BUSINESS NOTES CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE: Winthrop Barn Theater, 11349 Bloomingdale Ave., Riverview. The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual Congressional Update at noon today. Confirmed speakers include U.S. Reps. Adam Putnam and Gus Bilirakis, who will present an overview of current congressional discussions and how federal policies affect local businesses, education, health care and quality of life. There will be a question-and-answer session. Call the chamber at (813) 689-1221 or e-mail abraden@brandonchamber.com. ...more

August 20, 2008

Congressional District 9 is a good example of a district drawn to suit politicians rather than serve voters. ...more

August 7, 2008

Navy Lt. Melane Byrd, daughter of Melane and Johnnie B. Byrd Jr., recently returned home from a seven-month deployment to the Persian Gulf with the aircraft carrier USS Truman in Virginia Beach, Va. ...more

August 6, 2008

Plan Isn't Bipartisan Regarding "Erase Political Favoritism From Legislative Redistricting" (Our Opinion, July 24): ...more

August 1, 2008

Voters will decide Aug. 26 which of three Democratic candidates will challenge freshman Gus Bilirakis for the 9th Congressional District, a Republican-held seat since its creation in the early years of the Reagan administration. ...more

July 31, 2008

Outsourcing isn't just being done to American jobs these days. It has spread to congressional representation in South Florida's 19th District, and all Floridians should be angry. ...more

July 30, 2008

When John Kerry visited Tampa during his 2004 presidential run, one of his stops may have seemed surprising - a hole-in-the-wall restaurant on North Armenia Avenue, the West Tampa Sandwich Shop. ...more

July 29, 2008

For various reasons — usually the clientele, the owner's political sympathies or the neighborhood — certain restaurants, hotels and meeting facilities get reputations as political stops along the campaign trail. ...more

July 28, 2008

Why is congressional candidate Hal Valeche contributing a half million dollars to his campaign? ...more

July 20, 2008

Freshman Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, is the second Tampa Bay area congressman to raise at least $1 million for his re-election bid this fall, exceeding $1.05 million. ...more

July 18, 2008