One 34-year-old woman stepped off the Jazzy Jellies ride at SeaWorld and fractured her ankle. A few weeks later, at Roa's Rapids in the same park, a 63-year-old woman inhaled water. Tales of heart troubles, dehydration and, in some cases, broken bones come out of the grade-yourself report card for Florida's theme parks, made public each quarter by the state's Bureau of Fair Rides, a division in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. ...more

July 22, 2008

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced that nominations are being accepted for the 2008 Woman of the Year in Agriculture award. The award, now in its 24nd year, recognizes women who have made outstanding contributions to Florida agriculture. ...more

July 20, 2008

The tools: Hose, bucket, cordless drill, nerves of steel. ...more

July 11, 2008

The tools: hose, bucket, cordless drill, nerves of steel. The target: gasoline stored in your car, lawnmower and generator. ...more

July 10, 2008

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson is urging residents to take the time to investigate companies they may be considering for termite protection. ...more

July 9, 2008

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a new Florida law that would have imposed a stiff bond and other restrictions on travel agencies and charter companies booking trips to Cuba. ...more

July 2, 2008

LAKE PLACID – An undetermined number of motorists were affected, some stranded Thursday, after they reported pumping watery gasoline into their vehicles at a Shell gas station at the corner of U.S. 27 and State Road 70, south of Lake Placid. Terence McElroy, press secretary for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, confirmed the pumps at the gas station had been shut down by an inspector who found water in the tanks. The pump nozzles have been covered and a yellow caution tape has been wrapped around the pumps, McElroy said. "We've received three or four complaints (about that location)," McElroy said. "Our inspector found water in the gas storage tanks as well as water dispensed from the hoses." The pumps have been shut down and the station is in the process of cleaning it up, he added. ...more

June 30, 2008

For those willing to brave the summer sun, plucking tomatoes hot off the vine is a longstanding Florida treat. ...more

June 21, 2008

For those willing to brave the summer sun, plucking tomatoes hot off the vine is a longstanding Florida treat. ...more

June 20, 2008

A state investigation has cleared wildlife officials who last month lost control of a prescribed burn that may have contributed to a 70-vehicle pileup on Interstate 4 in Polk County. ...more

February 6, 2008