Recently in Stamford, Conn., a chimpanzee named Travis was shot and killed after he mauled a friend of his owner. The chimpanzee lived with a widow, eating lobster and ice cream at the table, wearing human clothes and entertaining himself with a computer and television. ...more

March 2, 2009

Caring for family members with emotional or psychiatric problems can be difficult. That was especially true when neither society nor the medical community understood the human brain and its complexities; the result was that such people were shunned. ...more

February 1, 2009

Mercury Dangers In Fish A research study presented at a science conference in Tampa last week found unusually high mercury levels in the flesh of nine out of 10 largemouth bass in Florida rivers. The research by the U.S. Geological Survey began in 1998 and measured mercury in 367 stream basins nationally. ...more

December 7, 2008

In the case of Efrem Tyree, a remarkable 9-year-old whose last act of creativity was to fashion an escape from life, thoughtful adults rediscover what it means to be stumped. Welcome back to grammar school. ...more

November 26, 2008

when reading a newspaper was cool - Michael Lebron worked as a newspaperman in Tampa. He worked for the now defunct Tampa Times. Kurt Vonnegut is right. Defunct is a funny word. ...more

August 17, 2008

The county coalition aiming to reduce substance abuse has a new business name to highlight its efforts - Drug Free Highlands. ...more

July 14, 2008

The Lake Placid High School, through Melissa Sohns, student advisor, and coordinated with all local EMS and law enforcement, put on a realistic mock DUI car crash, which sent a chilling reminder of the ultimate danger of drinking and driving. However, the Highlands County Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Reduction (HCCC) would like to expand on the message given to the over 800 students, teachers and parents who attended. ...more

May 21, 2008

The goal of science is not to prove or disprove the existence of God. Science is not a religious belief. Just as psychology is a discipline that explores the workings of the human brain, science is a discipline that seeks to understand and explain the processes of the physical world. Evolution explains, in very specific physical terms, how living things change through time (for example, how does bacteria become resistant to antibiotics? How did jungle fowl become domesticated chickens?) Thousands of sophisticated scientific tests have been used to study evolution and the evidence is overwhelming. When preeminent biologists disagree, it's not the existence of evolution they question. They simply disagree about the specifics of how certain adaptations occurred. These questions are an integral part of the scientific process. ...more

February 16, 2008

A long while back, one of the finest teachers I have ever encountered described life as "an inexorable march to the junk heap." He was referring specifically to the physical and economic tenure of material things, noting that their lives couldn't be extended forever, but could be lengthened by attention to proper maintenance. ...more

November 14, 2007