More than one in five borrowers of federal student loans who attend for-profit colleges default within three years of repayment, new figures made available by the U.S. Department of Education on Monday show. ...more

December 13, 2009

Diminished funds to Avon Park's Housing Authority's Section 8 program has led them to transfer it to Lakeland's Housing Authority beginning Jan. 1. ...more

December 12, 2009

The federal government says it's close to unveiling a plan to help homeowners stuck with tainted drywall from China. But a proposal on the table would tap money that's typically set aside for low-income communities. ...more

December 12, 2009

Political seasoning Regarding Guy Kenney's letter, "Getting really tired of professional, power-hungry politicians in Florida" (Nov. 26), what is this guy talking about? Jim Norman has been in only one office during his political career, and that's as a Hillsborough County commissioner. He had two terms in one district and two terms in a countywide district. He has to seek another office because of term limits. ...more

December 1, 2009

More households across the country last year lacked enough money for food than any year since the federal government began tracking statistics in 1995. In 2008, 17 million, or nearly 15 percent of the nation's roughly 118 million households could not afford adequate food, a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. ...more

November 17, 2009

When shoppers go to the grocery store and pick up three pounds of ground chuck or roast beef, they seldom think of the process leading up to the meat sitting in the refrigerated butcher aisle. ...more

November 13, 2009

Hillsborough County needs a focused response to the foreclosure crisis to avert further harmful impacts to individuals, families and communities. ...more

November 7, 2009

Last spring, the cigar industry fretted that the federal government might tax so-called "little cigars" into oblivion. ...more

November 4, 2009

Several weeks into a diet experiment, things took a turn. Researcher David Diamond wanted to see how much weight rats would gain on a typical American high-fat, high-sugar diet compared with rats on a low-carb, Atkins-type diet. ...more

November 2, 2009

A federal stimulus grant of $200 million announced this week will help charge a smart grid for Progress Energy Florida customers. ...more

October 31, 2009