The Brooksville Police Department has a union. With a 6-5 vote and four officers not voting, the department founded its fraternal order of police chapter Thursday and will fall under the auspices of the Pinellas County Police Benevolent Association. ...more

January 5, 2008

Money dominated the headlines in Pasco in 2007. Whether it was the sheriff wrangling with county commissioners, city councils imposing hiring and travel freezes, or the school district delaying contract negotiations, budget negotiations monopolized the news. ...more

December 30, 2007

Your recent editorial in the Tribune concerning contract negotiations with the Tampa firefighters reported information that is inaccurate and misleading. The Tribune editorial, "By Demanding 10 Percent Raise, City Firefighters Insult Taxpayers" (Our Opinion, Dec. 14),claims "government unions have lost all sense of economic reality." ...more

December 19, 2007

Before playing sports was about favorable draft positions, contract negotiations, media criticism and job instability, professional athletes enjoyed the purity of high school sports. ...more

December 9, 2007

This week's Smackdown takes a step back to those wholesome days to determine which Tampa Bay player was the ''Best High School Athlete.'' The competition is between right guard Davin Joseph, one of the best wrestlers in state history, and cornerback Phillip Buchanon, one of the finest multiple sports athletes from Florida. ...more

December 7, 2007

The county hopes to have its new county administrator on board by March 1. ...more

November 29, 2007

Wanted: Developer to convert 81-year-old church property, in the heart of a historic downtown, into a mixed-use residential and commercial complex. ...more

November 19, 2007

SEBRING — After continuing to work under last year's contract since the start of the school year, the school district's support personnel will likely get their annual salary increase along with a retroactive raise before the holidays. The Highlands County Educational Support Personnel Association and the School Board of Highlands County reached a tentative contract agreement late Monday afternoon. The tentative agreement calls for an average salary increase of 4 percent and a total salary and benefit package increase of 5.86 percent. ...more

November 14, 2007

Producers and theater owners say they're just looking for a fair agreement that wouldn't force them to hire extra workers they don't need. ...more

November 11, 2007

The one thing the two groups of deputies who faced off Tuesday outside the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Ybor City might agree on is that the agency is drastically understaffed. ...more

October 31, 2007