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Clearwater

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  1. Despite deal for time served, Chinese immigrant remains jailed in Tampa
    • Crime
    Tingbo Zhang stands in a Tampa courtroom during a September hearing. Zhang, a Chinese immigrant, was low-level player in a case involving a chain of illicit Asian massage parlors. She pleaded guilty this month to money laundering and faces a likely deportation.
  2. Florida buys 340 acres from golf developer who sought state forest land
    • Environment
    Eugene Kelly, president of the Florida Native Plant Society, tracks a gopher tortoise hole at a Withlacoochee State Forest parcel adjacent to Cabot Citrus Farms near Brooksville in this September 2024 photo. Cabot recently sold 340 acres of land to the state of Florida.
  3. Proposal would bring stadium, sports complex to Clearwater
    • Pinellas
    An aerial view of the Landings Golf Club with the Clearwater Airpark to the east. A new proposal submitted to the city calls for the course, open since 1970, to be replaced with a stadium and a sprawling sports campus.
  5. Behind the scenes of The Nutcracker in Tampa
    • Arts
    A scenery piece is laid out by the stage crew as they prepare for The Nutcracker at the Straz Center on Monday in Tampa.
  6. In Clearwater, Hanukkah celebration comes with heightened security
    • Clearwater
    From left: Marc Silver of Palm Harbor and Rabbi Levy Hodakov of Clearwater watch as Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector lights the first menorah candle on a licorice-themed menorah while participating in the Chabad of Clearwater’s Chanukah Concert and Celebration on Sunday at Coachman Park.
  7. Clearwater City Attorney David Margolis submits resignation letter
    • Clearwater
    In a resignation letter addressed to the City Council Friday, Clearwater City Attorney David Margolis said he intends for his last day of employment to be in April.
  8. Florida completes $83M purchase of 4 waterfront acres in Destin
    • Environment
    The state of Florida has officially closed on the purchase of 4 acres of waterfront land in Destin for more than $83 million. Conservation experts say the large purchase price raises unsettling questions.
  9. Pinellas Commissioner Latvala returns after hospital stays
    • Pinellas
    Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala speaks in 2022. He returned for Thursday's work session after spending the past few months battling health scares.
  10. 1 dead, 4 injured after shooting at Clearwater sports bar
    • Crime
    Police car lights.
  11. Activists honor Scientologist Lisa McPherson 30 years after her death
    • Clearwater
    Activists gathered in Clearwater Friday to honor the life of Lisa McPherson, who died 30 years ago after spending 17 days in the care of the Church of Scientology.
  12. Every Florida Congress member to Trump: Keep oil drilling away from our coast
    • Environment
    Oil is seen on the water at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana on May 7, 2010. All 28 of Florida’s U.S. House members and both U.S. senators united Thursday in a bipartisan letter urging President Donald Trump to keep offshore oil drilling away from the state’s coastline.
  13. Some Clearwater residents skeptical of AG’s response to Scientology dispute
    • Clearwater
    Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has intervened in a debate between the city of Clearwater and the Church of Scientology.
  14. Why is the state involved in a dispute between Scientology and Clearwater?
    • Clearwater
    Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sided with the Church of Scientology in a Clearwater land dispute.
  15. Florida state parks face $759 million backlog of needed repairs, state report finds
    • Environment
    Hikers walk through Hillsborough River State Park in Thonotosassa in this 2007 photo. A new report from the state says state parks need $759 million in repairs. That would be a major increase compared to the funding allocated in recent years to address aging park infrastructure across a system that includes nearly 850 historic sites, more than 500 pavilions, 90,000 feet of boardwalks and 3,300 campsites.
  16. Florida’s dreaded hurricane season that wasn’t | Column
    • Viewpoints
    A hurricane-damaged pier is pictured in Boca Ciega Bay in Gulfport. This year's quiet storm season should give us all pause.
  17. Clearwater scientists report record-breaking sea turtle nesting season
    • Environment
    A 3-day-old loggerhead sea turtle hatchling makes for the open Gulf in 2014. Scientists at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium reported a record-breaking sea turtle nesting season this year.
  18. What’s open and closed on Thanksgiving in Tampa Bay
    • Business
    Whole Foods will open for part of the day on Thanksgiving for last-minute shopping. Many other grocery stores in the Tampa Bay area will be closed.
  19. Top Scientology donor emerges as a major contributor to Donald Trump
    • Clearwater
    Trish Duggan has been hailed as the top donor to the Church of Scientology. In recent years, her spending has turned political.
  20. ‘The night was real tough’: 4 missing boaters found alive off Clearwater coast
    • Clearwater
    A screenshot from a video released by the U.S. Coast Guard shows four men standing on their overturned power catamaran about 26 miles off the coast of Clearwater on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. The four men left Clearwater on a fishing trip Monday morning and their boat started taking on water and then capsized about midday Monday. They spent the next 20 hours or so with their overturned boat before a Coast Guard plane spotted them.
  21. In the 2026 governor’s race, what exactly is Jay Collins doing?
    • Politics
    Jay Collins, a former Green Beret and decorated veteran, speaks moments after being sworn in as Florida’s new lieutenant governor on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Tampa Green Beret Association’s Team House outside MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Collins is weighing a run for governor in 2026.
  22. These are the 20 best dishes I ate in 2025
    • Food
    Senior food and dining critic Helen Freund breaks down her favorite bites of 2025.
  23. Feeding homesick ballplayers launched this Clearwater restaurateur’s dream
    • Food News
    Arepas Maita in Clearwater offers a variety of freshly made arepas. On the griddle, fried dough, chicharrón dough and traditional grilled arepas share the spotlight. The most popular ones are grilled, filled with carne mechada — known as Ropa Vieja in Cuba — and yellow cheese, said Paola Bordón, owner of the restaurant.
  24. Coming to Clearwater’s Coachman Park: The ‘World’s Largest Rubber Duck’
    • Things To Do
    A giant inflatable rubber duck floats past the USS Iowa Battleship at the Port of Los Angeles in 2014. The world-famous sculpture is coming to Clearwater's Coachman Park in January.
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