Educator. Coach. Pastor. Father and grandfather. Prison evangelist. Community servant. The Rev. Abe Brown is one of Tampa's last surviving icons from the days before people of color had rights. Some of his peers were more vocal in their leadership — the late Rev. Leon Lowry and Bob Gilder, to name two. Brown, meanwhile, quietly influenced thousands of lives and change in this community. It is only fitting that his biblical name means "father of many nations." "He's the property of history. Our history," says Tampa's poet laureate, James Tokley. "He is the coach of men, of the community and of the hopeless." At the end of the year, Brown, now 80, retires from one job so he can plunge into another. Although he has certainly earned the right to enjoy some time off, that's just not his nature. Because wherever there's work that needs to be done, there is Abe Brown. ...more

December 23, 2007

Coach wasn't putting up with anything from Al Barnes. The teenager knew that when he saw Abe Brown on the porch, talking to his mama. ...more

December 23, 2007

SEBRING — Sisters Barbara Walker and Mary Toney have never lived anywhere except Washington Heights, and they don't ever want to. "I was raised across the street," Toney said from the porch of her Harris Street home. "I want to stay close to home, and I like having my sister one block away. I'm 74, and I've never had another address besides Sebring." Walker likes the tight-knit community of people who have lived there all their lives. "We help each other and look out for each other, like one big family," Walker said. "But I am very glad they are redoing the neighborhood too. It's been a long time coming." ...more

December 12, 2007

A woman bit off her ex-boyfriend's lower lip as they were kissing in bed, likely disfiguring him permanently, authorities said. ...more

November 8, 2007

TAMPA - An 18-year-old was shot twice after trick-or-treating last night but has refused to name his attacker, Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said. ...more

November 1, 2007

Two Lakeland men shot during a drive-by at 1138 W. Mercury Drive on Wednesday night have been identified, Polk County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Donna Wood said. Terrance Lott, 33, of 1401 N. Webster Ave., was shot in the torso; Dontay Gibson, 26, of 1131 B W. Mercury Drive, was shot in the leg, Wood said. ...more

October 25, 2007

Pinellas County sheriff's investigators on Monday continued trying to confirm claims by a Clearwater man that he boarded an airplane with three bullet wounds. They also were trying to confirm whether he was even shot. ...more

October 23, 2007

An early morning blaze tore through a double-wide mobile home Wednesday, leaving a family homeless. ...more

October 18, 2007

DADE CITY - A family lost its home to an early morning blaze that tore through a doublewide mobile home today. ...more

October 17, 2007

Police still are investigating a single-car crash that killed a 20-year-old man Saturday. ...more

October 9, 2007