Original reporting by Noah Vinsky
Naya Young wins city council election
Naya Young defeated veteran politician Thomas Scott for the Tampa City Council District 5 seat in the runoff election last Tuesday.
Young pulled through with a major victory after trailing by double digits in the September special election. She ended up winning sixty one percent of the vote in the actual election.
This is Young’s first time running for office. She is the executive director of the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association — which she says inspired her to run for city council.
Young will now serve the remainder of former councilwoman Gwendolyn Henderson’s term, who died in June. It ends in 2027.
Despite Young’s decisive victory, Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor Craig Latimer said only 12 percent of the district’s eligible voters came out to vote.
“We send the invitations out to the party and where it’s going to be, and you have to make a decision to come out and vote,” Latimer said.
Young was sworn in last Friday. As councilwoman, she will serve parts of Ybor City, downtown Tampa and Seminole Heights.
Original reporting by Eric Charpentier.
Toy for Tots program facing challenges
In Polk County, the Toys for Tots program is facing challenges this holiday season.
Inside this facility, the staff is doing all they can to make sure as many children as possible get their Christmas wish. With only 700 out of 6,000 orders bagged — the weight is starting to feel heavier.
“Last year in Polk County I had 15,247 children that had requested toys from us who were qualified by the standards of our program… so yeah that keeps you up at night when you’re sitting there going ‘I hope the donations come in’ because that’s a lot of children to take care of,” said head coordinator Angela Davis.
Only volunteers run these operations, so the organization can feel very short staffed at times, especially as Christmas gets closer.
“Most days we have enough people, some days we’re short. Today we got enough people to shop, but there’s only two of us bagging so the carts backed up,” said warehouse employee Ken Laraway.
If you would like to volunteer or donate to Toys for Tots, visit polkcountyfl.toysfortots.org
CREDITS:
Producer: Emma Brockman
Anchors: A.J. Truscello, Aiden Poff
Reporter: Eric Charpentier
Floor Director: Jada Knobloch
Web Editor: Seth O’Neil
CG: Kieran Konopka
Tech Director: Eric Charpentier
Editor: Luana Schneider
Socials: Giovanna Chitto
Camera: Noah Vinksy
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Stephanie Anderson
Graduate Assistant: Grace Ficara