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Joe Henderson

Joe Henderson has 239 articles published.

Joe Henderson has had a 45-year career in newspapers, including the last nearly 42 years at The Tampa Tribune. He covered a large variety of things, primarily in sports but also including hard news. The two intertwined in the decade-long search to bring Major League Baseball to the area. Henderson was also City Hall reporter for two years and covered all sides of the sales tax issue that ultimately led to the construction of Raymond James Stadium. He served as a full-time sports columnist for about 10 years before moving to the metro news columnist for the last 4 ½ years. Henderson has numerous local, state and national writing awards. He has been married to his wife, Elaine, for nearly 35 years and has two grown sons – Ben and Patrick.

Joe Henderson: Actually, we should politicize tragedy

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Don’t politicize tragedy. That’s on page 1 in the standard response manual for how gun rights supporters respond to a mass murder like the one Sunday morning in Las Vegas. That’s where U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell turned when reporters asked if he might consider tougher controls on weapons now that 59 more people were dead.

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Joe Henderson: HD 58 race follows negative game plan

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

There is a game plan, oft-repeated in politics, that says going negative beats a reasoned argument almost every time. We are seeing that play out again in the HD 58 race for the Republican nomination, where mailboxes are being filled with fliers calling Yvonne Fry a closet liberal in Republican clothes.

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Joe Henderson: Vegas killer ‘just a guy’ but he wasn’t

in 2017/Top Headlines by

There was no reason to know the name Stephen Paddock before we awoke to the news Monday morning that he had gone on a murderous rampage. The man we’ll now remember as the Las Vegas killer had apparently committed nothing worse than a minor traffic violation.

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Joe Henderson: Pam Bondi to O.J. Simpson: stay away

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

If convicted creep O.J. Simpson eventually moves to Florida and becomes our most infamous parolee, I have three words: don’t screw up.

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Joe Henderson: Scandal will force change in NCAA cesspool

in Sports/Top Headlines by

Forget about draining the swamp. The story of Rick Pitino being in essence fired as head men’s basketball coach at Louisville following a bombshell investigation by the FBI is the first step in the draining the cesspool known as NCAA college basketball. Those who love the sport, and I am among them, should be celebrating today. This story goes way, way, way beyond the fun, games and boolah-boolah we normally associate with trips back to campus. College basketball needs a…

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Joe Henderson: Two cities, one big push for Amazon

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

The news that Tampa and St. Petersburg will work together to attract the much-sought new Amazon headquarters is exactly what outsiders have been saying for decades this area needs to do. This goes back to when the squabbling sibling cities submitted separate proposals to attract a Major League Baseball team. Baseball bosses rolled their eyes and said this place needs to act as one if it wants to join the league of important cities.

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Joe Henderson: Marco Rubio steps up his game

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Gwen Graham’s attempt to make Marco Rubio look bad may have fallen flat, but it does raise a couple of interesting points. First, Democrats obviously still plan to make an issue of Rubio’s image as a detached and disinterested U.S. senator. You may recall that was a major point of contention last year when Rubio successfully ran for re-election.

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