Former Zephyrhills Police Chief Russell Barnes, who resigned amid a payroll scandal in August, has applied for a job as a patrol deputy with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. ...more

January 15, 2009

Former Zephyrhills Police Chief Russell Barnes, who resigned amid a payroll scandal in August, has applied for a job as a patrol deputy with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Barnes, 56, applied online for the job in December. "We don't comment on applicants," sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said. Barnes did not return a message seeking comment. He resigned from the Zephyrhills force in August, about an hour before the city council was to decide whether to fire him. He was hired in November 2003. ...more

January 14, 2009

New hires with the Pasco County School District are typically lumped together in the same agenda item and approved by the school board with little or no discussion. ...more

August 23, 2008

As a sergeant with the Pinellas Park Police Department, Russell Barnes was suspended two days without pay for accidentally firing a gun inside the police station. ...more

August 20, 2008

Police Chief Russell Barnes, one of two men at the center of an investigation of payroll discrepancies in the city's police department, is expected to be fired by the city council today. ...more

August 19, 2008

SEBRING — They didn't vote on whether to fill the dredge hole in Lake Jackson, and they didn't table the matter. Instead, the council simply didn't act. Bobby Clark, 23, drowned June 11 in the hole, which was probably created in the 1960s to fill a park area behind the Civic Center park, then-City Manager Bob Hoffman told the council. Fire Chief Brad Batz said Clark crossed the football field sized hole just a few yards off Pier Beach several times that day, but got a cramp during his last swim. After Clark died, the city councilors asked what they should do. ...more

July 2, 2008