More than 60 percent of Bright House users pay for two or more services, so they will avoid paying a $3 per month increase for cable or high-speed Internet, a company spokesman said. ...more

February 28, 2009

The board overseeing Florida's 11 public universities approved an agreement Thursday designed to protect the financial stability of the schools as well as the state's prepaid tuition program in the face of significant tuition increases expected in the next few years. ...more

February 27, 2009

The issue: Permit delays for new landfill cell could cost taxpayers unnecessary millions. Our opinion: Department of Environmental Protection and county officials need to quit fooling around. ...more

February 26, 2009

Residents lobbying to expand the New Tampa Regional Library hope a citizen board that ranks unfunded capital improvements will push their pet project to the top of the priority list. ...more

February 25, 2009

Even with the hard economic times, many businesses and individuals from throughout the Land O' Lakes community pulled together to help with The Listen to your heart ... Concert for a Cure 2009 at the Land O' Lakes Community Center Feb. 14. ...more

February 25, 2009

Recession forces people to abandon their exotic animals ...more

February 23, 2009

An area church is offering a helping hand in tough economic times. Springhead Baptist Church in Plant City is offering discount groceries through Angel Food Ministries, a nonprofit, nondenominational organization providing "grocery relief" to communities in 35 states. People have been coming from as far away as Zephyrhills. ...more

February 22, 2009

The Highlands County Family YMCA is holding a special "Member Appreciation/Family Fun Day" from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. ...more

February 22, 2009

For years there was an annual late-summer rite that occurred all around Florida. The local sheriff, in good economic times or bad, would suggest in a public fashion the bad guys were winning the upper hand and the sheriff's agency needed more money to put extra personnel and equipment on the street to take back the initiative. These days, however, Pinellas Sheriff Jim Coats is cutting spending in response to the drop in revenue the county is experiencing as a result of the collapse of the Florida housing industry and the nationwide economic recession. ...more

February 21, 2009

Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital is positioning itself to remain in good financial health in these stressful economic times, according to one of its administrators. Don Evans, Helen Ellis Memorial's chief operating officer, told city commissioners Tuesday night the 168-bed hospital is moving ahead with plans to gain certification to conduct open-heart surgery in about two years. ...more

February 21, 2009