On New Year's Eve I was sitting at a table with friends, waiting for the count down to the New Year. I looked at the noise maker in front of me and saw "made in the U.S.A" stamped on it. It made me start to think of my youth in the '50s and '60s. I remembered the RCA T.V. that was made in the U.S.A. I remembered the Emerson radio that was made in the U.S.A. I remembered the Chevrolet that my father drove; you guessed it, made in the U.S.A. ...more

February 5, 2009

Feb. 1, 2009 ...more

February 1, 2009

A fire this afternoon caused by a 4-year-old boy playing with a lighter has left a family of five without a home, Tampa Fire Rescue officials say. ...more

January 29, 2009

Jan. 29, 2009 ...more

January 29, 2009

I can just see it now, an extravaganza President Barack Obama, accompanied by Mrs. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barney Frank in the opening chorus of "Hail, hail, the gang's all here," special arrangement by the Democratic Congress singing "Happy days are here again!" ...more

January 29, 2009

On Monday, five two-person teams of volunteers fanned out across the county, helping the Highlands County Coalition for the Homeless conduct its annual, weeklong survey of homeless people in the county. ...more

January 27, 2009

Investors in a wiped out Sarasota hedge fund tell similar stories today about the rise and fall of their money. ...more

January 17, 2009

Extraordinary times require extraordinary actions, the experts say. That's why President-elect Barack Obama is pushing for tax cuts and government spending. This runs counter to how most of us think, considering that the last thing any of us would do is dig deeper in debt when debt is what's sinking us in the first place. But many people much smarter than most of us say this is necessary. ...more

January 7, 2009

The family and friends of parachutist Debbie Laws committed her ashes to the sky she loved so much during two skydiving jumps Saturday afternoon. ...more

January 3, 2009

Eventually, Susan Sardiello's eyesight will be lost. She has been told by doctors the blood vessels behind her retinas are rapidly deteriorating and will cause total blindness. It could happen in a week or maybe in a year. It is a medical certainty she will lose it all. ...more

January 3, 2009