The Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities, under the leadership of Director Jim DeBeaugrine, has shown clients admirable compassion by suspending a controversial cost-reduction program. The agency is considering revamping how it funds services. ...more

January 2, 2009

"Credit, the disposition of one man to trust another, is singularly varying," Walter Bagehot, the financial journalist, wrote 135 years ago. "In England, after a great calamity, everybody is suspicious of everybody; as soon as that calamity is forgotten, everybody again confides in everybody." ...more

January 1, 2009

Once Hillsborough School Superintendent MaryEllen Elia makes a decision, she tends to plow ahead, and isn't afraid to ruffle feelings. So she has taken her share of hits from parents, teachers and this editorial board during her 3½ years on the job. She never seems far from controversy. ...more

December 30, 2008

In an area with overwhelming transportation needs, Tampa Bay area motorists should be grateful for small victories. And one will be coming in less than a year when state Department of Transportation officials finally retool the treacherous junction of interstates 75 and 275 at the Hillsborough-Pasco line, which has long been another "Malfunction Junction." ...more

December 29, 2008

As the longest recession in a quarter century intensifies, analysts think the small decline in economic activity in the third quarter has worsened significantly in the current fourth quarter. ...more

December 24, 2008

The Federal Reserve cut its target for a key interest rate to the lowest level on record Tuesday and pledged to use "all available tools" to combat a severe financial crisis and prolonged recession. STORY, Page 13 ...more

December 17, 2008

The nastier this recession gets, the more people will talk about the discrediting of markets and the failure of deregulation. So the next time the Dow dives off a cliff, splash your face with ice water and remember two things: This end-of-capitalism talk is bunk, and it distracts us from the debate we should be having. ...more

December 5, 2008

Online retailers are ramping up heavy-duty deals to turn skittish shoppers into "Cyber Monday" spenders. ...more

December 1, 2008

Seldom has corporate strategy been turned on its head so quickly. Barely a year ago, cash was a dangerous thing to accumulate: activist investors stalked companies, urging boards to return it to investors, to pay special dividends or to buy back shares. ...more

November 29, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama will keep Defense Secretary Robert Gates in that job for at least a year, according to an official familiar the two men's discussions. ...more

November 25, 2008