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Jake Sheridan - Politics Reporter
Jake Sheridan

Politics Reporter

Journalism has allowed me to better know those around me and, in doing so, better know myself. But it matters far beyond me. I know communities best care for themselves when they are informed. I know stories create understanding and connectedness. I know that witness holds power to account. That’s why I want to do this work. I covered the 2020 New Hampshire Presidential Primary, then misinformation and North Carolina politics during the general election. I’m thrilled to cover state and local politics here. When I’m not working, you’ll find me on the disc golf course, every museum around town, or running on the sidewalk listening to young adult audiobooks.

  1. Online mail ballot request forms get updated to comply with new Florida law
    Yesterday• Elections
    A mail ballot awaiting pickup in a mailbox in Pinellas County in August 2020.
  2. Here’s who’s running for St. Petersburg City Council District 4
    Yesterday• St. Petersburg
    The candidates for St. Petersburg City Council District 4, including Jarib Figueredo at top left, Lisset Hanewicz at top middle, Clifford Hobbs III at top right, Tom Mullins at bottom left, and Doug O'Dowd at bottom right.
  3. Amid outcry, St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Robert Blackmon halts evictions
    Jul. 27• St. Petersburg
    William Kilgore of the St. Petersburg Tenant's Union addresses assembled media, housing rights activists and residents of Paradise Apartments at 330 45th Ave. South in St. Petersburg to talk about evictions practices at the complex. Mayoral candidate and City Council member, Robert Blackmon owns the apartment building. He allegedly filed for evictions against three tenants. After activists and lawyers got involved, Blackmon dropped the evictions. The St. Petersburg Tenant's Union, led by organizers William Kilgore and Karla Correa has worked with the tenants to fight against the eviction proceedings. The group is calling for Blackmon to agree to affordable long-term leases.
  5. Science Center of Pinellas County, once slated to be torn down, to be revived
    Jul. 23• The Education Gradebook
    State Rep. Linda Chaney, City Council member Robert Blackmon (center) and state Sen. Darryl Rouson are pictured during a news conference at the Pinellas Science Center, where they announced funding for the center which will enable its restoration, Friday, July 23, 2021, in St. Petersburg.
  6. St. Petersburg to require developers who get city money to provide community benefits
    Jul. 22• Business
    The St. Petersburg skyline looking west from the waterfront in June 2018.
  7. St. Petersburg City Council shows support for Cuba protests
    Jul. 22• St. Petersburg
    A crowd chants at a protest in solidarity with Cuba outside of Kathy Castor's office on Monday, July 12, 2021 in Tampa.
  8. St. Petersburg to hold public budget hearings in September, plans millage rate reduction
    Jul. 22• St. Petersburg
    St. Petersburg City Hall. [DIRK SHADD | Times]
  9. Ballots soon to reach mailboxes for St. Petersburg primary
    Jul. 21• Elections
    A voter drops off a mail ballot for early voting at the Pinellas County Election Services County Building on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 in St. Petersburg.
  10. Veterans Alternative CEO tried to take unprescribed Xanax after verdict, Pasco sheriff’s office says
    Jul. 16• Pasco
    Veterans Alternative co-founder Brian Anderson was charged with possession of a controlled substance after he allegedly attempted to ingest an unprescribed Xanax following his battery conviction on Tuesday.
  11. St. Petersburg City Council provides funds for workforce housing and arts centers
    Jul. 16• St. Petersburg
    St. Petersburg City Council members unanimously approved the appropriation of $1.4M in CARES Act funding to the Office of Cultural Affairs. Fourteen St. Pete organizations, including the Dali Museum (pictured), the Florida Holocaust Museum and the Palladium theater could receive funding.
  12. Meet the four candidates running for St. Petersburg City Council District 8
    Jul. 16• St. Petersburg
    The four candidates for St. Petersburg City Council District 8. At top left, Jeff Danner. At bottom left, Richie Floyd. At top right, Dane Kuplicki. At bottom right, Jamie Mayo.
  13. St. Petersburg council to DeSantis: Declare Red Tide emergency
    Jul. 16• Environment
    Dead fish pile up along the shore of North Shore Park on Thursday. St. Petersburg City Council is poised to vote on a resolution asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency as the Red Tide crisis continues.
  14. St. Petersburg City Council moves ahead on community benefit agreement
    Jul. 8• St. Petersburg
    St. Petersburg City Hall. [DIRK SHADD | Times]
  15. As St. Petersburg murders mount, 111 guns stolen from cars this year, police say
    Jul. 8• Crime
    Assistant Chief Michael Kovacsev, photographed here in March 2019, shared in an update to City Council Thursday that gun thefts from cars are up across the city as 2021 homicides mount.
  16. Tampa Bay community organizers take lessons as pandemic recedes
    Jul. 8• The Buzz on Florida Politics
    Childs Park Neighborhood Association president Brother John Muhammad, right, and vice president Jabaar Edmond, middle, lead a hybrid in-person and online neighborhood association meeting at Childs Park.
  17. Red Tide, stench of dead fish threatens St. Petersburg’s Fourth of July
    Jul. 1• Environment
    A heavy fish kill was found at Lassing Park in Old Southeast on Thursday in St. Petersburg. Dead fish crowded the beach, flies are swarming and the smell was overwhelming.
  18. Pasco’s elections official rejected 2020 conspiracies. Then he faced threats.
    Jun. 28• The Buzz on Florida Politics
    Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian E. Corley. TIMES (2008)
  19. Could this 20-year-old be St. Petersburg’s next mayor?
    Jun. 22• Elections
    Michael Ingram, 20, attends the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus as a political science major. He is also a St. Petersburg mayoral candidate.
  20. Here’s what to know about the St. Petersburg mayoral race
    Jun. 21• Elections
    File photo of St. Petersburg City Hall.
  21. Florida elections supervisors confused, frustrated by new voting law
    Jun. 16• The Buzz on Florida Politics
    Florida secretary of state Laurel Lee speaks at pre-legislative news conference on Tuesday Oct. 29, 2019, in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)
  22. How controversy over a St. Petersburg pregnancy center derailed grants for small businesses
    Jun. 12• Business
    St Petersburg Pregnancy Center, 1210 22nd St S, pictured on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.