Immigration officials confirmed today that Hillsborough County deputies and St. Petersburg police contacted them Aug. 5 about the immigration status of Rigoberto Moron Martinez, who later would be charged in the rapes of several women. ...more

August 28, 2008

The leadership of Hillsborough Community College has shown an appalling lack of due diligence in dealing with a developer who exaggerated and fabricated his credentials and accomplishments to win a lucrative contract to build a hotel-and-clinic complex on 50 acres of prime campus real estate. ...more

August 23, 2008

reshape the state's highest court by appointing a new majority on the seven-member panel. ...more

July 31, 2008

. Shares of Circuit City Stores plummeted to historic lows in trading Wednesday after Blockbuster withdrew its takeover bid, causing investors to question the consumer electronics retailer's future. ...more

July 3, 2008

AVON PARK — The Housing Authority of Avon Park's plans to acquire Ridgedale Apartments have stalled after the complex's owners balked at the possibility of paying a penalty for dissolving its contract with another management company, authority Executive Director Larry Shoeman said. According to Shoeman, Columbus, Ohio-based Ridgedale LLC needed to make the housing authority the property manager during the rehabilitation work that will be needed for the 36-unit project. To do that, however, Ridgedale needed to ditch its current management company, according to their contract. "The management is not willing to terminate the agreement without a penalty," Shoeman told the Housing Authority of Avon Park's Board of Commissioners Wednesday evening. "We're at an impasse at this point." ...more

June 22, 2008

Cato June proved himself to the Buccaneers well before he made his first tackle in pewter. ...more

June 19, 2008

Hillsborough County commissioners voted 6-1 Tuesday to allow a 24-hour gym to open on land not designated for all-night businesses. ...more

June 14, 2008

The bills for the wicked hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 are still coming in, and Floridians with insurance policies covering everything from autos to boats to homes will have to dig deeper to cover the tab. ...more

June 11, 2008

SEBRING — Eileen Rodriguez acknowledged that doing business overseas can be challenging, but it also might be profitable. "It's kind of scary when you're trying to think about doing business with somebody who speaks a different language, is from a different culture, they don't do contracts the same way we do," said Rodriguez, interim director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of South Florida. ...more

June 10, 2008

SEBRING — The Albertson's at 3610 U.S. 27 N., in Sebring, is being sold to Publix Supermarkets, along with 48 other Florida Albertson's stores. Maria Brous, Publix spokeswoman, said Monday that it was "too early to tell" if the Sebring Albertson's would remain open as a Publix store. About 100 Albertson's employees will need to attend dedicated job fairs to become Publix employees if the grocery chain continues to keep the Sebring store open. Highlands County has three Publix stores. "It's not uncommon for us to have locations together," said Brous. "It creates more competition between (Publix) stores to gain that loyal customer." ...more

June 9, 2008