Weekend rewind: Publix shopper shoots himself in store; Strong winds rip through Tampa Bay; and more

Deputies: Publix shopper accidentally shoots himself while inside Land O’ Lakes store

Publix, where shooting is a pleasure? Not quite — but that didn’t stop a shopper at the Land O’ Lakes Publix on Collier Parkway from accidentally shooting himself with his weapon while inside the store on Sunday. According to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the victim — identified only as a white male — was transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries to his lower extremity.

Thunderstorms, strong winds rip through Tampa Bay area as thousands lose power

Severe thunderstorms and raging winds passed through the Tampa Bay area Sunday afternoon, causing thousands to lose power. The worst of the power outages happened in Hillsborough County. An early afternoon update from a Tampa Electric Co. outage map showed that as many as 28,000 Florida clients lost power Sunday, most of them in Hillsborough. By about 4:30 p.m., that number had fallen to a still-substantial 22,000. So, why did this seemingly random storm hit Tampa Bay? Read here.

Florida man aboard Jacksonville flight said passengers were told a delay was due to a mechanical problem

The Tampa Bay Times had an exclusive interview with a passenger on the Jacksonville flight that skidded off a Jacksonville runway and into a river Friday night. Darwing Silva, of Miami, said the flight was delayed initially, he was told, due to an issue with the air conditioning. Later, Silva said the landing was like countless others he’d been on, except the plane never stopped. Read the full story here. Though no humans died in the incident, there were no pet survivors, according to the NTSB.

Here’s how Florida Republican lawmakers got their way in 2019

A more active governor, a more conservative Supreme Court and transactional new leaders in the House and Senate led to a wave of successes for Republicans in the 2019 legislative session, which ended Saturday. In a half day of overtime, lawmakers quickly approved a $91.1 billion budget with record spending on the environment and more spending on public schools. But this session, it wasn’t about the budget. It was about Florida’s hard right turn. Read how Republican lawmakers were so successful here.

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Drugs, guns and politics collided in the small town of Port Richey. Two mayors went to jail.

Alas, our lead print story for Sunday’s Tampa Bay Times. In what was a very only-in-Florida investigation, Times writers took a deep dive into how a once “laser surgeon,” who once had a kid die in his care and who ran deep with dope fiends, became mayor of Port Richey ... before then having a shootout with cops at his home. Readers on Sunday spent an average of three-and-a-half minutes reading the piece. I recommend you do the same.