Boisterous people are often told to sit down or risk ejection from local meetings, but now, with the shooting deaths of five government workers during a meeting in Missouri, some Tampa Bay area officials are checking whether that's enough. ...more

February 9, 2008

If you can't find your government and education channels on your TV, you're probably among the Bright House customers left behind in its channel realignment last month. ...more

January 19, 2008

Wanted: Military veterans or their representatives to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at county commission meetings. ...more

January 13, 2008

Tucked away in a recessed office inside the county clerk's office, away from the chatter of people updating their drivers' licenses or applying for marriage certificates, sit three women behind closed doors. ...more

December 22, 2007

The Pasco County Commission is considering Commissioner Jack Mariano's proposal to move the public comment portion of commission meetings from the end of the meetings to the beginning. ...more

December 18, 2007

It is probably true that in the cable neighborhood Hillsborough County's public/government access channels have been exiled to the coaxial equivalent of Elba meets Area 51. ...more

December 15, 2007

SEBRING — Public records and public meetings in Highlands County will soon be more open and more accessible than ever before. With an Internet connection and a few strokes on a keyboard, people can have instant access to virtually every piece of information the county has, plus verbatim accounts of county commission meetings. In about a month, new computer software acquired by the Highlands County Clerk of Courts Office – which handles both county government business and court records – will make more information available more quickly through the Internet. By going to the clerk's Web site, www.hcclerk.org, people will find verbatim accounts of every word spoken by every person during every minute of every Highlands County Board of Commissioners meeting. Those verbatim accounts, in fact, can be viewed on a computer in three ways: a video clip of the section of a meeting that you're interested in, a separate audio-only clip of that meeting segment, and/or an official transcript of that portion of the meeting's minutes. ...more

December 11, 2007

Regional water authorities today extended a once-a-week irrigation restriction through June, but warned more drastic measures, including a total outdoor watering ban, might be in store if the current drought continues into next year. ...more

November 26, 2007

Follow Traffic Laws Hooray for Pasco County commissioners. Sheriff Bob White's latest budget was not only out of line with what needs to be done but downright ridiculous and way overstated. ...more

September 26, 2007