Philip MorganTimes Correspondent
I've been a reporter for more than 50 years, and I feel as enthusiastic about the job now as I did when I began. I started at the Lakeland Ledger a month after graduating from the University of Florida’s college of journalism in 1970. I moved to the Tampa Tribune in 1972 and worked there for 36 years. I covered poverty and welfare, courts and spent two years on the investigative reporting desk before becoming a feature writer, a job I did for 30 years. I joined the Tampa Bay Times (then the St. Petersburg Times) in 2010. I'm now a correspondent covering stories from the Tampa Bay area.
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tbt/9fc920b8-89ba-4e1a-96a3-c26acee9ac93.png "Philip Morgan - Times Correspondent")
![Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 562 316"/%3E "Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DII46X6ZMNDUDFYIMEYMGZ6PTA.jpg "Gloria Jean Royster recently at the Madame Fortune Taylor Bridge")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/IPBXZWLJ3RBC5DTXK4CFKYJQSY.jpg "Longtime teacher Amanda Riker says practicing yoga keeps the spine healthy")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DPYMOUVBNREULCKKIXCCUVBYSM.jpg "Rein Verbeek, 55, of Dover, has been a beekeeper since 2014.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3KAMSZK3JFEGBLC23RIBEAJKRQ.jpg "Frankie Beatty of Watermelon Swim gives swimming lessons to Kynsley Muller in a photo provided by the company.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/RIGECLEXQZCIXMEQFAAVJQUZTQ.jpg "Hillsborough County code enforcement officer Larry Hoffman removes illegal signs in October.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/K5QWASWK3FHSVAPEBPDNSUJMBY.jpg "Richard Gonzmart, left, is the fourth-generation caretaker of the Columbia Restaurant Group. His daughter Andrea Gonzmart Williams, 43, is taking on a greater role in the family business.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/NTJGZUEFQRAETH7XSMQBKQVD4E.jpg "Andrew Potts, 61, left, displays two bearded dragons as his brother Bob Potts, 53, has a trio of geckos climbing around in his hands at Herp Hobby Shop Reptile Breeding Center at 700 St Petersburg Drive W in Oldsmar. The brothers have owned the pet shop for over 30 years.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/CQOAIXPZNFBJLAYGNVFHAUNYIM.JPG "Interim Henry B. Plant Museum director Lindsay Huban, right, shows Stephanie Carlos a vintage photograph detailing the room they're in at the museum at the University of Tampa campys in May 2018. Carlos was taking a tour to learn why there are minarets on the former Tampa Bay Hotel built by railroad baron Henry B. Plant.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/JL2IERU36FC3BM7MSEOMIYK6WY.JPG "Todd Wilson, a safety instructor with Tampa Motorcycle Training, poses for a portrait on April 26 in Wesley Chapel.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/JCE7FBXO7NCMPAWZ4NIO3NSATA.png "David Paloff is director of operations at the Humane Society of Pinellas.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/Q4O2ZHMFIRFKNG6MM2ORNDUHT4.jpg "Erin Blankenship (left), interim executive editor who has been with the Florida Holocaust Museum for 20 years; and Michael Egel, chairman of the board whose grandparents survived the Holocaust.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/OHOASNTPBZFLXNEE7E6DYBINOI.jpg "Oliver Sohn at Tampa Archery School demonstrates the proper method of shooting an arrow. (Photo by Philip Morgan)")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/UCB4TMTMSVFGHMKJTW5KM2RPRE.jpg "Kelli S. Burns research interests include social media influencers; the intersection of social media and popular culture; and social media data analytics.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/MRPIH6KZJNBTXIKEQEIKI3PJRM.JPG "Former Tampa Mayor Sandra Freedman increased the size of the Police Department by more than 20 percent.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/OOOLGH2XEVC6BFJ4LJTLLNXJBQ.jpg "Madison Lefler is entering the beef steer she raised in this year’s livestock competition at the Florida State Fair")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/4LOAWABHXFGSTHE7US2GULGLPQ.jpg "Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/CRN6BQV5CFDJFESGGV3KNYUSUY.jpg "Robert Cruz, right, runs the Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation Department's esports program at the Northdale Park & Recreation Center’s esports lounge in Carrollwood.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/K24XHFEORJEYHA7CDNAUDLD6PI.jpg "Jody is a 33 year old black rhinoceros who has been a longtime fixture at Busch Gardens in Tampa. There are just over 5,000 black rhinoceroses left in the world. They are classified as a critically endangered species, which means they’re at “extremely high risk” of going extinct. In this photo she is being fed a papaya, one of her favorite fruits.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/AOXJP4HRDNC4ZH6UDAGMCA7RM4.jpg "Richard Gonzmart, fourth-generation caretaker of the Columbia Restaurant Group, speaks to attendees of the April 28 Familia Martinez Bujanda wine dinner at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/NUPI52IXUZCLPPYV4HZQ4GNCJQ.jpeg "Greg Sgrignoli, 63, catches a small crevalle jack from the north Skyway Fishing Pier. The Pennsylvania man visits often to fish from the pier.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/6A24ENLE7ZFJLH6SBJ3GV6MOHA.jpg "Erin Kimmerle is an associate professor at the University of South Florida and a nationally-known forensic anthropologist. She is also the director of the Florida Institute of Forensic Anthropology and Applied Science, working to solve cold cases and identify unidentified remains.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3LE56U5SXRH25CURHOU4QEDQ6Q.jpg "Chantell Miles poses with four graduates of the Pace Center for Girls. From left, Natti B, Desiree L, Miles, Anneyah L and Zamirria C.
(Photo courtesy of Pace Center for Girls)")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DFXLYA2ZFZHNHJ5WDH3JYBOYGU.JPG "Former Tampa Mayor Sandra Freedman poses for a portrait in the lobby of a Tampa condominium on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.")