Not everyone can make it to New York's famous Times Square block party to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve, and certainly not everyone would want to. ...more

December 30, 2008

More than two miles over the flat east Pasco landscape, a twin-turbo Otter airplane disgorges two dozen spores. At least that's what they look like from the ground. They fall separately, then, a mile from the ground, pop their nylon blooms that open into colorful petals drifting safely, hopefully, to the ground. It's Christmas Boogie time at Zephyrhills Skydive City, and as usual, the celebration of warm weather, gravity and clean air to fill parachutes is in full swing, with people from around the world coming to jump out of airplanes. ...more

December 29, 2008

In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new, large-scale survey suggesting that Americans are too apathetic about ethical standards. ...more

November 30, 2008

Now that there are more people living in downtown Tampa, they need more places to eat. ...more

November 5, 2008

Last year, about 600 people turned out to raise $100,000 for Gulfside Regional Hospice at the first Hike for Hospice. This year's hike is set for Nov. 8; beyond raising money for hospice, participants will hike to remember. ...more

November 1, 2008

Well before sunrise Oct. 18, six sleepy Deltona teens piled into a van to make the two-and-a-half-hour drive for their church's Bible Quiz team. Some 88 youth from various Florida church teams came to participate in a denominational Florida Southeast District Bible Quiz, from distant locations including Hollywood, Westwood, Rainbow Springs, Lakeland, Piedmont Park, Tallahassee, Miami and Zephyrhills. Some teams arrived Friday night and stayed in local host homes. ...more

October 28, 2008

A new K-8 school's reduced design will continue as planned, but open a year later than expected. ...more

October 8, 2008

Let's go Rays! Attending four games in a week and clanking my cowbell during the final, playoff-clinching home stand, I felt briefly seduced into feeling "at home" myself, 35 years after leaving Tampa. Not to the point of getting a mohawk, though. ...more

October 5, 2008

Talk about going out with a win. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has spent years fighting for legislation that would require insurance plans to treat mental health patients on par with those who have physical ailments. No more higher co-payments or deductibles for the mental health treatments. No more limits on visits to the doctor that differ from the caps for other patients. ...more

October 4, 2008

Oh, how history could have changed. But the NCAA did not have an excessive-celebration penalty on the books when flamboyant Deion Sanders roamed Doak Campbell Stadium for the Florida State Seminoles in the late 1980s. ...more

September 11, 2008