You'll learn this month whether you can turn on your sprinklers an extra day each week. In the meantime, while you're watching the grass grow browner and waiting for water managers to make their decision June 24, consider this: You've got it tougher than anyone else in Florida. ...more

June 6, 2008

GARDEN NOTES Events GARDEN TOUR: A Discovery Tour of Florida Botanical Gardens will be held from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Meet at the Pinellas County Extension Welcome Center, 12520 Ulmerton Road, Largo. ...more

May 21, 2008

The health of the state's economy is at stake if the agriculture industry continues to be threatened by one of the most severe droughts in history. Additionally, industry and high growth rates continue to create increased demand for water. ...more

February 10, 2008

North Georgia holds a little-known secret that could come in handy during the state's historic drought: A band of aging, government-built lakes that are brimming with water. ...more

February 10, 2008

A report that details the circumstances surrounding a 9-year-old boy's death during the Plant City Christmas Parade has been posted on the city's Web site. ...more

January 31, 2008

So how does one remember 2007 now that 2008 is officially upon us? Certainly not with great joy even though we in Florida did not have much of a hurricane season. Like the rest of the nation, Floridians convulsed under the grip of a tanking real-estate market, marked by record foreclosures. In Florida, high property taxes and insurance premiums made things worse for homeowners – and snowbirds, among some, promised to go elsewhere. ...more

January 1, 2008

SEBRING — As Florida goes into its second winter of a drought that is expected to persist as far as official projections can go, growers are complaining that ongoing water restrictions are leaving their plants parched. Highlands County Lakes Manager Clell Ford told Highlands Today that Joe Collins, an engineer with Lykes Bros., complained that Lykes could use any water they could get from Lake Istokpoga for some of the crops it was growing. The South Florida Water Management District had shut off the water permits using the lake's canals since October. ...more

December 14, 2007

LAKE PLACID — If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then Lake Placid is becoming an attention grabber. With $1.3 million of guaranteed state and federal grants slated for beautification and landscaping projects, the Caladium Capital of the world is poised to become greener. The projects will complement local private and business donors who banded together in 1987 to form the Keep Lake Placid Beautiful Committee. About $300,000 of federal funding, funneled through the Florida Department of Transportation, will pay for the extension of roadway median improvements on U.S. 27. ...more

December 8, 2007

Mandatory Conservation You are right on target with your Nov. 28 editorial "Saving Water Will Pay Off Later." ...more

December 1, 2007

The Southwest Florida Water Management District voted Monday to extend its water restrictions to June 30, 2008. ...more

November 26, 2007