Grandchildren are the elixir of life. Their voices on the phone and their e-mail messages are magical, transforming a rainy day into one of glorious sunshine. ...more

March 11, 2009

A 42-year-old man who said he owns and operates several rides and games for the Florida State Fair tried to pay for sex with a 14-year-old boy in Tampa on Sunday, Tampa police say. Instead, he was met by law enforcement. ...more

February 16, 2009

In the first year of his presidency George W. Bush was forced to confront the crisis of global terrorism. He responded by aggrandizing his power as president under the theory of a "unitary executive." The controversial and thoroughly repudiated policies that resulted, including warrantless surveillance of Americans' phone conversations, torture, and disregard for the basic constitutional rights of detainees, represented the most sweeping assertion of unchecked executive power in generations. ...more

January 3, 2009

There was no parade, no motorcade, and no photo opportunity - hardly the way you'd expect Brett Favre to return to the Green Bay Packers after spending most of the past month as the league's longest-running daytime drama. ...more

August 5, 2008

Police accused a 30-year-old man of trying to extort money from another man by threatening to have him criminally charged. Shannon Reed Shepard of Tampa told the other man several times this week to pay him money for "psychological treatment for his son," an affidavit states. ...more

July 24, 2008

The economy is tough on drug dealers too, investigators learned as part of a sweeping probe of two trafficking networks stretching from Texas and Georgia to Fort Myers and the Bay area. ...more

July 24, 2008

A five-month drug investigation targeting two drug-trafficking groups and four distribution cells throughout the state has culminated with nearly two dozen arrests this morning, officials said. Tampa and Plant City police, federal authorities and the sheriff's offices in Hillsborough, Pasco and Lee counties cooperated in the investigation. Forty-one people have been arrested. ...more

July 23, 2008

The stunning rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors owed its success not only to artful deception, but also to a five-year U.S.-Colombian operation that choked their captors' ability to communicate. ...more

July 11, 2008

The plan was nothing if not audacious: A turncoat persuades rebels to bring together their most prized hostages and march them 90 miles through Colombia's wilderness. A month later, disguised commandos primed with acting lessons land in a helicopter and trick the rebels into handing them over. ...more

July 4, 2008

The relatives of prominent Tampa businessman Don Wallace, whom he has accused of trying to extort $1.2 million from him, turned themselves in Monday night to Hillsborough County authorities. ...more

June 17, 2008