Senate Democrats promised a series of votes next week on offshore oil drilling as Republicans agreed Monday to let the Senate proceed on a defense bill that had been bottled up because of partisan disputes over the country's energy priorities. ...more

September 9, 2008

A soldier who fled to Canada rather than fight in Iraq has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty in Fort Carson, Colo., to a reduced charge of desertion. ...more

August 23, 2008

A U.S. Army specialist who fled Fort Bragg for Canada after learning his unit was going to be deployed to Iraq was ordered deported Wednesday. ...more

August 14, 2008

Five years after bombings forced the United Nations to pull out of Iraq, the world body is back. It announced plans Wednesday to help Iraq rebuild and create jobs after complaints the government has been unable or unwilling to spend its oil riches. ...more

August 14, 2008

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - A custom car and bike show, a vendor fair and a welcome home for troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan will be held Saturday in the Wild Wing Cafe parking lot at 9210 Anderson Road. ...more

July 30, 2008

Manny Ramirez is "tired" of the Boston Red Sox and would agree to a trade that would make both him and the team happy. ...more

July 28, 2008

After intense U.S. assaults, al-Qaida may be considering shifting focus to its original home base in Afghanistan, where American casualties are running higher than in Iraq, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Saturday. ...more

July 20, 2008

The community of Lake Wales said farewell to the 140 members of its National Guard unit Monday before the company heads out at 7 a.m. today for a year's deployment in Iraq. ...more

June 17, 2008

LAKE WALES - The community of Lake Wales said farewell to the 140 members of its National Guard unit today before the company heads out at 7 a.m. Tuesday for a year's deployment in Iraq. ...more

June 16, 2008

Scrawled in black Sharpie, the messages of love and support adorn hundreds of white bags of Starbucks coffee in Bob Williams' Wesley Chapel warehouse. (See above item.) Filling a dozen gigantic bins, the mounds of donated bags of coffee, purchased by Starbucks customers as part of a donation effort by franchisees, are shipped to U.S. troops stationed overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. ...more

June 11, 2008