Valerie Smith

Pinellas police chiefs signed ICE agreements following sheriff’s ‘removal’ warning, records show Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri outside the Carillon Hilton in St. Petersburg, Florida on Jan. 13, 2026. Last February, nearly all of Pinellas County’s 10

Last year @SheriffPinellas rushed Tampa Bay police chiefs into signing agreements with ICE, saying they’d be removed from office if they didn’t. He was wrong, but now local cops are stuck with ICE’s duties (and reputation) and no easy way to end the agreements.

www.cltampa.com/news/pinella...

Florida moves to incentivize employers to make it harder for their workers to unionize Florida lawmakers are advancing legislation that would incentivize employers to make it harder for their employees to form a union.

ICYMI: Florida lawmakers are advancing legislation (similar to laws recently passed in AL, TN, and GA) that would disincentivize private employers from remaining neutral during union organizing drives or from granting a union voluntary recognition.

www.orlandoweekly.com/news/florida...

In Pinellas, a dark money-funded ‘Energy Alliance’ is working against the push for publicly-owned electricity Logos for the St. Pete and Clearwater 'Energy Alliance.' Pinellas Energy Alliance is spending tens of thousands of dollars on ads, consultants and

Duke Energy knows Pinellas residents won’t trust an electric company’s information campaign leading up to their contract renewal. They’re seemingly following an old industry playbook: prop up a “community” organization to run your campaign for you.

My latest:

www.cltampa.com/news/in-pine...

Vigil for Tampa man killed in West Bank interrupted by Christian content creators [PHOTOS] Mourners speak with Hillsborough County Sheriffs in Tampa, Florida on Jan. 11, 2026. Christian supremacist content creators shouted anti-Islam obscenities

Christian supremacist content creators who call themselves “street preachers” have a hot business model: provoke, self-victimize, GoFundMe. Tampa Muslims have proven a profitable target for a small crew of provocateurs, bringing distress to the community.

www.cltampa.com/news/vigil-f...

Vigil for Tampa man killed in West Bank interrupted by Christian content creators [PHOTOS] Mourners speak with Hillsborough County Sheriffs in Tampa, Florida on Jan. 11, 2026. Christian supremacist content creators shouted anti-Islam obscenities

Vigil for Tampa man killed in West Bank interrupted by Christian content creators [PHOTOS] www.cltampa.com/news/vigil-f...

Officials join voices, ask Disney to investigate restaurant group for alleged workers rights' violations A group of nearly a dozen local and state elected officials, including four Orange County commissioners, have sent letters to the Walt Disney Company, asking that they investigate allegations made aga...

Nearly a dozen state and local elected officials from Central Florida are asking Disney to investigate a third-party restaurant group operating on Disney Springs property over alleged workers rights' violations: www.orlandoweekly.com/news/officia...

Thank you!

At St. Pete recruitment event, Border Patrol rep touts qualified immunity and early retirement A DHS officer at The Hilton in St. Petersburg, Florida Jan. 13, 2026. Dubbed “The Green Monster” by some DHS officials, Border Patrol has a reputation as

I attended a Border Patrol recruitment event. By never saying “no,” I was corralled from standing near the recruitment table to having a completed application submitted on my behalf, and I received a tentative selection days later.

www.cltampa.com/news/at-st-p...

FHP didn’t stop chasing vehicle until seconds before fatal Ybor City crash, video shows Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) pursued a vehicle down Ybor City’s E 7th Avenue, known for its weekend nightlife, around 12:30 a.m. early Saturday morning. The vehicle, which had allegedly been used for ...

Police got crucial details wrong when briefing press on a crash that killed 4 pedestrians, taking heat off cops.

Public opinion still hasn't fully caught up to the reality: For speeding, Florida Highway Patrol chased a vehicle directly into the heart of a nightlife district... on a Friday night.

SPLC jumps into lawsuit over homeless people in St. Pete’s Williams Park Progressive People’s Action, with help from the nonprofit civil rights organization, filed a motion to intervene in a restaurant owner’s attempt to compel the city to enforce a statute banning overnig...

A St. Petersburg business owner has been pushing police enforcement on homeless people who have populated the park next to her new business for decades. She says it’s to try to help them, but her lawsuit says otherwise.

My latest for Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

www.cltampa.com/news/souther...

The Home Depot ICE raid in St. Pete didn’t happen. Why does everyone think it did? Activists say that there's a better way to share information about immigration enforcement activity.

Not on here so much. Here’s my latest for those interested

www.cltampa.com/news/the-hom...

Coins are the most primitive form of couples sex dice (heads is head, tails is tail)

New handle

Yes

U would love the NewportsDown instagram

This is your big moment

Yeah I much prefer that magical world I was living in

Devastated to learn that when someone comments “LGTM” on my pull request it means “looks good to me” and not, as I had assumed, “let’s get this money”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA

I keep forgetting I can’t get pregnant, which makes morning sickness harrowing

Phone calls go in the right earbud podcasts go in the left earbud music goes stereo

No I don’t think we need to do all that

Then I think we should find an alternate method of fueling our world that produces more helium for ballon, funny voices, etc

Boooo

Are fusion power plants gonna solve the helium shortage

I’m not “fat” I’m portly

Except gay men who are attracted to me who, of course, are straight

I may be a trans woman but any man who is attracted to me is still gay

They really got it in one when they named milk. That shit is definitely called milk