Shortly before America's elections in November, then-vice presidential candidate Joe Biden was widely criticized for predicting that an Obama administration would almost certainly be tested by what he called a "generated" international crisis, in much the way that the Soviet Union "tested" John F. Kennedy shortly after he assumed office. ...more

March 7, 2009

When Brian Beck looks at downtown Clearwater, he sees Denver. Not Denver 2008, but Denver 20 years ago, before merchants, investors and the city fashioned the "LoDo" district of nightclubs, restaurants and loft-style condominiums from an aging collection of old warehouses. ...more

November 17, 2008

Brian Beck harbors no illusions that Clearwater, the junior partner in the Tampa metropolitan area, can be Denver, the center of the Mountain West. But he stands by the comparison as the city gains traction in its decades-long quest to redevelop its downtown core. ...more

November 13, 2008

Mexican officials are trying to persuade Americans to visit Ciudad Juarez, touting the city in a new billboard campaign as a "land of encounters." But on the U.S. side of the border, that sounds like a cruel joke. ...more

October 16, 2008

Tired of negotiating pot holes that dot the area in front of the Ruskin post office, I recently drove around back of the Thriftway Plaza to Seventh Avenue Northeast. My interest was captured by a store-front sign that read Alvarez Tortilla Factory. Unless you're a neighborhood regular, it's a little off the beaten path. ...more

September 17, 2008

Tired of negotiating pot holes that dot the area in front of the Ruskin post office, I recently drove around back of the Thriftway Plaza to Seventh Avenue Northeast. My interest was captured by a store-front sign that read Alvarez Tortilla Factory. Unless you're a neighborhood regular, it's a little off the beaten path. ...more

September 17, 2008

Despite efforts to add Border Patrol agents to areas where immigrant traffic is high and drug violence is flaring, officers assigned to the 2,000-mile boundary with Mexico are bunched up near the California coast. And some critics see politics at play. ...more

August 31, 2008

South Texans eager to salvage what they can from waterlogged homes struck by Hurricane Dolly have another problem: The floodwaters they're slogging through are laced with stinging fire ants, snakes and tarantulas. ...more

July 26, 2008

Residents across south Texas slogged through knee-deep muddy waters, tiptoed around downed power lines and dug through debris Thursday, but were thankful that Hurricane Dolly didn't pack the wallop they had feared. ...more

July 25, 2008

Hurricane Dolly rolled into south Texas and northern Mexico on Wednesday, deluging the Rio Grande Valley with rain, knocking out power to tens of thousands of people and ripping roofs off resorts on South Padre Island. ...more

July 24, 2008