For the most part, three kinds of people live in Highlands County: The recent newcomers, who laughed off Wednesday's cold weather, saying it "felt good." The Florida natives who bundled up and acted as if we were on the North Pole. And then there are many of us who have been here just enough years that we want to act like the cold was nothing, but were shivering to the bone, wondering at what point our blood finally thinned. ...more

January 4, 2008

Paul Smokov doesn't need radar or other high-tech equipment to forecast a major snowstorm on the prairie. He consults pig spleens. ...more

December 28, 2007

For 9-year-old Moises Garcia, the cold white stuff was a new experience. ...more

December 15, 2007

Lisa Wofford had just moved out of her apartment and was planning to move her family into a house when a winter storm knocked a power pole onto the new digs, preventing her from closing on it. ...more

December 15, 2007

A relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated summer sea ice would be gone in five years. ...more

December 12, 2007

TEMPLE TERRACE For 9-year-old Moises Garcia, the cold white stuff was a new experience. Standing in a rapidly melting, 20-ton pile of shaved-ice "snow," his two minutes on the mound was an adventure. "Ooh, it's cold! Look, my fingers are frozen!" said the Riverhills Elementary School pupil. "Next time, I'll bring mittens." Moises, who was born in New Jersey but moved to Florida as a baby, was among the children at a Temple Terrace festival enjoying their first encounter with snow. ...more

December 11, 2007

GO FISHING is a daily look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Mark Cook. ...more

December 10, 2007