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Colleen Wright - St. Petersburg Reporter
Colleen Wright

St. Petersburg Reporter

My 91-year-old Abuela says my career in journalism is what the American Dream is all about. My Abuelo fled Cuba and arrived in Miami in 1962. He washed dishes in the old Miami Herald cafeteria to support his family, including a baby girl on the way — my mother. Almost half a century later, the Herald gave me my first journalism job as a 17-year-old high school intern. I interned at newspapers all over the country, including at the Tampa Bay Times in 2014. It was the Times that gave me my first job after I graduated from the University of Florida, covering education in Pinellas County from 2015 to 2018. Then I returned to Miami to cover education and the nation’s fourth-largest school district for my hometown paper for three years. Now I’m back at the Times, covering St. Petersburg’s government and people. Miami may be my hometown, but the Sunshine City is my home. I live and breathe local journalism, and I’m proud I’ve spent my career working at Florida’s best newspapers.

  1. St. Petersburg braces for possible homestead property tax end
    • St. Petersburg
    Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing for property tax cuts in Florida, including possibly eliminating most of them on primary residences. Local governments, including St. Petersburg, are bracing for the possible elimination of property taxes on homesteaded properties and what the impacts would be on operating budgets, which mostly fund police and fire departments.
  2. St. Petersburg EDM festival ‘noise’ is a concern, mayor says
    • St. Petersburg
    The St. Pete Pier and Spa Beach are seen as clouds are illuminated by the setting sun Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. St. Petersburg Police received noise complaints from the We Belong Here electronic music festival over the weekend. Mayor Ken Welch called the "noise" a "concern."
  3. St. Petersburg appoints first openly trans person to top city ranks
    • St. Petersburg
    Nathan Bruemmer is St. Petersburg's new LGBTQ+ Liaison. He is believed to be the first openly transgender person appointed to a high ranking position in City Hall.
  5. St. Petersburg grants Tangerine Plaza developers yearlong extension
    • St. Petersburg
    The former 39,900-square-foot grocery store sits empty at Tangerine Plaza in St. Petersburg on Aug. 18, 2021. The City Council voted to grant a yearlong extension to the Sugar Hill Group to line up financing and a grocer for the redevelopment of the plaza.
  6. St. Petersburg gives Science Center revival the green light
    • St. Petersburg
    The exterior of the St. Petersburg Science Center on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg City Council voted unanimously to sell a 4-acre lot at 7701 22nd Ave N to the St. Petersburg Group, which has a plan to revive the defunct Science Center.
  7. St. Petersburg has ideas for Al Lang Stadium, including spring training
    • St. Petersburg
    New renderings from Tampa-based design firm ASD | Sky show a concept for a three-story, 36,000-square-foot addition for Al Lang Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, as part of a plan to build a "Center for the Arts" on St. Petersburg's downtown waterfront. It is a reversal from an April presentation that floated demolishing the stadium and building an amphitheater there instead.
  8. This St. Petersburg hurricane party celebrates storm season’s end
    • St. Petersburg
    Guests network and socialize during a party celebrating the end of hurricane season at Sharon Joy Kleitsch's condo on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in St. Petersburg.
  9. Developers of Tangerine Plaza, empty since 2017, seek more money, time
    • St. Petersburg
    Vehicles wait outside Tangerine Plaza on a Saturday morning to collect donated food. Mayor Ken Welch is asking St. Petersburg City Council to give the Sugar Hill Group, a development group selected to build affordable housing and lure a grocer there, a one-year extension to meet its obligations to move forward with the project.
  10. Documentary tells St. Petersburg’s story through Albert Whitted Airport
    • St. Petersburg
    President Joe Biden arrives to Albert Whitted Airport in Marine One after surveying the damage from Hurricane Milton and Helene from the air on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024 in St. Petersburg. A new documentary, "One City, One Airport," tells Albert Whitted's story as campaigns arise every couple of years to get rid of the airport and use the waterfront for something else.
  11. PAC formed to promote Charlie Crist for St. Petersburg mayor
    • St. Petersburg
    Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist throws the ceremonial first pitch between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees on Aug. 20 in Tampa. A new political committee, St. Pete Shines, was registered this month in support of Crist's potential candidacy for mayor of St. Petersburg.
  12. St. Petersburg mayor pushes back window for Trop development pitches
    • St. Petersburg
    Mayor Ken Welch said he will open a 30-day window to accept alternative proposals to redevelop the Historic Gas Plant District, which includes Tropicana Field, in January after pressure from City Council and the development community.
  13. Tropicana Field repairs near completion; Rays paying for some upgrades
    • St. Petersburg
    Panel installation continues on the stadium’s roof at Tropicana Field with the Tampa Bay Rays plan their 2026 season on Wednesday, Nov. 5, in St. Petersburg. City Development Administration Managing Director Beth Herendeen says repairs to the Trop are on time and on budget.
  14. St. Petersburg begins another search for downtown marina contractor
    • St. Petersburg
    St. Petersburg is searching for design and build services to redevelop the municipal marina downtown. Vendors are invited to submit their qualifications by Dec. 2. Interviews and selections are scheduled for Jan. 13.
  15. St. Petersburg council member wants more time for Trop development pitches
    • St. Petersburg
    An aerial drone view of Tropicana Field on Wednesday, Nov. 5, in St. Petersburg. City Council member Richie Floyd is requesting that the council oppose the city's 30-day public notice process to find a developer for the Historic Gas Plant and instead issue a request for proposals with a 90-day window.
  16. The Cross Bay Ferry is (almost) officially back
    • Transportation
    The Cross Bay Ferry leaves St. Petersburg with passengers headed to Tampa in 2019. The ferry could resume service in mid 2026.
  17. St. Petersburg sued over public records access
    • St. Petersburg
    St. Petersburg resident Bradlee McCoy filed a lawsuit against the city for failing to respond to and fulfill public records requests.
  18. St. Petersburg to open brief window for Trop redevelopment pitches
    • St. Petersburg
    St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch is opening a 30-day window at the start of the holiday season next month to solicit competing or alternative plans to redevelop Tropicana Field, also known as the Historic Gas Plant district.
  19. David Fischer, former 3-term mayor of St. Petersburg, has died
    • St. Petersburg
    Then-St. Petersburg Mayor David Fischer, pictured here in 1996, died Wednesday at age 92.
  20. St. Petersburg gets another pitch to redevelop piece of Tropicana Field
    • St. Petersburg
    An aerial drone view of Tropicana Field on March 13 in St. Petersburg. The Pinellas County Housing Authority submitted an unsolicited proposal to the city of St. Petersburg to build a seven-story, 80-unit affordable senior housing building at 1659 Third Ave. S. The city-owned lot is east of Lot 3, which is used for Tampa Bay Rays games.
  21. How Charlie Crist hopes to draw on his deep ties to St. Petersburg
    • The Buzz on Florida Politics
    Charlie Crist, a former Florida governor and U.S. representative, said he's mulling a run for mayor of St. Petersburg.
  22. Charlie Crist is mulling a run for St. Petersburg mayor
    • St. Petersburg
    Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist throws the ceremonial first pitch between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees on Aug. 20 in Tampa. Crist said he is considering jumping into the 2026 race for St. Petersburg mayor.
  23. Council member Brandi Gabbard running for St. Petersburg mayor
    • St. Petersburg
    St. Petersburg City Council member Brandi Gabbard said she plans to file to run for mayor of St. Petersburg by early next year.
  24. St. Petersburg lounge offers to buy Woodson Museum property from city
    • St. Petersburg
    The owners of the Catalyst on the Deuces lounge submitted an unsolicited offer to buy 2240 Ninth Ave. S., home to the Woodson African American Museum of Florida. They say they want to turn the building into an event space and use its parking lot for their lounge.