BRANDON - Former "American Idol" finalist Jessica Sierra won't leave for rehabilitation in California today after all, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said. ...more

January 9, 2008

The Hillsborough County courthouse had its own version of a reality program Monday morning, complete with a gruff judge, big-name lawyers, a dramatically tearful would-be starlet and a celebrity doctor. ...more

January 8, 2008

TAMPA - After Willie Lee Patterson and another person invaded a Tampa home and demanded money, the person Patterson was with shot someone in the upper torso, Hillsborough County deputies say. ...more

December 20, 2007

A 14-year-old boy who admitted that he planned a Columbine-style attack on a high school outside Philadelphia was sentenced Wednesday to as many as seven years in a juvenile treatment facility. ...more

December 20, 2007

I am a volunteer at a local youth correctional facility. I deal with youths 13 to 18 years old on a daily basis. Almost every youth I have dealt with in the last two years has one thing in common: They all think they are gangster thugs. ...more

December 15, 2007

In the ongoing saga of whether Pasco County should approve at least the first phase of a proposed composting landfill in its eastern frontier, the time has come to add another anagram to the alphabet soup that so far has dominated the opposition. Thus, without delay, do we add MYOB - mind your own beeswax - to the thrum of NIMBY percussionists. ...more

December 5, 2007

SEBRING — After searching a county landfill for a nearly a week for the body of an infant that was reportedly thrown in the garbage by a Lake Placid woman, law enforcement officials will "re-evaluate" today whether they will continue searching. Sheriff Susan Benton said late Sunday morning that she, the state attorney and the lead detectives needed to speak to the medical examiner to determine if the search could produce anything further at this point. "We need to make a decision from a logistics standpoint based on the expert's opinions," she said. ...more

December 3, 2007

After more than 20 hours of testimony over four days, a defense attorney has not yet completed her questioning of prosecutors' key witness in the Latin Kings street gang case. ...more

December 1, 2007

A former girls swim coach at Tampa Preparatory School, who faces multiple charges that he secretly videotaped girls changing into their swimsuits, did not commit a felony, his attorney said Wednesday. ...more

November 15, 2007

TAMPA - A former girl's swim coach at Tampa Preparatory School, who faces multiple charges that he secretly videotaped girls changing into their swimsuits, did not commit a felony, his attorney argues. ...more

November 14, 2007