Pinellas County sheriff's deputies George Moffett and David Littlejohn were familiar with calls of a burglary in progress, a tense situation even without the broken window or blood trail they found early Saturday. ...more

November 8, 2009

The new Gasparilla Parade of the Pirates route through downtown was unveiled this week, and the response to the change has been positive, said Darrell Stefany, president of EventFest, which organizes the event. ...more

October 3, 2009

40 Percent civilian casualties rose in Afghanistan last year, the highest level since the American-led invasion in 2001 ...more

February 18, 2009

Tampa's annual Gasparilla celebration doesn't end with the pirates' invasion and parade along Bayshore Boulevard. The parties, road race, beauty pageant, art festival and other events continue for weeks. Many South Tampa residents adorn their houses and yards with pirate-themed decorations, helping to keep themselves and others in high spirits for the duration of the Gasparilla season. ...more

February 11, 2009

Ideal weather might have been the hallmark of the 2009 Southwest Airlines Gasparilla Pirate Fest. After a spate of cold, winter weather, Saturday's blue skies and warm temperatures greeted thousands of revelers who lined Bayshore Boulevard and streamed into downtown Tampa to encounter a bloodthirsty band of pirates whose annual invasion is Tampa's signature event. ...more

February 8, 2009

The Jose Gasparilla anchors a flotilla of pleasure boats Saturday as it sails along Hillsborough Bay toward the Tampa Convention Center, where Mayor Pam Iorio handed over the key to the city. Guided by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the ship signals the beginning of the invasion of Tampa. ...more

February 8, 2009

In 1960, when Russia's Khrushchev observed John Kennedy's cowardly abandonment of America's promise to provide air cover for the Cuban exile invader force at Bay of Pigs, he perceived Kennedy as spineless and began moving Russian missiles into Cuba. We were brought to the brink of nuclear war. ...more

February 6, 2009

According to all Israeli accounts since 2001, the rocket and mortar attacks have killed 20 Israeli citizens. However, in the days since the Israeli blitzkrieg invasion of Gaza, the hospital authorities claim 683 dead, 218 of them children and 3,085 wounded. ...more

January 14, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to be the next secretary of Veterans Affairs, turning to a former Army chief of staff once vilified by the Bush administration for questioning its Iraq war strategy shortly before the U.S. invasion. ...more

December 7, 2008

It's a bird! It's a plane! No ... it's MacDill's Special Operations Command team. ...more

December 6, 2008