Forget the daily schedule of children's activities that runs the gamut from scavenger hunts to a half-day camp program. Forget the kid-friendly facilities that include a game room, dance floor and basketball court. Even forget the chef who tweaks her dishes to make them more palatable for the finicky-eater set (fish fingers, anyone?). ...more

January 11, 2009

21 ** This surprise hit was based on the true story of six students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who found a way to beat the house at blackjack, taking several Vegas casinos for millions before their system was discovered. Jim Sturgess is the squeaky clean hero who gets roped in by a professor (Kevin Spacey). ...more

July 25, 2008

There were no fines, no official reprimands handed down in the wake of the heated dispute between Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro during Sunday's game. ...more

June 10, 2008

The holiday - on Thursday - usually arrives overdone with sugar, schoolroom glue and candy, juvenile giggling. "A Thousand Kisses: Love Letters From the Archives of American Art" takes you past all that. ...more

February 10, 2008

Regarding "Weighing Your Options" (front page, Jan. 13): It took only one statement from your article plus item one on my sample ballot for me as well as thousands of voters to become confused on this issue. ...more

January 20, 2008

Breaking news: Youths and grown-ups got together Monday afternoon, maturely discussed the city skateboard park and seemed to come to a meeting of the minds. ...more

November 20, 2007

LAKE PLACID — Americans play more sports and are polite and friendly, or so believe 12 Russian snowbirds visiting Highlands County. A dozen Russian 10th-graders from St. Petersburg are returning the favor after a group of Lake Placid students visited Russia 10 weeks ago. Student Dima Bofodin likes the "nearly perfect" Florida climate, compared with nine colder months a year at home. "The local people play more sports, (especially) with wakeboards and jet skis," Bofodin observed. "And the school's compete against other schools in sports." He also gave a thumbs up to American manners. ...more

October 30, 2007

We read a great deal. Yet, we have some books we've never read. They're collecting dust. Many are volumes we bought ourselves and haven't gotten around to reading. However, the majority of our unread tomes are more apt to have been gifts - the subjects of which don't interest us one iota. Hanging on to them must have something to do with our fondness of the gift-givers. We may have purchased a self-help book in the hopes of finding a solution to some personal dilemma. Then, our focus changed or the dilemma simply solved itself. Or, an even worse dilemma took its place before we got past the front cover. We've also purchased a number of books simply because we met the authors at book signings. Our bookshelves are lined with autographed copies we felt compelled to buy. Such is the case with a book we recently took off the shelf and opened for the first time since we obtained it in 1996. ...more

October 5, 2007