2025 Highlights: 12 Must-Read Florida Stories
No one tells a better Florida story than the people who know this state intimately — either from living here or from engaging with Florida issues in a thoughtful way. As an annual tradition, our has team has compiled a list of stories for you, in no particular order, that highlights the most reflective and important reporting from Florida this year. We salute these hard-working journalists who endeavor to tell the critical stories of our beloved state.
A Godmother to the Mangroves
Candy Feller is a decades-long teacher, student, and illustrator of these coastal keystones, and their increasing need for protection keeps her marching.
Where Darkness Turns Primordial
For centuries, stars, planets, and distant moons have propelled us to explore daunting questions about our place in the universe. But all over the state, and country, visible stars are winking out. Light pollution, the hazy skyglow caused by human light sources that hangs like an artificial aura over most urban areas, is increasing by nearly 10% each year.
The Florida Sportsman
Longtime outdoor writer, photographer, and fishing guide Tommy Thompson reflects on a life spent fostering love for Florida’s wild side.
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Dispatches from a Sinking State
Dispatches from a Sinking Science
As the federal government quietly dismantles key scientific institutions, Holden Harris writes from the front lines of a vanishing public service. His essay highlights the human cost of defunding science and the quiet unraveling of the systems that help us understand, protect, and live with the ocean.
Florida Through a Butterfly’s Eyes
Conservation biologist and photographer Geena Hill shares rare photos of elusive butterflies and moths in their natural habitats, shedding light on the growing ‘insect apocalypse.’
All the New Roads Home
Even as a child, CD Davidson-Hiers knew Molino was not forever. Like many rural towns in Florida, this small town in the Panhandle has, in recent years, been coveted for its suburban potential. As new development encroaches, Davidson-Hiers writes about the way of life that will be lost for the people and animals that share this rural habitat.
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Featured Series
Island Impermanent
For the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the island of Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay represents a history of oppression, as well as a testament to survival. In 2017, Egmont Key was highlighted as one of the most threatened historic properties in the state. As the island slips into the sea, those who care about its future have to decide — what can we save and how do we save it?
The Fruits of Their Labor
This four-part series investigates the complicated and entrenched relationship public universities in the U.S. South have with prisons and jails. We examine the conflicting messaging from officials and experts, the severe lack of data available to assess the benefits universities and prison officials tout, and the ways in which work programs for incarcerated people could be more beneficial to them.
A Sugarcane Boiling Point
Florida’s long and complicated sugar story is at a crossroads. As pressure to change the industry mounts, some Glades area residents have questioned the safety of using pre-harvest burns as a standard in cane farming.
More From The Marjorie
Waterlogged and Contaminated
In rural Florida, locals suspect a mining company is to blame for their flooding troubles. Residents are trying to connect the dots between hurricanes, high radium levels, and a mineral mining giant next door.
Buddy MacKay: A True Florida Marjorie
From the Ocklawaha River to the halls of Congress, Buddy MacKay defended wild places and the people who loved them. He carried forward the legacy of the Marjories through bold action and unrelenting advocacy.
A Second Chance for O’Henry, a Florida Opossum
CD Davidson-Hiers connects with an injured opossum in her northwest Florida yard as she acts quickly to save it.
Sharks on the Line
Florida is the Fishing Capital of the World, hosting the biggest recreational fishery in the U.S. It’s also a regional hub for Gulf and Atlantic sharks. After the Shark Fin Sale Elimination Act of 2022 banned the sale and import of shark fins entirely, the commercial shark fishing industry effectively died — yet threats to Florida’s coastal sharks continue to imperil their populations.
Sharing the Oceans
Sharks are more sought-after than ever. Yet, recreational anglers have become increasingly irate toward these species, complaining that too many of them are eating their hooked catch. Meanwhile, the diving industry says they are more valuable alive than dead. In Part III of this three-part series, The Marjorie journeys across the state of Florida exploring a crucial question: Where do sharks fit into Florida’s future?
Tight Lines
As the recreational fishery chips away at shark populations outside the boundaries of scientists’ data books — and as a new constitutional amendment loosens restrictions on anglers across the state — Florida faces an uncertain future for sustainable shark management. In Part II of this three-part series, The Marjorie embeds with recreational and commercial fishermen to parse through the industries’ varied interactions with and attitudes toward sharks.
On the Menu
Sharks worldwide are imperiled by overfishing. Yet experts disagree on whether policies in Florida and the U.S. aimed at protecting sharks have in fact done the opposite. In Part I of this three-part series, The Marjorie investigates how a federal ban on shark fins shrunk a commercial fishery and satisfied shark advocates — but did little to curb shark deaths.
No One Owns the Gulf of Mexico
Jack E. Davis, author of “The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea,” shares his insights about President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
2024 Roundup: 12 Must-Read Florida Stories
No one tells a better Florida story than the people who know this state intimately — either from living here or from engaging with Florida issues in a thoughtful way. As an annual tradition, our has team has compiled a list of stories for you, in no particular order, that highlights the most reflective and important reporting from Florida this year. We salute these hard-working journalists who endeavor to tell the critical stories of our beloved state.
Can You Replace the River in Your Backyard?
The Sulphur Springs Pool was formerly a mainstay for recreation in the Florida heat for residents of the community. But in May 2024, the city of Tampa announced that the pool would be closed indefinitely for repair. Now both the pool and the nearby spring are off limits to the community – one that was previously known for the healing qualities of its mineral-rich waters.
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From the Florida Climate Reporting Network
The Florida Climate Reporting Network is a multi-newsroom initiative founded by the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel, WLRN Public Media and the Tampa Bay Times. The Marjorie is a proud member. See below for some of the latest stories from the Network.
- When Lightning Strikes (WUFT)
Florida, the lightning capital of the U.S., sees more lightning deaths and injuries than any other state. Safety experts and survivors stress that more can be done to protect residents, tourists and outdoor workers from harm. There’s no better time than now: Lightning researchers are worried that climate change, which is making storms more severe, could be making lightning worse, too. - Ten Million Corals Are in the Path of a Federal Dredging Project in Florida (Inside Climate News)
Scientists warn that a proposed expansion of Port Everglades could cause unprecedented damage to corals in the U.S., including some of the only remaining endangered staghorn corals that survived a record-breaking heat wave. - Now in its 25th Year, a Historic Effort to Save the Everglades Evolves as the Climate Warms (Inside Climate News)
Everglades restoration was designed to replenish the drinking water supply in one of the fast-growing parts of the nation. The same effort may help save South Florida from climate change. - On the last days for solar tax credits, a Tampa crew works down to the wire (Tampa Bay Times)
A prominent local official was among the last to squeak their rooftop project through by the deadline. - Researchers study ‘scary’ amount of seaweed that could clog South Florida beaches this year (Sun Sentinel)
Floating seaweed, known as sargassum, is already at record levels in the tropical Atlantic and may be heating for South Florida. Researchers hone in on what’s fueling spikes. - Are invasive iguanas coming to Tampa Bay? (Tampa Bay Times)
Climate change has pushed some native Florida species north. While the reptiles prefer South Florida’s climate, they have been spotted around the bay area. - In Hurricane-Prone Florida, Legislators Reconsider New Growth and Development Law (Inside Climate News)
Three bills have been introduced, as the annual legislative session begins this week, that would revise SB 180, last year’s controversial new law that blocked local resiliency efforts. - Environmental bills to watch as Florida begins the 2026 legislative session (Tampa Bay Times)
Here’s how Florida lawmakers want to change the state’s environmental laws this year. - Divine Duty (WUFT)
For Tampa-based COO Blake Merrell, dealing with the state’s sewage waste is both an entrepreneurial and ecclesiastical calling. - Beyond the Eye of the Storm: The Impact of Repeated Hurricane Closures on Mental Health (Florida Student News Watch)
Students face increased mental health risk while dealing with the challenges of a hurricane. - The secret lives of Florida’s elusive, giant manta rays (WLRN)
According to a new study and hundreds of videos shot mostly in waters near Palm Beach County, manta rays can act as a mobile home, providing food, shelter, even honeymoon suites for fish in sometimes inhospitable waters.
Florida Perspectives
Living Grand Daddy’s Miami Prophecy
When she was growing up in Liberty City, Valencia Gunder heard her grandfather warn that one day their community would be in danger. Decades later, Valencia is living the prophecy her grandfather predicted as climate gentrification changes the urban landscape where she grew up.
Farewell, Sanibel
As rising sea levels threaten Florida, Jesse Wilson worries about the fate of her hometown of Sanibel. Stashing away her personal blame and guilt, she heads to Sanibel to embrace the simple act of saying goodbye, as she would for anyone she loved.
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