She is a daughter of Tampa society, blessed with a close-knit, affluent family that took cross-country vacations in Edwardian vintage cars. Her dad was crowned El Rey XXVII of the Knights of Sant' Yago. She graduated from one of the Bay area's most respected Catholic high schools, the Academy of Holy Names. ...more

February 3, 2008

TAMPA - She is a daughter of Tampa society, blessed with a close-knit, affluent family that took cross-country vacations in Edwardian vintage cars. Her dad was crowned El Rey XXVII of the Knights of Sant' Yago. She graduated from one of the Bay area's most respected Catholic high schools, the Academy of Holy Names. When the Florida Legislature created a new judicial seat in Hillsborough County, friends and family fanned out across the county, knocking on doors and raising more than $100,000 for her campaign. They helped the 35-year-old lawyer become the youngest judge ever elected to Hillsborough County's circuit court. So when Monica Sierra announced last week that she was giving it all up — the $145,000-a-year job, the comfortable safety net of family, the Mercedes-Benz — many were aghast. It wasn't just what she was throwing away, it was what she was throwing it away for: evangelical and humanitarian work in the Middle East. ...more

February 1, 2008

Relatives and friends of a missing North Port mother of two sons are waiting to hear what happened to her after she was abducted from her home Thursday afternoon. ...more

January 18, 2008

Roger Clemens unleashed a furious attack on Monday on his former trainer, Brian McNamee, with a news conference featuring a tape of a secretly recorded phone call and a lawsuit accusing McNamee of lying about injecting him with performance-enhancing drugs. ...more

January 8, 2008

TAMPA - The Bucs still have not officially announced that Sunday's NFC Wild-Card playoff game against the Giants is a sellout. ...more

January 3, 2008

A Playboy model says Temple Terrace police have affected her work by giving her scrapes and bruises during a recent arrest. ...more

December 29, 2007

Mayor Hutch Brock has decided against running for re-election to the city commission when his current term expires in April. ...more

December 29, 2007

A comprehensive study examining the county's fire departments has been delayed two weeks to give the project consultant more time to review data. ...more

December 18, 2007

Members of the MiraBay Girls, a group of friends from MiraBay in Apollo Beach - Lynn Spivey, Lynn Mooney and Sandy Tams -- were helping Santa at the Sincerely, Santa table at the new entrance of the Westfield Brandon mall on St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6. ...more

December 15, 2007

A University of South Florida internal investigation report released Wednesday showed problems in the way the student affairs division paid some salaries and in how it recruited some managers. The division's leaders, however, mostly stayed true to policies and procedures, investigators say. ...more

December 6, 2007