Creative Loafing Tampa

Ayele, the executive director of I Am Choice, and Kofi, a professional organizer with Florida Consumer Action Network and Awake Pinellas, are the dynamic… Continue

Their motto: “We believe preservation of our significant historic resources is fundamental to the quality of life in St. Petersburg and its economic success.”… Continue

The Occupy movement began in New York City a year ago, and just a few weeks later had spread to Tampa, where its emergence… Continue

Tired of battling the police in Curtis Hixon, the group took up the offer from Joe Redner to bring their encampment to Freedom Park,… Continue

For five and a half years, activist group St. Pete for Peace showed cutting-edge documentaries for free at Cafe Bohemia. The weekly series was… Continue

The native New Yorker and former executive vice president at Dallas/Fort Worth International has impressed many people in the Tampa Bay business and political… Continue

Caton, Kemple and their merry band of opportunistic bigots attacked Hillsborough County School Board members last year for allowing CAIR member Hassan Shibly to… Continue

Five years ago the city of Largo covered itself in ignominy by firing its city manager, Steve Stanton, after news leaked to the (then)… Continue

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn signed off on the region’s first registry in April, granting unmarried straight and gay couples the right to register for… Continue

When I heard there was going to be a Hurricane Nadine this season, it seemed very appropriate — because Nadine Smith, the executive director… Continue

Although he’s still working on his “issues” with LGBT constituents (having won no friends by voting notoriously anti-gay Terry Kemple onto the Human Relations… Continue

For continually attempting to bring a measure of sanity to the state House, Kriseman is our returning champ. The St. Petersburg state representative won’t… Continue

Two years ago Charlie Justice held the state Senate seat that encompassed both Tampa and St. Pete. He left it to run for Bill… Continue

Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Rob Turner was elected in 1996, and easily re-elected every four years since then. He was on his way to… Continue

When activist Pepe Kovanis asked 21-term U.S. Rep. Young what he thought about a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10 an… Continue

If you dig the Tea Party, Roche is your man. (Great job taking us back to the 1950s with that fluoride vote, Norm!) But… Continue

As chairman of the budget committee, the legislator is noted for his ham-fisted attacks on USF, manifested by the threat of a 58 percent… Continue

In a subsequent email message to his constituents, Young asked them what they thought about raising the minimum wage.

The state Rep and former state Senate candidate got busted for proposing a resolution that would officially call on the federal government to reduce… Continue

Do you remember “Presidency 5?” It was a Lollapalooza for GOP politics in Florida a year ago, beginning with a Fox News/Google debate and… Continue

Close to a year ago, CL reported that Congresswoman Kathy Castor and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce would soon be traveling to Cuba.… Continue

Andrew Breitbart disciple and so-called “citizen journalist” O’Keefe was scheduled to speak at a lunch at 717 South in South Tampa during convention week.… Continue

Norman, after losing GOP establishment support in his attempt to run for re-election in SD-22, quietly announced he was “stepping down” from the political… Continue

Fisher, a correspondent for Al Jazeera, tweeted, “Dear American TV reporters — downtown Tampa does not look like a warzone. Pick a better comparison.”

During her acclaimed speech at the RNC, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had the crowd (literally) at her feet, except when she remarked,… Continue

With almost 60 years’ combined experience in the Tampa Police Department, Castor and Bennett already had a good working relationship when they were appointed… Continue

Her exit from reporting was covered by the American Journalism Review, JimRomanesko.com, and MediaWire.

Her investigative series ultimately led to the downfall of Children’s Board of Hillsborough County head Luanne Panacek.

The best defense in a shaky industry: Leave before you’re laid off. Tampa Bay Times reporters Janet Zink, David DeCamp, Emily Nipps, Kim Wilmath… Continue

Reports of tax fraud began exploding in the Tampa area late in 2010. In fact, Tampa leads the nation in tax refund fraud in… Continue

The death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman in late February in Sanford, Florida was arguably the story of the year.… Continue

Let’s face it: John Romano had huge shoes to fill as the chosen successor to the inimitable Howard Troxler. And let’s be honest: Nobody… Continue

Married for 22 years (after dating for five), this longtime couple occupies two separate worlds at the Tampa Bay Times. Sue Carlton is a… Continue

This past spring the “Oracle of Omaha” purchased Media General’s newspaper chain in the Southeast. Or most of it. His Berkshire Hathaway group paid… Continue

We collectively gasped in wonder when a photo emerged of a large shark swimming down Bayshore Blvd during tropical storm Debby. Not only was… Continue

Concurrent with Tropical Storm Debby dropping huge amounts of rain, the Bay area was hit by another wave of super-heated moisture: the damp mix… Continue

Hours of quality time were lost at Tampa City Council meetings this summer to debate about the proper spelling of 7th Avenue in Ybor… Continue

Thanks to RNC-inspired cosmetic surgery, Tampa’s signature roadway looks sensational. But the new pavement and nice palm trees can’t hide the fact that if… Continue

There are a lot of places in the Bay area where traffic stacks up, from the Howard Frankland and Malfunction Junction to the Channelside… Continue

Architect Ken Cowart led a group who, with the help of Hillsborough County's Board of County Commissioners, saved the Friendship Trail Bridge from destruction.… Continue

For the lucky few who got tickets, watching a Straz-ensconced Jon Stewart and his gang of correspondent pranksters obliterate the Republican fudge-fest taking place… Continue

On the St. Pete side we've got the Pier, a once postcard-perfect embodiment of the colorful, touristy beachside lifestyle, aged beyond its design. On… Continue

Of all the pre-RNC cosmetic improvements to the Bay area, one stands tall: The “Welcome to St. Pete” tower erected on the west end… Continue

More than 300,000 people essentially decided this one. That's the annual number of users of the Upper Tampa Bay Trail in Citrus Park. The… Continue

First, the mag told us Tampa was the most depressed city in America. Than they came out with another poll that said Tampa was… Continue

Though it's located in Thonotosassa, only about 20 minutes from downtown Tampa, Morris Bridge Park feels like you've entered a distant wilderness. Recreational activities… Continue

This was a tough one to choose. On the one hand, the NCAA Frozen Four ventured to the South for the first time in… Continue

Since Buccaneer home games are blacked out locally, Tampa Bay "faithful" are flocking en masse to their home computers to stream pirated feeds. What… Continue

Whoa, easy there, baseball fans. Sure, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon might get the boys into the playoff picture, but do you think… Continue

MLB rules state that a pitcher can’t have pine tar in his glove. But when Rays reliever Joel Peralta was busted in a game… Continue

After Sileo called three black football players “monkeys” in a passing reference, WDAE 620 announced that they “would like to apologize for Dan Sileo’s… Continue

At this point, it’s not if the Rays are going to ditch the Trop, it’s when. But with St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster giving… Continue

It didn’t instill a lot of confidence in the fanbase when the Bucs parted ways with head coach Raheem Morris after last year’s 4-11… Continue

At this point, everything Greg Schiano touches turns to gold. Players can't stop raving about the new Bucs coach's hard-ass attitude. His best moment,… Continue

Why in the world was Justin Bieber hangin’ at St. Pete sports bar Fergs in March? He was in town visiting his girlfriend Selena… Continue

When I did a semester abroad in Florence one year while attending college, I ventured over to Stadio Artemio Franchi to check out ACF… Continue

Parting is such sweet sorrow, never more so than in the case of Tampa Theatre Director of Marketing Tara Schroeder. Despite thinking that we’d… Continue

Who would have guessed that a movie about male strippers would be the best Bay area recruitment film ever made? Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike,… Continue

James Franco’s portrayal of a dreddy drug dealer in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers will probably not nab him the type of award-season accolades to… Continue

Last March, hundreds of teenyboppers and actual spring breakers wasted hours of a beautiful spring day watching Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and… Continue