A year after an unruly crowd trampled a worker to death at a Walmart store, America's retailers are preparing for another Black Friday, the blockbuster shopping day after Thanksgiving. Along with offering $300 laptops and $99 navigation devices, stores are planning new safety measures to make sure the festive day does not take another deadly turn. ...more

November 12, 2009

Some were too large. Others were unruly. Some were just unwanted. Owners of exotic pets streamed to a location near Busch Gardens on Saturday, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission amnesty day. ...more

November 10, 2009

Chubby-cheeked Somer Thompson was last seen alive walking along the sidewalk in front of a vacant house, and authorities said Friday that they're searching for someone who saw what happened to the 7-year-old after that. ...more

October 23, 2009

Vitali Klitschko has promised to teach Juan Carlos Gomez a lesson when the heavyweights fight Saturday for Klitschko's WBC title. ...more

March 16, 2009

Cash isn't the only thing drying up in this economy. The historically steady flow of blood to the Tampa Bay area's primary blood bank is dwindling, the victim of layoffs at a number of major companies. Some businesses have seen donations drop 10 percent to 20 percent; others have canceled bloodmobile visits altogether. ...more

February 22, 2009

Cash isn't the only thing drying up in this economy. The historically steady flow of blood to the Tampa Bay area's primary blood bank is dwindling, the victim of layoffs at a number of major local companies. Some companies have seen donations drop 10 percent to 20 percent; others have canceled bloodmobile visits all together. ...more

February 17, 2009

Well it's finally over. I didn't think the day would ever come when the signs would come tumbling down. Actually I missed a lot of the Election Day excitement by voting early, but we did drive by our precinct just to see how much of a line we would have had to wait in. When we got there, there was none. Precinct Sheriff Jim Smith, who was featured on the front page of our paper a week or so ago, said they had a large turnout but it was more of a steady flow, which kept the lines down. ...more

November 8, 2008

More than 10,500 voters cast their ballots by 2 p.m. today, bringing the total percentage of votes cast to 60 percent. 10,671 people voted today as of 2 p.m., said an official with the Highlands County Supervisor of Elections. ...more

November 4, 2008

8:00 p.m. Plant City A small survey of polling places in the Plant City area showed the precincts were line-free after 6 p.m., with some seeing only a trickle of voters coming in after 5 p.m. ...more

November 4, 2008

7:30 a.m.: The doors at Precinct 701 in FishHawk Ranch opened on time at 7 a.m., and there has been a steady flow of voters heading in to cast their votes. The line has not gotten any shorter, though. It still stretches all the way down Palmettoside Drive to Dorman Road. ...more

November 4, 2008