As passengers settle into the wide, reclining seats, the train pulls out of Union Station at the edge of downtown Tampa. ...more

June 22, 2008

For two years, Joyce Kesse has driven "the Jen mobile" - a gold Chevrolet Trailblazer covered with photos of her smiling daughter - around the Bay area to trigger leads in her daughter's disappearance. ...more

June 14, 2008

For two years, Joyce Kesse has driven "the Jen mobile" – a gold Trailblazer covered with photos of her smiling daughter – around the Bay area to trigger leads in her daughter's disappearance. Gaither High School graduate Jennifer Kesse was 24 and living in Orlando when she vanished Jan. 24, 2006. Orlando police found her black 2004 Chevrolet Malibu in an apartment complex about one mile from her condominium. ...more

June 13, 2008

In the days after the collapse of the state's $649 million deal with CSX Transportation, both supporters and opponents said the same thing: The goal of creating a commuter rail system in Florida is still alive. ...more

May 11, 2008

Backers of a controversial commuter rail deal in Orlando worked hard to gain allies in the last weeks of the legislative session, offering the enticement that its passage would help Tampa get its own rail system. ...more

May 3, 2008

Halfway through an interview, Evelyn Towler sighed. "I have a lot to say, but I don't particularly like talking about myself." ...more

May 3, 2008

Halfway through an interview, Evelyn Towler sighed. "I have a lot to say, but I don't particularly like talking about myself." But ask the Dunedin woman about her passion for teaching and the words exuberantly tumble out. The 84-year-old Towler has chalked up 38 years in the classroom, teaching everything from kindergarten to college. She fell into teaching almost by accident, she explained, having once wanting to be a journalist. ...more

May 3, 2008

TAMPA - Plagued with debt, flush with charisma, Sergio Pinto arrived in Tampa in 2001. Back in Pittsburgh, he was many things: a restaurateur, an actor on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," owner of a translation business. He came to Tampa, a town with a climate more like the one in his native Guatemala — and a far greater need for his talent of interpreting Spanish to English and vice-versa. ...more

February 24, 2008

Plagued with debt, flush with charisma, Sergio Pinto arrived in Tampa in 2001. ...more

February 23, 2008

Only one piece of the state's multimillion-dollar deal with CSX Transportation remains to be settled, but obstacles to the plan are mounting, because of questions from state lawmakers and moves by federal officials. ...more

February 23, 2008