I was where I did not want to be: standing in a big discount store late on a Sunday afternoon smack dab in the middle of shopping season waiting on customer assistance that would never come. ...more

December 10, 2008

new season has come, the Tampa Bay Rays made it to the World Series, a historic election took place and cooler weather has come to Bay area residents. And, according to officials with Rottlund Homes of Florida, the cooler weather also has brought new home-buying opportunities to those seeking to live in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. ...more

December 7, 2008

Low-Income Loans The recent decision by the city and county to ban "yield spread premiums" on low-income loans is yet another example of government removing choices under the guise of protecting people. I was in the mortgage business for 12 years but am no longer in it, so I have no dog in this fight, but I can tell you that a yield spread premium is a great way to reduce the out of pocket expenses associated with a home closing. ...more

November 20, 2008

I wanted to point out a true "diamond in the rough" when it comes to culinary choices here in Sebring. Chef Oliver of Golf Hammock Country Club Restaurant has just introduced an extensive Italian menu on Wednesday evenings and an equally extensive and delicious German menu on Friday nights. ...more

November 19, 2008

Nine exceptional student education students from Avon Park Middle School walked or wheeled Friday to The Depot Restaurant for their first "community experience" of the school year. ...more

November 18, 2008

Dear Abby: My beautiful 9-month-old daughter, "Lyric," is the result of an affair. Her father, "James," has never seen her, except in photographs. His family has no idea she exists. When I send pictures, he promises to visit "soon" - but I'm not supposed to ask when because he "just doesn't know right now." ...more

November 9, 2008

For the first time, researchers have decoded all the genes of a person with cancer and found a set of mutations that may have caused the disease or aided its progression. ...more

November 6, 2008

For the past two weeks I have been sitting on the corner of Interlake Boulevard, in Lake Placid with my choices for elected officials. As many know I sat there for a lot of hours. ...more

November 5, 2008

As we approach the finish line in this heated campaign, we must congratulate all those in the race: My most sincere congratulations to our Sheriff Susan Benton for her magnificent and professional wisdom. The P.B.A. has made a lot of noise against her, like a hen does when she has merely laid an egg, and when you listen to the hen noise it is as if she had laid an asteroid. ...more

November 2, 2008

The current economic disaster leaves me bitter. My parents grew up during the Depression, and I was inculcated with one basic financial tenet: Live within your means. Except for houses and cars, if you couldn't pay for it with cash, then you couldn't afford it. I was taught to save for emergencies, to not pay for services that I could do myself, and to value every penny. I cringe to think that I would ever need a government to bail me out because of choices that I made along the way. ...more

October 27, 2008