Every morning, a hired car picks up Margie Conner at her north Lakeland home and drives her 20 or so miles to Bartow and the school district transportation center. A round trip can cost more than $50. Once there, the 58-year-old school bus driver reports to a guard shack, where she sits alone doing nothing for nearly six hours – at $11 an hour. Sometimes she reads a book. She gets two 15 minute breaks and uses the bathroom at the main office. At the end of the day, another hired car takes her home. All this is paid for by Polk County taxpayers, roughly $1,700 so far. ...more

October 24, 2007

TAMPA - Crews put out three house blazes over the span of about six hours this weekend, according to Tampa Fire Rescue. ...more

October 21, 2007

Tiered Medicine Regarding 'Time Has Come For Universal Health Care In America,' Marc Yacht, My View, Oct. 7: ...more

October 12, 2007

TAMPA - The man once known as the "Hyde Park rapist" tasted freedom for about six hours Monday. Then an arrangement for his housing fell apart and he was sent back to a state treatment center. Officials at a mobile home park for sex offenders concluded Bobby Joe Helms was too dangerous. ...more

October 9, 2007

The man once known as the 'Hyde Park rapist' tasted freedom for about six hours Monday. ...more

October 9, 2007

Tailgating Tradition Regarding 'Peak Performance' (front page, Sept. 29): Local papers, including the Tribune, got justifiably excited about discovering another state university plays great football. Congratulations. Appropriate coverage will be appreciated. ...more

October 6, 2007

The inaugural Southern Stars meet showcased some of the best talent in the Southeast, with local boys team Jesuit edging Jacksonville Bishop Kenny for its third straight victory of the season. ...more

October 4, 2007

When fire broke out deep underground at a hydroelectric plant in the Rockies Tuesday, officials at the surface dropped a radio to five trapped men in a tunnel and were relieved to learn they were all right. ...more

October 4, 2007

Green and gold flooded a stadium usually awash in red and pewter. Thousands of students from what has been called a commuter school seemed to have only one destination in mind on Friday night. ...more

September 29, 2007

AVON PARK — "I remember when those lights went on, saying, 'Oh God, I'm going to jail.'" That's what Tom, age 27, of Avon Park, recalled after leaving a bar in Lakeland on April 23, 2006, and driving his Volkswagen Bug. Tom was pulled over by a Lakeland police officer for not having his running lights on. He only had three drinks, he said. "Those three drinks cost me about $485 each, no, it was a lot more than that," he said. "I spent 26 hours in jail. I received probation for a year and $2,500 in fines and another $45 per month for the probation." ...more

September 9, 2007