For the second time in less than two weeks, an Avon Park police officer was arrested by agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Sebring field office. ...more

December 3, 2008

A local man charged with participating in a conspiracy as part of the Gambino crime family says he was a victim of extortion. ...more

October 10, 2008

Ginny Brown-Waite was among the 228 House members who voted against the $700 billion bailout package for the financial industry Monday, calling the measure "embarrassing" and stomach-turning. ...more

September 30, 2008

Calls the measure 'embarrassing.' ...more

September 30, 2008

A powerful state senator who served time in federal prison has died in a Jacksonville nursing home. ...more

September 27, 2008

Last week was my good friend's birthday. Like me, she had kids back to back, just 16 months apart, which means getting out is a rare event. Not because we're lame, boring, married people, but because trustworthy sitters are hard to come by. The good ones (kids with no arrest record) know they're in high demand, so they can play the extortion game and charge as much as a car payment. ...more

August 13, 2008

Glad To See Him Go Regarding "The Angel of Escape" (Nation/World, July 31): ...more

August 6, 2008

Police accused a 30-year-old man of trying to extort money from another man by threatening to have him criminally charged. Shannon Reed Shepard of Tampa told the other man several times this week to pay him money for "psychological treatment for his son," an affidavit states. ...more

July 24, 2008

TAMPA – A former Chicago police officer who became a local lawyer, Vincent James Krocka is now serving a state prison sentence after being convicted in a standoff with sheriff's deputies. ...more

June 24, 2008

AVON PARK — A tenant who accused his landlord of beating him to collect rent found himself in jail after allegations surfaced that he was trying to extort money from the landlord in exchange for dropping charges, according to the sheriff's office. Roger Ray Vickery, 38, of 3603 Monza St., Sebring, was charged Friday with compounding a felony crime, punishable by death or life imprisonment, and fraud-swindle to gain money or property less than $20,000. In late May, Vickery accused his landlord, Thomas Gordon Ramsey, 46, and two other men of beating him and robbing him to collect rent. ...more

June 23, 2008