The Brandon Bypass is bygone, at least for now. Activists trying to reform the county's growth management policies have been pressuring elected officials to remove the conceptual highway from all planning maps. Tuesday, they saw their efforts succeed, as officials voted unanimously to take the penciled route that would sweep through southeastern Hillsborough off the Metropolitan Planning Organization's list of needed transportation improvements for 2025. ...more

December 5, 2007

Several editorials in the Highlands Today have come out against the Florida Hometown Democracy ballot proposal. That is unfortunate, but not surprising, as a newspaper is a "business" and depends upon the number of paid subscribers it has. The more people moving into the newspaper's area, the better chance there is to increase sales. This may be called the "gold" factor. I call it the "greed" factor. ...more

December 5, 2007

TAMPA - The Brandon Bypass is bygone, at least for now. ...more

December 4, 2007

Last Christmas, Donna Hoffman, an ardent environmentalist who lives in Austin, Texas, came up with an unlikely gift for each member of her family: an energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb. ...more

December 2, 2007

Laura Swain served for four years on the Hillsborough County Planning Commission, helping write the language for rural design standards. ...more

November 17, 2007

Fred Jacobsen has a fondness for all things Ruskin, so much so you would think he was one of its native sons. ...more

November 1, 2007

Time was when a societal reference to 'green' mainly meant hard-core, environmental activism. It conjured up the Sierra Club, pricey solar panels and visceral opposition to the pave-over-paradise crowd. And it connoted trade-offs: What's the economic downside to tree-hugging naivete? ...more

October 24, 2007

Hometown Democracy is simply 'ballot box planning.' Its focus is neither your hometown nor improved democracy. ...more

October 23, 2007

Wastewater Carries Signs Of Drug Problems A city's sewer plant doesn't just treat human waste; it also can tip off law enforcement officials about a local drug problem. Using just a teaspoon of wastewater, Oregon State University researchers recently measured levels of everything from caffeine, cotinine (a break-down product of nicotine from cigarette smoke) and prescription drugs to methamphetamines, cocaine and Ecstasy. The community urinalysis wouldn't flush out single users but could eventually help officials track the spread of drugs, the researchers said. When drugs break down in the body, their byproducts end up in excrement and urine. That waste flows from toilets to treatment plants. Caffeine is the ingredient Americans consume and excrete the most. The scientists also found higher concentrations of "recreational" drugs such as cocaine on weekends. Levels of prescription drugs and meth were constant. Chicago Tribune ...more

October 18, 2007

The lines on a draft county plan that could define future road corridors show a network of dots and color coding even in the most remote southeast corner of Hillsborough County, igniting a debate that has been smoldering in recent years. ...more

October 11, 2007