An Azalea Middle School teacher accused of sending pornography to a student has been released from the Pinellas County Jail after she posted bail of $20,000. ...more

March 9, 2009

Pinellas deputies arrested three men they say operated a boat theft ring during an early-morning chase in Tierra Verde. ...more

March 3, 2009

The tragic saga of the Graziano family took a turn toward the surreal Thursday. ...more

February 27, 2009

Zale Jewelry Closing 115 Stores Zale Corp., the Dallas-based jeweler, will close 115 underperforming stores across the country in the next 18 months, but it wasn't clear how many will close in the Tampa Bay area. A spokeswoman for Zale said the company will reveal that information shortly before each store closes. ...more

February 27, 2009

A detention sergeant at the Pinellas County Jail was demoted to the rank of deputy after he took a television out of an inmate pod to punish unruly inmates, then misrepresented the damage he had done to the television in the process, according to memorandums released this morning by the sheriff's office. Former Sgt. Shane Stradley was also suspended for 80 hours, the memorandums say. ...more

February 26, 2009

Authorities have identified the passenger killed while fleeing police on Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg on Thursday night. Tyrone D. Dudley, 26, of St. Petersburg, died in a two-vehicle crash, Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins said. ...more

February 25, 2009

For years there was an annual late-summer rite that occurred all around Florida. The local sheriff, in good economic times or bad, would suggest in a public fashion the bad guys were winning the upper hand and the sheriff's agency needed more money to put extra personnel and equipment on the street to take back the initiative. These days, however, Pinellas Sheriff Jim Coats is cutting spending in response to the drop in revenue the county is experiencing as a result of the collapse of the Florida housing industry and the nationwide economic recession. ...more

February 21, 2009

For years there was an annual late-summer rite that occurred all around Florida. The local sheriff, in good economic times or bad, would suggest in a public fashion the bad guys were winning the upper hand and the sheriff's agency needed more money to put extra personnel and equipment on the street to take back the initiative. In Pasco County over the decades there have been spirited battles between the sheriff of the moment and the County Commission, which under state law can make cuts in Sheriff's Office spending. ...more

February 21, 2009

Largo police arrested a registered sex offender Tuesday on charges he had sex with a 15-year-old girl while a 14-year-old girl watched. ...more

February 18, 2009

A St. Petersburg man was arrested this morning after police say he burst into the apartment of a 24-year-old woman as she was unlocking her front door and then tried to rape her. ...more

February 17, 2009