Five years ago, schools needed to keep teachers like Lourene Weiss. Families poured into Florida and overwhelmed public schools at a time when voters demanded limits on how big class sizes could get. This left the state in need of tens of thousands of teachers, and Weiss was planning to retire. ...more

December 7, 2008

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A huge demand for Florida's freshwater turtles in Asia is sparking a debate over harvest limits. ...more

November 19, 2008

The Internal Revenue Service says overdue economic stimulus checks will soon be mailed to about a quarter of a million married couples who had been denied the money because a spouse's married name and Social Security number didn't match. ...more

October 19, 2008

The death toll from Hurricane Ike is remarkably low so far, considering that legions of people stayed behind as the storm obliterated row after row of homes along the Texas coast. But officials suspect there are more victims out there and say some might simply have been swept out to sea. ...more

September 18, 2008

The widening of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard should start Dec. 1, according to a deal between Pasco County and the developer of Seven Oaks. ...more

September 12, 2008

One of Florida's fastest growing public schools isn't built with bricks and mortar. It offers lessons in English, math, social studies and chemistry online. ...more

August 1, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Some deals aren't worth the paper they're printed on, but the District School Board of Pasco County and the county's Utilities Department have teamed up on a project in which everyone should come out ahead. ...more

July 16, 2008

Thousands of workers at U.S. Sugar thought they were getting a good deal when the company shelved their pension plan and gave them stock for their retirement instead. They had a heady sense of controlling their own destiny as they became the company's biggest shareholders, Vic McCorvey, a former farm manager there, said. ...more

May 29, 2008

LAKELAND - The 37th annual Mayfaire-by-the-Lake art festival is under way on the shores of Lake Morton in Lakeland. ...more

May 10, 2008

Some people in Highlands County don't like hearing that to attract a top-level county administrator that the wages must be drastically higher than what's currently being paid. The truth, though, is that you get what you pay for. Highlands County and our cities have gotten off light on what they pay administrators. Elsewhere across the United States, these are well compensated positions and for good reason. City and county administrators must juggle so many constituents, and try to make the most people happy while looking out for the well being of whatever entity they serve. Sometimes making people happy and doing what's best are impossible to balance. ...more

January 16, 2008