AVON PARK — Norm Stephens knows that in a recessionary economy, voters aren't likely to approve any suggestion of a tax increase. And in November, there will be nine ballot issues to confuse voters, including a one-cent sales tax which that would replace school property taxes. And furthermore, the 10-mill college property tax is No. 8 on the list, after the amendments prohibiting gay marriage and illegal aliens owning land. So its chances of passing may be small. But if voters approve in November, the Legislature would be required to allow the commissioners in Highlands, Hardee and DeSoto counties to hold a election which would generate property taxes to support South Florida Community College. "It's a four-step process," said Stephens, SFCC president. "It has to be approved by 60 percent of the voters in November. That allows the Legislature to develop rules. Then the counties can place it on the ballot, and the voters would have to approve again." ...more

June 8, 2008

In a decade handling evictions for the Miami-Dade County Police Department, Albert Fernandez has run across a middle-class father bankrupted by his daughter's cancer treatment, an old woman scammed by a gambling husband, and countless families perpetually on the edge of poverty. ...more

June 8, 2008

Police were questioning two men and searching for at least two others Friday after an undercover narcotics officer was shot while observing drug sales in one of the city's rougher neighborhoods. ...more

June 7, 2008

Residents need more notification before workers at the Babe Zaharias Golf Course spray a pesticide to kill worms, city council members said Thursday. ...more

June 6, 2008

MIAMI - Miami-Dade County's public defender says his office plans to refuse most felony cases because state budget cuts mean his attorneys can't effectively cover their caseloads. ...more

June 4, 2008

SEBRING — A Lake Placid veterinarian's push for a new ballot initiative, which would create a new property tax to build a land acquisition fund, may reach the county commissioners next month. Dr. Elton Gissindanner and his supporters convinced the Natural Resources Advisory Commission Wednesday to draft a bill that would create a tax of 0.2 mils, or $10 for a property valued at $100,000 after the $50,000 homestead exemptions are considered. If the county commissioners approve it, it could appear on the ballot in November. Gissindanner said that 29 Florida counties had a conservation fund of some sort. Polk County's program bought more than 12,000 acres so far. ...more

May 29, 2008

MIAMI - Melissa Green's mother spoke Spanish, but she never learned - her father forbid it. Today, that's a frequent problem in this city where the English-speaking population is outnumbered. ...more

May 29, 2008

Plans by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office to continue reaching out to boaters about the do's and don'ts of an enjoyable but potentially dangerous recreational activity couldn't have come at a more appropriate time. ...more

May 25, 2008

MIAMI - Authorities have arrested a Miami man they say was found with a missing 15-year-old girl from Illinois. ...more

May 23, 2008

A convicted killer faces a new murder charge after the severed limbs of a South Florida jeweler were found in trash bins throughout a Miami suburb. ...more

May 9, 2008