In an upshot, if 2009 made us all a little poorer, it also made us all cleaner and more hygiene-oriented. It brought heartaches, joy and astonishment to Highlands County residents. It also brought closure to the family of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper ruthlessly killed while on duty. The economy continued to roil; residents endured not one but three anthrax hoaxes; ordinary residents prodded city hall into action in Venus and Sun 'n Lake, and swine flu got us all a little closer to sanitizers. ...more

January 1, 2010

According to an article published earlier this week in The New York Times, something people would have thought impossible a few years ago, when the price of gasoline as well above $4 a gallon, has been happening of late. U.S. oil refineries have been closing. There hasn't been a refinery built in this country since 1979, but a prolonged drop in the demand for gasoline by U.S. motorists over the last few years has produced excess refining capacity that is being idled. The lengthy recession is credited with much of the slump in demand, but more fuel-efficient vehicles could be playing a role as well. ...more

December 30, 2009

The hundreds of limousines and private jets that ferried environmentalists to the climate conference in Copenhagen ...more

December 18, 2009

Motorists may be giving thanks this week for lower gas prices — at least if annual trends hold up. ...more

November 23, 2009

The price of gasoline in Florida rose by nearly a dime a gallon this past week, possibly propelled by a rise in wholesale prices since late July. ...more

August 11, 2009

While the price of gasoline burned holes in the wallets of weary consumers last summer, one money-saving option for cash-strapped smokers caught on like wildfire. ...more

March 25, 2009

Santiago Carrasco, store manager of Tobacco Depot on Bloomingdale Avenue, said that about the time gas hit $4 a gallon, smokers with pipe dreams about saving a few bucks came in packs to his store to ask how – and how much it would cost - to roll their own cigarettes. But the do-it-yourself department that has been positively smokin' for some eight months is about to be extinguished, he said. An enormous price increase in conjunction with the federal excise tax that takes effect April 1 has already begun to snuff it out. ...more

March 20, 2009

Gasoline prices in the Tampa Bay area continue to climb, despite abundant oil supplies and low oil prices. ...more

February 17, 2009

Gasoline prices in the Tampa Bay area continue to climb, despite abundant oil supplies and low oil prices. Although oil prices remain less than $40 a barrel, the average price of gasoline is creeping closer to $2 a gallon in the Bay area, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. ...more

February 16, 2009

Since you have had all kinds of writers sending thank you letters I thought I would add my thanks to Mr. Bush: For lying to us about WMD that Iraq had so you and your ilk could go to war and make certain people wealthy. For giving all those tax breaks to the wealthy and lying to us how a trickle down economy would work for me. For letting all those good jobs run offshore to make jobs for the Asians and Mexicans. For giving tax breaks to the wealthy and then borrowing money from foreign nations that my grandchildren are going to find difficult to pay back and blame me. ...more

February 7, 2009