Letters to the editor from the Oct. 21 West Pasco editions of The Suncoast News. ...more

October 21, 2009

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson made his annual trek to the Florida Strawberry Festival parade luncheon, but he didn't get his usual treat. ...more

March 11, 2009

Stephanie Ragusa believes she is being harassed by the staff at the Hillsborough County jail, where she is being held without bond on charges of molesting two teenagers at the school where she taught. ...more

March 4, 2009

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson made his annual trek to the Florida Strawberry Festival parade luncheon, but he didn't get his usual treat. He had to catch a 1 p.m. flight to Washington and didn't have time for strawberry shortcake. Nelson was among a crowd of dignitaries and festival officials who attended the luncheon today at the Trinkle center on the Plant City campus of Hillsborough Community College. ...more

March 2, 2009

County commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved an interlocal agreement that allows the county and city fire departments to share the use of the Brooksville Fire Station for the next 25 years. ...more

September 24, 2008

A lawsuit challenging a new constitutional amendment that lets homeowners take property tax breaks with them when they move should be dismissed, state and local government attorneys told a judge Thursday. ...more

May 30, 2008

After seven years of discussions and studies on the space crunch at the courthouse, a deadline for action has been set. ...more

January 16, 2008

After seven years of discussions and studies on the space crunch at the courthouse, a deadline for action has been set. ...more

January 15, 2008

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — The final chapter in one of Highlands County's most notorious murders may have come to an end Thursday. DNA testing cannot be done in the contract killing of citrus and cattle baron Charles Von Maxcy because evidence from the sensational 1966 case apparently no longer exists, the Florida Supreme Court ruled. The justices unanimously affirmed a trial judge's decision denying DNA testing sought by death row inmate William H. Kelley. He was convicted of killing Von Maxcy in 1984 — 18 years after the 41-year-old victim was stabbed and shot to death at his Sebring home. Von Maxcy's wife, Irene, had arranged through her lover, John Sweet, to have Kelley, 64, of Brockton, Mass., kill her husband. Sweet, the state's chief witness, testified the wife was afraid of being left out of Von Maxcy's $1.7 million estate. ...more

October 26, 2007

SEBRING — When it comes to property tax relief, which the Legislature has promised but not fully provided yet, the state's county property appraisers are giving the lawmakers two bits of advice. First, simple is much better than complicated. And second, a universal tax break is better than knocking taxes down for some types of property but not for others. Highlands County Property Appraiser Raymond McIntyre said those two points are the foundation of the proposal which the Property Appraisers Association of Florida is passing on to the Legislature. McIntyre, recently elected president of the appraisers association, said the group is calling for a five percent per year reduction in assessed tax value on all property for the next five years. ...more

October 9, 2007