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Zachary T. Sampson - General Assignment Reporter
Zachary T. Sampson

General Assignment Reporter

I'm a general assignment reporter, which means I cover pretty much anything depending on the day. Think of me like a super utility player. Local, state, national, crime, weather, politics, and so on. I'm fascinated by where we're from -- how places shape us and how we shape them. I aim to tell stories that matter to you now, or will, or should. One day that might involve a police horse that paints, another how county officials spend your tax dollars. I'm from Rhode Island and will talk to you about it. I've coached youth baseball -- yes, the loud one. Okay, maybe I was checking the score on my phone under the table. I'm sorry. Call me with anything. I'm friendlier than my face suggests.

  1. Driver in Bayshore death had alcohol level of 0.234. How many drinks is that?
    Jan. 13• Tampa
    A pedestrian was hit and killed by a Pinch a Penny pool truck truck on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020.
    Benjamin Douglas Ehas, 31, faces charges of vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter. He said he had just taken a double shot of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky before the crash, according to an arrest...
  2. George Gage, Tampa man killed in Bayshore crash, remembered as kind, faithful
    Jan. 10• Tampa
    George Gage, 70, is a retired financial trust officer. Tampa police said he was walking on the Bayshore Boulevard sidewalk when he was fatally struck Thursday by an impaired driver speeding in a pickup truck. A memorial was set up along the sidewalk on Friday.
    The 70-year-old retired financial trust officer lived an exemplary life, friends said. He was struck and killed Thursday morning by a driver who police say was drunk.
  3. Whiskey, marijuana and speed. New details revealed about deadly Bayshore Boulevard crash.
    Jan. 10• Tampa
    Benjamin Douglas Ehas, 31, of Tampa, faces charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide after Tampa police said he struck and killed a man on Bayshore Boulevard's scenic sidewalk on Thursday.
    The driver of a Pinch A Penny truck faces charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in Thursday’s deadly crash. Residents renewed calls to make Bayshore safer.
  4. ‘Make or break moment.’ Tampa Bay leaders hold climate change summit.
    Jan. 7• Environment
    From left, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos speak at a summit held by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council's Resiliency Coalition on Tuesday at the Hilton Carillon Park in St. Petersburg.
    The first Tampa Bay Regional Resiliency Coalition Leadership Summit kicked off Tuesday. Local officials were there, and so was Florida’s new Chief Resilience Officer.
  5. UPDATE: Power restored after nearly 35,000 in Pinellas County were without it Tuesday
    Jan. 7• Pinellas
    A lineman with Service Electric Co., a subcontractor with Duke Energy, works on a project at a Duke substation Tuesday. This is one of three substations which had problems Tuesday morning that left about 34,000 Pinellas County customers without power for one hour and 40 minutes.
    People in a large swath from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport to the Historic Old Northeast neighborhood were without power.
  6. Epiphany 2020: Visits from Greek prime minister, new archbishop buoy crowd
    Jan. 6• Pinellas
    Hunter Sakadales, 18, of Tarpon Springs emerges with the cross at Epiphany on Monday.
    Hunter Sakadales, 18, retrieved the cross from Spring Bayou as 25,000 watched, including the highest-ranking official from Greece to ever attend Epiphany.
  7. Safecrackers stole millions in Florida. Here’s how they were caught.
    Dec. 12, 2019• Crime
    Dan Short, second from right, owner of Dan-Lo Jewelers, speaks with Hernando County Sheriff's detective Anthony Belmonte, far right, during a news conference Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019 in Brooksville. The Sheriff's Office announced that a trio of jewelry store burglars were arrested after robbing between $16 million and $18 million from places around Florida.
    The trio targeted jewelry stores, making off with as much as $18 million, authorities say. They were finally arrested in Chicago.
  8. Boy, 13, appears in adult court in grandmother’s murder
    Dec. 11, 2019• Crime
    Javarick Henderson Jr., 13, seen on a video screen at his first appearance hearing on Wednesday. A grand jury indicted the boy as an adult on a charge of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his grandmother, and his case is now being handled by the adult court system.
    Javarick Henderson Jr., 13, was indicted last week on a first-degree murder charge.
  9. These three St. Pete women started singing together 60 years ago. They’re still at it.
    Dec. 11, 2019• St. Petersburg
    The Alumni Singers of St. Petersburg includes three women from Gibbs High School class of 1957. Pictured left to right are those classmates: Carolyn Hobbs, Betty Hayward, and Helen Shaw. The friends are pictured at the "Jesus is King" Christmas concert at Lakewood United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019.
    Three women in the Alumni Singers graduated together in Gibbs High School’s Class of 1957. On Sunday, they gave their annual Christmas concert.
  10. For boy with autism, Tampa ‘Sensory Santa’ gives family photo without fuss
    Nov. 27, 2019• Tampa
    Yahir Manuel Charneco Roldán, 6, stretches to catch a glimpse of a TV screen playing holiday cartoons near the atrium where families lined up for a visit with Santa on Sunday Nov. 24 at International Plaza in Tampa. The early event at the mall was for families with sensory-sensitive children like Yahir, who has autism.
    Before the mall opens, without the bright lights and crowds, a family gets its Christmas moment.