SEBRING — When you live in a neighborhood where a high-profile crime has been committed, it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that violent crime is increasing across the county. But perception isn't always reality. "I went to the front yard to get my paper in the morning and I saw all sorts of police cars and crime scene tape everywhere," said Sebring Country Estates resident George Bauer. "It made me wonder what was going on." ...more

February 3, 2008

St. Mary's County Regional Airport is home to a fleet of single-engine Cessnas, many of them owned by amateur pilots and parked in tidy rows just off the runway. ...more

January 10, 2008

It was a magical night: Crystal clear, the backdrop of black-blue sky sprinkled with glittering stars. ...more

December 19, 2007

Tampa police say Georgia authorities have arrested Timothy Blackwelder and have Brittani Stewart in custody. Stewart is the mother of toddler twins and police say Blackwelder shot and killed her husband. Investigators think Stewart left her home at 910 W. Sitka Street after Timothy Craig Blackwelder, 24, shot and killed her husband, George Anthony Stewart Jr., Friday afternoon. The circumstances of her disappearance are not clear. ...more

December 8, 2007

TAMPA - Police responding to a disturbance call in the Sulphur Springs area shortly after 4 p.m. today found a man dead of an apparent gunshot wound when they entered a house at 910 W. Sitka St., according to investigators. ...more

December 7, 2007

Authorities say they have captured a man who shot a woman in a robbery at a local business and then started a gunfight with police in neighborhoods around Gulf Drive on Anna Maria Island. ...more

December 5, 2007

SEBRING — An 82-year-old Sebring Country Estates man was shot and killed Saturday morning, apparently by a burglar. The sheriff's office received a 911 call from Kathleen Tiller, 1610 Falcon at 2:58 a.m., saying she heard a door closing, and thought her husband had been shot. Deputies found Samuel Tiller on the floor, and EMS workers pronounced the victim dead at the scene. ...more

November 24, 2007

Wildfires burning out of control for a second day destroyed more than 600 homes Monday in Southern California as authorities warned about 265,000 households to evacuate. About 100 businesses also burned down. ...more

October 23, 2007

SEBRING — Highlands Hammock Park Ranger Darrel Smith remains hospitalized at the Lakeland Regional Medical Center Sunday after his tricycle collided with a car Friday evening, according to a spokesman from the park. Smith, 60, was in critical condition when he was airlifted Friday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The staff at Lakeland Regional refused to provide any information on Smith's condition Sunday afternoon, declining to confirm if he was there, and not stating why. However, Park Ranger Steve Barrera from Highlands Hammock State Park said Smith had "multiple injuries" but was "stabilized" at the hospital. ...more

September 3, 2007