After reading the letter from Ms. Fredlake, I was left in dismay by her summation of the Tom Rooney meeting. The 500-plus people in attendance were soundly behind what Rep. Rooney had to say about the health care bill and the excessive debt proposed by the current administration. ...more

September 4, 2009

A financial audit of the School Board of Highlands County showed two "significant deficiencies," according to the State of Florida Auditor General, but no major problems with the district's accounting procedures. ...more

March 31, 2009

A top executive with Verenium Corp. said Tuesday that plans are going forward to build a $300-million biofuels plant in Highlands County. ...more

March 18, 2009

An ethics complaint was filed on Friday against Highlands County Commissioner Guy Maxcy claiming he violated state ethics laws by voting on issues relating to AtlanticBlue and Blue Head Ranch. ...more

January 25, 2009

There were 163 homes scheduled for sale by auction Thursday at the Hillsborough County Courthouse – more than the county has ever auctioned in a single day. "In 13 years, I've never seen it like this," said Tamra Wondrow, owner of Foreclosure Disclosure, a Tampa foreclosure listing service. ...more

December 5, 2008

The House approved legislation Wednesday that for the first time would empower the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the tobacco industry, a measure long sought by antismoking advocates. ...more

July 31, 2008

Consumers may be told if their local grocery store got tainted meat during a recall under a new policy announced Friday by the Agriculture Department. ...more

July 12, 2008

I read an article by Marsha Mercer in the Feb. 10 paper about the Clintons that raised the proverbial red flag of caution for me. First, Mercer makes mention of the fact that the Clintons are stonewalling any and all attempts to release any papers from the Clinton Presidential Library, notably the notes, memos and appointment calendar of Hillary while she was first lady. What are the Clintons afraid of that they do not want people to know about her? Secondly, Mercer mentions Hillary's strong desire for universal health care. The thing that got my attention about this subject was, quote, "Hillary's health care plan forces everyone to buy insurance even if they could not afford it." Hillary has said that her administration might garnishee the wages of those who could afford to buy health care insurance but refused to. ...more

February 15, 2008

While professing a belief in open government, President Bush has hardly run the country that way. His administration has looked with disdain upon the Freedom of Information Act and worked to make even more information secret. ...more

December 31, 2007

The CIA videotaped its interrogations of two top terror suspects in 2002 and destroyed the tapes three years later out of fear they would leak to the public and compromise the identities of U.S. questioners, the director of the agency told employees Thursday. ...more

December 7, 2007