AVON PARK — "I wanted to adopt him. I wanted to adopt them all." Maria Tsakalos had a twinkle in her eye as she talked about seeing a child one day at the Children's Advocacy Center of Highlands County. ...more

February 1, 2008

This season's Tony Germano is a lot different than the one of last season. ...more

January 31, 2008

Thinking he had been released from jail legitimately, Michael Hess went back to the restaurant where he had worked and asked about getting his job back. ...more

January 13, 2008

Thinking that he had been released legitimately, Michael Hess, the longtime South Tampa cook who lived on the lam under the assumed identity of a dead man for nearly three decades, went back to the restaurant where he worked and asked about getting his job back. But his release from jail was a mistake and short-lived and within eight hours, Hess, 57, was back in handcuffs. And within 10 hours, he was in a van headed for prison. ...more

January 12, 2008

Give that sloping backyard a second thought. That was feng shui consultant Diane Gallin's advice at a talk she gave on feng shui Tuesday at the Tarpon Springs Library. ...more

January 12, 2008

SEBRING — Brisk winds and less-than-ideal playing conditions didn't dampen Taylore Karle's game — it seemed to give it extra pop. The Pepperdine University freshman — who is rated the No. 1 college freshman in the nation by Golf World Magazine — shot an tournament-low 66 on day two of the 53rd annual Harder Hall Women's Invitational on Friday, good enough for a four-shot lead (75-66-141) over 2006 champion Stacy Lewis and Alison Walshe heading into the weekend. ...more

January 4, 2008

If you're trying to sell your home, recent real estate news is likely getting you down. ...more

December 29, 2007

Amid the bleak housing market news is a bit of good fortune for the Tampa Bay metro area: Sales of existing homes here far outpaced those in the state's other metro areas during the first 10 months of 2007, the Florida Association of Realtors reports. ...more

December 29, 2007

Bucs defensive end Greg White recently joked with Jovan Haye when asked if he deserved a Christmas present for aiding his teammate's success. ...more

December 21, 2007

SEBRING — John C. Alleyne, a horticulturist and former university professor, traveled the world, from the Caribbean island republic of Trinidad to the world's highest mountains in Nepal, before deciding to settle in Sebring. He's finishing his second week as the new director of the Highlands County Cooperative Extension Service and says he feels lucky to be in this county, rated No. 2 among the state's 67 counties in citrus production. Alleyne won't be directly involved in helping the citrus growers, as his specialty is commercial horticulture. Citrus work, he said, is handled primarily by the extension office's citrus agent, Tim Hurner. ...more

December 17, 2007