MULBERRY - Polk sheriff's deputies say they've caught a man who has been stealing thousands of dollars worth of copper wire from former phosphate mine property southwest of Mulberry. ...more

December 27, 2007

Just weeks ago, the holiday shopping season seemed headed for disaster. But in the waning hours before Christmas, the nation's retailers got their wish - a last-minute surge of shopping that helped meet their modest sales goals, according to data released late Monday by research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp. ...more

December 25, 2007

BRADENTON BEACH - A 43-year-old Bradenton Beach man was killed Sunday night when his single-engine plane crashed in a heavily wooded area of Fauquier County in Northern Virginia, authorities said. ...more

December 12, 2007

Sean Taylor's locker has been sealed in Plexiglas. The contents haven't been disturbed, and the stool with his name on it still sits in front. ...more

November 30, 2007

Outside One Buc Place, a line of volunteer massage therapists stretched two city blocks. Homemade cure-alls, including a necklace of garlic with a rooster's claw, arrived in the mail. ...more

November 27, 2007

Machelle Brinson was a hard-working single mother who put in as many as 90 hours a week at the Tropicana juice plant to make life better for her three teenage daughters, family and friends said. ...more

November 20, 2007

AVON PARK — Baby Alexa Hall is gone but her spirit may carry on in the hopes and smiles of three others. The family of the 3-month-old, who died as the result of shaken baby syndrome Tuesday, has donated the baby's organs to help save the lives of three babies in three far-off cities. The infant was brought to the Florida Hospital of Sebring's emergency room early Monday after having difficulty breathing. She was flown to the St. Joseph's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Tampa, where doctors determined she had suffered from shaken baby syndrome and was brain-dead. Alexa was taken off of the life support Tuesday after her organs were harvested for transport across the country. ...more

November 16, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - The arsonist who struck western St. Petersburg early Monday apparently was back at work Monday night, police said. Someone set a 1985 Buick Regal on fire in an alley behind 4632 1/2 Central Avenue about 11:30 p.m. The owner, 25-year-old George R. Flummer, told police he woke up when a smoke detector in his apartment sounded. When he looked out a window, he saw his car burning. ...more

November 13, 2007

The wind died down and the driving rains stayed away, so the Seattle Seahawks poured it on the 49ers instead. ...more

November 13, 2007

TAMPA - The chill is in the air, if you consider high 50s cold; it was light on the morning commute this morning. It must be fall in Florida, about time for the price for a gallon of gasoline to spike. ...more

November 5, 2007