Jack Prator

Reporter for @TB_Times covering the environment. @UFJSchool grad 🖋@WUSF @WUFT @TheAlligator @GainesvilleSun
he/him | [email protected]

[Jack Prator @jack_prator]

Low-income communities are often the first to bear the brunt of rising seas and warming oceans. It took months of reporting and building up trust with Twin City's residents to share my latest story for @TB_Times

https://t.co/U7D28TfhES

[Jack Prator @jack_prator]

In 2023, the EPA told Temple Terrace about an invisible threat to residents' health.

A @TB_Times investigation details how regulatory gaps allowed a toxic plant to operate for years without pollution controls, as well as the company's failures over the following years.

[Max Chesnes @MaxChesnes]

For years, a company used a gas known to cause cancer to clean medical tools at a plant in Tampa Bay

But the business and regulators who oversaw it didn’t curb emissions for years

Now, people who lived close to the site have cancer, and they're suing:
https://t.co/z3Y5ohoQ8p

[Chris Tisch @christisch1]

“Because you make more money off the apartments? Because we’re poor and you don’t give a sh-t about your people?” one former resident of the park said of the plans to develop now that most residents have been removed. “That’s not right.”
https://t.co/3kfnQkpsfX

[Jack Prator @jack_prator]

Super excited to join @tbwaterkeeper @OurOcean @TBEP1991 and others to talk Tampa Bay water quality. Come swing by Green Bench Brewery in St. Pete Wednesday at 6 p.m. @tampabaytimes

[Emily L. Mahoney @mahoneysthename]

NEW, as part of a series called POWER STRUGGLE ⚡️

Around Tampa Bay + beyond, residents were stunned by their electric bills this year, particularly during the summer.

Here’s why they were so high. w/ @Michaela_Mull @jack_prator @MaxChesnes @TB_Times
https://t.co/aQt5iDPenH

[Emily L. Mahoney @mahoneysthename]

NEW: Floridians and politicians were confused and outraged about a deal for the state to pay $83M for 4 acres of land in Destin.

New records show a lobbyist for the landowner wrote the proposal that led to the purchase.
w/ @MaxChesnes, h/t @Jason_Garcia
https://t.co/I5CAyTz5wO

[Dan Sullivan @TimesDan]

Hillsborough chief deputy resigned amid academic cheating probe @TB_Times https://t.co/ESOWnMoPEO

[Chris Tisch @christisch1]

What happens when hurricanes batter the organizations that help others? @jack_prator and @DirkShadd show us how local nonprofits fought through last year's devastating hurricanes to keep their operations going.
https://t.co/6jiQmjZCki

[Chris Tisch @christisch1]

"Then a jagged rostrum breached from below the murky water." What a tale from @jack_prator @Michaela_Mull @cliftimestweet and Jeff Woo about the extraordinary effort by @CoastalElasmos with assists from @myfwc @NOAAFisheries to save an endangered sawfish
https://t.co/mUgYbRadwQ

[Chris Tisch @christisch1]

There were a lot of moving parts on this story today, but we pulled it all together. Proud of this comprehensive follow-up w/ @jack_prator @Michaela_Mull @alexacoultoff @TMarreroTimes @EmilyWunderlich @DirkShadd of @TB_Times
https://t.co/4R1D4NO2T3

[Michael Van Sickler @mikevansickler]

Happy #EarthDay2025 everyone.

Allow me to piggyback on today’s festivities to notify you of an important venture undertaken by the @TB_Times.

This spring we’ve created the Environment Hub, a concentration of our environmental reporting into a core coverage area.

Why?

[Michael Van Sickler @mikevansickler]

So we’ve dedicated a primary team of four reporters and an editor to the Environment Hub: @MaxChesnes; @mahoneysthename; @jack_prator; @Michaela_Mull and @christisch1.

Meet them here: https://t.co/5T7aw2fJS3

[Chris Tisch @christisch1]

Was this Clearwater police detective tipping off drug dealers running a multi-million dollar trafficking operation? Or just trying to build "rapport" with informants? Via @jack_prator
https://t.co/fUC5wWnjJA

[Max Chesnes @MaxChesnes]

From parks to hurricanes and more, there’s no shortage of Florida environmental news lately

Consider supporting our newly formed @TB_Times environment hub 👇
https://t.co/R2mQRRNcuB

[Colleen Wright @Colleen_Wright]

BREAKING: Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has called St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch to inform him the Rays will not meet the March 31 deadline to move forward with a stadium deal.

This is a developing story. We'll keep updating.

https://t.co/4uEN9Dew7D

[Emily L. Mahoney @mahoneysthename]

NEW: When the @TB_Times revealed the state was pursing golf, hotels, pickleball + more on 9 state parks, Florida was stunned.

How could officials make plans threatening beloved wild spaces in secret?

This is the story of how it happened. w/ @MaxChesnes: https://t.co/I1ixhgRXc3

[Julia Coin @juliamcoin]

As Hurricane Helene relief rolled out, I embedded with the wide-eyed volunteers trying to help. I hopped on their helicopters, bush planes, ATVs and (almost) their horses.

Here's what we saw. Here's what I learned:
https://t.co/wNd65EhfZq

[Chris Tisch @christisch1]

“We’ve never seen anything of this magnitude before, we’ve never seen this influx of people from out of the area that are clearly just here to steal and to pilfer and to do bad things and to target these vulnerable people,” the sheriff said.
https://t.co/CjUnOrWBsQ

[Jack Prator @jack_prator]

@cynthiabarnett @UFJSchool @mujschool @sejorg @saraship @beecycles Congrats to this star-studded team! Glad to see their important work recognized

[Zack Sampson @ZackSampson]

After a crane plunged hundreds of feet and hit an office building during Hurricane Milton, many in Tampa Bay are asking: How could this happen?

No one except the contractor appears to be investigating. https://t.co/yjd4uz7KmM @BetsBarnes @Colleen_Wright @rwoolington @DirkShadd

[Max Chesnes @MaxChesnes]

Just a note that water samplers still need to confirm with data whether this is red tide — and just how strong it’s blooming

Sampling was paused because of the storm but will be picking back up today. We’re all curious what the results will show