The tools: hose, bucket, cordless drill, nerves of steel. The target: gasoline stored in your car, lawnmower and generator. ...more

July 10, 2008

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson is urging residents to take the time to investigate companies they may be considering for termite protection. ...more

July 9, 2008

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a new Florida law that would have imposed a stiff bond and other restrictions on travel agencies and charter companies booking trips to Cuba. ...more

July 2, 2008

LAKE PLACID – An undetermined number of motorists were affected, some stranded Thursday, after they reported pumping watery gasoline into their vehicles at a Shell gas station at the corner of U.S. 27 and State Road 70, south of Lake Placid. Terence McElroy, press secretary for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, confirmed the pumps at the gas station had been shut down by an inspector who found water in the tanks. The pump nozzles have been covered and a yellow caution tape has been wrapped around the pumps, McElroy said. "We've received three or four complaints (about that location)," McElroy said. "Our inspector found water in the gas storage tanks as well as water dispensed from the hoses." The pumps have been shut down and the station is in the process of cleaning it up, he added. ...more

June 30, 2008

For those willing to brave the summer sun, plucking tomatoes hot off the vine is a longstanding Florida treat. ...more

June 21, 2008

For those willing to brave the summer sun, plucking tomatoes hot off the vine is a longstanding Florida treat. ...more

June 20, 2008

A state investigation has cleared wildlife officials who last month lost control of a prescribed burn that may have contributed to a 70-vehicle pileup on Interstate 4 in Polk County. ...more

February 6, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - A state investigation has cleared wildlife officials who last month lost control of a prescribed burn that contributed to a 70-vehicle pileup on Interstate 4 in Polk County. ...more

February 5, 2008

VENUS — Brad Krohn said it is "really exciting" for his company and it is "tremendously honored" to have received a $7 million grant for a proposed sugar to ethanol biorefinery in southern Highlands County. But Krohn, president of United States EnviroFuels, knows he has to get permits in place from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Highlands County before the first gallon of ethanol is produced. The Highlands County Commission must also sign off on the plant. It typically takes eight to 12 months for permitting, but Krohn is hopeful it will get done sooner. ...more

January 27, 2008

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said a brand of cheese made in Miami may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Officials say the naturally aged white cheese made by Santa Rosa Cheese could have a type of E. coli bacteria, though not the more dangerous strain. ...more

January 17, 2008