According to the latest official statistics available, motorcycle deaths in Florida are skyrocketing, from 164 in 1997 to 521 in 2006. Per capita, that represents a 100 percent increase. ...more

January 11, 2008

Why is it that when filling my gas tank in Highlands County my gas mileage drops 2 to 4 mpg? I have a relatively new 2007 automobile and while in Michigan I was getting 20-21 mpg in town and about 22 mpg highway. En-route to Florida, my mileage was as high as 24.4 mpg (loaded down). Immediately after arriving in Sebring my first fill up I got 18 mpg. We recently drove to Sarasota, filling the tank just prior to leaving, filling up in Sarasota we got 23.4 mpg which included some in-town driving. Arriving back in Highlands county we filled up again and netted only 21 mpg (all highway driving) ...more

December 23, 2007

TAMPA - Parents, make room on those credit cards and top off that gas tank, Hannah Montana, uh, Miley Cyrus is coming back to Florida. Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville to be specific. ...more

December 13, 2007

When the National Key Deer Refuge was established in 1957, its first manager, Jack C. Watson, sometimes employed unorthodox tactics to discourage repeat poachers targeting the diminutive deer under his protection. ...more

November 19, 2007

Think about what a normal summer vacation might entail and conjure up some images. Maybe packing some shorts and a bathing suit into a duffel bag, strapping a rooftop carrier onto the family trickster, filling up the gas tank and perhaps heading up the highway to Hilton Head for a week at the beach or taking in the sights of Washington, D.C. ...more

November 18, 2007

SEBRING - At 10:20 a.m., Kate Anson was seated at Steelhorse Enterprises, a company which makes accent lights for motorcycles. She overheard a group talking about the 60,000 people who were supposed to show up the Run for the Heartland. "There's not 60,000 people here," she scoffed. "Maybe 500." Five hundred bikes? "That's generous," she smiled. Don Elwell, who manages Kenilworth Lodge, and Dave Greenslade, executive director of Avon Park Chamber of Commerce, came to the same conclusion. By 10 a.m., 190 bikers had signed up for the poker run, said Pat Alexander, who was taking $10 from each. The cross country course directs motorcycles to Neibert's Fish Camp, Devane Park in Lake Placid, Henscratch Farm and Winery off State Road 66, the Watering Hole, Thunder Chopper Works and back downtown to the Blue Crab. Riders get a playing card at each of the seven stops. The best hand wins a prize. ...more

October 7, 2007

Students from First United Methodist Church of Brandon had to halt their cleanup project at Morris Bridge bike trails Sept. 22 when they came across glass syringes and chemicals from an old cattle inoculation operation that had been dumped into a sinkhole. ...more

October 6, 2007

Floridians demanded of Gov. Charlie Crist some kind of property tax relief, and the Florida Legislature quickly acted. The final question is this: Did we get what we asked for? ...more

September 16, 2007