Growing up in Plant City, James and Blake Emory were surrounded by walls that doubled as art. ...more

February 16, 2008

On several occasions, while volunteering at the church service centers in Avon Park, I would ask some seemingly able bodied aid recipients the reason why they were not working. Quite often, the answer given was a lack of transportation to get to and from work on a regular and dependable basis. At first I questioned that response but, upon reflection, I concluded that the lack of public transportation in the Avon Park-Sebring area is more than just an inconvenience; it is definitely a real hardship for many of our constituents. In fact last month, while traveling along Memorial Drive I stopped to pick up a walker and asked him where he was heading. He said "Homer's Restaurant." He informed me that earlier that morning he had been called to come in to work on his day off, and to start working by 8 a.m. Unfortunately, due to a lack of transportation, he had started walking the six mile distance to Homer's and had managed to reach that point at approximately 8:45 a.m. After dropping him off at the restaurant, he proceeded to thank me and rushed off to his job. ...more

February 16, 2008

The parent company of Outback Steakhouse and its sibling restaurants has rescinded a policy of requiring its wait staff to cover credit-card processing fees for tips included on their customers' bills. ...more

February 2, 2008

So you really think $75 per month county combat pay for our warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan is a "wonderful gesture." Maybe you (and the commissioners) should rethink the idea. It is perhaps a noble thought but one that is very apt to get bogged down in bureaucratic red tape which will surely spoil the original purpose. For one thing, you say it will go only to those "on the front lines every day." Does that mean a wounded soldier evacuated to the rear for a week of medical treatment loses his stipend for that month? How would any soldier establish that he/she was on the front lines every day? Worse, in lands where suicide bombers and IEDs abound, where are the front lines? Someone driving a fuel truck to an isolated helicopter base may be in a lot more danger than someone patrolling a pacified neighborhood. ...more

December 30, 2007

When you live to be Sara "Susan" Harrison's age, the first hundred candles get dropped from the birthday cake. ...more

December 28, 2007

SARASOTA COUNTY — When you live to be Sara "Susan" Harrison's age, the first hundred candles get dropped from the birthday cake. ...more

December 27, 2007

How is it that the body ages while the person inside still feels as young as ever? I find myself making plans as if I can still do all the things I've always done. And then I'm shocked when things take longer, or are more tiring, or I find I simply can't do them at all. ...more

September 23, 2007