While professing a belief in open government, President Bush has hardly run the country that way. His administration has looked with disdain upon the Freedom of Information Act and worked to make even more information secret. ...more

December 31, 2007

SEBRING — Some Highlands County citizens are calling the tentative plan to re-open popular Lake Denton illegal. Others are calling it ridiculous. One who is doing both is Ken Melvin, one of the seven members of the special Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee. On Jan. 2, the Highlands County commissioners are scheduled to at least discuss, and possibly vote on, the committee's controversial, four-point recommendation to re-open this closed public lake. "I think it's illegal," Melvin said about the committee's recommendation to severely restrict public access and charge weekend "user's fees" of $25 per day to scuba divers, boaters, fishermen, swimmers and sunbathers. "I'm going to say that to the commissioners on Wednesday," Melvin said. He was sick for several months and missed the last two advisory committee meetings. ...more

December 29, 2007

Regarding "Bright House Changes Channels" (Metro, Dec. 11): Shame on city, county and state government - as well as all relevant regulatory agencies - for allowing Bright House Networks to further remove us from the government we already pay for with our taxes and fees. We should have free access to watch them in action - or inaction, as the case may be - without having to install any additional equipment or pay any added fees. ...more

December 13, 2007

A woman's decomposing body was found Tuesday morning in a thick patch of woods adjacent to Brooksville Rock Road. ...more

December 12, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - A woman's decomposing body was found Tuesday morning in a thick patch of woods adjacent to Brooksville Rock Road. ...more

December 11, 2007

Fans of the three local government and public access channels will have to look elsewhere - and maybe even pay a little more - starting today. ...more

December 11, 2007

SEBRING –– On March 1, public access should be restored, on a limited basis, to popular Lake Denton. The special seven-member Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee voted unanimously Wednesday night to send that recommendation to the Highlands County commissioners. Commissioners appointed the committee in mid-September after voting 3-2 to close public access to this lake –– widely considered one of the best scuba diving lakes in the state –– for up to a year. Problems cited by commissioners in closing the county boat ramp, the only public access to this exceptionally clear, 65-acre lake, included: Potentially dangerous overcrowding by scuba divers, swimmers and boaters; illegal parking that sometimes clogged or blocked road access to lakefront homes; and occasional crude, lewd, rude and rowdy behavior by some lake users. ...more

December 7, 2007

A 1,000-plus-acre tract of environmentally sensitive land that's been on Hillsborough County's wish list for more than a decade could be in the public domain by year's end. ...more

November 27, 2007

Complaining that residents shouldn't have to pay an additional fee to watch government TV, Tampa filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Bright House Networks. ...more

November 17, 2007

SEBRING –– Public access could be restored to Lake Denton as soon as January, under a plan tentatively adopted by a special seven-member citizens committee. Highlands County commissioners may receive the proposal in December. It calls for restricting access through limited parking, weekend user's fees, and closing the county boat ramp at 4 p.m. daily. During summer weekends, dozens of vehicles carrying scuba divers, swimmers, sunbathers and a few boaters often overflowed the county's parking lot at the lake. Committee members are recommending that parking be limited to only eight spaces. Vehicles parked outside of the designated spaces could be ticketed or towed. ...more

November 16, 2007