Category: COMMUNITY

BY ALYSSA MILES NNB Student Reporter ST. PETERSBURG— After he graduated from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs in 1999, Markus Hughes made two life-altering decisions. The first decision was to join the police department in St. Petersburg – 1,500 miles away – rather than sign up for the military or the Peace Corps.… Continue reading By being honest about who he is, he makes a difference

BY SARAH NORCINI NNB Student Reporter ST. PETERSBURG – When LaDai Haywood was a fifth grader, she appeared in a promotional video for her new school, the Academy Prep Center for Education. Someday, she vowed, she would return to the St. Petersburg private school to show the students they could succeed. Thirteen years later, she… Continue reading 13 Years later, she’s back as a teacher and role model

Photos and story BY CANDICE RESHEF NNB Student Reporter In many black churches, faith meets fashion atop the heads of female worshippers. Fancy, colorful hats are a fixture in sanctuaries everywhere, especially for older women and especially on Easter and Mother’s Day. The congregation at St. Petersburg’s Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church at 955… Continue reading A Sunday tradition in black churches: faith and fancy hats

Photos and story BY TONI DEFOREST NNB Student Reporter In 18 years at the Tampa Bay Times, John Pendygraft and his cameras have covered some of the biggest stories of the era – hurricane in New Orleans, tsunami in Asia, earthquake in Haiti, friction in the Middle East. But turmoil in the newspaper industry and… Continue reading For Times photojournalist, life’s a day at the beach

Photos and story BY SEAN LEROUX NNB Student Reporter ST. PETERSBURG — It all started with beer-battered fish. While brainstorming about how to improve a seafood dish at St. Petersburg’s Bella Brava restaurant, head chef Ty Weaver decided to batter the fish in beer he brewed himself. It was not long before the restaurant was… Continue reading Pop open a cold one at Midtown’s 3 Daughters Brewing

BY SAMANTHA PUTTERMAN NNB Student Reporter ST. PETERSBURG – When a Polish family decided to move some of its distillery business to the United States, there were lots of options. But Texas was too polluted. Miami was too expensive. Tampa was too crowded. So when Kozuba & Sons opens its doors in late June, it… Continue reading Polish distillery brings distinctive spirits to Midtown

BY SARAH NORCINI NNB Student Reporter ST. PETERSBURG – The laptop in Officer Bryan Rentas-Pina’s car beeped and the bottom corner flashed red. Rentas-Pina scrolled through the information on the call: An 8-year-old boy walking home from school never made it. The officer drove quickly to the school, where he talked to the YMCA after-school… Continue reading On patrol, the routine can suddenly turn serious

BY SARAH NORCINI NNB Student Reporter It’s 7 p.m. on a Thursday when Creative Loafing’s Meaghan Habuda, 23, arrives at the Mad Beach Craft Brewing Company in Madeira Beach. She has come for the screening of a new craft beer documentary titled Blood, Sweat and Beer, which is a part of Tampa Bay Beer Week.… Continue reading At alternative weekly, food and drink are her beats

BY SAMANTHA PUTTERMAN NNB Student Reporter ST. PETERSBURG – Roy Peter Clark likes to wear socks. And not just any socks: Pizza-patterned socks. During a conference that brought newspaper editors from across the country to the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Clark, 67, sits at a piano in front of the room. He starts to… Continue reading Passionate piano, colorful footwear help him coach journalists

BY MICHAEL BUTLER NNB Student Reporter ST. PETERSBURG – Kyle Parks was only five months into his new job as director of corporate communications for Walter Industries Inc. Now TV news cameras from across the country were pointed at him, reporters parsing every word. Hours before, 13 workers in a Walter Industries coal mine in… Continue reading Mining disaster helped steel him for a new career in public relations