It's been dubbed a Noah's Ark for plant life and built to withstand an earthquake or a nuclear attack. ...more

February 26, 2008

Change might be blowing in the wind for insurance coverage for hurricanes and other natural disasters, Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano thinks. Mariano has been pushing hard for a nationwide fund for catastrophic insurance. Various proposals have been floating around for the past 12 years. ...more

February 23, 2008

I find it rather difficult to understand how people who live in this great country can fail to be proud of it. ...more

February 22, 2008

U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, has asked Gov. Charlie Crist to convince Crist's new political big buddy, Sen. John McCain, the likely 2008 Republican presidential nominee, to drop his opposition to creating a national catastrophe fund to pay for damages from natural disasters such as hurricanes. ...more

February 16, 2008

The message of change being delivered by the voters in campaign '08 is directed as much against Des Moines, Lansing and Tallahassee as it is against Washington. ...more

January 28, 2008

If your image of a garden club is limited to ladies planting azaleas in the town square, think again: The National Garden Clubs is supporting a reforestation effort that includes areas hard-hit by wildfires and other natural disasters. ...more

January 18, 2008

President Bush said Monday that economic indicators are "increasingly mixed," causing anxiety for many Americans. But he said the economy is resilient and the United States has dealt with anxiety before. ...more

January 8, 2008

SARASOTA COUNTY - The state will pay $525,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former Florida Highway Patrol major who said her firing was gender discrimination. ...more

December 20, 2007

President Bush has called us a nation addicted to oil. If he looked at our local utility, he would cite it as a company radically addicted to coal and natural gas. ...more

December 10, 2007

The worst catastrophe since a series of hurricanes hit Florida in 2004 is sharply higher homeowner insurance rates, some county, state and federal leaders argue. Backers of a National Catastrophic Insurance Fund believe the time has come for the self-insurance concept for states to supplement the private market. ...more

November 21, 2007