This past week I returned from our 7th American Legion yearly cruise we put together to of course enjoy life and each other, but mainly to raise funds for our veteran programs and children and youth programs. It has personally been a rewarding experience for my husband, David, and me, but this year's cruise brought along with it yet another dynamic force that made me once more sit up and take notice of our wonderful country and all its attributes. The force came this time from the eye of our youngest son, Matthew, who along with his lovely new bride Theresa, had come along for this year's cruise, as did many other of our travelers bring family. After a day at sea with us developing a great rapport with the other travelers and enjoying all the beauty around us, we went into Grand Cayman Island followed by Jamaica. That evening my son came to our room saying, "Mom, you know this is the first time I have ever been out of the United States in my 40 years and I felt in my heart that there is no place on earth like the United States of America. The beauty God gave our world was all around us as it is everywhere, but seeing these ports and the structure of their economy, education and living, etc. I can honestly say that even in these hard times, Mom, there is nowhere like the good old U.S.A. Our poorest of people live better than these people. ...more

February 10, 2009

The Coast Guard will begin enforcement today of a federal security identification badge and background program at Tampa, St. Petersburg and Manatee seaports to allow workers unescorted access to 68 port facilities. ...more

January 13, 2009

The Coast Guard will begin enforcement Tuesday of a federal security identification badge and background program at Tampa, St. Petersburg and Manatee seaports to allow workers unescorted access to 68 port facilities. ...more

January 12, 2009

China's president was signing dozens of trade and investment deals with communist ally Cuba on Tuesday, part of a Latin America trip on which Chinese businessmen have been snapping up all manner of raw materials. ...more

November 19, 2008

The Port of Tampa along with nine other U.S. seaports accounted for 83 percent of the American cruise industry's passenger traffic last year, the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group in Fort Lauderdale, said in a new report. ...more

October 22, 2008

The railroads can't win. As a worker bee of a pretty good size customer of the nation's railroads, I know we - and our competitors - are always complaining about the shortage of service. Lack of rail space clogs up ports, rail delays at log-jammed hub cities limit main line trains and drive us nuts. There are not enough trains and tracks to carry all the freight we collectively offer. We are always complaining that the railroad is not expanding its service enough to meet demand, and why don't they do something about it? Don't they care about people? ...more

November 4, 2007

SRI-St. Petersburg may be the new kid on Florida's research scene, but by landing a $36.5 million Navy contract, it has quickly established itself as a major player in marine science research. ...more

November 1, 2007

The Tampa Port Authority on Tuesday unanimously approved a 4 percent pay increase for port director Richard Wainio, bringing his annual base salary to $245,000 beginning March 7. ...more

October 17, 2007