Smithfield Foods swung to a loss in its fiscal first quarter as high commodity costs hurt the nation's largest pork producer and processor. The commodities market is so volatile, its chief executive said, the company doesn't even want to try to predict its future earnings. ...more

August 27, 2008

The last-quarter moon phase occurred Saturday night at 11:50 p.m., which means we enter into the "perfect week" of the early morning bite at its best. ...more

August 24, 2008

The "civil forum" featuring presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain may not have been as exciting as Michael Phelps winning his eighth Olympic gold medal, but it was civil and it was a forum from which emerged useful information. ...more

August 22, 2008

NASCAR's latest attempt to reel in the rule-breakers aimed at an unfamiliar target: the normally squeaky-clean Joe Gibbs Racing. ...more

August 21, 2008

Although Pamela Wilkins is the new principal at Pizzo Elementary School, she is no stranger to its campus. ...more

August 13, 2008

Below are profiles of four of the five candidates in the race for Pasco County sheriff. On the Republican side, the incumbent, Bob White, will be opposed in the Aug. 26 primary by Robert J. "Bobby" Sullivan. The Democratic primary will pit K.S. "Kim" Bogart against Jeff K. Deremer. Bobby Kinzy did not respond to requests for information. The two primary winners will square off Nov. 4. ...more

August 13, 2008

New Avon Park head football coach Andy Bonjokian walked into the Red Devil football locker room on the morning of July 15 and found his young coaching career had hit its first speed-bump weeks before kickoff. ...more

July 29, 2008

I borrow the words of Thomas Paine, "These are the times that try men's souls." Although those familiar words were written in 1776, they have meaningful application in contemporary America as she struggles on the domestic and international scenes. Our nation suffers from an incompetent president and an impotent Congress. As a result of their collective domestic and foreign failures, America's future, quite literally, swings in the wind. ...more

July 29, 2008

In the days before the Dawn Center, handling domestic violence issues was a pretty bleak job for deputies at the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. ...more

July 27, 2008

Big deal. The plan is this: Wednesday night, on cable television broadcast around the world, someone by the name of Criss Angel is going to attempt to escape an abandoned Clearwater Beach hotel before it blows up. ...more

July 27, 2008