Every politician is a person who can tell you what you want to hear and then do as he pleases when he gets into office. This has been going on since time began, and unless a miracle happens it's going to be the same in this election. Sen. Barack Obama says he's for change and has a lot of very young people that will tell you that this is the truth. However, I don't take much stock in 18-20-year-olds who haven't been out of high school long enough to start supporting themselves, let alone think that they have the abilities to run this country. Obama's only experience is in the state Senate and nowhere else that I can see, and it's obvious that the majority of black Americans support him because he is black. The highest percentage of black voters in history have turned out so there is, in my opinion, a race issue here, whether we like it or not. ...more

June 26, 2008

SEBRING — Imagine, they said back in the 1970s, when an Arab oil embargo sent gasoline prices skyrocketing from 25 to 50 cents per gallon. Imagine. We could grow our own fuel. We could make alcohol from corn and potatoes and soybeans, and our cars could run on it. It burns cleaner. It's cheaper. It's renewable. It's made in America. But it turns out, ethanol isn't the miracle fuel it's cracked up to be. ...more

June 22, 2008

A Letter to my 'Representatives (?)" ...more

June 13, 2008

SEBRING — Blame it on gasoline or ethanol, but shopping for food these days is just as unpleasant as gassing up your car. Fruit prices have gone bananas, and poultry isn't quite the paltry budget choice it once was for the thrifty shopper. With the sharpest increase in food prices since 1990 and a troubled economy, Highlands County businesses and residents are doing what they can. ...more

June 8, 2008

I read a lot of letters of complaints about the cost of everything, but see no solutions. First, I would like to comment on "Our Opinion" printed May 25. There is one paragraph that needs to change one letter. "Someone who knows a little politics and how Washington works is U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson." I would like to drop the a. Here are my answers-questions: Why are we not drilling in the Gulf and other locations? Why are we not building coal to oil plants? Why are not converting slate to oil? Why do we still have a 53 cents a gallon on imported ethanol? ...more

May 31, 2008

The steepest run-ups in food prices since 1990 are hurting grocery shoppers, restaurants and school cafeterias, but they're making others rich. ...more

May 28, 2008

Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the nation's largest chicken producer, said Monday its second-quarter loss widened from a year ago as it paid more for feed and took a restructuring charge. ...more

May 6, 2008

SEBRING — As the country moves toward energy independence, central Florida will be a key region, U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney told county school board officials and administrators. "This is going to transform Highlands County," he said Thursday. "We believe that we are going to generate over 10,000 high-paying jobs in this region in the next 10 years." ...more

February 22, 2008

Does the new bio-fuel plant they want to build in Venus use magic to turn sweet sorghum into ethanol? According to Bradley Krohn, this proposed plant will discharge "zero waste," make no noise, have no odor, use zero fossil fuels, and won't even discharge effluent from the bathrooms. Beware, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. ...more

February 14, 2008

Unlike the ethanol-blended gas of years past, today's E10 blend has been deemed safe to use in all vehicles sold in the United States. However, only specially equipped vehicles can handle ...more

February 10, 2008