Colleen Wright on Muck Rack

Colleen Wright

Verified
St. Petersburg, FL, USA
As seen in: Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald
☀️ St. Petersburg reporter @tb_times. Florida born, raised, educated3️⃣0️⃣5️⃣ @TheAlligator alum+board member🐊 @miamiherald fam🏝 she/her. cwright@tampabay.com
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Articles by Colleen Wright

Mayor Ken Welch’s ‘full circle’ story to keep Rays in St. Petersburg Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Ken Welch was thinking about people like his father when he said last week that a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays will achieve what past city leaders had hoped would happen. David Welch was the St. Petersburg City Council’s only Black member in 1982 when the idea was first raised to use the city’s Gas Plant property as a site for major league baseball. Black-owned residences,businesses and churches would be demolished as a result.
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St. Petersburg hires first Chief Equity Officer Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
City officials on Tuesday announced the hiring of Lenice C. Emanuel asSt. Petersburg’s first Chief Equity Officer. According to a news release, Emanuel is an executive with 25 years of experience in nonprofits, including as chief executive officer of the YWCA of Tampa Bay from 2010 to 2015. Her work starts Monday.
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What St. Petersburg, Pinellas elected leaders say about the Rays deal Original

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By Jack Evans Verified, Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Tuesday’s fanfare was just the beginning. The Tampa Bay Rays won’t be tied to staying in St. Petersburg and construction can’t start on a new ballpark until a legally binding development agreement is approved with votes from the St. Petersburg City Council and the Pinellas County Commission. That likely won’t happen until the beginning of 2024.
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Detectives search for 21-year-old in Wimauma homicide investigation Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies are searching for a 21-year-old suspect who may have been involved in a domestic altercation Saturday morning in Wimauma that ended with an adult male killed. According to a news release, the sheriff’s office received a call just before 5:30 a.m. “reporting one person was deceased after a domestic altercation.” When deputies arrived in the 3300 block of Sanchez Ranch Lane, they found an adult male with upper body trauma.
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Man shot to death after confrontation in Tampa, police say Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Detectives are searching for a man they say fatally shot another man following an argument in Tampa Friday morning. It happened in the area of East Busch Boulevard and North Connechusett Road around 8:30 a.m., the Tampa Police Department said. According to a news release from the agency, the shooter arrived and “engaged in a confrontation” with the man he killed, then got a gun and shot him before fleeing. The man who was shot died at the scene, police said.
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As Idalia debris lingers in Tampa Bay, here’s how to get rid of it Original

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By Jack Evans Verified, Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
A week after Hurricane Idalia’s storm surge caused flooding around Tampa Bay, the water is gone, but piles of debris stacked at curbs stand as a reminder of the damage caused in some of the hardest-hit areas. Cleanups were underway throughout the region this week, clearing waterlogged furniture and structural remains. Some governments in places beset by flooding, such as Pasco County and Tarpon Springs, said they expected the debris-collection process to take awhile.
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St. Petersburg’s Shore Acres residents battle floods, fires, fatigue after Idalia Original

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By Jack Prator Verified, Max Chesnes Verified, Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Sara Eve Schaeffer sat atop her kitchen counter with her dog, Delly, on Wednesday listening to the electrical currents from her appliances pop and spark as the water rose below in her Shore Acres home. A day later, there was still standing water in her daughter’s bedroom, the pink walls crinkled above the baseboards. Schaeffer worried parts of the rainbow mural she painted in 6-year-old Claire’s room would wash away.
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Record storm surge from Idalia floods Tampa Bay’s beach neighborhoods

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
INDIAN SHORES — Hurricane Idalia brought the beach past the boardwalk and down the grates of Gulf Boulevard. Two Pinellas County task force workers arrived at 7:30 a.m. to clean out the sewage systems to help with drainage. Two hours later, a mound of sand and muck from three drains and the plow that pulled it out blocked the street. Around them, the surf erased the shore and lapped the back porches of homes on the Intracoastal Waterway. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Chuck Skipper took it all in.
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St. Petersburg declares state of emergency ahead of TS Idalia

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Mayor Ken Welch signed his first executive order of the year Monday, declaring a local state of emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Idalia, which is expected to strengthen in to a Category 3 hurricane. The order went into effect at 11 a.m. The latest update shows the track shifting northward, though Pinellas County is within the cone of uncertainty. The storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday morning.
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St. Petersburg City Council may evaluate fire department management

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — A City Council committee voted unanimously Thursday to move forward with a management study of the St. Petersburg Fire Department. Members of the Budget, Finance and Taxation Committee instructed city staff to conduct one-on-one meetings with council members to discuss the scope of the study, which would be done by a third-party consultant selected through an official bidding process.
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St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch to reinstate Fire Chief Jim Large

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Mayor Ken Welch announced Wednesday in a video update to city employees that he has made a “final decision” to reinstate St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Chief James Large, who has faced accusations of creating a hostile work environment for women and minorities. The decision goes into effect Thursday.
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It’s hot at the St. Pete Pier. A UF professor asks if it’s too hot

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Tiffani Gonzalez started the stopwatch on her iPhone right when they arrived. Seventeen minutes in, 2-year-old Jayden ducked out of the sunken ship with red cheeks, lifting his Toy Story shirt for air. Thirty minutes is the Gonzalez family’s limit at the Glazer Family Playground at the St. Pete Pier, where they’ve come almost every week since moving from Orlando in April. Lately, they’re less frequent visitors.
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Past St. Petersburg mayoral candidate offers cash for Tangerine Plaza Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Former St. Petersburg City Council member and mayoral candidate Robert Blackmon has made a cash offer for a city-owned strip mall long pitched as a potential grocery story location, he has confirmed. Tangerine Plaza, at 1794 22nd St. S., has sat vacant, only serving as a location for food drives, since a Walmart Neighborhood Market operated until 2017 as the sole grocer in that part of the city.
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Tampa offers ‘cooling centers’ to beat extreme heat Original

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By C. T. Bowen, Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
The city of Tampa is opening cooling centers at parks and recreation centers in response to the excessive heat warning and heat advisories. City employees, AmeriCorps service members and Red Cross volunteers will staff the centers, which open at 11 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. today through Sunday. The cooling centers, free of charge, are available to the public to ensure the safety of residents exposed to extreme heat conditions. Light snacks and water will be available. The locations are: David M.
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St. Petersburg NAACP wants Fire Chief out as firefighters defend him Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Members of the public, including active firefighters, both defended and called for the removal of St. Petersburg Fire Chief Jim Largefrom the job he’s had since 2006. Their appeals were made to St. Petersburg City Council members on Thursday, five days after Mayor Welch placed Large on paid administrative leave after an employee survey produced anonymous complaints of hostile working conditions in the department.
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Talks on St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field, Tangerine Plaza progressing Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — City officials on Thursday told City Council members that negotiations over redevelopment of key city-owned properties, including Tropicana Field and Tangerine Plaza, are progressing. Economic & Workforce Development Director Brian Caper said officials are still in negotiations with the Hines/Tampa Bay Rays development team for the Historic Gas Plant District, the 86 acres next to downtown where Tropicana Field is located.
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St. Petersburg firefighters describe hostile workplace under chief

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Michelle Methot was 17 weeks pregnant and working at St. Petersburg Fire Rescue’s headquarters downtown on a Friday in 2018 when she started feeling contractions. After a full labor that lasted three days, she lost the child. “I held him,” said Methot. “It was the most traumatic thing I’ve ever had to experience.” She went on family medical leave.
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Embattled St. Petersburg fire chief placed on administrative leave

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
St. Petersburg Fire Chief Jim Large has been placed on administrative leave, spokesperson Erica Riggins confirmed Monday, amid complaints that he leads a hostile workplace for women and minorities. Large’s leadership has been in question since an anonymous sender emailed comments from a city employee survey done earlier this year to city officials. They included accusations that Large regularly makes sexist, racist and homophobic remarks.
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St. Petersburg Council chairperson wants embattled fire chief out

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
City Council chairperson Brandi Gabbard joined calls for new leadership at the St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Department after anonymous comments from an employee survey accused its chief of overseeing a hostile workplace for women and minorities. In a statement Thursday, Gabbard said in her own interactions with Fire Chief Jim Large, she has experienced “disrespect, bullying, and attempts at intimidation.” And she said she has shared her experience with Mayor Ken Welch over the past month.
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St. Petersburg council member calls for ‘change’ at fire department

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
St. Petersburg City Council member Richie Floyd called for a “change in leadership” at St. Petersburg Fire Rescue on Wednesday morning following employee comments in a city survey that describe a hostile work environment there. Mayor Ken Welch made a statement about the survey results late Friday. Several comments, which were forwarded anonymously to city officials two weeks ago, accuse Fire Chief Jim Large of not fostering an equitable workplace for minorities.
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St. Petersburg fire chief previously criticized over minority hiring

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
A 2014 committee for then-Mayor Rick Kriseman’s transition team recommended removing the St. Petersburg fire rescue chieffor failing to promote minorities. A new survey of city employees conducted earlier this year resurfaces some of those concerns. Several anonymous comments mention longtime Chief Jim Large by name and accuse him of not fostering an equitable workplace for minorities. They go on to accuse him of making sexist, racist and homophobic remarks.
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New Florida law gives St. Petersburg less say on affordable housing Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — The City Council has taken several steps attempting to address the housing affordability crisis. Now it will spend the next few weeks undoing some rules on housing and development because of new state laws that aim to streamline the creation of so-called affordable housing.They do so in part by removinglocal discretion and public input.
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St. Petersburg mayor remarks on employee survey after anonymous emails Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Ken Welch late Friday belatedly acknowledged the results of an employee survey conducted earlier this year that included a number of negative comments about the atmosphere within the city’s fire department. In a news release issued at 3:48 p.m. Friday, Welch said the city “recommits” to fostering a positive workplace culture.
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St. Petersburg has 2 pitches to redevelop, run marina. Here’s what they say. Original

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By Jack Evans Verified, Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Two companies are seeking to redevelop and operate the municipal marina on St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront. The city on Thursday publicly released the two proposals that had been submitted last week. Each promises profitable overhauls, but they differ in cost and scope. One is a joint proposal from Safe Harbor Marinas and the Harborage Marina at Bayboro, which Safe Harbor operates. It is located a few blocks south of the municipal marina. The other pitch comes from Suntex Marinas.
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Pickleball, a lawsuit against St. Petersburg and a police report

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
A dispute over pickleball courts has turned into a two-year long ordeal featuring a police investigation into painted-over tennis courts and a lawsuit with baseball history. It has culminated in alawsuit by a neighborhood association and a citizen group claiming the city of St. Petersburg for paving over open space at Walter Fuller Park without residents’ permission, which they say is a violation of a 36-year-old agreement.
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Could life and low rent change for St. Petersburg marina’s residents? Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Among the residents in this gated, waterfront community are aretired judge and Trader Joe’s employee. Engineers, pilots and a dance teacher. A gig worker with three jobs and an executive working from home. Retirees living their dream, families raising children and young adults just starting out.
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This St. Petersburg church wants out of its local historic designation Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — The bell tower, decorative wooden siding and lancet windows earned the 10th Street Church of God, the city’s second-oldest wood-frame church, its local historic designation 22 years ago. But Pastor Carl Mobley cringes when someone calls his church beautiful. All he sees is the water damage, blown-out windows, termites eating up pews and estimates upwards of $80,000 for a roof replacement. He can’t afford it.
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New Rays ballpark could create 17,000+ jobs in Pinellas, analysis says

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By Jack Evans Verified, Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
A new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays on the existing Tropicana Field site in St. Petersburg could generate up to 17,782 sustainable, annual jobs in Pinellas County over 30 years, according to a county-commissioned analysis. The study, by Utah-based firm Victus Advisors, was submitted on Feb. 6 but has not previously beenpublicized.
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What we know about St. Petersburg’s Rays, Tropicana Field negotiations Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
From March through May, city officials were negotiatingin granular detail with the Tampa Bay Rays and its partner, Hines, on redevelopment plans for Tropicana Field. How granular? Down to what it costs to rent light poles from the city. One thing is clear from a review of public records and interviews with some of the players. After playing an active role in tossing bids then seeking new ones for the project, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch is letting others hash out the details.
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Black leaders call out St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch on podcast Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Ray Tampa remembers the advice he and others gave two years ago to Ken Welch, then a candidate for St. Petersburg mayor. Tampa said they suggested that Welch could be more approachable and open in the community, especially in the Black community. But Tampa, a past president of the NAACP St. Petersburg branch who worked on Welch’s 2021 election campaign and hosts a radio show on WUJM-FM, took to the airwaves Sunday afternoon to say Welch had done just the opposite.
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Attendance soars at St. Pete Pride’s family day, with more security Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Ten-year-old Matai was front and center watching Miss St. Pete Pride Ceazia Giovanni Kreshé perform in a snakeskin getup to Katy Perry’s song, “Roar.” Matai is not only a regular at drag shows, but he’s starred in them as a “little drag queen.” Back in his native New Jersey, Matai was invited on stage by Shuga Cain, a drag queen who competed on the reality television series “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” “I love it. I just love drag in general.
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Late, skimpy, unsafe: St. Petersburg fires kids’ summer food vendor Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — After hearing reports of late meal deliveries arriving at lukewarm temperatures, City Council member Gina Driscoll said she wanted to “call the culprit” by name. “Canteen Refreshment Services, shame on you,” she said at a meeting Thursday. “Never again do I want to see us doing business with that organization.” Mayor Ken Welch used emergency procurement provisions this month to secure a new vendor to supply summer meals for children.
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City of St. Petersburg employees aren’t using rent assistance program Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — A rental assistance program created to help certain city employees who are required to live in the city but struggle to afford it has only helped 23 employees. After the City Council approved the program last summer, it launched in October with a $1.47 million budget. It was supposed to help up to 253 employees under the residency requirement. But since then, just 11.5% of that funding has been committed.
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St. Petersburg may tweak rules for developers seeking public dollars Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — A proposed Moffitt Cancer Center campus on city-owned land was the first project required to provide community benefits. Then it was canceled anyway by Mayor Ken Welch, who said it didn’t include enough affordable housing. On Monday, a citizen advisory council met for the first time in nine months to go over proposed changes to make the Community Benefits Agreement program clearer and more predictable.
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St. Petersburg Obama Main Library renovation: over-budget and overdue Original

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
It’s been five years since then-Mayor St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman proposed renaming the city’s main library after former President Barack Obama. But the library — the only building in Florida named after the nation’s first Black president — has remained closed for the past two years as it undergoes renovations. Cost estimates for those renovations have since doubled and the work has been delayed with no end in sight.
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Tampa, St. Petersburg Pride flags rise as mayors welcome celebrations Original

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By C. T. Bowen, Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — There was consternation over what Pride celebrations would look like this year after new state laws targeting drag performances cast a pall on Pride. But on the first day of Pride month, the mayors of Tampa and St. Petersburg were resolute about their cities being welcoming places for all. They raised rainbow flags over their respective city halls Thursday morning.
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Six years later, southern St. Petersburg still without a grocery store

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Southern St. Petersburg hasn’t had a grocery store for six years and won’t have one anytime soon. Some City Council members and a local resident recently expressed frustration at the lack of progress. In a city where luxury condos dominate the development landscape, southern St. Petersburg is considered a food desert — a federal term for an area where people have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food.
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A hurricane away, how could St. Petersburg avoid ruin like Fort Myers?

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
FORT MYERS — One thing Fort Myers found out withHurricane Ian last year is that the city’s updated building codes worked. City officials were amazed at how well newer, elevated buildings faredafter getting battered by wind and waves. It was older homes along the Caloosahatchee River, where the city allowsgreater concentration of homes and condos built low to the ground, that were lost to flooding. Downtown businessesshow high-water marks up to the doorknobs.
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Faith group demands 5,000 affordable housing units from St. Petersburg

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Phyllis Young lost her home once, when her parents were forced to move out of the Gas Plant neighborhood to make way to build a baseball stadium. Now at 72, her 31-year-old daughter had to move back in with her a few years ago because the cost of housing was too expensive. Even with a full-time job, her daughter can’t afford her own apartment. Young was surrounded by about 100 people wearing FAST stickers, representing the interreligious group Faith & Action for Strength Together.
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Affordable apartments, offices proposed at St. Pete site Moffit sought

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
A development group interested in creating affordable and market-rate housing, offices and shops has submitted an unsolicited proposal for a city-owned lot once considered for a Moffitt Cancer Centersatellite campus. Property Markets Group/PMG Affordable and Feldman Equities have offered the city $8 million for the block at 800 First Avenue S, according to a newsrelease. The land is currently used as a surface parking lot. It’s not the first time the site has lured unsolicited bids.
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Like Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg marina decision is mayor’s choice

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — When it comes to soliciting business proposals for the St. Petersburg’s most significant redevelopment projects, only one thing seems to matter — the opinion of Mayor Ken Welch. That’s not following best practices, procurement experts told the Tampa Bay Times.
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Tables in the way of St. Pete Pier, Grand Central could be banned

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Any unpermitted tables or other objects that block traffic on sidewalks or in the right of way of the St. Pete Pier or the Grand Central and Edge districts may soon be put on notice. A St. Petersburg City Council committee on Thursday advanced a proposal to expand the boundaries set by a 2019 ordinance that established a “prohibited zone” where those items aren’t allowed.
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St. Petersburg creates a new position: chief equity officer

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
St. Petersburg on Monday announced a new role at City Hall: chief equity officer. The job: Create and carry out policies and practices that put everyone on the same playing field, in and out of City Hall, and make sure equity and inclusion are baked into City government policies, procedures and practices. The goal is to work with the community to oversee and advance racial equity and inclusion within city government.
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St. Pete Police, Pride leaders: Pride to continue as normal, with drag

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
If you wouldn’t be told to cover up at the beach, you won’t be told to cover up at Pride. That’s the advice St. Petersburg Police Chief Tony Holloway told St. Pete Pride officials during their meeting Friday morning, according to the group’s president, Tiffany Freisberg. Police met with Pride organizers Friday to discuss how a proposed law that would ban governments from issuing permits for “adult live performance” would affect its June celebration.
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Rays ‘not likely to do better anywhere else’ says St. Pete consultant

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Whatever St. Petersburg has offered to the Tampa Bay Rays to build a new ballpark — the city and elected officials won’t share any details — it’s a good deal, according to a consultant working for the city and Pinellas County. David Abrams, an investment banker at Inner Circle Sports, emphasized that belief in a text message to St. Petersburg City Administrator Rob Gerdes on April 7.
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Small businesses in southern St. Petersburg can apply for city grants

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — Over $1.35 million in grants is up for grabs for southern St. Petersburg’s small businesses. The city on Tuesday announced a microfund program to provide capital and resources to small businesses within the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area. The program was developed for businesses that are unable to meet stricter requirements for CRA dollars meant to uplift a community historically and disproportionally affected by poverty.
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St. Petersburg issues low pressure advisory on reclaimed water

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
In the face of an ongoing drought that has limited sprinkler use for Pinellas County residents, the city of St. Petersburg on Tuesdaysaid it was immediately lowering its reclaimed water pressure flow during the hottest times of the day. The move is intended to allow residents to have enough water for irrigating overnight and in the early morning, the city said in an advisory Tuesday.
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US Rep. Kathy Castor seeks $10.5 million for St. Petersburg projects

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
ST. PETERSBURG — U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor is seeking $10.5 million to fund three major projects in St. Petersburg: A revamped Enoch Davis Center, 24 townhomes on 22nd Street S and stormwater drainage improvements. Castor, D-St. Petersburg, held a news conference Monday announcing that she applied for the funding for projects after she was inspired by Mayor Ken Welch and his administration.
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‘No probable cause’ found in ethics complaint against Mayor Ken Welch

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By Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
The Florida Commission on Ethics has dismissed a nepotism complaint against Mayor Ken Welch, an accusation filed by a former political rival. Last August, former mayoral hopeful Vince Nowicki filed a complaint after publicly accusing Welch of appointing his cousin, James Corbett, as City Development Administrator. A public report released Wednesday by the statewide commission dismissed that complaint.
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What’s the latest on Rays’ ballpark negotiations? Well, we asked.

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By Jack Evans Verified, Colleen Wright Verified
| Tampa Bay Times Verified
Mayor Ken Welch’s announced pick to redevelop Tropicana Field came with fanfare, including a high school marching band blasting Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to be Real.” Since then: not one note. Just quiet, private meetings between city officials, the Tampa Bay Rays and the team’s development partner, Hines. All with the hope of breaking through the 15-year stalemate in negotiations on building a new ballpark, and rebuilding on the 86 acres it sits upon. That’s by design.
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