Mashelle Lembke stood on a runway at MacDill Air Force Base with family, friends and service members Thursday afternoon, waiting to accompany her husband's body to the city in which he was raised. Plant City soldier Eric Lembke was killed Oct. 23 in Afghanistan. ...more

November 6, 2009

"Is he gonna turn the switch, or what's he gonna do?" At 9 a.m. Tuesday, the five men in the coffee clatch at McDonald's were manning their usual stations. None planned to go to the Turner Center, where the president's helicopter was supposed to meet a motorcade of a dozen black Suburbans, white government SUVs and local police cars. ...more

October 28, 2009

Jim Edwards rode in a motorcade Tuesday to pay his respects to seven comrades he lost while serving in Vietnam. ...more

October 28, 2009

He talked nuclear threats with Russia's president and gave an iPod to the queen. ...more

April 1, 2009

The memory of how a former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, died appears to have sobered those seeking to prosecute his assassins. ...more

March 2, 2009

Ryan Seacrest, Simon Fuller, Paula Abdul and some previous "American Idol" winners including Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks and David Cook are expected to walk the "blue carpet" tonight at a private sneak preview party for the new "American Idol" experience opening Saturday at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando. ...more

February 12, 2009

MODERN SKIRTS: ALL OF US IN OUR NIGHT (MODERN SKIRTS) **½ This sophomore effort from Athens, Ga.-based Modern Skirts is promising for the first five tracks, at which point things suddenly turn less-than-inspired. But what a promising first five tracks. "Chanel" opens the disc with a nice hook (located in the verse, no less) and an easy groove worthy of a 1973 AM radio hit. That's followed by "Soft Petals," an atmospheric gem awash with various electronic keyboard elements that provide the disc's finest moment, peaking with a giddy minute of overlapping vocals. ...more

January 22, 2009

A lawyer for the U.S. Marshals Service improperly used government cars and deputies to escort him and Fox Sports broadcasters to and from high-profile sporting events, including the January 2008 National Football League playoff game in Tampa, investigators say. ...more

January 13, 2009

Jan. 20 marks the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. And the first time in U.S. history a black president will be sworn into office. With Inauguration Day only weeks away, Tampa residents are preparing for the trip of a lifetime. Here, they share their reasons for wanting to trek to the nation's capital. ...more

January 2, 2009

About 500 people crowded today into the plaza where John F. Kennedy was shot 45 years ago, all agreeing it was right to remember a pivotal moment in American history, even if they didn't all believe the official line. ...more

November 22, 2008