Gasparilla swamped downtown Tampa with a seaborne invasion and thousands flocked to MacDill Air Force Base for the crowd-pleasing AirFest. ...more

July 18, 2008

Tens of thousands are expected to flood the downtown area to watch the homemade flying machines take off from a raised platform and splash into the water. ...more

July 17, 2008

PLANT CITY Petty Officer Phillip Waldron was honored Monday by the city for being named the United Service Organizations (USO) Coast Guardsman of the Year award. ...more

June 26, 2008

An Austrian tourist died Monday after being bitten by a shark while diving near the Bahamas in waters that had been baited with bloody fish parts to attract the predators. ...more

February 26, 2008

The Air Force says one of the two pilots whose fighter jets crashed into the Gulf of Mexico has died. The other pilot is in good condition. ...more

February 21, 2008

A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Clearwater rescued one of two pilots from F-15C's that crashed into the Gulf of Mexico this evening. ...more

February 20, 2008

Just because the smoke has cleared here in Highlands County doesn't mean that competitive barbecuing has come to an end in the area. In fact there is one going on in Wauchula today. And last week by far the largest Florida state contest was held up in Lakeland. At our 12 Hours of BBQ contest there were a total of 42 teams. In Lakeland they had almost 60 professional teams, 80 backyard teams and around 20 kiddie teams. That's a lot of smokin' going on, and a lot of barbecue enthusiasts. And, of course, during this time of our political cycle where there's a crowd of more than three people there is a candidate trying to garner just one more vote. Last Saturday in Lakeland was no exception. Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee siezed the opportunity to shake a few hands. Through the sea of people attending the cook-off I saw some TV cameras and boom mikes and went to see what was going on. It was Huckabee who was the focus of their attention. Since there weren't any more than maybe 20 non-media people around him I elbowed my way to the front of the group. I got to shake his hand and exchange a few pleasantries. What I didn't share with him however was the fact that I had already taken advantage of Joe Campbell's convenient offer to beat the rush and voted early at the county building. ...more

February 2, 2008

MADEIRA BEACH - The Coast Guard diverted one of its helicopters from a training exercise today to lower a pump to a boat that was taking on water 40 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, coast guard officials say. ...more

February 1, 2008

A man apparently jumped off the Sunshine Skyway bridge early Saturday, authorities said. ...more

December 29, 2007

Jeni Jones first learned about Zumba from a late-night infomercial. She was inspired by the high-energy workout that combines Latin dance moves and music. She had tried other forms of exercise but always grew bored and quit. ...more

December 5, 2007