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Jack Prator - Environment and Breaking News Reporter
Jack Prator

Environment and Breaking News Reporter

I’m an environment reporter covering hurricanes, climate change and development pressures on Florida’s natural resources. I joined the Times in 2023 as a summer intern before coming aboard full time that fall. As a student journalist, (Go Gators!) I covered the impact of the Clean Water Act on Tampa Bay and reported on the ground from my hometown of Fort Myers in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. If you have a story idea (or an off-beat book recommendation) send me an email.

  1. Pinellas County OKs redevelopment of flood-prone mobile home park
    • Environment
    A motorcycle is parked outside a vacant mobile home that was slated for demolition in this photo taken just before Halloween at the Twin City Mobile Home Park on Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg.
  2. Florida’s hurricane season was unusually quiet. What happened?
    • Hurricane
    Construction materials and debris are gathered in a dumpster near homes and businesses in Gulfport on Sept. 16 as the recovery process continues a year after hurricanes Helene and Milton ravaged the area. The 2025 hurricane season will, with all certainty, conclude Sunday without a landfalling storm in the state.
  3. Pinellas County paid Gandy mobile home residents to move. Where are they now?
    • Environment
    Workers are shown removing roofing materials from a mobile home slated for demolition at the Twin City Mobile Home Park on Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg on Oct. 29.
  5. Why Tampa Bay electric bills were so high in 2025
    • News
    Rayne DeJesus, a local activist and rap artist, center, holds up a sign regarding high energy bills, while he chants with other protesters during the Burn the Bill rally at the Dr. Walter L. Smith Library on Nov. 1 in Tampa.
  6. Here’s what people across Tampa Bay are paying for electricity
    • Environment
    This is a composite of several people the Tampa Bay Times spoke to about their electric bills, which many said were higher than ever this summer.
  7. The 4 lives lost in the Ybor City crash
    • Crime
    Heavyn Harris prays during a vigil Saturday at Ybor City nightclub Bradley's on 7th to pay tribute to the victims of a crash that killed four people and injured 13 early that morning.
  8. USF is planning a big development, and environmentalists have concerns
    • The Education Gradebook
    The Florida Board of Governors voted to approve the University of South Florida’s proposed mixed-use Fletcher District at a meeting in Tampa on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. The plan would convert the university’s old Claw golf course, seen here on Nov. 12, 2025, into housing, a hotel, conference center, retail, green spaces and the academic building. The old course sits directly beside a 600-acre forest preserve, which has caused concern among students, environmentalists and nearby residents who say developing the land would harm native wildlife and increase pollution woes.
  9. Tampa Bay braces for record-breaking cold weather with shelters, advisories
    • Environment
    This was the scene on Pass-a-Grille Beach St. Pete Beach on a December day in 2020 when a cold front dropped temperatures in the 50s. The thermometer will plummet even more on Tuesday in a rare early season cold snap that could break records.
  10. Hillsborough River, muddied by pollution and pumping, is recovering, report says
    • Environment
    An aerial drone view shows the Hillsborough River Dam near Rowlett Park in Tampa on Oct. 22. For the first time since the Hillsborough River’s recovery plan was established in 2000, water managers have begun to consistently meet target flow levels, a guideline implemented to safeguard the river’s ecology, according to a 15-year study completed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
  11. Polk County utility challenges Tampa Bay Water’s pumping rights to Alafia River
    • Environment
    Ducks waddle along the Alafia River in Riverview in this 2023 photo. Regional water managers are headed toward litigation over who should own the rights to the river as a drinking water source.
  12. Tropical Storm Melissa expected to become major hurricane
    • Hurricane
    Federal forecasters are monitoring Tropical Storm Melissa, which is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane Monday near Jamaica.
  13. Hurricane forecasters eyeing potential tropical development in Caribbean
    • Hurricane
    The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two potential systems in the Atlantic. One has a 30% chance of forming over the next week in the main tropical development zone of the Caribbean.
  14. Tampa Bay in for first cooldown in months. What it means for hurricanes
    • Environment
    Brody Cox, 23, of Britt, IA, fills a kiddie pool for his son, Kohen Cox, 1, while on vacation along Clearwater Beach. A cold front this weekend is likely to bring the first cooler weather of the season offering relief from the heat.
  15. After St. Pete gang war claims innocent life in fiery Tyrone crash, a verdict
    • Crime
    Jaylen Shazell is shown attending a pretrial hearing at the Pinellas County Justice Center in Clearwater. He has since been convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the February 2022 death of 25-year-old Demond Perry in St. Petersburg.
  16. Federal judge dismisses half of the charges against Tim Burke
    • Crime
    Tim Burke leaves federal court in Tampa with his wife, Lynn Hurtak, and attorney Michael Maddux after being charged with 14 federal crimes on Feb. 22, 2024. A federal judge dismissed half of those charges Thursday, saying his indictment under the Wiretap Act violates the First Amendment.
  17. Hurricanes walloped Tampa Bay. A year later, how the area is recovering
    • Hurricane
    The Gulfport Casino, a popular venue and local landmark shown in this Sept. 16 photo, is still shut down after sustaining damage during last year's hurricane season.
  18. Human remains found in bag at Tampa International Airport, Customs official says
    • Breaking News
    Apparent human remains were discovered inside of luggage at Tampa International Airport, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
  19. Mysterious 2018 Clearwater murder case ends with victim’s daughter convicted
    • Crime
    Shannon Gillespie reacts during a hearing on Jan. 29, 2020. Gillespie was found guilty Tuesday evening in the 2018 murder of her father, Daniel Gillespie.
  20. 32M gallons of wastewater spilled at Hillsborough County treatment plant
    • Environment
    Tanks used for wastewater treatment are seen inside Hillsborough County's Falkenburg Road Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant on Wednesday in Tampa.
  21. Florida DOGE targets Tampa Bay’s climate change policies. What’s at stake?
    • Environment
    Solar panels are seen on the roof of the parking garage at the St. Petersburg Police Department Headquarters on Aug. 27. Pictured on the horizon is Tropicana Field. State auditors tasked with rooting out waste, fraud and abuse have requested municipalities provide them information on any "Green New Deal" policies.
  22. Soggy Labor Day weekend expected across Tampa Bay
    • Weather
    A man is shown walking through downtown Tarpon Springs while en route to pick up mail from the Shepherd Center as a thunderstorm swept through the area on Monday. High rain chances are expected again over the Labor Day weekend.
  23. Developers destroyed a Tampa wetland. Then they tried an unusual move
    • Environment
    An aerial view shows the land at 5716 E. Adamo Drive in Tampa on Thursday. The site is a forested wetland that has been illegally filled in the middle.
  24. Hurricane Erin still major hurricane. Forecasters eye second Atlantic system
    • Hurricane
    The National Hurricane Center is monitoring a tropical wave that could become a tropical depression by the latter part of this week.