Dusty Franz will spend the next two weeks speeding down the shoulders and sidewalks of central Florida's roadways at five miles an hour. ...more

November 7, 2009

The year's latest tropical depression formed today from an area of low pressure tucked near Central America and is expected to become Tropical Storm Ida, possibly today. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center have watched the thunderstorms in the extreme southwestern Caribbean Sea since the weekend, and the system continued to become more organized. ...more

November 4, 2009

Oct. 3, 2009 ...more

October 3, 2009

It was two hours of moving patriotic songs, speeches and soliloquies during The Patriots Club of Sun City Center's first annual "A Tribute to the Heroes and Victims of Sept. 11, 2001" ceremony. Held from 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 11 at Freedom Towers, about 200 guests attended the ceremony, highlighted by speeches from retired U.S. Army Col. Luther Lloyd of Odessa; Florida state Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon; Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham; and Patriots Club President Uta Kuhn. A letter of regret from U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus was read by the Master of Ceremonies, retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Gordon Bassett, commander of the Sun City Center Military Order of the World Wars. ...more

September 23, 2009

The space shuttle has landed at Kennedy Space Center after all. ...more

September 21, 2009

First Lt. Joseph Helton has been identified as the MacDill Air Force airman who died Tuesday in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense announced today. ...more

September 9, 2009

When I graduated from high school at age 17, I joined the U.S. Air Force. I finished boot camp and went on to tech school. I got my orders for overseas duty and took a short leave before shipping out; I was still 17 years old. ...more

September 9, 2009

Suspicious bag at Tampa International Airport deemed no threat to public. ...more

July 3, 2009

A federal judge has put a hold on his order allowing detainees at a U.S. air base in Afghanistan access to courts until the government can appeal. ...more

June 1, 2009

A 13-year project to create an artificial reef off the Florida Keys for sport divers and anglers has culminated with the scuttling of a 523-foot-long former U.S. Air Force missile tracking ship. It took just a minute and 54 seconds Wednesday to sink the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg after demolition experts triggered a series of explosives that lined both sides of the ship's bilge area below the waterline. The ship settled on the bottom of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in an upright position. ...more

May 28, 2009