Hillsborough County is one of five finalists in an effort by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to figure out what qualities make the best teachers and how to measure those qualities in the classroom. ...more

August 20, 2009

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio's team holds the No. 2 selection in Thursday's draft for the Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football Mayoral Face-Off. Tampa is one of 11 cities participating in the draft. The winning city will receive $15,000 and give the money to a local youth charity with a sports element. ...more

August 19, 2009

Banks expanded at a breathtaking pace in the past five years, adding more than 10,000 full-service branches, but barely 1 in 10 were in inner-city minority neighborhoods. ...more

August 19, 2009

Gambling is getting easier for Floridians. That's because the Florida Lottery is rolling out the first of 1,000 instant ticket vending machines this week, starting in Tampa and Fort Myers. ...more

August 19, 2009

Pasco County sheriff's detectives were searching for two men Friday involved in the early morning shooting of a man outside a bar. ...more

August 15, 2009

All those commercials featuring top celebrities looking flawless in foundations available at the nearest drugstore always make me wonder: Is that really possible for the rest of us? ...more

August 15, 2009

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty says his office and the Hartford Financial Services Group will refund or issue credits totaling more than $48 million to Florida businesses. ...more

August 14, 2009

After seeing Obama on TV the other night, I just had to put in my 2 cents worth. I noticed during the campaigning process that he chose his words very carefully. ...more

August 14, 2009

Board out of touch School board members need to take a hard look at themselves. They are a paid board that should also be accountable. ...more

August 14, 2009

A 55-year-old South Florida man allegedly swindled some $400,000 from two New York women he was engaged to at the same time. Authorities say Paul R. Francois coaxed one to move to Florida after she met him on vacation, and the other into taking out a $100,000 home equity loan on her Elmont, N.Y. place. ...more

August 13, 2009