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Dennis Joyce - Assistant metro editor
Dennis Joyce

Assistant metro editor

I am a newsman and communicator who pitches his tent at the crossroads of the community, the place you find the greatest number of ideas and the most fruitful debate. I’m a local news editor at the Tampa Bay Times, helping guide colleagues as they tell the stories of our community. It’s a role I’ve been blessed to play in half a dozen states, including two stints each in sunny Arizona and Florida. The approach I bring to the job is rooted in my family – including my wife Emilie and our two grown sons, one a world-traveling diplomat and the other a student in architecture. I’m a bicycle and transit commuter, so look for me on the bus and we’ll bat around a few ideas.

  1. Teens showed off guns on Snapchat from Publix bathroom, deputies say
    Oct. 17• Crime
    Pasco County Sheriff's deputies lead three teenagers from a Wesley Chapel Publix store after responding to reports that the boys had been showing off handguns there in a Snapchat video.
    The three Pinellas boys were apprehended while they were still walking the aisles of the Wesley Chapel store.
  2. Pinellas Park woman arrested driving wrong way on Veterans, troopers say
    Oct. 14• Hillsborough
    Marileydi Gonzalez-Meza, 28, of Pinellas Park, was arrested Monday on charges of driving under the influence, driving while license suspended and driving in the wrong direction.
    Reports came in about 1:20 a.m. Monday. A trooper pulled over Marileydi Gonzalez-Meza, 28.
  3. Man accused of child sexual battery talked off edge of Sunshine Skyway Bridge
    Oct. 10• Crime
    James Cromwell Humphreys, 53, was arrested on four counts of sexual battery of a child under the age of 12, four counts of sexual battery and one count of fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, according to Pinellas Park police.
    He was fleeing from officers trying to arrest him on 2018 allegations that he assaulted two boys, 10 and 12, according to Pinellas Park police.
  4. Driver, 40, dies after vehicle catches fire in crash near Dade City
    Oct. 9• Pasco
    Check tampabay.com for the latest breaking news and updates.
    The SUV lost control and then a pick-up truck slammed into it, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The SUV burst into flames and the driver died at the scene.
  5. St. Pete woman killed after striking pole, tree on I-275
    Oct. 8• St. Petersburg
    Check tampabay.com for the latest breaking news and updates.
    The crash occurred Monday morning north of 54th Avenue South, the Highway Patrol said.
  6. Riverview motorcyclist killed trying to avoid animal in the road
    Oct. 7• Hillsborough
    Polk County sheriff's deputies survey the scene of a crash Saturday afternoon west of Frostproof that involved a group of motorcyclists. A Riverview man was killed in the collision.
    Two other Hillsboorugh men injured while riding with a group of motorcycles west of Frostproof.
  7. Seminole woman, 37, killed when car spins out, hits concrete barrier
    Oct. 7• Pinellas
    Check tampabay.com for the latest breaking news and updates.
    A passenger was seriously injured in the single-vehicle crash early Monday along 102nd Avenue North
  8. Driver killed in Hillsborough crash identified as Ruskin man, 30
    Oct. 7• Hillsborough
    Check tampabay.com for the latest breaking news and updates.
    Axel R. Figueroa was headed south on U.S. 41 when he left the road, overcorrected and collided with a tree, the Highway Patrol said.
  9. History Center panel to explore rediscovery of Tampa’s forgotten Zion Cemetery
    Oct. 4• Tampa
    This image is a 3D laser scan of Robles Park Village showing grave-shaped objects beneath the ground in relation to buildings at the public housing complex. The single image is made from two data sources and aligns with historical maps of the former Zion Cemetery. [Cardno]
    The Tuesday discussion features the Tampa Bay Times staffers whose reporting helped show that hundreds of bodies remain in the ground.
  10. Man pistol-whipped, robbed in Plant City driveway; suspect found hiding in shed.
    Oct. 3• Crime
    Melvin Denard Duekes, 31, of Fort Myers, faces a number of charges in connection with the robbery and beating of a man who had just returned home from grocery shopping.
    The Plant City victim refused to turn over his wallet even after he was pushed to the ground and beaten, police said.