NEW PORT RICHEY -- For several local home-schooled children, Starkey Environmental Education Center in Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park is kind of a "school away from school." Hardly a week goes by that NPR Homeschoolers, a community organization of home schooling families, doesn't have some sort of a session at the center, usually tapping recreation leader Katie Mac Millen's vast knowledge of nature. Some weeks they are at the park more than once. They even have the occasional overnight event. ...more

June 6, 2008

A three-year restoration project within the Starkey Wilderness Preserve will restore 951 acres of uplands, officials at Southwest Florida Water Management District said. ...more

May 24, 2008

Katie Mac Millen never stops teaching. Even walking a short distance through a field with her can be an educational experience. ...more

May 20, 2008

Green-conscious Pasco residents who want to appreciate the environment can check out the March for Parks next month and have some fun while they are at it, organizers say. "It's coming together," Katie Mac Millen, a recreation leader for the Pasco County Parks and Recreation Department, said. ...more

February 20, 2008

Longtime environmentalist and philanthropist Marsha Starkey is among four local "Women of Distinction" that the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida will honor next month. ...more

February 18, 2008

After an abrupt end to its park ranger program in November, the Pasco County Parks and Recreation Department hopes to revive the volunteer patrols. ...more

February 17, 2008

After an abrupt end to its park ranger program in November, the Pasco County Parks and Recreation Department hopes to revive the volunteer patrols. Would-be rangers can attend a meeting on Tuesday, March 4, Frederick J. "Rick" Buckman, the county parks and recreation director, said today. ...more

February 12, 2008

Like many in the audience before him Tuesday, Dade City Mayor Hutch Brock envisions a connected system of trails throughout the city and the rest of Pasco County. ...more

February 7, 2008

Vinny Buscetta, the retiring volunteer coordinator for the Pasco County Parks and Recreation Department, received accolades this week for more than 12 years of service. Presenting a proclamation to Buscetta, Commissioner Michael Cox joked that he has known Buscetta so long he could remember when they both had hair. ...more

January 26, 2008

Cars speed by on busy Massachusetts Avenue, where law offices, a chain drugstore and a pizza parlor tell of modern life. ...more

January 22, 2008