Attention seniors: For the first time in history there will not be an increase in the Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA). There may not be any for the next three years. That does not mean your Social Security benefit will stay the same, it will decrease! Your Medicare premium will increase from $96.40 to $104.20 in 2010 and to $120.20 in 2011. Your part D cost will probably also increase. But Congress voted themselves a big raise, between $4,700 and $5,300. ...more

October 16, 2009

Samaritan's Touch Care Center held its first annual fundraising dinner last Saturday night. The primary and specialized care clinic provides free medical care to area families who have no medical insurance of any kind, including Medicare and Medicaid, and whose income is at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines. ...more

March 31, 2009

Time To Take Down The Bird Feeder I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. ...more

February 27, 2009

The note posted in July on the Web site of China's food safety inspection agency came from a doctor: There had been a sudden rise in infants turning up at his hospital with kidney stones after drinking the same brand of formula. ...more

September 24, 2008

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hit it out of the park. ...more

September 5, 2008

It's unusually difficult to know what's right or wrong about drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico... ...more

June 25, 2008

For some three dozen local Muslim physicians, calling Hernando County home means more than living and practicing here. ...more

June 12, 2008

The 5-year-old with hazel eyes and a bouncy ponytail swung across the monkey bars as her Cuban father, Rafael Izquierdo, proudly watched nearby, ready to catch her. ...more

May 5, 2008

The stock market may not be in free fall, but it's sure scrambling frantically on a very slippery slope. ...more

January 8, 2008

AVON PARK — As a recovering alcoholic, Pastor Bill Breylinger, with Union Congregational Church, knows what it's like to have life restored. Twenty-two years ago, at the age of 37, he felt God gave him back his life. At the time he knew he was dying, and if he didn't tell someone his problem, he wouldn't make it. He then got honest with himself and went through a six-week treatment facility. Breylinger says God and lots of people forgave him and believed in him. "I owe God for the rest of my trip through life." Excited and dedicated, he especially enjoys ministering to hurting people, and his heart is in restoring lives. In 1987 he came to the church as a youth pastor. A year and a half later he became senior pastor. With a part-time secretary and janitor at that time, the church has grown and now has an assistant and associate minister, a music minister, a youth minister and an assistant youth minister. ...more

December 24, 2007