For Hillsborough County schools, making sure students are in their seats this week takes on greater importance. So they recruited Tony Dungy to help them out. ...more

February 10, 2009

The weather should be perfect for going to the Florida State Fair during the next few days. ...more

February 8, 2009

The hole is deep, and the task in front of them is imposing. For the Tampa Bay Lightning, now or never time is at hand. ...more

February 7, 2009

Each year as the town of Lake Placid hosts the Relay for Life event. We attract more and more participants. This year, however, the dates have been moved to May 1 and 2 and it is important to share this information with the local people. This will be my fifth year participating and I'm sure the new timing will encourage more people to take part. In the past our event has been earlier in the year, so we may miss some of our snowbirds who will have headed north. Perhaps others who had been discouraged by cold weather in the past will try to attend this year. Relay for Life is a program that raises money for cancer research, which provides a family-oriented event designed to educate everyone about the progress being made and the work still needing to be done. In addition to the actual relay, where team members keep someone on the track at all times, there are games, food, entertainment and a beautiful luminaria observance in honor or memory of those affected by cancer. ...more

February 7, 2009

Local law enforcement officers tried their skills this morning at water-gun races and ping-pong-ball tosses, checking for foul play along the midway at the Florida State Fair. ...more

February 5, 2009

Former Seminole High graduate Casey Kotchman and the Atlanta Braves avoided salary arbitration, agreeing to a one-year contract worth $2,885,000. Kotchman could earn an additional $100,000 in performance bonuses under the deal agreed to last week and announced Monday. He hit a combined .272 with 14 homers and 74 RBIs last season for the Braves and the Los Angeles Angels. The first baseman, who turns 26 on Feb. 22, hit only .149 with no homers in his first 22 games after he was acquired by the Braves on July 29 in the trade that sent Mark Teixeira to the Angels. Kotchman hit .305 with two homers and 15 RBIs in September. He has a .997 career fielding percentage with just eight errors in 357 games. After making $1.45 million last year, Kotchman had asked for a raise to $3.25 million in arbitration. He had been offered $2,475,000. ...more

February 2, 2009

Olympic great Michael Phelps has acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after a photo in a British newspaper showed him smoking marijuana. ...more

February 2, 2009

The 70,000 or so people who filled Raymond James Stadium were well-behaved, authorities said. ...more

February 2, 2009

Florida International is in the process of canceling its game at the University of South Florida this fall, which would leave the Bulls with only 11 games in 2009. ...more

January 31, 2009

So how do you get a hyperbaric chamber into your hotel room? Hines Ward laughed. ...more

January 28, 2009