The death of the Bell Shoals Baptist Church's Rev. Forrest Pollock and his 13-year-old son, Preston, in a plane crash prompted hundreds of users at TBO.com to leave online condolences for the pastor's family. Pollock's plane crashed about 20 miles southwest of Asheville, N.C. The popular pastor was in North Carolina visiting his mother, church officials said. To read the whole story or to leave a message, go to Brandon.tbo.com, keyword "Pastor Pollock." ...more

May 21, 2008

Regarding "Congregation Weeps For Pastor, His Son" (front page, May 14): Forrest Pollock will be remembered by the greater Brandon community as a leader who inspired many and whose faith in the Lord helped to focus the church he led. But to the neighborhood to which he belonged, he will be remembered as Dawn's husband and the father to Brooke, Courtney, Preston, Hope, Blake, and Kirk. He was the neighbor at the end of the circle, who took evening walks with his wife, borrowed your shovel to do some landscaping, and drove a little too fast around the corners. He was a man who always showed interest in the lives of his neighbors and his neighbors' children. ...more

May 19, 2008

It was just the sort of celebration their gregarious pastor and his fun-loving, guitar-playing son would have enjoyed. ...more

May 18, 2008

It was just the sort of celebration their gregarious pastor and his fun-loving, guitar-playing son would have enjoyed. ...more

May 17, 2008

Sandi de Laski and Ella Chadwell were looking for a project, maybe hosting a craft show or Christmas boutique. ...more

May 3, 2008

The RSL Florida Division 1 Under-15 boys soccer team, with players from Brandon and Valrico, won first place in the Region Cup Finals held March 15 and 16 at Ed Radice Park in northwest Hillsborough County. ...more

May 3, 2008

During a season renowned for its miracles, a Valrico family received the remarkable news they had been hoping to hear. ...more

January 7, 2008

Some of the best-known national leaders in the religious right movement have converged on a Brandon church this weekend for a conference to discuss gay rights issues, Islam, abortion, and other issues from what they call the 'culture wars.' ...more

September 22, 2007

I had the pleasure last Saturday of attending the God & Country banquet hosted annually in Orlando by the Christian Coalition of Florida with several hundred fellow faith-based activists. ...more

September 15, 2007