The state's brain trust of economists meets regularly to assess Floridians' spending habits and estimate how much revenue is coming in to state coffers. The news in early August was bleak: The $72 billion spending plan approved for the fiscal year that began July 1 would come up about $1.1 billion short, largely due to the slowdown in the once-red-hot housing market. Other collections have also been lighter than expected, from the sales taxes on purchases related to homes to corporate income taxes. State lawmakers return to the capital this week in a special session to slice and dice. A balanced budget is a constitutional requirement in Florida. It's not an easy process. Lawmakers already pushed back the session when House and Senate leaders decided they were too far apart to waste time in Tallahassee at a cost to taxpayers of about $40,000 a day. The session is scheduled from Wednesday through Oct. 12. The House, Senate and Gov. Charlie Crist are staking out their positions. Here is a look at what may be in store in major areas of spending. ...more

September 30, 2007

SEBRING — The search for a successor to Highlands County Administrator Carl Cool will begin in earnest on Tuesday, when the five county commissioners seek advice from an executive recruiting firm and a top administrator at South Florida Community College. Cool, who has been the county's top executive officer for 16 years, announced in early August that he will retire June 30, 2008. Before advertising for the administrator's job, commissioners plan to decide whether to hire an executive recruiting firm and/or appoint a citizens committee to assist them in their search. "We want to get it going," Guy Maxcy, chairman of the commissioners, said about setting up the process to hire a new administrator. "We're going to try to agree to and build a process on Tuesday and hopefully have direction for staff," he added. ...more

September 23, 2007

River Pines Apartments has a lot of problems that need to be fixed, Tampa Housing Authority officials say. ...more

September 20, 2007

Roger Federer watched his opponent's last shot of their U.S. Open semifinal sail wide, then calmly walked to the net for a handshake. ...more

September 9, 2007

As the federal case against two University of South Florida students moves forward in Tampa, the government is expected to reveal more of what investigators think the pair was up to on a Friday night in early August. ...more

September 8, 2007