Fourteen-year-old Iisha Paxton couldn't hide the joy in her eyes. The girl's speech has been mangled since a round of meningitis, one of many trials in her young life - the worst, a malignant brain tumor, her mother said. ...more

November 9, 2007

Despite a telephonic glitch, the city council Thursday chose a lawyer and three-term president of a domestic violence support group to fill out the term of former chairman John Bryan, who resigned and later committed suicide Sept. 7. ...more

October 19, 2007

Linda Manci treks from Valrico to Plant City to buy farm-fresh produce, splitting the bounty - and cost - among friends. ...more

October 12, 2007

'In Praise of Prejudice,' by Theodore Dalrymple (Encounter, $20) ...more

September 30, 2007

When Charles Atlas warned boys in the 1930s not to let bullies kick sand in their faces, he advertised his bodybuilding program with other novelties in comic books. ...more

September 29, 2007

Perfectionist teenage girls aren't the only ones who loathe their reflections in the mirror. ...more

September 29, 2007

Standing at the check-in line of the Atlanta airport last summer, a teenage girl - the adopted daughter of John Bryan - shared a terrible secret with a woman who also had been adopted by the second-term St. Petersburg council member. ...more

September 28, 2007

RIVERVIEW - To the Purcells, Shelby wasn't a dog but their baby, who squeezed onto the couch to watch television and bounced on their trampoline. To Renea Bell, the dog seemed vicious, leaving two punctures in the calf of her 9-year-old niece. Wednesday, the Purcells questioned why a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy had shot and killed the animal instead of calling animal control officers. Meanwhile, Bell expressed relief that her niece was not seriously hurt. ...more

September 19, 2007

The suicide rate among preteen and teenage girls rose to its highest level in 15 years, and hanging surpassed guns as the preferred method, federal health officials reported Thursday. ...more

September 7, 2007