More Debt A Mistake It is government intervention in the mortgage industry that got us in this mess. How can they expect us to trust them to get us out by slamming more long-term debt? They just need to cut taxes. ...more

February 11, 2009

Hundreds of people lined up in the cold for the grand opening of the community's first major department store recently. Within 20 minutes after Bealls' officials celebrated the ribbon cutting at 9 a.m. Friday, hundreds more had walked through the doors. ...more

February 11, 2009

There is still space in several of the county's after-school programs, which provide supervised sports, games and craft time. ...more

February 11, 2009

The First Baptist Church of Ruskin has hosted a soccer league for the past five years and a basketball league for the past two. ...more

February 11, 2009

The back-to-back blasts of cold last week hit Hillsborough County's tropical fish farmers hard, costing them more than $1.7 million in dead aquarium fish and snails, according to preliminary reports. ...more

February 10, 2009

Conservatism Not Racism I read with amazement "Commentator's Rush To Bitterness," (Views, Feb. 8) in which Frank Harris essentially calls Rush Limbaugh a racist because Limbaugh hopes President Barack Obama fails. ...more

February 10, 2009

Hundreds of people lined up in the cold for the grand opening of the community's first major department store today. Within 20 minutes after Bealls' officials celebrated the ribbon cutting at 9 a.m., hundreds more had walked through the doors. ...more

February 6, 2009

A precipitous drop in water temperature at the end of last month shut most fishing down for a few days. It was clear and cold for nearly a week, but not cold enough to kill any fish. At least I heard no such reports. The water temperature got as low as 57 degrees in the gulf, but it climbed back to 62 a few days later. If that's winter's best shot, we'll take it. ...more

February 4, 2009

With mid-winter conditions in effect, anglers have stayed on the dock for the most part. Small-craft warnings combined with morning temperatures in the high 30s make local fishing a challenge most are not willing to accept. And you can bet that the fish are not biting after a 10-degree drop in water temperature. ...more

January 29, 2009