My letter is in regard to the four-wheel ATV accident in Orange Blossom Estates last week. I have for seven years tried to get the four-wheel ATV vehicles off our county roads and the rights of way, with little success. In 2007 there was an accident on Canter Path Silver Fox. A young man speeding, wrecked and had to be airlifted in critical condition. Now we have a fatality and another hospitalized. It is time that the laws regarding ATVs be changed. Captain Blackman of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office stated that the fine for using an ATV on our roads is on $78; this is not sufficient and needs to be amended. The price of an officer to respond, wear and tear on the vehicle and the cost of fuel is greater than $78. This law needs to be amended. A four-wheel ATV is like a car or even a gun in the wrong hands, under the wrong conditions. People are severely injured and in this case killed. ...more

February 19, 2008

Citrus County deputies found the bodies of a young man and woman at a home in Inverness this evening after responding to a call about a shooting. ...more

February 7, 2008

Inspirational Story Regarding "Can-Do Attitude Builds Houses," Jan. 20: The article on the high school freshman really was inspirational. ...more

February 3, 2008

Marjorie Miller of New Port Richey critical of op-ed page columnist James Hibbs regarding Creationism. ...more

January 29, 2008

Dear Abby: A friend was diagnosed with cancer. A single woman living alone, she rallied a group of co-workers, friends and neighbors to donate their time to help her with a variety of tasks. These included driving her back and forth to chemo and doctor appointments, fixing meals, cleaning her house (she has OCD and was superpicky about every detail, including cleaning the cat box), sleeping over to make sure she was OK (we had only a lumpy couch because she refused to set up a bed in one of her two vacant bedrooms!) and handling a variety of other tasks. ...more

January 27, 2008

SEBRING — A 16-year-old student at the Academy at Youth Care Lane was charged Thursday with a felony count of crimes against a person by threat, as well as disturbing the peace, for allegedly saying he was going to shoot his drill instructors with a gun. ...more

January 19, 2008

One of the men mauled in a tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo pleaded for help from a 911 dispatcher and asked why it was taking so long to get it, according to a recording of the call released Tuesday. ...more

January 16, 2008

The modern version of "Go west, young man," may very well be, "Go west, aging boomer." Demographers who track retirement trends report increasing numbers of baby boomers are retiring to Wyoming and Montana. This past year, we read articles titled "Forget Florida or Arizona, More Baby Boomers Are Heading West" and "More Boomers Head to Mountain West." We didn't put much stock in such news. We didn't want to believe the "rumors" of a somewhat surprising trend. That was, before we received a call from lifelong friends. They told us they'd sold their home in Dallas, Texas, and were retiring to Saratoga, Wyo. ...more

January 11, 2008

Michael Xipolitas will continue a tradition tomorrow, during the Epiphany Celebration procession, as he leads 61 young men to Spring Bayou, where they will try their best to succeed him as the next successful cross diver. The dive for the cross is one of the highlights of the Greek Orthodox Epiphany Celebration. ...more

January 8, 2008

After 56 years, Dave Melden was ready to quit smoking. He had tried before, and once went an entire year without a drag, but he always returned to the habit he picked up as a 13-year-old farm boy in Bay City, Mich. ...more

January 7, 2008