Loud knocking on the front door early in the morning, before the sun comes up, would catch most sleeping residents by surprise. ...more

October 24, 2008

The 130 red and blue balloons had mostly faded into a cloudless afternoon sky, but 8-year-old Viviana Angelini could still spot the specks. ...more

October 1, 2008

EGYPT LAKE The 130 red and blue balloons had mostly faded into a cloudless afternoon sky, but 8-year-old Viviana Angelini could still spot the specks. "I can see them," she said. ...more

September 26, 2008

Tampa Bay defensive end Gaines Adams gave his team a glimmer of hope. The Bucs had not applied much defensive line pressure before Saturday's 23-17 preseason loss against Jacksonville. Tampa Bay's starting front four did not record a sack in two games. No backup player made an impact. ...more

August 24, 2008

One year ago, my family moved away from Miami to find a better environment to raise our family. On the night of Dec. 17, we discovered how right we were in choosing the Town of Lake Placid. We lost everything in the fire that consumed our house at 367 Carole Road NW, but we gained an overwhelming sense of community. The efforts made by both the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department and the Placid Lakes Volunteer Fire Department, was an act we thought deserved acknowledgment. They disregarded personal safety to retrieve the only item of any value to my family, my little brother's ashes, who had passed away only a year ago. However, they did not stop there. They continued going back into the house despite the fire's refusal to be put out, or the roof collapsing all around them. For hours they fought that Phoenix and the cold weather of that evening's frost, to help a family they did not know, and to try and maintain a home they no longer recognized. Even while we were all aware that all was lost, they did not quit until the last ember was out. They came to us later and handed us pictures they had managed to rescue while dowsing flames. My family and I could not believe that these fire personnel were all volunteers. ...more

December 23, 2007