To a nation reeling from recession and facing long-festering problems, President Barack Obama has a simple reminder: "We are not quitters." ...more

February 25, 2009

Like the million or so on the National Mall and the tens of millions more riveted to television monitors across the country, the patriots of Pasco Middle School applauded and cheered the inauguration of Barack H. Obama on Tuesday. ...more

January 21, 2009

The box from Andrea Davis' new flat-screen TV sat in her garage for two weeks as she fretted about setting it by the curb. ...more

December 25, 2008

A national nonprofit says homeowners might be taunting thieves about the treasures they have simply by putting out their trash. ...more

December 24, 2008

Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded with Congress on Tuesday for a $25 billion lifeline to save the once-proud titans of U.S. industry, warning of a national economic catastrophe should they collapse. ...more

November 18, 2008

The Children's Services Council will hold its meeting on Wednesday. One issue on the agenda will be a Truancy Bill Resolution. The Florida State Legislature passed the Bullying Bill this year after four long years of effort. This will be the third year of efforts to persuade the legislature to pass this companion Truancy Bill. The local Highlands County School Board has passed elements of its school regulations pertaining to bullying and truancy to more efficiently manage conduct on campus, but it is the state law and regulations which need to be updated for all 67 counties, to ensure a safe and suitable environment for students to learn in our public schools. Truancy is one significant consequence of bullying. One only has to note the level and intensity of destructive and violent behavior by students on and off campus, in news reports, to know that our educational institutions are in peril. ...more

August 25, 2008

The retention pond along Curry Drive has been a magnet for thrill seekers. ...more

July 17, 2008

SPRING HILL - The retention pond along Curry Drive has long been a magnet for thrill seekers. Three sinkholes put an end to that today. ...more

July 16, 2008

So I'm sitting through my final round at a speech and debate tournament thinking, "If I hear one more speech about the problem with America, I am going to nose-dive into an inescapable depression and become a 17-year-old alcoholic." ...more

January 16, 2008

LAKE PLACID — The plane takes off with a buzz, and immediately climbs nearly straight up. Sergio Sofo is at the controls of a Banshee 3D. What kind of plane is that? "It's an extreme aerobatics model," explains Brian Miller, vice president of the Lake Placid Aeromodelers. "It does things a plane shouldn't be able to do." One reason why: it has a two-cylinder, 100cc engine, like a small motorcycle. But it's so light, the owner can hold it in one hand. There's a 2:1 power-to-weight ratio, Miller said, which is why it can thrust into a nearly vertical takeoff. A few minutes into the flight, Sofo put the plane into a Lomcevak, a quadruple, wing-over-wing, tail-over-head somersault that looked like it was in trouble and crashing to the earth. Then, about 100 feet from real peril, the Banshee sprang to life and flew off horizontally. ...more

November 20, 2007