The number of jobless residents in the Tampa Bay area has topped 10 percent while the state unemployment rate hit 9.4 percent, according figures released today. ...more

March 27, 2009

I recently read about an unspeakable tragedy that was just narrowly averted because of the courageous action of just one person. Eight starving horses were wasting away in a field while their owners consistently failed to provide food, water or basic veterinary care. The horses ate bark off of trees in a desperate attempt to stave off their hunger but it wasn't enough, they were slowly dying. Thankfully a neighbor saw the horses suffering and decided she couldn't look the other way. She called a local veterinarian and that set the wheels in motion for a rescue operation to save the horses. Unfortunately the rescue came too late for one, but the survivors are now thriving in their new environment. ...more

March 27, 2009

As more Floridians face losing their homes to foreclosure, more crooks emerge to take advantage of them, and the state's attorney general says the problem has become a crisis. ...more

March 27, 2009

Florida's attorney general says mortgage fraud in the state has become a crisis, and he's asking state agencies to step up their plans to battle mortgage fraud in a more cooperative way. ...more

March 26, 2009

Crying About Impact Fees Oh my goodness! The poor developers and Hernando County Commissioner Jim Adkins are crying again about having the developers pay impact fees that help provide infrastructure to areas that are being developed. ...more

March 19, 2009

If Brian Blair is wondering why fellow Republicans did not vote for him in the recent election, he should know that it is certainly not because of Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner's campaign. I didn't even know much about Beckner, but I voted for him because I was sick and tired of Blair trying to remove our Wetlands Management Division of the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission. ...more

March 13, 2009

The result of the Highlands County Commissioners' meeting on March 2 reflects poorly upon that body.Pettiness and personal vendettas have no place in such a session.To do so poorly serves the citizens of this county. It appears that only Commissioner Bates showed any real business experience and a true understanding of the subject.What is wrong with the Bates approach? Who even knows what the true cost of the sheriff's facilitity is? Architects' guesstimates frequently are off base and in these times there are many reputable contractors willing to shave profits in order to obtain such a contract and interest rates on such long term municipal loans can be locked in at a low rate. ...more

March 8, 2009

Pasco County Sheriff Bob White announced this morning he is disbanding the agency's air unit to cut annual operational costs by $600,000, much of which will be reallocated to put more patrol deputies on the streets. The department will return its four helicopters to the federal government surplus program that provided them and will advertise its airplane for sale on the Internet, he said. ...more

March 5, 2009

Why is it that our new president has been in office for only about a month and people already are giving up on him? ...more

February 23, 2009

Once again an Obama rally has brought out the worst in our fellow citizens. When candidate Obama was here a nice lady identified as Peggy said she never thought she would see the day she didn't have to worry about her mortgage or gasoline. Last week in Fort Myers, three fellow citizens asked not for opportunity, but for handouts. ...more

February 16, 2009