PLANT CITY A Ruskin man whose service career spanned 30 years, including service in World War II, was the first veteran through the gate today as the Florida Strawberry Festival celebrated Military Day. ...more

March 4, 2009

Ben Ellis, 62, of Tampa was one of four scuba divers who motored out of St. George's Island in the Florida Panhandle on a cold December day in 1984. They were aboard a 23-foot boat that was headed to a sunken wreck where they planned to spend the day diving. ...more

March 3, 2009

Two former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and two former University of South Florida football players are presumed missing in the Gulf of Mexico after failing to return home from a Saturday fishing trip. ...more

March 1, 2009

Four people were rescued this evening from a 37-foot boat that ran aground near Honeymoon Island State Park. ...more

February 25, 2009

A 40-foot boat returning from the Gasparilla festivities in Tampa ran aground more than a mile off Coquina Key in Pinellas County this afternoon, leaving one man with a fractured arm and head laceration, authorities said. ...more

February 7, 2009

A fisherman who had loaded too much mullet in his vessel and had run out of gas needed to be rescued Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico, St. Petersburg fire officials said. ...more

January 2, 2009

The Coast Guard was searching for a cruise ship employee who fell overboard from the Carnival Sensation about 20 miles east of Vero Beach early Thursday. ...more

January 2, 2009

The Coast Guard is searching the waters off Florida for a cruise ship employee who reportedly fell overboard. ...more

January 1, 2009

Family members say the woman reported missing Friday from a cruise ship near Mexico "has had previous emotional issues" and might have chosen "an unfortunate ending to her life." ...more

December 30, 2008

Authorities have suspended their search for a Winter Haven woman reported missing Friday from a cruise ship near Cancun, Mexico. ...more

December 29, 2008