Please allow me to respond to a letter in Thursday's paper (Oct. 9) regarding Sheriff Benton. The writer seems to think that our sheriff is rude and uncaring because she didn't take time to speak with him about free Spanish lessons he was offering the deputies back in January 2007. He stated that he was a part-time resident, so he might not have known that at that particular time, one of our brave state troopers, Sgt. Sottile, had been brutally murdered. Maybe if he had known that, he might realize that the sheriff was busy trying to catch a cop killer. It is possible that his generous offer was somehow forgotten in the process. ...more

October 11, 2008

Wilson C. Brady of Hudson says work, not handouts, is the best path. ...more

October 8, 2008

EBay Inc. is eliminating 1,600 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force. The online auction site operator will cut 1,000 full-time employees and let several hundred temporary and part-time workers go. It will also leave some open positions unfilled. ...more

October 7, 2008

Reference is made to the Sept. 12 article in which the sheriff's attorney, Mike Durham, described the leader of a controversial evidence audit as "a disgruntled former employee." If Mr. Newell was a disgruntled part-time employee of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, it is apparently the first time in his reported 34 year career as a law enforcement officer that he had been, as described, "disgruntled." ...more

September 21, 2008

Bill Fanning of Hudson congratulates the Republican Party for creating many problems on the national and state level. ...more

August 30, 2008

For the second time this year, the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce will be looking for a new executive director. ...more

August 20, 2008

DADE CITY For the second time this year, the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce will be looking for a new executive director. Tony Lister, who was selected to serve as the chamber's director in April, has resigned. In a resignation e-mail, Lister said he would work full time at the chamber through Aug. 27 and then on a part-time basis as needed. Lister, 37, previously was a teacher at Wesley Chapel High School. In April 2005, Lister was elected unopposed to the San Antonio city commission to fill a seat left open by the retirement of four-term Commissioner Dennis Phillips. In March, the chamber severed its ties with longtime director Phyllis Smith. Smith resigned March 12 but had agreed to stay on while a new director was selected and settled into the position. ...more

August 19, 2008

So far this summer, only three scuba divers have paid the $25 per day, weekend/holiday user fee to use the county's 40-foot wide, shell road that serves as the only public access to Lake Denton. ...more

August 7, 2008

After 13 months of retired bliss, I had enough of my golden years and sought employment. ...more

July 4, 2008

LAKE PLACID – An ownership change is in the works for the Montessori Children's School of Lake Placid, which opened in 2001. Jennifer Payne, a longtime volunteer at the school, recently became its director. "I have a contract right now to purchase the school," Payne said Monday. The school's owner, Shannon Fritzius, has been ill, according to Payne. The school will likely close under Fritzius' ownership in mid to late July and then reopen for the fall semester, she said. ...more

June 30, 2008