Arielle Stevenson

Thank you for posting about this.

ShotSpotter A single collection of the issue for future reference.

and my piece tampamonitor.com/fyi/shotspotter/

Tampa renews contract with controversial gunshot detection software, without additional public comment ...'the fact that we can just put something on the agenda and pass it is absolutely unconscionable.'

Another item on the consent agenda this week is a request to fund ShotSpotter for another 3 years.

@stevensonreport.bsky.social had a great article last year on the issue

HAPPENING NOW: Following the Supreme Court's decision requiring the government to "facilitate" the release of Abrego Garcia, a hearing before Judge Paula Xinis is about to begin.

I'm in Greenbelt, Maryland for @lawfare.bsky.social

Follow along for updates

NOAA Scientists Are Cleaning Bathrooms and Reconsidering Lab Experiments After Contracts for Basic Services Expire A Seattle lab has lost janitorial services, hazardous waste support, IT and building maintenance as it waits for the Commerce Department secretary to personally approve all contracts over $100,000.

NEW: NOAA scientists are cleaning office bathrooms and reconsidering critical experiments after the Commerce Department failed to renew contracts for hazardous waste disposal, janitorial services, IT and building maintenance.

By @lisalsong.bsky.social

Bill making it harder for Florida citizens to put amendments on the ballot heads to house floor Critics said HB125 would effectively kill the citizen-led amendment process.

Bill making it harder for Florida citizens to put amendments on the ballot heads to house floor www.cltampa.com/news/bill-ma...

“Some of These Kids Are Already Lost When They’re Two Years Old” - Bolts Louisiana leaders want more leeway to charge kids as adults. A measure on the March 29 ballot would enable lawmakers to move more teenagers into the adult criminal system.

NEW: There's a measure on Louisiana's ballot THIS SATURDAY that you should know about:

It sets the stage for state to prosecute more children as adults.

Very few voters are turning out so far, but this is hugely important: Part of Gov. Landry's agenda of incarcerating more kids.

The Past and Present of Prison Labor: Your Questions Answered A historian answers <i>Bolts</i> readers’ questions on the deep roots of forced labor in U.S. prisons, how it operates today, and efforts to challenge it.

From how Southern states built a prison labor system after the Civil War to the modern-day fights to end coerced work behind bars, we answer 10 reader questions about work behind bars with historian Robert Chase:
boltsmag.org/the-pas...

USF, where I received my BS and PhD, brutally cracked down on pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024, arresting 13 and then moving to suspend and expel those who were current students. It remains doubtful that admin will learn that chilling free speech and siding with fascists won't protect their necks.

No-cover punk concert will revisit the huge influence Brandon had on modern-day Ybor City Clairmel and Slap Of Reality are at The Bricks this weekend

No-cover punk concert will revisit the huge influence Brandon had on modern-day Ybor City
www.cltampa.com/music/no-cov...

Glad to see Omar El Akkad's One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This prominently on display at Powell's. A poignant and important book that is complex, powerful, and part memoir. Highly recommended. (I will be blocking liberally if you can't be respectful btw.)

On Thursday, Feb. 27, the City of Tampa will commemorate the 65th anniversary of the sit-in during a 10 a.m. ceremony outside that former Woolworth on the corner of N Franklin and E Polk Streets. Here's the jump from the Tampa Tribune on March 1, 1960.

Do the right thing: Revived play honors 65th anniversary of Tampa's Woolworth sit-in. David Warner, who actually plays Mayor Lane in the revival, has this story, from the inside of the production, in this week's edition of @cltampabay.bsky.social www.cltampa.com/arts/do-the-...

Looking for something unrelated, but it's eerie how relevant this Tampa Tribune clipping from Jan. 9, 1960 is today. www.newspapers.com/article/the-...

In Florida GOP’s New Immigration Crackdown, a Familiar Play of Overriding Local Democracy Republicans are ramping up requirements that Florida’s local officials cooperate with ICE, and giving Ron DeSantis more cover to remove them from office if they don’t comply.

Florida’s new immigration legislation doesn’t just force local governments to help ICE—it also steers $250 million in state funds toward law enforcement agencies to expand immigration enforcement efforts.
boltsmag.org/florida...

Despite existential challenges, Tampa’s Versaggi Shrimp Co. continues to bring wild-caught seafood to Bay area tables The Tampa Tribune said that in 1969, the company had 33 boats. Today, just five boats call a single port authority dock home.

Despite existential challenges, Tampa’s Versaggi Shrimp Co. continues to bring wild-caught seafood to Bay area tables
www.cltampa.com/food-drink/d...

Calling it a day.👇

Which side are you on, boys?Which side are you on?

In print this week for @orlandoweekly.bsky.social, Orlando police have arrested roughly 2 dozen homeless people for sleeping on public property since Jan. 1, when a state law allowing people to sue for failing to enforce a statewide camping ban took effect. www.orlandoweekly.com/news/orlando...

Q&A: Before St. Pete book talk, 'Alligator Tears' author Edgar Gomez talk immigrants, hard truths, and heart He's at Tombolo Books on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Q&amp;A: Before St. Pete book talk, 'Alligator Tears' author Edgar Gomez talk immigrants, hard truths, and heart www.cltampa.com/arts/qanda-b...

Q&A: Before St. Pete book talk, 'Alligator Tears' author Edgar Gomez talk immigrants, hard truths, and heart He's at Tombolo Books on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

Thrilled to share this interview I did for @cltampabay.bsky.social with Florida writer Edgar Gomez about his new memoir, Alligator Tears, which was publiahed just yesterday! Hear him speak tomorrow, 2/12 at 7 p.m., at St. Pete’s Tombolo Books.

On Solitary Confinement, California Officials Side With the Prison System—Again Organizers wanted to ban the use of solitary confinement against pregnant Californians. They got something else entirely.

Organizers wanted to ban the use of solitary confinement against pregnant Californians. They got something else entirely.
boltsmag.org/califor...

This Week 1-23-28 Digging into the Tampa City Council agenda for 1-23-25.

Looking at @tampamonitor.com, and Doby and Jackson Houses, symbols of city's Black heritage, are on council agenda this week
tampamonitor.com/tampa-city-c...

Joe Biden grants clemency for Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who is imprisoned an hour north of Tampa There was never any evidence that Peltier killed FBI agents.

Joe Biden grants clemency for Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who is imprisoned an hour north of Tampa www.cltampa.com/news/joe-bid...

IT IS BACK

On Voting Rights, Eight Legal Battles to Watch in 2025  From the continued threats against the Voting Rights Act to new restrictions on mail ballots and voter registration, courts will have a lot of opportunities to shape democracy this year.

Florida voters approved redistricting reforms in 2010. Now, conservative judges could erase those safeguards entirely. The legal battle is one of several threats to voting rights we are watching this year:
boltsmag.org/voting-...

“Sheriffs are going to be emboldened,” said Thomas Hodgson, who served as sheriff of Bristol County, Massachusetts, for 25 years and appeared alongside other sheriffs at the White House during Trump’s first term. “They’re going to realize that, ‘Hey, look, [Trump] is a guy who means what he says — us stepping in and taking charge, we’re going to get backed up and we’re going to be able to do what we took an oath to do.”

Politico's new article on Trumpy sheriffs leads with a far-right figure from Massachusetts: Hodgson.

Who is that? He was nicknamed the "Arpaio of the East," led a jail full of human rights abuses, and... then he LOST reelection in 2022.

Bolts profiled him here: boltsmag.org/bristol-coun...

I lived in Gulfport for two years and found so much peace during that time. I think that town saved me. And I ran to the bluff twice a day for the view, just high enough. Mayberry on acid, I always liked to say. Amanda did a beautiful job capturing the bittersweet love affair.

“’We have taken what is on paper a constitutional republic and we have backed ourselves into an oligarchy,’ he said.”

You don’t say.