Category: Uncategorized

The Clerk of the Circuit Court performs so many duties, she can barely remember them all. “It’s one of the secret mysteries of the world,” said Clerk of the Circuit Court Pat Frank. The Clerk undertakes many mundane, but important tasks from county audits to tax deed sales. She essentially collects and orders the glue… Continue reading Frankly Speaking

In the era of instant status updates and text messages, the media industry is constantly keeping viewers informed and represented with “breaking” news alerts. But, according to WFLA’s Senior Investigative Reporter Steve Andrews, it’s important to keep some simple ethical values in mind, like abstaining from ”jerk” reporter status when getting the scoop. “You don’t… Continue reading Keeping Your Cool

Political contributors to campaigns can run, but they can’t hide. William March, chief political reporter for the Tampa Tribune, can find pinpoint strange political donations in a matter of seconds these days. “It could take me anywhere from 2 hours to 2 months to find out campaign spending in the past,” said March.  “Now it… Continue reading Money Talks

“Does your mother love you?  Check it out.” These words of advice come from the lips of none other than Preston Trigg.  Trigg is the Director of Administration and Special Projects at the Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s office.  He’s also a former colleague of Dr. Gil Thelan. Trigg explained how the tax collector’s office, and… Continue reading Does Your Mother Love You?

Picture a hectic, crowded jail in a major metropolis - Hillsborough county’s Orient road jail is nothing like the stereotypical image painted in the movies and TV. The inmates look like they’re almost complacent with the situation.  There’s no yelling or screaming.  There isn’t any fighting or tussling. There is, however, a restraining chair just… Continue reading Try This Hot Sauce

Deputy Larry McKinnon is going to be on TV some day – or at least Youtube. McKinnon and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office now use the popular video streaming site as a vehicle  to get information out to the ”wolves.” “I need to make the wolves happy,” said McKinnon, referring to the media. Not only… Continue reading HCSO TV

Fraudulent house flipping in Florida just became a little harder. Chris Davis and his colleagues at the Sarasota-Herald Tribune spent the last year talking to property appraisers and collecting documents relevant to suspicious house flipping in Florida. “We…rely almost exclusively on public records,” said Davis. After perusing over 19 million Florida real estate transactions, searching… Continue reading Flippin’ Crazy

If the University of South Florida’s library wasn’t a cut above the rest, they wouldn’t have a wealth of public documents online. Luckily, USF is taking steps to enable the journalists of tomorrow. With the help of Coordinator for General Records and Government Documents Cheryl McCoy,  web sites for Florida’s public records networks are neatly… Continue reading Tools of the Future

Tim Nickens dropped a bombshell on University of South Florida public affairs reporting students– Florida lawmakers are texting important info via cell phones, thus avoiding the Florida Sunshine laws. “Texts and emails have sent a lot of government underground,” said Nickens. While technology has certainly made it easier to communicate between local and state governments,… Continue reading Texting in the dark to avoid the Florida sunshine

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