News & Views Archives - Creative Loafing Tampa

Marlowe Jones, candidate for Mayor of New Port Richey, smiling in a tan blazer and light blue button-down shirt. He is standing on a walkway in front of a pink Mediterranean-style building with white arches and dark teal doors, surrounded by lush green tropical plants.

New Port Richey mayoral candidate Marlowe Jones wants to lead the city that arrested him

The 36-year-old said fights over policing, trash, development, and city hall secrecy pushed him into the mayor’s race.

by Arielle Stevenson April 3, 2026April 4, 2026

It’s a Friday night at the Hacienda Hotel in downtown New Port Richey, the historic hot pink stucco resort that once helped sell the city as “Hollywood East.” Nearby, families play and stroll through Sims Park, as the Pithlachascotee River glows in the setting sun. Community activist and New Port Richey native Marlowe Jones walks […]

Florida AG says state can now fund religious charter schools, and ‘encourage’ Christianity

The U.S. Supreme Court last year effectively upheld an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision rejecting a push to create a Catholic charter school.

by Gray Rohrer and News Service of Florida April 3, 2026April 3, 2026

An industrial oil platform stands amidst choppy, dark blue waves in the Gulf of Mexico under a cloudy sky.

Environmental groups sue after Trump administration opens up oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico

The move puts the Endangered Species Act ‘in a shredder’ says an environmental attorney.

by Mitch Perry and Florida Phoenix April 3, 2026April 3, 2026

President Donald Trump stands at the White House briefing room podium, gesturing toward Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Both Bondi and Blanche are smiling as they stand behind the blue-and-gold Presidential lectern. The room is brightly lit by overhead studio lights with the White House press briefing backdrop behind them.

Florida Republicans line up to praise fired Attorney General Pam Bondi

Democrats were less impressed.

by Jay Waagmeester and Florida Phoenix April 2, 2026April 2, 2026

Pam Bondi listens to Donald Trump as he gestures toward her slightly off camera

Trump fires Pam Bondi as Attorney General

The Tampa woman will still have to answer to the House Oversight Committee about the Epstein files.

by Selene San Felice April 2, 2026April 3, 2026

An aerial sunset view of Tampa, Florida, looking toward the downtown skyline in the far distance. The foreground is dominated by a dense, dark green forest canopy and a winding river, while the sky features dramatic blue and yellow clouds as the sun dips below the horizon.

Tampa has $6 million to spend on tree canopy mitigation, advocates and officials disagree on how the money should be used

The canopy has been diminished by overdevelopment and back-to-back hurricanes in 2024.

by Kailey Aiken April 2, 2026April 3, 2026

Sydney Gruters, wife of RNC Chair and state Sen. Joe Gruters, says she’s running for Florida congressional seat

Florida’s CD 16 seat that will be vacated by Republican Vern Buchanan later this year.

by Mitch Perry and Florida Phoenix April 2, 2026April 2, 2026

Governor Ron DeSantis speaking at a podium during a bill-signing ceremony in an aviation hangar on March 31, 2026. He is wearing a navy suit and red tie, gesturing with his hand. Behind him is a green and gold law enforcement helicopter.

DeSantis says birthright citizenship ‘kind of cheapens the process when you make it a tourist thing’

The Florida governor’s comments come as SCOTUS weighs whether to greenlight Trump’s citizenship ban for certain U.S.-born babies.

by Liv Caputo and Florida Phoenix April 1, 2026April 1, 2026

Governor Ron DeSantis sits at a green-draped table in The Villages, holding up the signed HB 991 election bill. He is surrounded by Florida legislators and officials clapping in support. Four Florida flags and two U.S. flags stand in the background of the wood-paneled room.

Voting rights groups sue after DeSantis signs bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote

HB 991 will take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

by Mitch Perry and Florida Phoenix April 1, 2026April 1, 2026

A horizontal four-panel composite featuring St. Petersburg mayoral candidates: Councilwoman Brandi Gabbard at a dais, Mayor Ken Welch in a suit and yellow tie, Kevin Batdorf in a red tie, and former Fire Chief Jim Large in a dress uniform. Each panel shows the candidate smiling in a professional or official setting.

Meet three candidates running to unseat St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch

Welch and his opponents claim St. Pete’s infrastructure is top-priority after the 2024 storms.

by Jasmin Parrado April 1, 2026April 1, 2026

Mayoral candidate Kevin Batdorf says Ken Welch didn’t give St. Pete ‘true leadership’ during hurricane recovery

by Jasmin Parrado April 1, 2026April 1, 2026

Former St. Petersburg Fire Chief Jim Large smiling at a podium during the Heroes of St. Pete Fire Memorial groundbreaking ceremony. He is in his full dark blue dress uniform with gold captain's bars on the sleeves, standing beside a colorful City of St. Petersburg flag with the waterfront in the background.

In pitch to become mayor, former fire chief Jim Large says St. Pete’s infrastructure has to catch up with the growth

Large told CL he would also immediately revamp the permitting process and make changes to storm prevention and recovery plans.

by Jasmin Parrado April 1, 2026April 1, 2026

St. Petersburg City Councilwoman Brandi Gabbard sitting at the dais during a Committee of the Whole meeting. She is wearing a blue cardigan over a navy and white patterned blouse, with a wooden nameplate reading "Brandi Gabbard" in the foreground.

In mayoral race, Councilwoman Brandi Gabbard said she’ll bring ‘proactive decision-making leadership’ to get St. Pete back on track

Gabbard and Mayor Welch do find common ground on their support for diversity, equity and inclusion.

by Jasmin Parrado April 1, 2026April 1, 2026

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch smiling and wearing glasses and a yellow tie while seated at a committee table. The "We Are St. Pete" branding is partially visible in the blurred foreground, with a professional city hall setting in the background.

Facing reelection, Mayor Ken Welch believes his administration did well to help St. Pete recover after hurricanes

Welch told CL he’ll also continue his five-pillar plan for the city, known as ‘Pillars for Progress.’

by Jasmin Parrado April 1, 2026April 1, 2026

President Donald J. Trump standing at a podium and smiling during a speech at Verst Logistics Manufacturing in Hebron, Kentucky, on March 11, 2026. He wears a dark suit and a purple tie, with an industrial warehouse setting visible in the background.

Op-ed: When it comes to concerns about their safety, our soldiers deserve better than ‘shit happens’

The president could learn a lot from the military commanders working tirelessly to prevent casualties.

by Mike Trentalange April 1, 2026April 3, 2026

A painting of the Public Universal Friend with a yellow and purple tint

Ask a Dyke: lessons in nonbinary love from a Quaker

‘You’re telling me you can’t do some femme-for-femme tonguing just because you wear a tie to dinner?’

by Jane Dyke and The Sapphic Sun March 31, 2026April 2, 2026

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaking at a podium during a press conference at the Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center.

‘I was not involved at all in that race’: DeSantis distances himself from GOP’s Hillsborough special election loss

“I was very clear from the beginning that I was not going to be involved in that, and that’s just kind of the way that the cookie crumbles.”

by Mitch Perry and Florida Phoenix March 31, 2026March 31, 2026

Robert Irvine points at the camera at a previous Tampa Bay Wine and Food Festival event

Tampa Bay Wine and Food Festival brings Food Network star back to Tampa Bay

Robert Irvine returns for a week of food and wine events on both sides of the Gandy.

by Kailey Aiken March 31, 2026March 31, 2026

Governor Ron DeSantis sitting at a desk and holding up signed legislative documents during a bill signing ceremony at a Florida Department of Law Enforcement center, surrounded by officials and a family wearing matching pink shirts.

DeSantis signs ‘Missy’s Law,’ calls for House impeachment of judge

Impeachments of judges are rare, but the threat of impeachment carries weight.

by Ana Goñi-Lessan and News Service of Florida March 31, 2026March 31, 2026

Tampa Bay home featured in ‘Magic Mike’ slashes $1.4 million from asking price

‘Fact is, the law says you cannot touch! But I think I see a lotta lawbreakers up in this house tonight.’

by Colin Wolf March 31, 2026March 31, 2026