A water main burst deep beneath Mariner Boulevard on Wednesday, forcing authorities to close the southbound lanes for hours at the notorious "Four Corners" intersection with Spring Hill Drive. ...more

January 24, 2008

A water main burst deep beneath Mariner Boulevard on Wednesday, forcing authorities to close the southbound lanes for hours at the notorious "Four Corners" intersection with Spring Hill Drive. ...more

January 23, 2008

Having returned to the Tampa area after living in Seattle the past five years, I am shocked at a multitude of declining quality-of-life issues in the bay area. One strong and dangerous concern is the number of cars that speed through traffic lights as they turn from caution to red. ...more

January 7, 2008

Editor's Note: We are republishing this letter to the editor due to an error. We apologize for the error. It is good that our county leaders are seeking sound suggestions for the future growth of our county. It would have been more significant if they had actually accepted and followed through on suggestions in the last five years. ...more

December 27, 2007

It is good that our county leaders are seeking sound suggestions for the future growth of our county. It would have been more significant if they had actually accepted and followed through on suggestions in the last five years. For instance, a number of citizens had pleaded for alternate arterial roads parallel to U.S. 27. There are still no through arterial roads unless you count the Sebring Parkway, which has a number of traffic lights, and is a number of years from completion north of Avon Park. Even the 2025-year bypass from south Sebring will stretch west into Hardee County and come back to U.S. 27 in Polk County. Great concern had been expressed about development in wetlands and flood-plains, to no avail. The recent decision to rebuild State Road 8 at twice the cost, because of the low-lying topography, apparently ignored that concern. Even after the county government bought a number of houses in that area due to flooding, the county commission approved another permit to build in Venus. The fact that some areas in this county are un-developable apparently is not a logical deterrent to development. The issue of conserving water run-off has been in the news recently, and the related agencies have expressed concern about employing a number of measures to achieve that goal. This includes preventing pollution of our lakes. Rain run-off must have a place (wetlands and flood plains) where it can be filtered into the aquifer. ...more

December 21, 2007

The benefits of putting raised medians along a stretch of U.S. 301 depend on your perspective. ...more

December 17, 2007

The benefits of putting raised medians along a stretch of U.S. 301 depend on your perspective. ...more

December 17, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - Five years after first submitting plans, Wal-Mart has won the county's approval for a superstore, just south of the apex of U.S. 41 and North Dale Mabry Highway. ...more

December 13, 2007

State transportation officials said they can dramatically reduce the number of crashes on U.S. 301 between Pine Avenue and Lake St. Charles Boulevard. ...more

December 8, 2007

State transportation officials said they can reduce the number of crashes on U.S. 301 between Pine Avenue and Lake St. Charles Boulevard. ...more

December 8, 2007