SEBRING — Is Santa Claus full of hot air? Dozens of bigger-than-life inflatable blow-up Santas and various Christmas displays are popping up in yards all over Highlands County. Erick Kelecseny has $8,000 worth Christmas decorations, including eight blow-ups in his front yard on Duffer Road. There's the compulsory Santa, plus Mickey and Minnie, and even a full band, including shade-wearing musicians, which pumps out funky Christmas carols. "I grew up poor my whole life and now I say I do it for the kids," said Kelecseny, about the holiday displays with fans that quietly hum all night long. "But I really do it for my own enjoyment." Kelecseny said on Thursday night that he enjoys turning off the house lights, sitting in the yard with his daughter, 15-month-old Ericka, to watch the reaction of motorists and pedestrians. ...more

December 22, 2007

I never have to check the calendar to see if the Christmas season is approaching. As soon as the "season to be jolly" approaches all those jolly-challenged people begin their sniping. I think Jack Frost is nipping at more than their noses and some people are nipping at more than hot chocolate. ...more

December 18, 2007

WHO: Linda Harns CLAIM TO FAME: She has given her time and decorations and Christmas trees from relatives to bring cheer to Gulfside Regional Hospice houses at Lafayette Street and Sunset Bay in west Pasco. ...more

December 16, 2007

The holiday season has just begun, but in Boyette Springs, a grinch has set about stealing it. ...more

December 8, 2007

Trucks, tempers, Christmas displays and a gun proved a violent mix Thursday night for one Polk County neighborhood, the sheriff's office said. ...more

December 8, 2007

I rang the doorbell and a tiny platinum blonde with a big laugh announced, "Welcome to the Poore house!" ...more

December 7, 2007

We give thanks to God before our meals. We start all of our public and private meetings asking God for wisdom and guidance. Yet we won't allow God into our schools. Where do our children learn good from bad and right from wrong; all the things that shape their lives for the future. They say that 62 percent of Americans think it is okay to give out birth control devices in schools and instructions on how to use them. God would not approve, so we don't let him into our schools. We allow subjects to be taught from books that we would not allow in our homes. But a Bible is not one of the books that is used to teach our children, good from bad. ...more

November 25, 2007

Back in the days when man first ventured out of the caves and celebrated the occasion by giving thanks to the Great Spirit the people vowed that the preparation time for their holidays would be limited to some reasonable amount of time. Like perhaps the cycle of one moon, which many eons later was called a month and many eons after that they were given a name: As in October which is what the moon cycle before the one when thanks was given to the Great Spirit and out of which our country's first displaced inhabitants evolved. And many eons after that first giving of thanks the Great Spirit returned the recognition of his people by rewarding them with a special gift of his own. A man-child. The appearance of this gift held such significance for the people that they name a day after it. They called it Christmas. Now when the two things are considered – limiting preparations to no more than on a lunar cycle and the acceptance of the gift of the Great Spirit – it would appear that the preparations for Christmas should occur at the earliest around the time that the feast of thanksgiving is celebrated. And for many years this is how it came to pass. ...more

October 20, 2007

The city council Tuesday approved a slight reduction in the city's property tax rate and its budget for 2007-08. ...more

September 22, 2007