Florida and Alabama have long contended that Lake Lanier was part of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint rivers system from the get-go, a critical part and as such should be treated as if jointly owned by the stakeholders in the system, in the case at the extreme southern end of the system, the seafood industry. ...more

October 5, 2008

Editor's Note: This is the second installment in an occasional series about how Brandon area residents and businesses are coping with inflation, high gas prices and other effects of the nation's troubled economy. ...more

August 20, 2008

"Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries)," by Jared Bernstein; Berrett-Koehler, 225 pages ($26.95) ...more

July 20, 2008

Pet Food Companies Should Help Save Abandoned Pets As we are all aware, families within our communities are suffering terrible hardships due to the loss of jobs. Homes are being foreclosed, gas and oil prices are skyrocketing and inflation is causing the price of food to increase tenfold. ...more

July 6, 2008

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a new Florida law that would have imposed a stiff bond and other restrictions on travel agencies and charter companies booking trips to Cuba. ...more

July 2, 2008

Americans are shell-shocked at $4-a-gallon gas. But consider France, where a gallon of petrol runs nearly $10. Or Turkey, where it's more than $11. ...more

May 31, 2008

I was appointed to the Tampa City Council in 2006 to finish a term for a departing council member. My term ended about a year ago. It was a tremendous experience, and I wish more people interested in government could have the opportunity to sit on the other side of the podium. ...more

May 25, 2008

If Pasco County schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino can persuade the school board to avoid a single layoff, maintain current salaries and not touch any classroom programs to combat an anticipated $16 million budget shortfall, she should be administrator of the year. ...more

May 11, 2008

More than 3 million acres in Alaska's Tongass National Forest would be open to logging under a federal plan that supporters think will revive the state's timber industry. ...more

January 26, 2008

The Florida Legislature took steps last spring to protect the integrity of the state's horse industry by passing legislation to prevent unfair or deceptive trade practices, and Gov. Charlie Crist signed it without hesitation. ...more

November 24, 2007