Tourist spots are up and running, but plenty of work remains before the Big Easy can loosen Katrina's grasp. ...more

June 21, 2008

Cleveland Stampley grinned as he locked the door to his FEMA trailer one last time. Out front, a case worker's pickup waited to take him to his new home at a nearby apartment complex. ...more

June 1, 2008

This may be the best time to go to New Orleans. Tourist crowds are down, but spirits seem way up ...more

May 23, 2008

When I wrote the letter to the editor about milking FEMA it was directed at the people that have been living off the taxpayers since the hurricanes and still are. I do understand that there are many people that have gotten away from FEMA by getting their own homes rebuilt, or finding other homes to raise there families. That's the way it should be and I certainly support the people that have. Yes, FEMA is as well organized as the rest of the government, which is somewhere between ridiculous and totally out of control. It makes it very easy to milk the system, and by doing so take advantage of all the taxpayers of this country. ...more

February 25, 2008

SEBRING — It came in the mail last week, although it's dated Jan. 15, a collection notice from FEMA. "I have no idea why they sent this," said Gail Fotheringham, 57, a grandmother who lived in a FEMA mobile home for 18 months with her daughter and three grandchildren. "You have not paid the amount you owe the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Mobile Home Rental," said the letter, which seeks a balance due of $1,357.58. Mary Hudak, a spokeswoman in Atlanta, said FEMA, on an ongoing basis, is collecting money owed to the federal agency for a variety of reasons. After the hurricanes of 2004, which ravaged Central Florida, FEMA provided $1.184 billion in assistance to individuals and households in Florida, and hundreds of mobile homes to families in Highlands and Hardee counties. "If people needed money, FEMA advanced it to them," Hudak said. But they were expected to pay back the federal government. ...more

February 16, 2008

ERIC MATTHEWS: THE IMAGINATION STAGE (EMPYREAN) **½ Eric Matthews albums are frustrating affairs. His chamber-pop arrangements are never less than gorgeous but they tend to overwhelm his fragile melodies. His singing, a head-down whisper so low you suspect he doesn't wish to be overheard, doesn't help either. ...more

January 31, 2008

SEBRING — While the number of searchers for a discarded baby increased Friday at the Highlands County Landfill, sheriff's detectives investigated what actually happened on Nov. 23, when the baby's mother tossed the infant into the trash. ...more

November 30, 2007