SEBRING After a Labor Day break, Highlands County commissioners will have heavy lifting to do on three issues at their 9 a.m. today. ...more

September 8, 2009

To prevent the loss of more downtown businesses, the St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday to reduce rent for a number of shops and restaurants at The Pier. ...more

January 24, 2009

To prevent the loss of more downtown businesses, the St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday to reduce rent for several shops and restaurants at the Pier. ...more

January 23, 2009

Facing another challenging year in a grim economy, the Port of Tampa is bracing for a drop in business in 2009 but is preparing for the day the economy starts to rebound, port director Richard Wainio said today in his annual state of the port address. ...more

December 4, 2008

What if that toll road you often drive on business or vacation was privately owned? How about your state lottery being leased by investors from another state? Would tolls skyrocket? Would you trust the integrity of the lottery? All of these things could happen if the state decides to privatize some of its holdings to make big bucks. It sounds like a bad idea. Gov. Charlie Crist is listening to private investors who want to lease items like the Florida Lottery and toll roads, such as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, for huge chunks of change. In return for their billions of dollars, they would have the ability to market these things, and possibly raise prices, for decades to come. With Florida's $1.1 billion budget deficit, state leaders are listening to investors who might pay upward of $31 billion for the lottery system. According to an article in The Tampa Tribune, investors would then get something like a 40-year lease of the proceeds. ...more

September 28, 2007