Robert Crews III has an interesting deal for Highlands County. The president and CEO of Crews Groves Inc. wants to trade an acre of beach frontage land on Lake Denton for the county-owned boat ramp on Lake Bonnett. Public access on the boat ramp for popular Lake Denton has been closed for months while a committee tries to figure out how best to use the lake. This land would give the county much more room for parking and public use. This all sounds intriguing, but one thing we cannot give up is public access to Lake Bonnett to achieve it on Lake Denton. We understand that this access is important to the Crews and their real estate investment on Lake Bonnett. ...more

January 11, 2008

TAMPA - The on-again, off-again Trump Tower Tampa is in limbo — again. Local developer, SimDag LLC, told buyers in October that it was close to getting financing, but only if Donald Trump would drop his lawsuit against the company. ...more

January 3, 2008

PORT RICHEY – Doug Winton has joined Republic Bank as Florida market president. ...more

January 2, 2008

The reaction was swift from those who read to the end of last Sunday's column on the profound change in health care, as seen through the deaths of two dads. ...more

December 30, 2007

Tampa without grouper sandwiches? It may be as unthinkable as Philadelphia without cheesesteaks and New Orleans without muffalettas. But in 2007, it actually happened. With Florida-caught grouper in short supply last summer, some eateries – including the iconic Columbia Restaurant – took the fish off the menu. Others turned grouper from a regular feature into a special item or notified diners they get another fish as a substitute. ...more

December 25, 2007

The chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday warned that their ailing mortgage-finance companies will suffer further in 2008 because of a weakening housing market and rising home-loan defaults. ...more

December 12, 2007

Regarding "Mortgage CEO Wants A Federal Rescue" (Business, Dec. 4): The mortgage mess is about to get messier. The bailout proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will spread the mess to tax-exempt bond funds, stealing money from many retirees that have invested in the bond funds to get by in retirement. It all deprives income that eases the burden on the taxpayers of this country. ...more

December 5, 2007

BayWalk, the retail heart of downtown St. Petersburg, is up for sale. The Sembler Co., the St. Petersburg-based developer that built the entertainment and retail complex, confirmed Thursday that it just recently began seeking suitors for the 150,000-square-foot center. ...more

November 1, 2007

My boss is rude and cruel. She makes fun of people, then laughs at her own 'cute' remarks. She loves to catch mistakes and publicly reprimand employees. ...more

October 22, 2007

It's not your typical Sesame Street episode. There are no lessons in letters or numbers, but there are plenty of hugs and lots of talk about feelings. ...more

October 6, 2007