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Esmé Fox - Trending/Explainers Reporter
Esmé Fox

Trending/Explainers Reporter

Originally from New York City, I’m currently a student at Duke University studying public policy and journalism. I’ve come to Tampa to report on trending and explainer stories, hoping to help you make sense of the current news landscape. I’ve loved words and stories since I was a kid. In the rare occasion when my nose is not buried in a book or my laptop, I can be found hiking, lying at the beach or trying (and failing) to teach myself to play guitar.

  1. Pinellas mental health court offers defendants a second chance
    Aug. 27• Crime
    Judge Philip Federico speaks to a defendant at the Pinellas County Justice Center in 2022. Federico presides over the pilot Pinellas mental health court, which seeks to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses entering the criminal justice system.
  2. St. Petersburg couple arrested after man found living outside in ‘squalor,’ police say
    Aug. 10• Crime
    Jeffeth Garvey, 56, and Antoinette Mundy, 59, were charged with neglect of a disabled adult, according to St. Petersburg Police.
  3. Why do we need coral reefs? Here’s why they are so important.
    Aug. 1• Environment
    This photo courtesy of NOAA was captured at Rapture Reef at Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. A severe marine heat wave ravaging waters off the coast of Florida is threatening the survival of coral reefs. Without them, one scientist suspects populations of all kinds of marine species would either die out or dramatically diminish.
  5. Meet the team training in Tampa Bay to row across the Atlantic
    July 28• Environment
    Lauren Shea, left, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Isabelle Côté, also of Vancouver, Chantale Bégin of Ozona, and Noelle Helder of Fairbanks, Alaska, row in the Intracoastal Waterway just off Ozona on June 28. The four have been training daily in the waters near Ozona for the World’s Toughest Row Atlantic Challenge and plan to race across the Atlantic in December.
  6. St. Petersburg woman presumed dead, husband and son hurt after boat fire in Florida Keys
    July 26• St. Petersburg
    A 51-year-old St. Petersburg woman who was visiting the Florida Keys for the lobster mini-season with her family is missing after the yacht they were on caught fire at the Perry Hotel & Marina Key West on Stock Island early Wednesday, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. The agency identified the woman Wednesday evening as Linda Vella and said her husband, Michael Kenneth Robson, 58, and son, Anthony Joseph Vella, 21, were airlifted to a Miami hospital for treatment.
  7. Miami-Dade police director injured during suicide attempt, Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office says
    July 24• Breaking News
    Miami-Dade Police Department director Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez talks during a news conference at Miami-Dade Police Department headquarters in January 2020 after he was appointed to the post. In a statement released Monday, officials said Ramirez was in critical condition in a Tampa area hospital. Investigators believe he shot himself Sunday night on Interstate 75 south of Tampa after a domestic dispute at a Tampa hotel.
  8. What are lithium-ion batteries, and how do they catch fire? Here’s what to know
    July 21• News
    Police cars and fire trucks swarmed Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital's outpatient clinic on July 20, when damaged lithium-ion batteries off-gassed, injuring three employees. Gas leakage is just one of the risks posed by lithium-ion batteries.
  9. Suspicious package found at Tampa Walmart, store evacuated, officials say
    July 20• Tampa
    Tampa police and Tampa Fire Rescue personnel were dispatched to a Walmart on Dale Mabry Highway Thursday to investigate a reported suspicious package. The store was evacuated and is closed until further notice, police say.
  10. Here’s how to start bird-watching in Tampa Bay
    July 18• Environment
    The black-and-white warbler is a songbird that spends its winters in Florida.
  11. Tampa police issue warning about vehicles being stolen from valet parking
    July 14• Crime
    Tampa police surveillance footage shows people snatching keys from unattended valet stands at restaurants and hotels, then driving off with stolen vehicles.
  12. Fugitive suspected in 1984 killing of young mother held without bond in Hillsborough
    July 6• Crime
    Donald Santini weeps moments before he is denied bond by Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Catherine Catlin during a court hearing Thursday in Tampa. Santini is accused of strangling Cynthia Wood in 1984 and leaving her body in a Riverview drainage ditch. He was on the run for nearly 40 years before he was arrested in San Diego on June 7.
  13. Paquita, the St. Petersburg Sunken Gardens parrot, dies
    June 30• St. Petersburg
    Paquita was known for belting her own name while looking up at the sky: "PAQUIIIIIITA!"
  14. Toddler drowns in Clearwater pool, officials say
    June 30• Clearwater
    Ezra Miller, 1, died shortly after being taken to Morton Plant Hospital on Thursday night.
  15. 5 ways to protect your kids from drowning this summer
    June 29• Health
    This June 20, 2019, photo shows children at the World's Largest Swimming Lesson, a global drowning prevention event, at the Sulphur Springs Pool in Tampa. Signing kids up for swim lessons dramatically reduces their chances of drowning, according to Dexter Lewis of the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County.
  16. 23 arrested in vehicle theft ring with Tampa Bay ties, officials say
    June 26• Crime
    More than 20 people were arrested in connection with what Florida officials say was a vehicle theft ring that cost victims up to $1.1 million.
  17. Humane Society of Tampa Bay decision to put 40 kittens to death stirs controversy
    June 23• Hillsborough
    This June 16, 2023 Times file photo shows the outside of the animal shelter at The Humane Society of Tampa Bay. The shelter lethally injected an estimated 40 kittens on June 12 following a wave of the feline panleukopenia virus. [ CHLOE TROFATTER | Times ]
  18. Woman rides stolen Coast Guard tricycle onto active St. Petersburg airport taxiway
    June 16• Crime
    This Sept. 20, 2019 Times file photo shows the St. Pete-Clearwater Airport in Clearwater. A woman rode a tricycle stolen from the U.S. Coast Guard's Clearwater air station onto an active St. Pete-Clearwater Airport taxiway Wednesday, Pinellas County arrest records show.
  19. Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office supervisor accused of soliciting minor, authorities say
    June 15• Crime
    Jonathan Hagen, 34, a senior supervisor at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Communications Center, was arrested Thursday after authorities say he attempted to solicit sexual activity from someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl on the app Whisper. Instead, he was messaging an undercover Clearwater detective.
  20. Pinellas man gets prison for stealing millions from IRS to buy waterfront home, 6 cars
    June 12• Crime
    This $2.6 million St. Petersburg waterfront mansion was purchased by Matthew Meredith with cash, prosecutors say.
  21. Fugitive arrested in 1984 killing of mother of 3, Hillsborough officials say
    June 8• Crime
    Donald Michael Santini, left, and Cynthia “Cindy” Ruth Wood are seen in these file photos from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Authorities have been searching for Santini for nearly four decades in connection to the strangulation death of Wood, a mother of three whose body was found in a Riverview ditch June 9, 1984.
  22. Pinellas teen who won National Spelling Bee comes home to Tampa Bay
    June 7• The Education Gradebook
    Dev Shah, 14, from Largo, arrives at Tampa International Airport on Tuesday after winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee outside of Washington, D.C.