This year, with school boards facing austere budgets, the Hillsborough and Pasco school districts revisited their fees and school-use policies in an effort to better cover expenses. ...more

November 23, 2009

Money from a fine levied against the region's water supplier for excessive pumping at wellfields in the winter and spring will pay for a study of how much water Florida Friendly Landscaping saves. ...more

October 22, 2009

Anyone interested in getting an interpretation of a new law that allows Florida-friendly landscaping, even in homeowners associations that previously prohibited it, can contact Bonnie Hazleton at (850) 245-2121. ...more

August 26, 2009

There's good news for people whose dreams of Florida-friendly landscaping have been crushed by their homeowners associations. A new law prohibits HOAs from enacting or enforcing rules against Florida-friendly landscaping that aims to cut the use of water, pesticides and fertilizers. STORY, Page 12 ...more

July 11, 2009

A new state law that went into effect July 1 states that homeowners' associations can no longer prohibit residents from installing drought-tolerant, Florida-friendly grass and landscaping. ...more

July 8, 2009

A new state law that went into effect July 1 states that homeowners associations can no longer prohibit residents from installing drought-tolerant, Florida-friendly grass and landscaping. ...more

July 8, 2009

Residents of Sun City Center question members of a Beautification Taskforce during a membership meeting at Community Hall. ...more

March 31, 2009

Tampa's stringent new watering restrictions will leave some yards parched - maybe dead. ...more

March 24, 2009

Homeowners associations are allowing Tampa's watering ordinance to take precedence over their deed restrictions in regard to lawn maintenance. ...more

March 23, 2009

If homeowners and their homeowners associations cannot bear the thought of a brown spot on a lawn during the summer, I wonder what they must be thinking now when there is scarcely a green blade of grass to be found, except maybe under some trees. It cannot have escaped anyone's notice that we had a hard freeze recently. That doesn't happen every year, any more than hurricanes or droughts are necessarily annual events. It is at times like these when we find out how well or poorly our landscapes have been designed, installed and maintained. ...more

March 22, 2009