Editor's Note: This is the first in an occasional series about how Brandon area residents and businesses are coping with inflation, high gas prices and other effects of the nation's troubled economy. ...more

July 23, 2008

In an ominous sign for drugmakers, the number of prescriptions dispensed by pharmacies in the United States is growing at its worst rate in at least a decade as consumers are squeezed by both a troubled economy and the growing burden of out-of-pocket health care costs. ...more

July 17, 2008

Just when you thought times couldn't get more discouraging in the United States, a Belgian company announced Sunday that it was purchasing an American icon - Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser and other popular domestic beers - for $52 billion. ...more

July 15, 2008

Wade Osborne stopped into Head's Flags in South Tampa on Thursday to replace the faded American flag hanging outside his house in Beach Park. ...more

July 4, 2008

TAMPA — Wade Osborne stopped into Head's Flags in South Tampa today to replace the faded American flag hanging outside his house in Beach Park. ...more

July 3, 2008

As gigs go in this troubled economy, it's not so bad being a profoundly unpopular lame-duck president. ...more

June 22, 2008

As gigs go in this troubled economy, it's not so bad being a profoundly unpopular lame-duck president. ...more

June 21, 2008

Mark Twain, Edith Wharton and other boldfaced names among the dead have something in common with living Americans in these hard financial times: ...more

June 20, 2008

SEBRING — Blame it on gasoline or ethanol, but shopping for food these days is just as unpleasant as gassing up your car. Fruit prices have gone bananas, and poultry isn't quite the paltry budget choice it once was for the thrifty shopper. With the sharpest increase in food prices since 1990 and a troubled economy, Highlands County businesses and residents are doing what they can. ...more

June 8, 2008

SEBRING — Falling sale prices for homes in Highlands County, as is happening in most parts of the country, will put Michael Wright on the proverbial hot seat right away. On Monday, Wright started as the county's administrator and learned he'll have to recommend to the commissioners either budget cuts or an increase in the tax rate. Officials with the school board and the cities of Sebring and Avon Park also face the same tough choices due to the troubled economy and falling home values. The taxable property values overall in Highlands County dropped 9.2 percent from last year, according to the preliminary report by county Property Appraiser Raymond McIntyre. ...more

June 2, 2008