Laws mandating stores sell only cigarettes that are slow-burning and fire-safe went into effect in five states on New Year's Day, and Florida will join the list next year. ...more

January 3, 2009

Friday's Prep Scores ...more

January 2, 2009

A Florida couple who says they wound up in a Cuban jail after their boat was badly damaged in a storm is back home. ...more

January 2, 2009

Reid Penabade attacked a person from behind on New Year's Eve, hitting the person's face against a mini-refrigerator and punching him, causing a fractured orbital bone, Hillsborough County deputies say. ...more

January 2, 2009

Crystal Rusaw had scheduled a Jan. 9 Caesarean delivery for her second child, but Pasco County's first baby of 2009 had other ideas. Antonio Larry Rusaw waited until everyone in his family had gone to bed before starting his way into the world. His mother's water broke about 1:30 a.m. Thursday shortly after she had put her year-old daughter, Jasmine, to bed. "I had just laid down," Crystal Rusaw said Thursday afternoon as she recovered in her room at Community Hospital in New Port Richey. ...more

January 2, 2009

Winter Haven police are looking for anyone who saw a pedestrian fatally struck crossing First Street South near Avenue A Southwest on New Year's Eve. ...more

January 2, 2009

Authorities say a New Year's Eve reveler, who was celebrating with a handgun, accidentally shot himself. ...more

January 2, 2009

Officials at a wildlife conservatory are blaming the loud noise from New Year's Eve fireworks for the death of a rare parrot. ...more

January 2, 2009

Elaborate floats and costumes were the norm for the traditional New Year's parades in California and Philadelphia on Thursday. ...more

January 2, 2009

A 93-year-old man was killed Wednesday night in a home invasion robbery, Polk County deputies said. ...more

January 1, 2009