The Brooksville City Council will meet at 7 p.m. tonight at City Hall to consider an ordinance to take over the management of city impact fees — putting them at a higher rate than the county. ...more

December 21, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - Six students at Pine View Elementary School in Land O' Lakes were bitten by ticks this month, according to the Pasco County school district. Assistant Superintendent David Scanga thought the children might have picked up the ticks on the playground, so after the school discovered the problem, the campus was sprayed to get rid of the parasites. ...more

December 17, 2009

Pharmaceutical companies and every other special interest group-industry do indeed have a strong grip on our elected representatives (editorial of Dec. 10.) The people's business doesn't get done because of the need for elected officials to constantly raise money to afford to run for re-election. Money comes from drug, oil, dairy, financial, meat and virtually every industry in the country as well as some outside the country to buy the votes of the peoples' representatives. In our system, voting out the incumbents simply replaces them with other special interest agents. ...more

December 14, 2009

As part of a broad effort to boost participation in its mortgage assistance program, the Obama administration will crack down on mortgage companies that are failing to do enough to help borrowers at risk of foreclosure. ...more

December 1, 2009

A state audit of Hillsborough Community College reveals month after month of "unreconciled differences" and raises questions about how well the college keeps track of revenue. ...more

November 24, 2009

Ah, the holiday season is upon us, with good family times and plenty of excuses to over-indulge in rich food eating. ...more

November 19, 2009

Q. Polk County School District is giving the vaccine starting with the middle schools. I was told that they are the "most" at risk but everything I'm reading would point more to the elementary school age children. Do you have anything that supports the middle school age children being more at risk? - Kim, Winter Haven ...more

November 10, 2009

Q. What people are most likely to get the swine flu? Is it people with a history of medical conditions? - Vanessa, Houston, Texas ...more

November 10, 2009

Q. My 91 year old mother is a survivor of the 1918-1919 pandemic. As long as she can remember, she has never had another flu since. Nor have I contacted a flu to the best of my knowledge. Is it possible for the children of the pandemic survivors to have built up an immunity to flu viruses? ...more

October 27, 2009

Q. Why do some people die and others don't? Do they die in their sleep? Why can doctors not help them? ...more

October 27, 2009