SPRING LAKE — Joe DeCerbo thinks he's finally solved Spring Lake's water problem. South Florida Water Management District has allowed a seawall to be built that carries excess rainfall directly to Arbuckle Creek, without flowing over the land of ranch owner Sandra Tyrell. "This will, without a doubt, protect us and Sandy Tyrell forever," said DeCerbo, the manager of Spring Lake Improvement District for the past two years. "As soon as it's finished, we're going to sit down and have an agreement typed with them sitting there. We sign it, and Sandy signs it, and then we call the judge and get that injunction lifted." ...more

July 5, 2008

A historic conservation deal for Florida to acquire some 300 square miles of land for Everglades restoration moved forward Monday when water managers approved a negotiation process for the potential $1.75 billion purchase. ...more

July 1, 2008

Last week we became historic witnesses to what once seemed remote and unimaginable. Immediately a few uninformed critics began trying to spin our brightest moment into something dark and cynical. ...more

June 29, 2008

A planned $1.75 billion deal to buy out U.S. Sugar Corp.'s land in the Everglades could end up costing twice that much, including interest payments, water managers said Friday. ...more

June 28, 2008

Remember that property tax cut you voted on in January, which added a $25,000 homestead exemption? Amendment 1 is taking effect with the tax bill property owners will receive in July, said Highlands County Property Appraiser Raymond McIntyre. So how much will the average homeowner save? The real answer is "it depends," said McIntyre, on whether the taxpayer lives in a city or the county, which water management district, the price of the home, whether it's a mobile home, or if it's a commercial business. ...more

June 26, 2008

For the past seven months, Gov. Charlie Crist and his staff have been talking in secret with U.S. Sugar Corp. about buying all its holdings in South Florida. ...more

June 26, 2008

For all his nice-guy, never-say-a-mean-word ways, Gov. Charlie Crist has managed to do what no other Florida governor has dared to attempt. ...more

June 25, 2008

Environmentalists for decades have demonized the sugar industry, accusing it of simultaneously polluting and robbing precious water from the Everglades. ...more

June 25, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH - The state of Florida and U.S. Sugar Corp., the nation's largest producer of cane sugar, are negotiating the sale of thousands of acres of farmland in the Everglades to help restore the wetlands, three officials familiar with the potential deal said Monday. ...more

June 23, 2008

To showcase its long-standing indifference toward the environment, the Bush administration last week announced it will not interfere with Florida's practice of pumping polluted farm water and suburban runoff into the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. ...more

June 19, 2008