With an electric bill expected to top $40 million this year, the Hillsborough County School District has turned to a team of five men and a few posses of students. ...more

December 25, 2007

The number of crimes committed in Florida edged up slightly in the first half of 2007, bucking a yearslong trend of declining crime in the state, according to a report released Friday. ...more

November 4, 2007

I'm pretty observant about where my kids leave their money. If I see wallets left on kitchen counters or cash stacked on top of a bedroom dresser, I tell them to put it away, and I'll watch them do it. And if there's a wad of bills or loose change in the washing machine that fell out of pants pockets, I'll sometimes claim first dibs on the dough. ...more

November 4, 2007

A construction official convicted of accepting a kickback is asking a judge to let him 'pay for my mistake in a constructive manner' by serving his 18-month federal prison sentence working on an Indian reservation in Georgia. ...more

October 31, 2007

TAMPA - A construction official convicted of accepting a kickback is asking a judge to let him "pay for my mistake in a constructive manner" by serving his 18-month federal prison sentence working on an Indian reservation in Georgia. Joel R. Velasco, who accepted a $63,000 kickback as manager of a $20 million project at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center, wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday asking that his sentence be modified to allow him to work on the reservation. ...more

October 30, 2007

Robin Hood probably never had a map to guide him through Sherwood Forest, but participants in the Little Manatee River State Park's annual Mystery Map fundraiser will get one as they ride horses, paddle canoes or hike through obstacle courses based on 12th-century England. ...more

September 24, 2007