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John Hill - Columnist
John Hill

Columnist

I grew up in Tampa, a fourth-generation Hillsborough resident, and did everything from bag groceries and mow yards to work in a funeral home. After college, I covered state and local government for The Ledger in Lakeland, and came to the then-St. Petersburg Times in 1996 after five years as a projects reporter at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Covering the city where I was raised is like watching a split screen; big wins still require connections and respect for local traditions. My wife, Sue, and I live in Riverside Heights with our Lab, Finnegan.

  1. Floridians, let’s talk about those property tax cuts | Column
    • Viewpoints
    State representatives gather March 4 during the 2025 legislative session in Tallahassee. Lawmakers are considering several property tax cut proposals for the 2026 session, which begins Jan. 13. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
  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.
  3. Gov. DeSantis sells Islamophobia as security | Column
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    Attorney Miranda Margolis, with the National Lawyers Guild Tampa Chapter, speaks while joining leaders of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations during a press conference Tuesday in Tampa to announce the group's planned lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his designating CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood “foreign terrorist organizations."
  5. Florida’s schools chief has lost the locker room | Column
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    Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas speaks at the Florida School Boards Association's conference in Tampa on Dec. 4.
  6. Florida, let’s put money into our state parks | Column
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    Hillsborough River State Park features the River Rapids Nature Trail, which is one of four inside of the park and measures out as an unpaved 1.4-mile loop.
  7. Florida doesn’t want offshore drilling, Mr. President | Column
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    Crews battle the blazing remnants of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico after the explosion April 20, 2010, which killed 11 workers and set off the nation's worst offshore oil disaster.
  8. Florida, where meritocracy went to die | Column
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  9. In Florida school wars, are locals finally pushing back? | Column
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    Tina Certain, vice-chairperson of the Alachua County School Board, addresses the Florida Board of Education on Nov. 13.
  10. The Ybor City police chase was a mistake, period | Column
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    A still image from a Tampa police video shows a Florida Highway Patrol car as it strikes the rear of a speeding Toyota during a pursuit Nov. 8 near Ybor City. The Toyota escaped the pursuit and crashed moments later in front of a busy nightclub, killing four people.
  11. The Ybor City tragedy and police pursuits | Column
    • Viewpoints
    A still image from a Tampa police video shows a Florida Highway Patrol car as it strikes the rear of a speeding Toyota during a pursuit Nov. 8 near Ybor City. The Toyota escaped the pursuit and crashed moments later in front of a busy Ybor City nightclub, killing four people.
  12. Coming to Florida schools: ‘Communism for Dummies’ | Column
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    Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., pounds the podium as he addresses a group at Constitution Hall in Washington, Nov. 11, 1954. In the 1950s, he made widespread claims, many of them baseless, of communist subversion in high government circles. In 1954, the Senate censured McCarthy for unbecoming conduct. (AP Photo/Bob Schutz)
  13. In Mt. Dora, hitting the pause button | Column
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    Mt. Dora is northwest of Orlando.
  14. What Tampa voters said in city council election | Column
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    Political newcomer Naya Young won a special election Tuesday for a seat on Tampa City Council.
  15. Electing Hillsborough schools chief is a bad idea | Column
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    Republican state Rep. Michael Owen, shown here in 2024 in Tampa, is proposing to change Hillsborough County Schools superintendent from an appointed to an elected position.
  16. Before Pam Bondi, there was Janet Reno | Column
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    Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, was the epicenter of several political storms during the Clinton administration.
  17. Charlie Crist for St. Pete mayor? | Column
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    Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, right, meets with locals during a campaign stop at Kissin’ Cuzzins in St. Petersburg on Aug. 24, 2022. Crist recently won the Democratic primary for Florida Gov.
  18. The upside to Florida’s land giveaway to charter schools | Column
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    Charter schools in Florida have new tools for taking over surplus space in public schools.
  19. We didn’t learn from Charlie Kirk’s murder | Column
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  20. The Rays owners want a new stadium. That part we already knew | Column
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    Managing Partner and co-chair of the Tampa Bay Rays Patrick Zalupski, center, co-chair Bill Cosgrove, left, and Chief Executive Officer Ken Babby are seen during a news conference at George M. Steinbrenner Field Tuesday in Tampa.
  21. 30 questions for the Hope Florida grand jury | Column
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    Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about Hope Florida during a press conference in Tampa on May 20. State prosecutors have reportedly subpoenaed witnesses to testify before a grand jury investigating the charity.
  22. The good, and bad, of USF’s presidential search | Column
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  23. Florida DOGE’s smear job on government spending | Column
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    Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia speaks during a press conference about Hillsborough County’s spending on Sept. 24 in Brandon.
  24. Patrick Zalupski and others are buying the Tampa Bay Rays. Now what? | Column
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    Patrick Zalupski and a team of investors now own the Tampa Bay Rays. Will they find the home that eluded Stuart Sternberg?