After years of letting suburbia sprawl hither and yon across Pasco County, commissioners have begun charting a new course for growth. ...more

November 20, 2009

Pasco County officials are talking about a plan to allow developers to buy development rights from rural landowners, where the county wants to preserve open space, and increase development in Pasco's urban core. ...more

November 17, 2009

The Louisiana shipbuilder that operates Tampa Ship LLC at the Port of Tampa is considering Tampa, along with Houma, La., as a site to build an arctic icebreaker for Shell Oil. ...more

November 17, 2009

The Cone Ranch Advisory Committee, of which I am a member, was asked to listen to the proposal by Florida Conservation & Environmental Group and recommend to the Hillsborough County Commission the best way to preserve and protect Cone Ranch. ...more

November 6, 2009

The city council is expected to vote today on a proposal to expand Tampa's anti-discrimination laws to include transgender individuals. The proposed ordinance, if approved, would extend laws prohibiting discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations based on sexual orientation, sex, race and religion to include "gender identity or expression" as a protected class. ...more

November 5, 2009

If we had our way, Hillsborough County would restore Cone Ranch, transforming ditches and pastures into creeks and wetlands, and open it to the public as a wilderness park. ...more

November 2, 2009

Gallup's October Crime poll finds 44 percent of Americans in favor of making marijuana legal and 54 percent opposed. U.S. public support for legalizing marijuana was fixed in the 25 percent range from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but acceptance jumped to 31 percent in 2000 and has continued to grow. ...more

November 1, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) —Businesses would not be required to provide health insurance under legislation being readied for Senate debate, but large firms would owe significant penalties if any worker needed government subsidies to buy coverage on their own, according to Democratic officials familiar with talks on the bill. ...more

October 25, 2009

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — Texas and Alabama get far less money every year from offshore drilling in their state waters than advocates say Florida can expect, the state's environmental chief told a House panel Wednesday. ...more

October 21, 2009

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul says Seminole Indian gaming talks are at an impasse and he has asked a federal agency to intervene. ...more

October 21, 2009