It doesn't look like much yet, but there's something growing out in front of Peace Hall, on an irregular shaped patch of ground defined by a rail fence. Inside the fenced-in area, hand-painted signs identify the sprigs already emerging from the ground in places and proclaim what the still-bare patches of dirt will soon yield. If all goes as planned, nearly two-dozen varieties of fruit, vegetables and herbs will soon grow in the tight little space across the street from Sims Park. ...more

March 4, 2009

Picnic tables were covered with chips, peanuts, pretzels and other goodies. ...more

September 15, 2008

The three were just sitting there in the grass, it seemed. One with a camera and the other two with notepads, the trio seemingly camped out there every morning near the entrance to Buttonwood Bay, doing who-knows-what? ...more

July 17, 2008

One minute, they would be clapping and stretching as part of a synchronized laughter chant. The next, they were prowling and crouching and roaring like lions, face-to-face and just inches apart. ...more

July 14, 2008

The Zaimaj family watched from their beach chairs as a loose circle of 20-plus strangers broke into loud laughter just a few yards away. ...more

July 13, 2008

The interactive laughter and role-playing, combined with an array of simple movements, results in an experience that's seriously healthy. ...more

July 3, 2008

AVON PARK — Brad Cain said he teaches some of his friends their skateboarding tricks, but neither he nor his friends bother with the skateboard park near the middle school. Instead, Cain and his posse go out on the parking lots, grinding along the curbs by the First Baptist Church, moving down the sidewalks on Main Street and, until one of his friends got arrested for it, taking the covered lot of Audio Options. Why not the park? "It's crap. We need a different one," he said. "It's better for bicycles." As he and his friends hit the parking lot, the skateboard park lies in near-abandon. The concrete half-pipes, the rail and the ramps are cracked and covered in graffiti. Near one of the ramps, a loose set of concrete blocks form a makeshift set of steps. Scattered, shattered concrete littered the half-pipe Thursday afternoon. This park, Avon Park Police Department Comdr. Michael Rowan said, is the one his officers tell the skateboarders to go to when they're caught trespassing on the downtown parking lots. Public Works Coordinator Ted Long could not be reached Thursday for comment. ...more

November 12, 2007

Dunedin Fine Art Center can now draw on a short-term solution to its long-term problem. ...more

September 21, 2007

Several passersby watched Monday morning as a motorist hit a sandhill crane, then kept on driving. Not knowing who to call or where to take the injured bird, they turned to a passing mailman, who scooped up the bird, tucked it in back of his truck and hauled it to Care Animal Hospital for treatment. ...more

September 12, 2007