The timing seems so distant. But we still have not reached the six-month anniversary of one of the deadliest workplace shootings in U.S. history.
Visit Florida has had rough go of it the last few years.
We’re becoming a country more to the liking of fictional Judge Elihu Smails.
Over the past few weeks, we have seen a number of news stories reporting the increase in people who are showing up at driver’s license bureaus looking to get a Real ID.
As we gather around the table with our families this Thanksgiving day . . .
Cemeteries are vital histories, snapshots of time and place that pass a community’s story on to later generations. That’s why discovering a lost cemetery carries an obligation for any community. As Tampa Bay works to recover more of its lost souls, residents should honor these lives and our …
Barry Krischer, the former longtime Palm Beach County state attorney, didn’t like it in July when Alex Acosta — under fire for the decade-old agreement that gave notorious serial offender Jeffrey Epstein the lightest of sentences — pointed the finger back to Krischer, whose office handled th…
With the calendar soon turning over to a “0” year, it’s time once again for the important business of conducting a nationwide census, an activity mandated to take place every 10 years in an effort to get a complete count of the country’s population.
July 6, 2002, a heavy rain flooded a 15,700-acre phosphate mining area in Hardee County, washing out an old dike that had impounded the stormwater. More than 500 gallons of mud-and-clay-saturated water rushed into the wetlands and eventually into the Peace River.
How did America get here? This fractured place where facts matter less and less, and neighbors can’t even share how they really feel.
Members of a subcommittee in the Florida House believe it’s time to do away with the Constitutional Revision Committee — a group that meets once every 20 years to recommend amendments to the state constitution.
March 31 of this year, the Englewood Community Coalition recruited about five dozen volunteers to help clean up the beach on Manasota Key.
If money talks, some have said, in politics it shouts.
The Florida Association of Counties has a long laundry list of topics and bills it will lobby for or against when legislators return to Tallahassee in 2020. Few, if any, are more of a priority than the funding of the Sadowski Affordable Housing Act.
The nation is facing two distinct vaping-related health crises: surging e-cigarette use among teenagers and a lung-injury outbreak that has sickened more than 2,000 people and killed at least 40. Both have exposed yawning gaps in the nation’s public health apparatus. But instead of closing t…
Public opinion on marijuana use is shifting dramatically. Just 10 years ago, polls showed that right around half of Americans supported wholesale legalization, including recreational use. In recent polls, however, national support has grown into a solid majority, ranging around 65%. Last wee…
News of bitterly cold weather across part of the nation is more a preview of coming attractions than the arrival of winter, which doesn’t officially begin until Dec. 21.
Rarely does a day go by that we in the newsroom aren’t discussing scams.
The Democratic candidates for President are promising a smorgasbord of new taxes, but why wait until 2021? Last week Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen and Virginia Congressman Don Beyer unveiled the Millionaires Surtax Act, a plan to soak the top 0.2%.
In Hollywood parlance this might be called a spoiler.
Some 98 years ago, an American soldier whose name was only known to God alone, was buried on a Virginia hillside overlooking the great Potomac River and the city of Washington. This site is now known as Arlington National Cemetery, a place of dignity and reverence for American veterans forever.
If it seems as though the kids are watching a lot more videos online than they were just a few years ago, appearances are reality. New research shows the typical American youth is spending an hour every day viewing online videos.
A little over a year ago, the Canadian non-profit Citizen Lab released a damning report into the activities of NSO, an Israeli software development company. NSO makes a programme called Pegasus, which it sells to governments. This programme is a powerful surveillance tool, allowing governmen…
Not many international reporters brave the bloodshed and chaos of South Sudan to let the world know of the horrors taking place there. That suits the thugs who thrive on violence and chaos just fine: It is often reporting from the scene that helps generate the shock and shame for governments…
The impeachment fat was already in the fire. Last week’s partisan vote by the full U.S. House of Representatives to proceed with a formal impeachment process produced a roaring blaze. It won’t be long before the impending conflagration starts claiming victims.
Back a few years ago, soon-to-be-president Donald Trump excoriated then-President Barack Obama for issuing executive orders to implement his policies, calling them “major power grabs of authority.”
California is in a state of emergency.
The platitude of ‘believe women’ means nothing without serious consideration of how sexism affects women’s lives.
An estimated 5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s dementia — a number expected to rise by almost 14 million by 2050.
Last spring freshman state Rep. Melony Bell introduced a bill to help raise awareness of the risk to Florida’s honey bees — a vital link in our food chain.
In the last couple of years, one of South Dakota’s greatest leaders has been honored several times.
In years past, cigarette companies were caught using deceptive advertising and youth-targeted campaigns like the cartoonish “Joe Camel” to peddle their deadly products. In a parallel development with a modern twist, e-cigarette companies now stand accused of using bot-generated social-media …
Just as consumers and local governments are further embracing conservation, clean energy and more sustainable living practices, Florida’s biggest utilities are backing away from those goals. The state should halt this retreat and force the power companies to redouble their efforts toward ene…
Why it matters: President Donald Trump is destroying American standing around the world.
Just last week, a year-old girl in Tampa, Fla., became the 48th child to die this year in the United States as a result of being left in a hot car. While the public clamors for protection from lesser dangers, technology for preventing child deaths in hot cars exists today — yet it remains ye…
Innovation, oversight is needed to make more organs available for critically ill patients.
What may be the shortest bill to be heard by the Florida Legislature next year is unarguably one of the best. It comes to the rescue of a public records law that has been picked apart, piece by piece, in recent years.
The U.S. Constitution requires that every 10 years a census be taken of every person in the U.S. These population counts are a big deal — for two very important reasons.
“Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”
The American calendar is filled with days, weeks and months set aside to draw attention to a wide variety of worthy causes and issues. Often there are several such observances going on at once. A great many of these are worthy of respect and deserve note, but the sheer number of them can mak…
Last week, about 100 people trekked to Mulberry, Florida to confront the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Mosaic phosphate officials. The issue was the renewal of a permit for the discharge of water at its Bartow mining operation.
The health of bird populations always has been a key indicator of broader environmental health, so a study demonstrating vast declines in those populations in the United States and Canada is a major concern beyond just the Audubon Society.
He sits in the mall watching the girls go by. He spots her in a group, and right away he can tell she’s the one: She hangs back, smiles less, seems less sure of herself and more timid than the others.
October is recognized nationally as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
America is about to formally enter the perilous territory of impeachment.
It seems like we get reminders on almost a daily basis that climate change is real.
There is strong evidence that vaping can kill. And, there is also strong evidence that unscrupulous con artists are spiking vaping products with illegal drugs, like synthetic marijuana, that can also cause deaths and, at the least, serious health issues.
Back in the days when our media options were limited, it was easier to get a message across.
Congress resumed work this week, and it should move promptly to pass the new U.S. trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. The Trump administration and congressional Democrats need to wind up their negotiations now so the process can move forward.
Accommodating the crest in popularity of e-bikes, the Interior Department last month agreed to open the gates and allow them on trails in national parks and other public lands across the country.