Advertisement

Investigations & Narratives

57° F, Clear57° F, Clear

DEADLY DOSE

As companies sell increasingly potent products, a Tampa Bay Times investigation reveals the herb's toll.
Part 1: Hundreds died using kratom in Florida. It was touted as safe.
As companies sell increasingly potent products, a Tampa Bay Times investigation reveals the herb's toll.
As companies sell increasingly potent products, a Tampa Bay Times investigation reveals the herb's toll.
Part 2: As dangerous kratom products go unregulated, lobbyists write the laws
As companies sell increasingly potent products, a Tampa Bay Times investigation reveals the herb's toll.
A Tampa Bay Times investigation reveals a popular kratom brand’s supply chain, from Indonesia to Florida.
Part 3: Kratom’s path across the US is marked by deception and secrets
A Tampa Bay Times investigation reveals a popular kratom brand’s supply chain, from Indonesia to Florida.

POISONED

Gopher Resource promised changes at Tampa's old lead factory. It kept polluting.
Part 3: The fallout
Gopher Resource promised changes at Tampa's old lead factory. It kept polluting.
At Gopher Resource in Tampa, workers recycle 50,000 used car batteries a day. Their safety equipment doesn’t always protect them, an 18-month Tampa Bay Times investigation found.
Part 1: Hundreds of workers are exposed to poisons inside Florida’s only lead factory
At Gopher Resource in Tampa, workers recycle 50,000 used car batteries a day. Their safety equipment doesn’t always protect them, an 18-month Tampa Bay Times investigation found.
OSHA inspectors haven’t been inside Gopher Resource in five years, even as mechanical breakdowns plagued the Tampa plant and made conditions worse for workers.
Part 2: Federal regulators have been missing in action at Florida’s only lead factory
OSHA inspectors haven’t been inside Gopher Resource in five years, even as mechanical breakdowns plagued the Tampa plant and made conditions worse for workers.

UNPROTECTED

Tampa teens reported a teacher’s sexual comments. Then a student’s life was upended.
Part 1: Lesson learned?
Tampa teens reported a teacher’s sexual comments. Then a student’s life was upended.
Tampa teens wanted their school to protect them. Instead, they say, it got worse.
Part 2: 'Students shouldn't be scared'
Tampa teens wanted their school to protect them. Instead, they say, it got worse.
Officers sent notices to landlords detailing arrests and encounters with their tenants that put families at risk of eviction even when charges were later dropped.
Tampa police called for hundreds to be evicted. Entire families lost their homes.
Officers sent notices to landlords detailing arrests and encounters with their tenants that put families at risk of eviction even when charges were later dropped.

TARGETED

Pasco’s sheriff created a futuristic program to stop crime before it happens. It monitors and harasses families across the county.
Pasco’s sheriff uses grades and abuse histories to label schoolchildren potential criminals. The kids and their parents don’t know.
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco built a controversial approach to policing. He also built a wide circle of powerful friends who don’t question his tactics.
From its headquarters in Boca Raton, GardaWorld has put unsafe trucks on the road, and its workers and unsuspecting motorists have suffered the consequences.
This major armored truck company took dangerous shortcuts. Mayhem followed.
From its headquarters in Boca Raton, GardaWorld has put unsafe trucks on the road, and its workers and unsuspecting motorists have suffered the consequences.
Big banks entrusted money to GardaWorld. It secretly lost track of millions.
Federal agency knew Garda was “really bad” at safety. It took little action.
Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants of 2025
• Food
An assortment of dishes are pictured at Ash on Oct. 14, in Tampa.
Water pollution puts Floridians at risk of severe health problems
• Investigations
Carol Leone was visiting Florida on vacation when she encountered a red tide off Longboat Key. She experienced a cough and difficulty breathing, even weeks after she left the state.
Tenants bid farewell to one of St. Petersburg’s last affordable rentals
• Real Estate
A view from the balcony at the Greenland Apartments, 115 Seventh Ave. N., in St. Petersburg. The nearly 70-year-old apartment complex in the Old Northeast neighborhood has offered cheap rent to tenants for decades. But the family that has owned the place for three generations has sold it to a local landlord, and for some, rent is set to double in January. Most tenants say they cannot afford to stay.
DeSantis admin diverted child welfare and medical funds for consultants, ads
• Politics
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference on May 20 in Tampa. The governor came out in strong opposition to two citizen-led ballot initiatives in 2024 and marshaled state resources against them.
How did coronavirus overwhelm this nursing home so quickly?
• Long Reads
An outbreak. Evacuations. Forty families shattered.
An energy efficiency finance program is trapping Florida homeowners in debt
• Investigations
Solar panels on Ruskin homes purchased with PACE loans.
How Scientology doubled its downtown Clearwater footprint in 3 years
• Investigations
Scientology’s international spiritual headquarters in downtown Clearwater is anchored by the Flag Building, on left. An elevated walkway connects the building to the Fort Harrison Hotel, the church’s first purchase in the city in 1975.
You’re trapped. This Florida hospital is cashing in.
• Investigations
Michael Jenkins spent seven days at North Tampa Behavioral Health last July. Since then, he says his three children have been afraid he’ll leave and not come home.

LATEST

  1. Federal officials end investigation into deadly Florida contractor
    • Investigations
    A worker with Archer Western Construction and Traylor Bros. Inc. labors on the new Howard Frankland Bridge on March 24, 2025 in Tampa. After more than two years, the federal government is ending its investigation into Archer Western, officials said.
    Former construction workers were indicted, but the charges never reached higher into the company.
  2. DeSantis’ agenda, your children’s money | Column
    • Viewpoints
    Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about Hope Florida during an appearance in Tampa on May 20. A new Times/Herald report shows the administration's spending scandal is worse than previously known.
    State spending scandal is worse than we previously thought.
  3. Water pollution puts Floridians at risk of severe health problems
    • Investigations
    Carol Leone was visiting Florida on vacation when she encountered a red tide off Longboat Key. She experienced a cough and difficulty breathing, even weeks after she left the state.
    Chemicals foul wells used for drinking water and fuel harmful algae that can make people sick, a Times investigation shows.
  4. DeSantis admin diverted child welfare and medical funds for consultants, ads
    • Politics
    Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference on May 20 in Tampa. The governor came out in strong opposition to two citizen-led ballot initiatives in 2024 and marshaled state resources against them.
    During the fight to defeat Amendments 3 and 4 last year, Gov. DeSantis’ administration spent at least $36.2 million in taxpayer funds.
  5. Florida politicians call for action after Times report on deadly road contractor
    • Investigations
    A green flag with the company logo for Archer Western Construction hangs from a crane near another flag for the Florida Department of Transportation, next to the new lanes of the new Howard Frankland Bridge on March 24, 2025. A Tampa Bay Times investigation about Archer Western has prompted Florida politicians to call for state officials to hold the company accountable.
    Lawmakers of both parties called the state’s handling of the company ‘unacceptable.’
  6. Florida lets big companies pollute with impunity. Waterways suffer
    • Investigations
    Florida is supposed to police the state’s biggest sources of water pollution: agriculture and development. Instead, regulators and lawmakers have protected the major industries at nearly every turn, a Tampa Bay Times investigation has found.
    For decades, Florida has failed to cut contamination — at the benefit of businesses that cause it.
  7. Undocumented workers built Florida’s roads — and died in the process
    • Investigations
    Original design.
    Gov. Ron DeSantis has said undocumented immigrants pose threats. But prominent state highway projects relied on them.
  8. 5 things to know about GardaWorld, one of the contractors behind Alligator Alcatraz
    • Politics
    Florida has tapped GardaWorld, a private security company that operates armored trucks all over America, to help run the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center.
    GardaWorld was the subject of a 2020 Tampa Bay Times investigation.
  9. Florida makes a bust of its immigration roundup | Column
    • Opinion
    People congregate outside the Department of Homeland Security offices on May 23 in Tampa, where area immigration enforcement operations are based.
    Did you really expect anything else?
  10. A judge blocked Florida’s immigration law. Police arrested 25 anyway
    • Investigations
    A guard checks the identification of a man outside the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offices in Tampa. Florida lawmakers this year passed an immigration law that gave state officials unprecedented power.
    Most were arrested after being stopped by Florida Highway Patrol for minor traffic violations. Some ended up in ICE custody.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement