Why it matters: Voters decide the amendment in November, and Kruse warned that if it passes, getting 60% of voters to restore those taxes later would be very hard.

Expect sunshine and highs near 82 today, with overnight lows in the low 60s near the beaches, WWSB reports. Northeast winds of 15 to 20 knots, with nighttime gusts to 25 knots, will keep the Gulf, Sarasota Bay and Tampa Bay choppy for most of the week, and gusts could reach 25 to 30 mph heading into the weekend.

Why it matters: The National Hurricane Center is watching a system off the southeastern U.S. coast that could become a subtropical cyclone, but no immediate tropical threat is expected for the Suncoast.

An internal lockdown notice at Manatee High School in Bradenton went off by accident Monday after a staff member pushed the wrong button, according to Bradenton police, WWSB reports. Students and staff went into a brief lockdown while officers responded, and police said there was no threat to the public.