The Florida Highway Patrol says 49-year-old James Bettis was driving along an interstate in Fort Myers early Wednesday morning when he ran over the panther. ...more

August 5, 2009

Five members of Congress have asked President Obama to protect the Florida panther. ...more

April 10, 2009

First Of Two Parts The story has become the stuff of legend. In the late 1970s, the Seminoles elected James Billie tribal chair. Billie, a Vietnam veteran, felt overwhelmed by the challenge. At the time, native Seminoles were mired in poverty. When he asked an elderly medicine man what he needed to do to earn the trust of the tribe, the shaman instructed him to first capture, kill and eat a Florida panther. ...more

November 9, 2008

An overflow crowd jammed the Memorial United Methodist Church Sanctuary last Wednesday to pay respects to Mason Smoak, who died in an airplane crash June 20. There were so many people there that the Lake Placid church had to use its Fellowship Hall to accommodate all of them. According to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, a 1989 fixed wing, single engine, two-seater Piper Cub was returning to the Placid Lakes Airport and crashed near the south end of the runway. Smoak, who was the pilot of the airplane at the time of crash, and his passenger, Dave Maehr, died at the scene. Smoak and Maehr were conducting aerial surveys of black bears in Highlands County. Maehr was a visiting scientist at Archold Biological Station while on sabbatical from the University of Kentucky. ...more

June 29, 2008

In the timeless tragedy of the June 20 plane crash in Placid Lakes, Highlands County lost two influential, admired, and much-loved members of our community; Mason Smoak from Lake Placid and Dave Maehr, professor from the University of Kentucky, and visiting scientist at Archbold Biological Station. ...more

June 29, 2008

Environmentalists for decades have demonized the sugar industry, accusing it of simultaneously polluting and robbing precious water from the Everglades. ...more

June 25, 2008

The Lowry Park Zoo unveils its new Florida panther after baby-proofing her exhibit space. ...more

November 17, 2007

Lowry Park Zoo veterinarian David Murphy just wanted to dry off Lucy, a 4 1/2 -month-old Florida panther, after she fell into a pool of water Friday. ...more

November 17, 2007

TAMPA - Lucy, a 4 1/2-month-old Florida panther, got acquainted with her new habitat at Lowry Park Zoo this week. ...more

November 16, 2007

Seventeen years ago, the Humane Society named Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, with its caged animals and sparse grounds, one of the 10 worst zoos in the country. ...more

November 6, 2007