Our most popular Tampa Bay stories in 2022
Hurricanes, real estate news, busting a notorious myth about The Villages — it’s been a busy year for the Tampa Bay Times newsroom.
We published over 15,000 posts on our website in 2022, providing the most comprehensive coverage of the bay area and Florida to our readers. Of those stories, there were some of the biggest standouts, which people continued to engage with long after they first appeared online.
As 2022 winds down, here are 15 of the year’s most-read tampabay.com stories.
Section of Sanibel Causeway wiped out by Hurricane Ian
On the ground in Southwest Florida, a Times reporter and photographer published eyewitness accounts.
‘Absolute devastation’: Hurricane Ian decimates Fort Myers Beach
“The island is like somebody took an atom bomb and dropped it,” one resident said when surveying the destruction in Southwest Florida in September.
Track Hurricane Ian’s path in Florida
We showed people the storm’s latest cone, satellite image and live video around Tampa Bay.
An Uber ride, a dropped phone and 2 lives lost on a Tampa exit ramp
Tracy Carson was an Uber driver taking Daniel Whitfield to the airport when a pickup driver looking for his phone slammed into Carson’s car.
Richard Sherman’s season with the Bucs is over
The Pro Bowl cornerback was placed on injured reserve in January.
Demolition planned for Derek Jeter’s former $22.5M Tampa mansion
When the house sold in 2021, it earned the title of Tampa Bay’s most expensive home.
New Port Richey officer fired amid allegations of fondling girl in custody
Bobby Lubrido, 43, was terminated after an investigation into claims he touched a 17-year-old girl inappropriately while taking her to juvenile detention.
Florida renters scramble for shelter as affordable housing erodes
As Tampa Bay begins to change, who gets left behind? We talked to residents struggling to find places to live.
Leonard Fournette ‘extremely frustrated’ at being replaced, CBS reports
The Bucs running back expressed his frustration after rookie backup Rachaad White was employed on a 10-play drive in November.
Why is The Villages known as ‘the STD capital of America?’
Unpacking the most notorious myth about Florida’s largest retirement community.
Hey, new Tampa Bay residents: Summer is coming and no one will be spared
Columnist Stephanie Hayes warned newcomers about upper-lip sweat and more.
Police cameras show confusion, anger over DeSantis’ voter fraud arrests
Body-worn camera footage recorded by local police captured the confusion and outrage of Hillsborough County residents.
St. Petersburg rapper Rod Wave arrested, faces battery charge
Rodarius Marcell Green was booked into a Pinellas County jail in May. He faced a charge of battery by strangulation that was later dropped.
Appeals court upholds Cameron Herrin’s 24-year sentence in fatal Bayshore crash
In May, a three-judge panel affirmed the penalty Herrin received for the 2018 crash that killed a mom and her young daughter.
Mitch Pacyna lived the Florida dream. Then Hurricane Ian took him.
One man killed by the storm is remembered as a friend to all on Fort Myers Beach.
