When all was said and done, it came down to the money. Facing a revenue shortfall from state-mandated tax reforms, several Dade City city commissioners saw big dollar signs in a proposal to annex 56 acres of undeveloped land along U.S. 301 and south of Willingham Avenue, where a new subdivision is planned. ...more

June 26, 2008

AVON PARK — The Housing Authority of Avon Park's plans to acquire Ridgedale Apartments have stalled after the complex's owners balked at the possibility of paying a penalty for dissolving its contract with another management company, authority Executive Director Larry Shoeman said. According to Shoeman, Columbus, Ohio-based Ridgedale LLC needed to make the housing authority the property manager during the rehabilitation work that will be needed for the 36-unit project. To do that, however, Ridgedale needed to ditch its current management company, according to their contract. "The management is not willing to terminate the agreement without a penalty," Shoeman told the Housing Authority of Avon Park's Board of Commissioners Wednesday evening. "We're at an impasse at this point." ...more

June 22, 2008

The east-west connector road is off the table, but an often-delayed proposal to build nearly 300 homes along the city's southern border has resurfaced. ...more

June 10, 2008

AVON PARK — A property owner that has been at odds with the Avon Park Executive Airport for years over his development plans is pushing forward with a new plan for a 43-acre, 346-unit working-class housing project. Roland Dilley's attorney Warwick "Bud" Furr said the plan for the property, located across State Road 64 from the airport, would not conflict with the city-owned airport's runway protection zones. "We've done everything that they asked us to do," Furr said. "We really think it's inappropriate for the city or the county to object." ...more

May 28, 2008

Essie Mae Reed, 78, is a Tampa treasure. That's how U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, described her recently when Castor stood on the floor of the House of Representatives to honor the community activist as a champion of the poor. ...more

May 24, 2008

In the throes of her second divorce, Cheryl English hit a wall. "I drank for 25 years. I was a practicing alcoholic," said English, the mother of two boys. "I was in a master's degree program and had to drop out midterm. ...more

May 3, 2008

PLANT CITY - When construction is completed next year on a 68-unit affordable-housing project planned by St. Clement Catholic Church, it will rise above the church's fellowship hall and its tallest spire. ...more

February 8, 2008

Despite the downturn in the housing industry, Brooksville engineer Nick Nicholson is telling his developer friends that now is the time to stop sitting on their projects and start building. ...more

January 11, 2008

Despite housing downturn, engineer moves ahead with projects. ...more

January 10, 2008

Murders are not shocking in this city once called the nation's most dangerous. But even this place is shaken by the killing, still unsolved after five months, of a 12-year-old boy whose skull was so badly shattered by bullets that an undertaker used a top hat to hide the damage. ...more

December 17, 2007