A federal appeals court has made it more difficult for employers to snoop legally on e-mail and text messages their workers send from company accounts. ...more

June 20, 2008

One man was crushed to death and another injured when the driver of a pickup rolled over them and then fled Tuesday evening, police said. ...more

June 19, 2008

The green Lincoln swerved toward a motorcycle on U.S. 301, and when the biker made an obscene gesture, the stakes were raised, according to sheriff's office and city police reports. ...more

June 19, 2008

Former Hillsborough County State Attorney Bill James, whose career as a crusader against corruption included the federal indictment of three Hillsborough County commissioners, has died at 75. ...more

June 18, 2008

SEBRING — In Sebring Police Sgt. Mike Warner's own words, the police "beat the bushes for hours" Saturday looking for a suspect linked to a carjacking and robbery that morning. A man smacked a woman to the ground, snatched her car keys and drove off with a 2000 Chevy Cavalier shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday. About eight minutes later, a car matching that description was used as the getaway vehicle after a man, matching the description of the suspect in the previous carjacking, snatched a purse out of a 72-year-old woman's lap as she sat in a car. "That's the type of crime I won't stand for," Warner said in a phone interview Sunday. ...more

June 15, 2008

LAKELAND - Police are investigating a suspicious death in the Bridge Water subdivision in Lakeland. The body of a white male was found floating in the water, Lakeland police Sgt. Gary Gross said. ...more

June 12, 2008

Thieves broke into a jewelry company during the weekend and stole up to $2 million in gold, gems and other valuables, including Super Bowl rings made for New York Giants staff members, authorities said. ...more

June 12, 2008

A safety checkpoint set up by the Plant City Police Department last week was cut short by the threat of lightning, but not before dozens of vehicles were checked by officers. ...more

June 4, 2008

To the untrained eye, the big lump of fur lumbering around the pool area at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando could have been a drunken, fur-coated rock star stumbling about on all fours. But the keen eyes of security recognized it for what it was early this morning. There was a Florida black bear near the pool, oh, my, and it wasn't a refugee from the Country Bear Jamboree at nearby Walt Disney World, either. This was a genuine bruin from the wilds of Orange County. ...more

May 28, 2008

AVON PARK — An Avon Park woman remained in Highlands County Jail in lieu of $1,500 bond Wednesday, after police charged her with punching and robbing her ex in the parking lot of the Hendricks Corner grocery store. Cara Anne Parnell, 31, of 906 Palmer Ave., was booked on charges of robbery and domestic violence battery (with a previous conviction for domestic battery). The 57-year-old victim, an Avon Park resident living at a different address, reported that at about 8 a.m. Saturday, he was parked along the west side of Hendricks and was standing at his driver's side door, when Parnell got out of a blue vehicle and walked up to him demanding money, the report stated. The victim refused and was punched in his neck. Parnell walked away, but returned demanding money again. He told her he wasn't giving her any, the report stated. ...more

May 28, 2008