Valerie Smith
@valeriejeansmith.bsky.social
she/her 🏳️⚧️ | Reporter, never paywalled
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...
www.cltampa.com/news/pinella...
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
www.cltampa.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:23 AM
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...
www.cltampa.com/news/pinella...
Reposted by Valerie Smith
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...
www.orlandoweekly.com/news/florida...
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.
www.orlandoweekly.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:11 PM
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...
www.orlandoweekly.com/news/florida...
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...
My latest:
www.cltampa.com/news/in-pine...
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
www.cltampa.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:37 PM
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...
My latest:
www.cltampa.com/news/in-pine...
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...
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
www.cltampa.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:35 PM
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...
www.cltampa.com/news/vigil-f...
Reposted by Valerie Smith
Vigil for Tampa man killed in West Bank interrupted by Christian content creators [PHOTOS] 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
www.cltampa.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Vigil for Tampa man killed in West Bank interrupted by Christian content creators [PHOTOS] www.cltampa.com/news/vigil-f...
Reposted by Valerie Smith
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...
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...
www.orlandoweekly.com
January 19, 2026 at 8:04 PM
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...
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...
www.cltampa.com/news/at-st-p...
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
www.cltampa.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:53 PM
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...
www.cltampa.com/news/at-st-p...
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.
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.
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 ...
www.cltampa.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:15 PM
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.
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.
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...
My latest for Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
www.cltampa.com/news/souther...
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...
www.cltampa.com
August 31, 2025 at 3:17 PM
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...
My latest for Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
www.cltampa.com/news/souther...
Coins are the most primitive form of couples sex dice (heads is head, tails is tail)
November 15, 2024 at 8:38 PM
Coins are the most primitive form of couples sex dice (heads is head, tails is tail)
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”
January 25, 2024 at 2:26 PM
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”
I keep forgetting I can’t get pregnant, which makes morning sickness harrowing
January 24, 2024 at 3:22 PM
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
January 19, 2024 at 5:03 AM
Phone calls go in the right earbud podcasts go in the left earbud music goes stereo
Are fusion power plants gonna solve the helium shortage
December 28, 2023 at 8:57 PM
Are fusion power plants gonna solve the helium shortage
I’m not “fat” I’m portly
December 8, 2023 at 2:37 PM
I’m not “fat” I’m portly
I may be a trans woman but any man who is attracted to me is still gay
December 8, 2023 at 12:20 AM
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
November 25, 2023 at 3:37 PM
They really got it in one when they named milk. That shit is definitely called milk
Cured ham? You damn near killed ham!
November 12, 2023 at 5:09 AM
Cured ham? You damn near killed ham!
Do you guys think you could map crime rates to the release and subsequent banning of the original formula 4loko like like they do with leaded gasoline
November 6, 2023 at 1:22 PM
Do you guys think you could map crime rates to the release and subsequent banning of the original formula 4loko like like they do with leaded gasoline
Cody’sLab owns this ass
October 12, 2023 at 5:37 PM
Cody’sLab owns this ass
Just looked at a picture of paramore and thought it was mythbusters
September 30, 2023 at 4:48 AM
Just looked at a picture of paramore and thought it was mythbusters
//location home of Joe Biden
September 30, 2023 at 12:27 AM
//location home of Joe Biden