A portion of Suncoast Gateway Mobile Village, just east of the U.S. 19-Ride Road intersection in Port Richey, is again under water after persistent heavy rain. Over the years Pasco County has created a system of ditches and culverts in an area bounded by Ridge Road to the north and U.S. 19 to the west in an attempt to reduce the flooding risk in the area. This effort, alas, has not proven entirely successful. ...more

August 6, 2008

The idea that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few ran into a roadblock Friday: individual property rights. ...more

August 2, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH - The state of Florida and U.S. Sugar Corp., the nation's largest producer of cane sugar, are negotiating the sale of thousands of acres of farmland in the Everglades to help restore the wetlands, three officials familiar with the potential deal said Monday. ...more

June 23, 2008

With communities in the Midwest still underwater, Democrat Barack Obama on Saturday criticized Republican John McCain for opposing federal spending on flood prevention programs and opened a new debate in the White House race. ...more

June 22, 2008

To showcase its long-standing indifference toward the environment, the Bush administration last week announced it will not interfere with Florida's practice of pumping polluted farm water and suburban runoff into the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. ...more

June 19, 2008

Regulators characterized it as the potential loss of a "nominal amount" of wetlands, but environmental advocates said allowing farmers to dredge or fill small ponds or marshes without replacing them whittles away at Hillsborough County's long-standing wetlands protections. ...more

January 21, 2008

The fate of frog ponds in Hillsborough County took center stage Thursday when the Environmental Protection Commission agreed to give farmers greater leeway in dredging and filling small wetlands after more than two hours of debate. ...more

January 18, 2008

The government knew Mexico's Gulf coast was a disaster-in-waiting long before three rivers surged out of their banks, flooding nearly every inch of the low-lying state of Tabasco and leaving more than 1 million homes under water. ...more

November 23, 2007

Pinellas County Property Appraiser Jim Smith is calling it quits. Smith, 67, said Tuesday that he will not seek a sixth four-year term next year, even though he thinks he would have "a pretty good chance of getting re-elected." His term expires in January 2009. ...more

November 14, 2007

Pinellas County Property Appraiser Jim Smith is calling it quits after 20 years. ...more

November 13, 2007