Recently, an article in the Huffington Post (posted Oct. 20) caught my attention because of its relevance to our county's decision to accept or reject a National Security Training Center. The report, written by Jo Comerford, summarizes the National Priorities Project's research on American military spending over the past two decades. It indicates that the U.S. Department of Defense spends as much as the next 14 countries combined on the military, and according to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 55 percent of next year's discretionary spending will go to the military. The United States has already used $915.1 billion in total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending. ...more

October 28, 2009

Sometimes you just have to move on, even if it's painful. That's what the folks behind what used to be called the Eagle National Security Training Center should understand. It's looks as if they are doing just that. ...more

October 22, 2009

After listening to two attorneys and about 30 citizens for four hours, the Highlands County commissioners again sided with the Venus community and said no to the National Security Training Center. ...more

October 21, 2009

The Highlands County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday on measures that move forward plans for a security training center that could employ up to 200 people and a cellulosic ethanol plant that will create an estimated 140 jobs in the southern end of the county. ...more

December 24, 2008

Editor's note: This is a corrected version of a story printed in the July 16 Highlands Today. By 2010, if Seth Ellis gets his way, Venus will become known as a live-fire training center for the military, homeland security, local police, even foreign governments. ...more

July 16, 2008

During the past six years, the Bush administration has spent almost $100 million so far on a highly classified program to help Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf secure his country's nuclear weapons, according to current and former senior administration officials. ...more

November 18, 2007