Zackery Hicks just got out of prison last month after serving a 14-year term for robbery, and his new prison is marked by the roar of overhead traffic and the danger of getting snakebit or beat up. The situation is the way it is because Hicks is a registered sex offender, and this situation is not all that uncommon in Florida, where the oppressive stigma of being a sex offender is nearly insurmountable. Some cities across the nation have passed laws that are so restrictive, sex offenders cannot reside there. ...more

September 19, 2008

About 250 people crowded into the cafeteria at Burns Middle School on Sept. 8 for the second in a series of seven town hall meetings Superintendent MaryEllen Elia called "open mic time." ...more

September 17, 2008

Mornings and evenings, Allie, my retired racing greyhound, and I walk. It's a nice little neighborhood. The oaks are big enough now to shade the sidewalks and attract cadres of squirrels. Kids weave around the quiet streets on bikes and skateboards. Families like to picnic on the weekends in the park where the little ones can swing, and the older ones can play ball on the nearby diamond. ...more

September 14, 2008

Parents successfully fought a last-minute change to a neighborhood bus route that had their children waiting along busy Countryway Boulevard. ...more

September 10, 2008

About 250 people crowded into the cafeteria at Burns Middle School on Monday for the second in a series of seven town hall meetings Superintendent MaryEllen Elia called "open mike time." ...more

September 9, 2008

A Dover woman was being held at Orient Road Jail on Friday after animal investigators and deputies found 10 emaciated dogs at her house. ...more

August 30, 2008

A Dover woman is being held at Orient Road Jail this morning after animal investigators and deputies found 10 emaciated dogs at her house. ...more

August 29, 2008

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office received a call at 7:24 a.m. today that a child was struck by a car at 1221 N. Valrico Road. ...more

August 28, 2008

Yesemia Polo wants to get to her classes at Jefferson High School but has missed three of four days this week through no fault of her own, her stepfather said. Mario Cabrera said his 17-year-old stepdaughter, who is starting her junior year at Jefferson, waited at the assigned bus stop at MacDill Avenue and Abdella Street in West Tampa on Monday and Wednesday with six or seven other students. School was canceled on Tuesday because of Tropical Storm Fay. ...more

August 22, 2008

By the skin of its teeth, the Hillsborough School District escaped a major transportation meltdown Monday, the first day of school. ...more

August 20, 2008