Some of the events I covered in 2020.
One Small Act is a video series that showcases people who have made one small change in their lives which leads to a larger impact on themselves or the community.
This pilot episode showcases Antonio Brown who started the Barbershop Book Club.
When schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, 55,000 kids on the free and reduced lunch program in Pinellas County suddenly faced food insecurity.
Peaceful protests turned into frustration and then a night of looting around the University Mall area of Tampa Saturday, May 30, 2020.
As the Pinellas County School Board met virtually Tuesday, a crowd of teachers, parents and students gathered at district headquarters in Largo to protest a plan to reopen amid surging numbers of coronavirus cases in Florida.
A group of 100 to 150 demonstrators carried signs with dire messages against the in-person option to start the school year. “Back to school list: Paper, Pencil, Will,” a sign said, one of many predicting adults and children would die if Pinellas begins the school year as planned.
Hidden Histories is a new history based video series by the Tampa Bay Times. In this pilot episode, the Times explores voting for African-Americans and highlights one local man's efforts to get out the vote.
Florida started curating its image more than a 100 years ago. The legacy of government promotion began in Tampa Bay when St. Petersburg hired the first city publicity agent in the U.S.
The third time was the charm when 18-year-old Joseph Cooley jumped into Spring Bayou and resurfaced gripping a white cross.
It was his final time diving alongside other boys, ages 16-18, as part of the 111th annual Epiphany celebration, a Greek Orthodox Christian ceremony celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.
It is often called the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere and brings thousands of people to Tarpon Springs every year.
Andrew Lumish cleans and restores headstones of veterans and posts their life story on social media websites under the name "The Good Cemeterian." He does this in honor of his friend and co-worker Chris Scala who was a veteran that had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and took his own life in 2013.
Artist Jaume Plensa talks about what inspires his groundbreaking work.
Synthetic marijuana, commonly known as "spice" or "K2", is hitting the Tampa Bay homeless population hard. Emergency workers have noticed a 300% increase in spice related calls in the parts of town where the homeless hang out.
2017-18 Showreel
The Tampa Bay Times recently discovered Zion Cemetery, Tampa’s first African-American cemetery. Zion was sold and resold and partially developed during the land boom of the early 20th century, but it appears as if most of the bodies were never moved.
Hurricane Matthew destroys family restaurant
An interview with the father of a 'Stand Your Ground' shooting victim.
More than 500 people attended a town hall style meeting for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio who was invited but declined to show up Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 at the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 599 building in Tampa. Constituents at the event slammed Rubio for voting in lockstep with President Donald Trump, and asked him to instead preserve the Affordable Care Act, protect environmental legislation, block a "Muslim ban" and listen to concerns about national security.
329 students and 49 staff were displaced by a three-alarm fire at Lee Elementary School in Tampa Sept. 12, 2017. The 111-year-old school was closed due to Hurricane Irma and no one was hurt in the blaze, . Lee was not used as a shelter during Irma, which residents said knocked out power in the surrounding neighborhoods. When power was restored, residents said they saw smoke coming from the roof before flames consumed the second floor. Lee students and staff will share the campus of Lockhart Elementary Magnet School, a mile and a half away, until the Hillsborough County School District decides what to do next.
Tag along with alligator trapper Julie Harter as she pulls a couple gators out of two Hillsborough County lakes.
Memoria in Aeterna is the name of the Confederate monument that for more than a century stood in downtown Tampa. Local politicians and members of the public argued why it should stay or be removed, just like in other cities throughout the country. In the end it was removed from the entrance of the former county courthouse and placed in a private suburban cemetery.
Doug Hughes, the former mail carrier who landed his gyrocopter on the west lawn of the U.S. Capital to protest big money in politics, finally achieved what he set out to do two years ago. On Wednesday, April 12, 2017 Hughes mailed 535 protest letters to each member of Congress at the post office in Riverview where he worked for 12 years. Two years before, Hughes carried the letters on the landing gear of his gyrocopter as he flew through protected airspace causing a stir on the National Mall and grabbing the attention of news outlets across the country. Hughes is currently writing a book about his flight and after his probation he hopes to work on his plan to get reform minded candidates elected to Congress by 2020. (April 20, 2017) JAMES BORCHUCK | Times staff.