PHOENIX (AP) — A 9-year-old Arizona boy who pleaded guilty in the killing of his father's roommate likely won't be sentenced Thursday because no state or county agency is willing to pay for the costly psychiatric treatment required under terms of a plea agreement, attorneys said. ...more

October 20, 2009

His former wife calls him a deadbeat dad. A state prosecutor wants him behind bars. But a local community organization says David William Earley may just be dead broke. ...more

February 6, 2009

Everybody's talking about David William Earley. His former wife calls him a deadbeat dad. A state prosecutor wants him behind bars. And now a local community organization said maybe Earley is really just dead broke. If so, said Michael Bernstein of Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, the New Port Richey man is in good company. Earley, who may face prison for failure to pay a quarter-million dollars in child support and for hiding from probation officers, is like a lot of people helped by Jewish Family Services, Bernstein suggests. ...more

February 5, 2009

The economy is in recession and the budget outlook is bleak. Could 2009 turn out to be state Rep. Ed Homan's lucky year anyway? ...more

January 1, 2009

Before Jessie Lunsford, there was Jimmy Ryce. Like the Jessica Lunsford Act of 2005, which toughened sentencing for child sex offenders, the Jimmy Ryce Act bears the name of a young victim of a brutal rape and murder. That law, which state lawmakers passed in 1998, keeps Florida's most disturbed, violent sexual predators confined even after their prison sentences end. ...more

December 9, 2008

A murder defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity was denied admission to a Pinellas County mental health treatment facility. ...more

September 18, 2008

The word "earmark" conjures up images of an Alaskan bridge to nowhere and a billion-dollar Boston tunnel mired in muck. But properly done, earmarks create powerful returns on investment. ...more

September 1, 2008

As families start putting together their back-to-school to-do lists, the Pasco County Health Department has joined Florida KidCare to remind parents to add one more item: health insurance for their children. Florida KidCare is the state's health insurance program for uninsured children under age 19. The program offers working families access to high-quality doctors and preventative care for their children at a low cost. Started in 1998, KidCare now covers more than 250,000 children statewide. ...more

August 6, 2008

A man was charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication Wednesday after he repeatedly harassed Cher at the famed Nashville honky-tonk Tootsies Orchid Lounge, police said. ...more

June 26, 2008

One cannot read about what happened to a boy dubbed "Jacob Peters" in the newest lawsuit against the state's social services system and not be angered at the raw deal this child has been handed - both by his biological parents and the Department of Children and Families. ...more

February 2, 2008