After more than 5 1/2 years as a hostage of Colombian guerrillas, forced to march for hours while chained and to sleep on the floors of drug labs and under rats nests, Keith Stansell is finally home. ...more

July 13, 2008

TAMPA - Three American hostages rescued from a Colombian leftist group talked today about seeing their families — and tasting freedom — for the first time in 5 1/2 years. ...more

July 7, 2008

His lifelong dream of becoming a soldier had, in the end, come to this for Isaac Stevens: 28, penniless, in a wheelchair, fending off the sexual advances of another man in a homeless shelter. ...more

June 17, 2008

Dear Abby: My husband, "Robby," and I are having an argument about my teenage diary. About seven years ago, I discovered that he had been keeping a lot of photos and letters from his exes in boxes. I wanted him to throw them out and have continued to press the subject. His excuse is that he "doesn't have time." ...more

May 25, 2008

Some 463 children, from newborns to teens, forced from a polygamist sect's sprawling ranch in a raid six weeks ago and into foster care have been treated as a single group of abused and at-risk children. ...more

May 19, 2008

To gas prices, foreclosure rates and the cost of rice, add this rising economic indicator: the number of tips to the police from people hoping to collect reward money. ...more

May 18, 2008

Clear Channel Communications, a major outdoor advertising and radio company that owns several stations in the Tampa area, reported higher first-quarter earnings Friday on asset sales, but operating results were flat, reflecting weak demand for radio advertising. ...more

May 10, 2008

A Marine sergeant who became a symbol of resilience as he strove to recover from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq that blanketed 97 percent of his body with burns has died, the Defense Department said. He was 22. ...more

May 3, 2008

Scott Metzger wanted to start a restaurant-microbrewery in San Antonio, Texas. His credit was good. His business plan was sound. He should have had an easy time getting financing. ...more

May 3, 2008

I want you to be aware of a scam that almost happened to me. We don't think it happens in our small town, but it does! I was selling a goat on strato.net and got a "supposed" buyer. I was told the amount that would be sent would be in excess of my price. I was to keep my amount and wire the remainder to the "shipper," then the goat would be picked up. I was told to send the money to the United Kingdom, and was given the person's name and address to send it to. I received a cashiers check that looked legitimate from Frost National Bank in San Antonio, Texas, but when someone from Michigan wants a goat from Highlands County, and sends me a check for $4,000, it seems like something is wrong with that picture. ...more

February 21, 2008