Max Chesnes

An oil soaked bird struggles against the side of the HOS an Iron Horse supply vessel at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana in 2010. (AP File)

As Florida offshore drilling looms, birds less protected from spills under Trump

December 12, 2025 at 1:06 p.m.

The Trump administration has weakened the Migratory Bird Treaty Act's protections, just as it proposes bringing oil drilling closer to Florida’s coasts. The result: Gulf Coast birds could be more vulnerable than ever...

An aerial view of Tropicana Field’s shredded roof in downtown St. Petersburg in the wake of Hurricane Milton. (Max Chesnes/TNS/Tampa Bay Times)

Category 6: Is our hurricane rating system outdated? A Florida researcher suggests a change

September 3, 2025 at 8:17 a.m.

Hurricanes are getting stronger. Much stronger. Is there need for a Category 6? Researchers are beginning to consider a new hurricane classification scale.

The new migrant detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" is seen at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Darkness is crucial to Everglades habitat. Could Alligator Alcatraz threaten it?

July 10, 2025 at 9:18 a.m.

The leading international authority that certifies “dark sky” parks says the artificial light from Alligator Alcatraz “directly threatens” the preserve’s renowned natural darkness and disrupts endangered nocturnal wildlife.

Matt Wade, a senior coral biologist, carefully ties down coral on trays at The Florida Aquarium’s Coral Conservation and Research Center in Apollo Beach. (Jeffree Woo/Tampa Bay Times)

Florida’s corals are in hot water, but 1,000 coral babies are here to help

May 18, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.

Scientists believe some of the palm-sized creatures at The Florida Aquarium’s coral breeding lab — 1,050 of them in total — contain the special ingredients to stave off a warming...

Uniting at Flagler Park in Stuart last year, people opposed a proposal to add golf courses, hotels, pickleball courts and other developments to Florida state parks. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he would sign a bill into law to prohibit building golf courses, hotels and other destructive amenities on state park land. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

DeSantis says he’ll sign bill to ban golf, hotels in Florida state parks

May 7, 2025 at 1:46 p.m.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he would sign a bill into law to prohibit doing exactly what his administration had proposed last year: building golf courses, hotels and other destructive...

A beachgoer is seen as fog clears during low tide along Honeymoon Island State Park Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Dunedin. Earlier this year, the state released plans to add amenities such as golf courses and pickleball courts to state parks, including Honeymoon Island. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times/TNS)

The behind-the-scenes story of the Florida state park scandal

December 21, 2024 at 1:10 p.m.

Here’s how one of the state’s biggest controversies of the year came together and quickly fell apart.

Eugene Kelly, Florida Native Plant Society President, walks on a trail at a Withlacoochee State Forest parcel adjacent to Cabot Citrus Farms in Sept. in Brooksville. Plans to potentially turn the land into a golf course haven't gone forward. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS)

Could the deal to give protected Florida forest land to a golf company be dead?

December 16, 2024 at 12:25 p.m.

Months after Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials greenlit a land swap, it hasn’t received final approval.

President Donald Trump plays a round of golf on the Ailsa course at Trump Turnberry, his luxury golf resort, in Turnberry, southwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on July 14, 2018.

The possible Donald Trump connection to the Florida state parks scandal

December 10, 2024 at 3:04 p.m.

A recorded conversation between Donald Trump and the grandson of famed golfer Jack Nicklaus takes on new significance.

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