Attitude, the alligator, gets amorous whenever her friend, the garbage truck, rumbles by. Or she gets angry, thinking an intrusive reptile is lurking in her territory. ...more

February 18, 2009

Attitude, the alligator, gets amorous whenever her friend, the garbage truck, rumbles by. Or she gets angry, thinking an intrusive reptile is lurking in her territory. Either way, the 25-year-old American alligator - the queen mum at Sarasota Jungle Gardens - acts weird. Twice a week, a city garbage truck growls nearby and hoists garbage bins into its cavernous maw, Attitude, who's been at the park for about 10 years, jerks her head up, hoists her tail and lets out a bellow for the ages. ...more

February 17, 2009

Whenever a top pharmaceutical company eliminates thousands of jobs, it leads to worry and caution from the medical community. ...more

January 23, 2009

A tale of a Dutch family coping with the upheavals of German occupation during World War II. Second of four parts. ...more

January 9, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - Djuke vom Vilstaler Land lounges in his parlor, half submerged in the indoor pool. He digs for something unseen and ducks his basketball-size, black and tan head under the surface. Water swells and breaches the rim. ...more

October 25, 2008

Djuke, all 117 pounds of toned muscle, is just getting over the jet lag of a flight to Buenos Aires over the weekend. There, he strutted, ran, sat still and stared, raking in the top three prizes in a contest among more than 300 other Rottweilers. ...more

October 23, 2008

A local physician weathers a storm of anxiety waiting to hear word about her elderly mother and other relatives in Myanmar. ...more

May 10, 2008

Part one of the three-part series. One out of every 15 people in Hernando County has diabetes — an increase of 5 percent since 2001. ...more

February 1, 2008

EDITOR'S NOTE: This occasional series spotlights local school administrators. This week's column features Sandra Black, principal at Springhead Elementary School, 3208 S. Nesmith Road. The school's telephone number is (813) 757-9321. ...more

January 10, 2008

U Par Par Lay goes to India to have his toothache treated. The Indian dentist wonders why the Burmese man has come all the way to India. ...more

November 4, 2007