Friday afternoon, Flag Day eve, in a Tampa Convention Center ballroom of close to 1,500 patriots, Merle Patricia Bradshaw Romain did what she knew she ought to have done ages ago. Sheathed in a pink floral dress and rising on simple, low-heeled beige sandals, Romain hoisted her right hand to repeat, with a solemnity that belied the unalloyed delight in her heart, the oath of allegiance for naturalized citizens. ...more

June 17, 2008

Josh Cooley and John Gibson are brother Marines. They've served in Iraq, and they both did it while on leave from their day jobs as Pasco County Sheriff's Office deputies. ...more

May 23, 2008

When the National Institute of Mental Health opened the doors to its midlife clinic here in 1989, it placed a newspaper ad asking for women to volunteer as research subjects. ...more

May 21, 2008

They're the cold cases of medicine, patients with diseases so rare and mysterious they've eluded diagnosis for years. ...more

May 20, 2008

Joe Lents hasn't made a payment on his $1.5 million mortgage since 2002. That's when Washington Mutual Inc. first tried to foreclose on his home in Boca Raton. The Seattle-based lender failed to prove that it owned Lents' mortgage note and dropped attempts to take his house. Subsequent efforts to foreclose have stalled because no one has produced the paperwork. ...more

February 22, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Florida's schools ranked 14th nationally with a grade of C-plus on a report card issued Wednesday by Education Week magazine, although the state placed 38th in public education spending. ...more

January 9, 2008

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Wednesday its largest-ever settlement for an individual racial discrimination case, $2.5 million, against Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md. ...more

January 3, 2008

The route to the moon and perhaps to Mars now goes through New Orleans. And the detour couldn't come at a better time in the city's struggle to rebuild its shattered economy after Hurricane Katrina. ...more

December 25, 2007

An executive for an international airport concessionaire wrapped up his presentation Thursday for an ambitious plan to add restaurants such as Carrabba's Italian Grill and retail outlets such as Tommy Bahama at Tampa International Airport before the city hosts the 2009 Super Bowl. ...more

December 13, 2007

This week, two Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives are sifting through stacks of evidence, following phoned-in leads and reviewing notes from interviews to find a missing 5-month-old girl. It is their only active case. ...more

November 21, 2007