Florida seems a state doomed to not learn from the mistakes of our past. How many times have we been sold a bill of goods from a fast-buck developer promising the moon and leaving communities with only debt and the loss of the natural beauty that used to define the southern Nature Coast? ...more

February 15, 2009

The Gulf Coast Conservancy is mounting a campaign to block a land swap between state officials and the developers of the former Sun West mine property in Hudson. ...more

February 4, 2009

The National Transportation Safety Board still hasn't concluded the investigation of the June 20 plane crash that killed Mason Smoak and a University of Kentucky professor. ...more

January 2, 2009

Even in a city whose logo is "Big Wild Life," the summer of 2008 is testing residents' tolerance for large carnivores. ...more

August 17, 2008

The 29th U.S. Senior Open will be remembered for the black bears that menaced The Broadmoor's East Course - and the one cat who conquered it. ...more

August 4, 2008

The last time I heard from Dr. David Maehr, about three weeks ago, he invited me to go bear-tracking. ...more

July 3, 2008

An overflow crowd jammed the Memorial United Methodist Church Sanctuary last Wednesday to pay respects to Mason Smoak, who died in an airplane crash June 20. There were so many people there that the Lake Placid church had to use its Fellowship Hall to accommodate all of them. According to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, a 1989 fixed wing, single engine, two-seater Piper Cub was returning to the Placid Lakes Airport and crashed near the south end of the runway. Smoak, who was the pilot of the airplane at the time of crash, and his passenger, Dave Maehr, died at the scene. Smoak and Maehr were conducting aerial surveys of black bears in Highlands County. Maehr was a visiting scientist at Archold Biological Station while on sabbatical from the University of Kentucky. ...more

June 29, 2008

In the timeless tragedy of the June 20 plane crash in Placid Lakes, Highlands County lost two influential, admired, and much-loved members of our community; Mason Smoak from Lake Placid and Dave Maehr, professor from the University of Kentucky, and visiting scientist at Archbold Biological Station. ...more

June 29, 2008

7 million acres of rural and natural land lost to massive development and a population that had doubled to 36 million. ...more

June 23, 2008

LAKE PLACID — A pilot and passenger died after a fixed wing, single engine Piper Cub airplane crashed near Placid Lakes Airport at about 12:15 p.m., Friday said Capt. Paul Blackman of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. There were no other passengers in the single plane accident. Word spread like wildfire around the Caladium Capital of the World that citrus grover owner Mason Smoak piloted the plane. Blackman positively identified Smoak as the pilot, and David Maehr's name was release later as the other victim in the crash. He was a scientist at Archbold Biological Center specializing in bear research. ...more

June 20, 2008