In recent years the average family of four has spent more than $5,300 on food, nearly $3,000 on gifts, $2,100 on clothing and $3,000 on recreation. That's all well and good when you're spending money that you have, but what about if you're watching your pennies because of a layoff or a plummeting 401(k) balance? ...more

November 9, 2008

Re: Bob Shulters' letter to the editor in the Oct. 2 edition of Hernando Today. ...more

October 9, 2008

Democratic candidate Joseph Puglia was forced to abandon his campaign due to his wife's illness. ...more

October 8, 2008

Many West Pasco residents might be nervous about the Wall Street meltdown and government bailout, but at least they still have food on the table. Others are not so fortunate, according to Martha O'Brien, assistant chief executive officer at the Volunteer Way food bank. So the next Kids Against Hunger food drive is expanding this year. ...more

October 8, 2008

Much of the financial mess we are in, whether perceived or real, could have been avoided. ...more

October 5, 2008

Florida and Alabama have long contended that Lake Lanier was part of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint rivers system from the get-go, a critical part and as such should be treated as if jointly owned by the stakeholders in the system, in the case at the extreme southern end of the system, the seafood industry. ...more

October 5, 2008

People don't expect Biblical miracles nowadays, for the multitudes to be fed with fives loaves and two fishes. But in today's economy, many households do appreciate any humanitarian efforts that help keep quality food on the table. ...more

October 4, 2008

Henry Cejudo called it the American dream. The son of undocumented Mexican immigrants who had to work two jobs to keep food on the table, Cejudo gave the United States its first Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling in 16 years Tuesday with a stunning win against Japan's Tomohiro Matsunaga in the 55-kilogram (121 pounds) final. ...more

August 20, 2008

Ed Kaberna tells a story of a guy- he assumes it was a guy - who backed his truck up to a pay phone in Manatee County, wrapped the phone in heavy chains, and pulled the whole thing out of the ground, 4-inch concrete foundation and all, for a couple hundred dollars in quarters, nickels and dimes. ...more

August 4, 2008

With the economy faltering, local social services agencies are preparing to help more children than ever in need of free school supplies. ...more

July 30, 2008