We've all heard the phrase "no one is irreplaceable," and it's true. It's also true that some people carry so much institutional knowledge of an operation that while they may be replaceable, it's going to hurt. Sometimes the pain subsides quickly, and sometimes it lasts a long time, but either way, it hurts. When Sebring City Manager Bob Hoffman and Highlands County Administrator Carl Cool call it a career in a few weeks, we're losing important resources for one of our cities and county. The good news is that they are being replaced by extremely capable people, but the loss still is there. Hoffman and Cool have been on the job a long time around here. It's unusual for people in their professions to last so long in one place. Industry wide, city managers and county administrators often make enough enemies over the course of five years or so that they move on. The decisions they have to make ruffle feathers, no matter how well they do their jobs. It says a lot that they held their positions for so long. ...more

May 10, 2008

What do you and your significant other fight about? Probably money. I've been reviewing surveys on this topic for more than a decade, and money often finds its way to the top spot as a cause of marital tension. And, not surprisingly, the most frequent cause of divorce. ...more

February 24, 2008

The value of Hillsborough County's tax base is expected to drop 4.5 percent this year, the first time in more than a decade the figure has decreased from one year to the next, county officials say. ...more

February 21, 2008

SEBRING — Jeri Canale, a county commissioner a decade ago, has filed for election to District 3. She will oppose incumbent Andrew Jackson and Sebring City Council man Jeff Carlson. ...more

February 20, 2008

It has been a decade since the Zephyrhills boys basketball team was a team to take notice of. ...more

January 18, 2008

WHATtwos? You have to be Smart to know the answer. ...more

January 18, 2008

Starting Jan. 14, Floridians will get to do something they haven't done in more than a decade: Cast a meaningful vote in a presidential primary. ...more

January 6, 2008

Starting Jan. 14, Floridians will get to do something they haven't done in more than a decade: Cast a meaningful vote in a presidential primary. ...more

January 6, 2008

The Second Amendment's provisions protecting the right to keep and bear arms apply only to the federal government, not the 50 states and the District of Columbia, lawyers for the nation's capital argued Friday in a written brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. ...more

January 5, 2008

It seems there is a new trend in the ever-changing face of beauty. ...more

January 4, 2008