Mayor Pam Iorio this morning made an impassioned pitch for a Tampa-centric rail plan to members of TBARTA, the region's transportation authority, saying the system's first leg could be built in five or six years if approved by voters in a 2010 referendum. ...more

January 23, 2009

Freezing temperatures forecast for tonight from the Panhandle to the Everglades pose a serious threat to the state's agriculture industry. ...more

January 22, 2009

A $175,000 state grant has turned into state-of-the-art equipment for a new charter school. ...more

January 21, 2009

With one exception, Hernando County's population is expected to grow 11.77 percent by 2012, faster than any other county in the Tampa Bay region. ...more

January 21, 2009

Tampa has gotten the federal OK to spend $13.6 million to buy foreclosed and abandoned properties. ...more

January 21, 2009

Tampa has gotten the federal OK to spend $13.6 million to buy foreclosed and abandoned properties. The funding will come from the city's share of the $3.9 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, a response to escalating foreclosures nationwide. The stabilization program is overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. ...more

January 20, 2009

It took years of intercounty conflict, negotiations and public commitment to put an end to the wellfield overpumping in north Hillsborough and Pasco counties that damaged surrounding wetlands and lakes. ...more

January 16, 2009

Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration are executing search warrants in an investigation into marijuana grow houses in Pinellas and Pasco counties, a DEA spokeswoman said. ...more

January 9, 2009

The Hernando County Career Central office has been inundated by job-seekers hoping to land one of the 1,400 U.S. Census jobs the agency recently announced. ...more

January 1, 2009

The crime only took a minute. The man walked into the Mid-Florida Federal Credit Union in Lakeland on Nov. 20 and handed the teller a note demanding money. The teller complied, and the robber walked out. He hasn't been caught. ...more

December 31, 2008