A medical center that allowed a patient to escape twice before he killed a sheriff's deputy has been ordered to stop admitting the mentally ill who have been involuntarily committed. ...more

August 5, 2008

Bob Butterworth, who was hand-picked by Gov. Charlie Crist to straighten out the beleaguered Florida Department of Children & Families, resigned Tuesday, leaving many local child welfare advocates surprised and saddened. ...more

July 30, 2008

In the late 1980s Pasco County was contemplating what to do with its swelling stream of solid waste. It could create a new landfill, what people once called a garbage dump. There was only one small problem. Actually it was a huge problem. No one wanted the landfill created anywhere near them. That definitely was a problem, because there was hardly any place a landfill might have been created that wasn't near someone. ...more

July 2, 2008

Four weeks ago County Administrator David Hamilton ordered a do-over after software problems disrupted a mock hurricane drill. ...more

June 28, 2008

SEBRING — First-term Republican Highlands County Commissioner Barbara Stewart won a second-four-year term Friday afternoon when nobody filed to run against her for the commission seat from the Avon Park district. Meanwhile, state Rep. Denise Grimsley, R- Lake Placid, will have a potentially formidable opponent in her bid for re-election. At 3:30 p.m. Friday, three and a half hours after the noon deadline for certifying candidates, the Florida Division of Elections certfified a potentially formidable independent candidate who goes straight to the November general election. ...more

June 20, 2008

I am interested in obtaining information regarding the sale of units in an adult community, a 55-plus community. ...more

June 19, 2008

The community of Lake Wales said farewell to the 140 members of its National Guard unit Monday before the company heads out at 7 a.m. today for a year's deployment in Iraq. ...more

June 17, 2008

LAKE WALES - The community of Lake Wales said farewell to the 140 members of its National Guard unit today before the company heads out at 7 a.m. Tuesday for a year's deployment in Iraq. ...more

June 16, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS - What happened to old-fashioned streetlights and decorative benches purchased by local merchants that once adorned the city's historic downtown? The owners of property in the downtown district along Tarpon Avenue who purchased the street-side amenities in the mid-1980s repeatedly raised that question. ...more

June 7, 2008

Letter Was A Joke, Right? As a writer, I enjoy satire, especially when it is so well written that it takes me a while to recognize it. I've even been fortunate enough to get some of mine published on these pages. ...more

May 24, 2008