TAMPA Ryan Desort's mom, Karol, picked him up from Coleman Middle School and confronted him about a message left on her cell phone. ...more

January 28, 2009

Highlands County School Board members, as well as school Superintendent Wally Cox and his staff, have worked hard to find cuts in the district's budget. Diminished revenue puts the squeeze on everyone. A comment tossed out during a recent meeting, however, caught a lot of attention. It was mentioned that perhaps junior varsity sports should be cut. ...more

January 25, 2009

Mayor Pam Iorio this morning made an impassioned pitch for a Tampa-centric rail plan to members of TBARTA, the region's transportation authority, saying the system's first leg could be built in five or six years if approved by voters in a 2010 referendum. ...more

January 23, 2009

As expected, the Hernando School Board has hired an attorney to go after what the district claims is nearly $1 million in back taxes owed by the owners of Brooksville and Spring Hill Regional hospitals. ...more

January 23, 2009

Melissa Daigneault is focused on the Super Bowl, but it's canned goods and not football that has her attention. Daigneault, a senior at Sickles High School, is one of 19 students nationally serving on the youth advisory board for the Souper Bowl of Caring. The 20th annual event coordinates food drives on Super Bowl weekend for local charities through schools, churches, businesses and organizations. ...more

January 21, 2009

Ybor City's Seventh Avenue will continue to be known as "La Setima." On Thursday, the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, composed of the seven-member city council, voted 4-2 against sending a request to Mayor Pam Iorio to remove the Spanish wording from street signs along Ybor's main thoroughfare. ...more

January 16, 2009

Ybor City's Seventh Avenue will continue to be known as "La Setima." The city's Community Redevelopment Agency, comprised of the seven-member city council, voted 4 to 2 against sending a request to Mayor Pam Iorio to remove the Spanish wording from street signs along Ybor's main thoroughfare today. ...more

January 15, 2009

The money troubles trickling from the state down to public schools are weighing heavily on Hillsborough County students, who made it clear to their school board Tuesday that they want their programs and extracurricular activities intact. ...more

January 14, 2009

Dozens of students from Hillsborough County's high schools will continue a three-decade tradition today when they get a chance to tell the school board what's on their minds. ...more

January 13, 2009

In a sign of the changed economic times, a local developer has scrapped plans to build multifamily housing on 15.8 acres off North Jasmine Avenue. ...more

January 10, 2009