PLANT CITY The path to Florida Strawberry Festival queen sometimes begins with the Junior Royalty pageant. Girls 5 to 15 as of Jan. 1 who are interested in competing in next year's contest need to be at the festival's expo building Nov. 17 for a mandatory meeting, when applications will be distributed. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and close at 7. No one will be allowed to enter the building before 6:30 or after 7. ...more

November 8, 2008

A team of school district staff, administrators and guidance counselors who reviewed Alafia Elementary School Principal Ellyn Smith's leadership skills will report their findings to school staff Monday, Hillsborough County School District spokesman Stephen Hegarty said. ...more

November 7, 2008

TAMPA – The new high school opening in August near Plant City and Dover will be named Strawberry Crest High. ...more

November 6, 2008

They're used to being graded on their academic performance. Now students at the Brandon campus of Hillsborough Community College will be tested on their ability to celebrate. ...more

November 5, 2008

A Florida school board voted late Monday night to keep the name of a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader at a majority black high school, despite opposition from a black board member who said the school's namesake was a "terrorist and racist." ...more

November 4, 2008

Cornelia Corbett has poured her heart and soul into the Tampa Museum of Art, devoting time and money to ensure the city has a place to show its artwork. ...more

November 4, 2008

A university president temporarily will lead the state university system as a newly formed committee finds a permanent replacement for Chancellor Mark Rosenberg, who is planning a return to Florida International University in Miami. ...more

October 27, 2008

Hillsborough School Board Chairwoman Jennifer Faliero only has a little more than a month left at the helm of this panel and given the dysfunction of this board and Faliero's attempts to muzzle opponents, that's a good thing. ...more

October 24, 2008