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Gopher Resource promised changes at Tampa's old lead factory. It kept polluting.
Gopher Resource promised changes at Tampa's old lead factory. It kept polluting.
At Gopher Resource in Tampa, workers recycle 50,000 used car batteries a day. Their safety equipment doesn’t always protect them, an 18-month Tampa Bay Times investigation found.
At Gopher Resource in Tampa, workers recycle 50,000 used car batteries a day. Their safety equipment doesn’t always protect them, an 18-month Tampa Bay Times investigation found.
OSHA inspectors haven’t been inside Gopher Resource in five years, even as mechanical breakdowns plagued the Tampa plant and made conditions worse for workers.
OSHA inspectors haven’t been inside Gopher Resource in five years, even as mechanical breakdowns plagued the Tampa plant and made conditions worse for workers.

UNPROTECTED

Tampa teens reported a teacher’s sexual comments. Then a student’s life was upended.
Tampa teens reported a teacher’s sexual comments. Then a student’s life was upended.
Tampa teens wanted their school to protect them. Instead, they say, it got worse.
Tampa teens wanted their school to protect them. Instead, they say, it got worse.
Officers sent notices to landlords detailing arrests and encounters with their tenants that put families at risk of eviction even when charges were later dropped.
Officers sent notices to landlords detailing arrests and encounters with their tenants that put families at risk of eviction even when charges were later dropped.

TARGETED

From its headquarters in Boca Raton, GardaWorld has put unsafe trucks on the road, and its workers and unsuspecting motorists have suffered the consequences.
From its headquarters in Boca Raton, GardaWorld has put unsafe trucks on the road, and its workers and unsuspecting motorists have suffered the consequences.

LATEST

  1. Melanie Copeland reported Wharton High teacher Todd Harvey for racial harassment in 2017. Years later, after a Times story brought to light that the district didn't retain her complaint, an investigator is asking about the allegations.
    The inquiry follows a Times story that showed Todd Harvey bullied students for decades.
  2. Austen Peffley is speaking out about disturbing comments made by a Wharton High teacher after a Tampa Bay Times investigation into similar complaints.
    Former students, parents and the NAACP ask for scrutiny on how Hillsborough schools document complaints.
  3. A yearbook photo of Wharton High School teacher Todd Harvey.
    Hillsborough records show that school officials documented at least 23 allegations against Todd Harvey since he started in the late 1990s.
  4. Melanie Copeland felt unheard as a freshman at Wharton High after she reported a racist incident involving her teacher.
    Hillsborough records show allegations ranged from performing a Nazi salute to calling a transgender student a slur.
  5. The Tampa Bay Times built a model in partnership with researchers at the University of South Florida to help explain the power – and danger – of storm surge.
    Understanding the threat of storm surge can make the difference between life and death. The Times’ tool shows why.
  6. Part 4 of our Rising Threat series looks at how a hurricane like Ian could affect Tampa Bay. This photo shows the remains of Times Square near the Fort Myers Fishing Pier on Thursday, Sep. 29, 2022, after Hurricane Ian's landfall.
    Thousands more people, homes and businesses would have been at risk. The storm should be a wake-up call.
  7. A page from the 2019 U.S. Medicare Handbook in Washington. Newly released federal audits reveal widespread overcharges and other errors in payments to Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors, Kaiser Health News found, with some plans overbilling the government more than $1,000 per patient a year on average.
    The records, hidden until now, reveal widespread overcharges and other errors in payments.
  8. A great horned owlet, left, and its mother share a rat on March 2 in Philippe Park in Safety Harbor. Within days, both would die.
    The birds died one by one in a local park. Admirers blame rat poison. Now they’re trying to get chemicals off the street.
  9. Joe Rufin with Creepy Creatures Termite and Pest Control, of Palm Harbor, organizes blocks of rodenticide while preparing a bait station as he worked to exterminate rodents from a condominium complex on Aug. 18 in Clearwater. The rodenticide is made with cholecalciferol, which is not among the anticoagulants that local wildlife advocates are trying to get off the street.
    Roof rats are common here. Environmental officials and wildlife advocates say poisons should be a last resort.
  10. Looking east at the Gopher Resource lead smelter, Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021 in Tampa.
    Sixty-four workers allege they were exposed to dangerous levels of lead and other toxic chemicals at Gopher Resource.
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