Mitch Traphagen
Cheering on a triumph
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
The entire world cheered last week when the 33 Chilean miners emerged one-by-one to the surface. Religion or political preference or financial condition
Living a life that matters
MITCH TRAPHAGEN In Sun City Center, an elderly man checks into what will be his last home -- a room in a hospice house. Our ...HCSO arrests two in Wimauma drive-by shooting
WIMAUMA — The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible drive-by shooting that occurred in Wimauma on Sunday morning. At approximately 10:15 a.m., deputies ...For Halloween: A ghost story
Story and photos by MITCH TRAPHAGEN The long companionways leading to the first class staterooms would appear to be as good a place as ...
Go local: finding your home away from home
The studio apartment I rented was spacious by New York standards. It included cable television, wireless Internet, and a full bath and kitchen. Mitch ...
SCC honors wounded warriors
Photos and text by MITCH TRAPHAGENVeterans and service organizations in Sun City Center came together to honor wounded warriors in a ceremony at the Community ...
The city in the suburbs: a love story
By Mitch Traphagen There is a city in the suburbs. At this near-mythical place, people are sitting around tables chatting casually with friends, business people ...
Bees mysteriously swarm RV park tree
MITCH TRAPHAGEN Lone Pine RV Park manager Dennis Courtway looks out at a swarm of bees that rapidly colonized a tree in his park over ...
Pigtails in the pumpkin patch
The Great Pumpkin is alive and well in the pumpkin patch at Hydro Harvest Farms at 1101 East Shell Point Road in Ruskin. Owners ...
Ruskin bees aren’t killers
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN RUSKIN — According to Ken Stack, a bee expert from the Quail Hollow Bee Farm, thousands of bees that have swarmed a ...
East Bay rings in the champions
East Bay rings in the champions Mitch Traphagen The state champion East Bay High School girls softball team was recognized with championship rings before ...
Fall is here...and it’s still hurricane season
By Mitch Traphagen With the blissfully cooler temperatures in the Tampa Bay area recently, it is easy to forget that we are still in the ...Author info
Mitch Traphagen
Mitch Traphagen is a photojournalist, columnist and online editor for the Observer News Publications. He is the recipient of 55 awards of excellence from the Community Papers of Florida for his photography and writing. He has worked for some of the nation’s largest corporations, as Press Secretary for a U.S. Congressman, owned and published a weekly newspaper, and produced a commercial documentary video on sailing. He is a Commodore in the Seven Seas Cruising Association (ssca.org). Mitch is a writer, photographer, sailor and traveler with a bit of a geek thing going on. You can visit his personal website at mitchtraphagen.com