AVON PARK — The day Walter Rollf found out Pearl Harbor had been bombed is one of the few times in his life he remembers crying. "When that happened and again when President Roosevelt died, I sat and bawled," Rollf said. Just 10 days before the Dec. 7, 1941 attack, Rollf, a Navy seaman, had been transferred out of Pearl Harbor. "I cried mostly because I wasn't there, and I feel like I should have been," Rollf said, then pausing. "I lost a lot of good buddies that day, and it made me feel worse because I wasn't there with them." Rollf, a fifth-generation military man, would be what many consider lucky, having never been in combat during his years in the military, but he says he wishes things were different. ...more

December 7, 2007

In prep wrestling, there are 14 weight classes that make up a team event. But when one of those classes has someone fail to make the proper weight, a coach then has to juggle his lineup so much that it affects more than one weight. ...more

December 1, 2007

ELLENTON - Bobbie McGraw's gut told her something was wrong when an unkempt man came into her antiques shop. She nearly asked him to leave. But the two boys and a girl with him were clean and dressed in polo shirts. So she gave him the benefit of the doubt. ...more

November 30, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - February was a bittersweet month for Reyes Perez. The Pasco 189-pounder reached the FHSAA wrestling tournament for the second time, but after winning his first match via a second-period pin, he lost his second and third matches, ending his season short of his goal of placing at the tournament. ...more

November 26, 2007

How about those kids today? All they care about is music, having friends, dating and irritating us older folks. Right? Well, no, actually. And if you need proof of that, look no further than Sebring High School's Freshman Foundation. They blow those stereotypes out of the water. Spearheaded by a group of students in the Freshman Foundation, the school has taken on the task of raising $10,000 to help Ugandan children caught in a savage war that gets little media attention. They will partner with the Schools for Schools program and try to bring about change for young people thousands of miles away. After watching videos of Ugandan children caught in a conflict between government forces and a rebel group called Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Sebring students decided to do something about it. The LRA kidnaps children to make them soldiers and sex slaves. It has totally disrupted any semblance of normal life for young people there. But most of us have never heard of such a problem because it's lost in coverage of Iraq and Darfur. ...more

November 9, 2007

Regarding the movie "Saw 4" playing in Sebring: Saw movies are rated R, am I correct? Saw movies are high is gore, blood, violence and the like, correct? It is almost overkill at points, right? (no pun intended) Why in God's name would you take your 3- to 5-year-old babies to that movie? Why would the theater allow them to enter to watch that movie? ...more

November 7, 2007

TAMPA - Three dirty toddlers in diapers were found this morning wandering on Himes Avenue without any adults, police and rescue spokesmen said.. ...more

October 18, 2007

Zach Bonner is planning a special 10th birthday, but he won't be munching cake and ice cream or ripping into presents. ...more

October 18, 2007

VALRICO - Zach Bonner is planning a special 10th birthday, but he won't be munching cake and ice cream or ripping into presents. ...more

October 17, 2007

The father of a Catholic school soccer player was arrested after he attacked a referee after a game Friday evening, police and witnesses said. ...more

October 16, 2007