Since the primaries in September boiled down the partisan candidates to two, the race for sheriff has been quiet on the surface, even with the general election's addition of a nonpartisan candidate. ...more

October 26, 2008

From child protection to prisons, no state service is immune from potentially draconian funding cuts next year, as the state struggles to fill a budget hole as large as $3.5 billion. ...more

October 19, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - A 28-year-old Tarpon Springs man was arrested Thursday, accused of beating to death his roommate in September. ...more

October 18, 2008

A 28-year-old Tarpon Springs man was arrested Thursday, accused of beating to death his roommate in September. Nick Seriganis, of 209 N. Ring Ave., was arrested while already in jail on unrelated charges. On Wednesday, Pasco Circuit Judge Thane Covert signed a first-degree murder warrant, accusing Seriganis of killing Vincent "Vince" Santoro III on Sept. 15. ...more

October 17, 2008

Polk deputies arrested a state Department of Corrections officer Tuesday, saying he falsely reported a crime last month involving smuggling marijuana to an inmate. ...more

October 15, 2008

Zackery Hicks has a new home. At least for now. Hicks got out of prison last month after serving a 14-year term for robbery and for a while couldn't afford a permanent residence. He had limited options on where to stay because he is a convicted sex offender, so he spent time camping in a field under a Selmon Crosstown Expressway bridge. ...more

September 20, 2008

Zackery Hicks just got out of prison last month after serving a 14-year term for robbery, and his new prison is marked by the roar of overhead traffic and the danger of getting snakebit or beat up. The situation is the way it is because Hicks is a registered sex offender, and this situation is not all that uncommon in Florida, where the oppressive stigma of being a sex offender is nearly insurmountable. Some cities across the nation have passed laws that are so restrictive, sex offenders cannot reside there. ...more

September 19, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - A little more than a week after he was released from prison, a man convicted of sex crimes in Pasco County was arrested early Monday while walking naked through downtown Tampa. ...more

September 13, 2008

A day care at the John Calvin Presbyterian Church opened this week, and that means some neighbors will have to move. ...more

September 6, 2008

A day care at the John Calvin Presbyterian Church opened this week, and that means some neighbors will have to move. An apartment complex across the street from the Seminole Heights church houses 10 sex offenders, four of whom aren't allowed to live near the day care, said Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections. ...more

September 5, 2008