After Hillsborough County produced back-to-back titlists in the girls pole vault at this weekend's Class 3A and 4A state track championships - giving it seven gold medals since the event was introduced to the state series in 1996 - one might wonder what makes the county a hotbed for a niche event. ...more

May 10, 2009

Normally a hotbed for hockey and concerts, the St. Pete Times Forum is undergoing a transformation that will be all about basketball. The 12 men's Southeastern Conference college basketball teams and their fans have started arriving for the SEC tournament, which will begin on Thursday at the facility. Today's practices are closed to the public. Ticket books for all sessions are $300 and available at www.secsports.com. Single-session tickets are $50 each (plus any applicable fees) and can be purchased at the box office or any Ticketmaster outlet by calling 1-800-745-3000 or by logging on to www.secsports.com. Four games will be played Thursday, beginning with Kentucky-Mississippi at 1 p.m. and concluding with Florida-Arkansas at 9:45 p.m. ...more

March 11, 2009

Confidence in the wisdom of the custodians of the economy has taken a big hit this year. The people in charge of our investments and our taxes no longer seem so conservative, so diligent or so smart. ...more

December 20, 2008

Is Tampa a hotbed for swingers? Let me rephrase that. A Canada-based online dating service that encourages extramarital affairs wants to run television commercials in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market. ...more

November 19, 2008

Bombs killed at least eight people Sunday across Iraq and wounded dozens of others, officials said. Syria's president blamed the U.S. military presence for Iraq's instability and called on U.S. troops to leave. ...more

November 10, 2008

As the Republican convention nears its conclusion, we in the news media, having finally grown weary of the endless speculation and gossip about Sarah Palin, are turning our attention, at long last, to additional speculation and gossip about Sarah Palin. ...more

September 5, 2008

The Tampa Bay Rays and Ripken Baseball today announced that together they have purchased the team that plays in Vero Beach, FL. The team will be moved to Charlotte County and will play in Port Charlotte, FL starting in 2009. ...more

August 27, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - At least for the time being, Land O' Lakes is Titletown. In amateur men's soccer, that is. ...more

August 27, 2008

Miami is a hotbed of fraud, according to a Miami Herald investigative article. Say what? Miami? Fraud? Of course Miami is known as a hotbed of illegal activity and has been for some time. But this is different on some level. The fraud uncovered by the FBI, according to the Herald report, involves billions of Medicare dollars stolen from taxpayers. ...more

August 20, 2008

The recent accomplishments of two Tampa Bay-area baseball teams may not be shots "heard 'round the world" like the pennant-clinching homer that Bobby Thomson hit for the old New York Giants. But they ring just as loud. ...more

August 12, 2008