After a much-protested journey, the Olympic torch reached this southern Chinese seaside resort Saturday night, beginning what organizers and Chinese citizens promised would be a trouble-free national tour. ...more

May 4, 2008

The two news items came across the wire during a three-day span last spring, their significance amounting to perhaps a sentence each among all but the most ardent baseball fans. ...more

February 3, 2008

It's a common perception that kids –– especially today's kids –– don't care beyond their needs, so it's comforting to see a few actually reach out. Last November, a group of about 20 Sebring High School freshmen decided they wanted to raise $10,000 for children in Uganda, an African nation caught in the throes of civil war. It's difficult, even for adults, to care about a faraway nation but these kids have really stepped up to the plate. Raising all that money in a few months is no easy job and so far the students have raised $7,000. ...more

January 28, 2008

An interesting feature in the online New York Times shows you "What you get for $850,000" or some other amount that seems, in a New York sense anyway, plausible for wealthy second-home buyers. Illustrations of these delicious-looking homes are accompanied by their taxes. A recent article listed taxes on an $850,000 home in Tennessee at $1,891; in Idaho, at $2,638; and in Arizona, at $2,332. ...more

January 13, 2008

DENVER - Santa brought just what the nation's ski resorts wanted - the best nationwide snow conditions in several years. ...more

December 24, 2007

Talk about your cosmic pileups. An asteroid similar to the one that flattened forests in Siberia in 1908 could plow into Mars in the next few weeks, scientists said. ...more

December 23, 2007

The holiday spirit is alive and well in Dunedin. Fifteen artists burned out of a downtown gallery have experienced that spirit this week, both from the city and area patrons of the arts. ...more

December 22, 2007

Florida's public school enrollment dropped by nearly 8,000 students compared with last year, another indicator of the state's slumping economy. ...more

December 17, 2007

The bottom line was the bottom line for Tampa Bay on Tuesday with a victory that pulled them out of the bottom. ...more

December 5, 2007

AVON PARK — With upcoming council member Al Joe Hinson's arrival, the council will have two Southside representatives and two black council members for the first time in the city's recent history. And several Southside residents were hoping this would boost the influence of the economically under-served part of the city. Shirley Johnson, the Southside Community Redevelopment Agency chairwoman, said she thought Hinson –– who she and most of his friends call "Al Joe" –– would be a major boost for the Southside's representation in the council. "He won, and I'm glad he won, and I know people on the Southside are," Johnson said. "People were ready for another person to join in with Miss (Brenda) Gray... I think the people are ready to see some positive things happen with Gray and Hinson." ...more

November 20, 2007