Reconvening after a four-month break, the county's Transportation Task Force on Monday quickly sketched out its main goal for next year: work with other agencies on a long-range transportation plan that emphasizes mass transit. ...more

December 4, 2007

A controversial plan to dig a 54-acre borrow pit over 10 years along the county border has the backing of Hillsborough County planners. ...more

November 16, 2007

A controversial plan to dig a 54-acre borrow pit over 10 years along the county border has the backing of Hillsborough County planners. ...more

November 14, 2007

The Internet never ceases to amaze me. The wealth of information, products, and services available at the click of a mouse is astounding. Granted, some of it is trash, and not worth the two seconds it takes to pull it up. But most of it is reliable, up-to-the-minute current, and verifiable in a few extra clicks. Wow! We are living Star Trek. ...more

October 7, 2007

Imagine trying to trim a billion dollars out of the budget. That might not seem like too much if you're talking about the federal budget, but it's Florida's budget, and that's a problem. So how do you do it? Obviously you start cutting. But what about spending money? That's what Gov. Charlie Crist wants to do, and we think he's on to something. Just about everything is on the table for proposed cuts, although Crist has said education would not be touched. He has, however, said that state reserves should be used to start major infrastructure construction projects such as roads and schools to invigorate the construction business. By doing this, he says, it will kick-start the state's economy. We're not sure how that would work on the state level, but there's no doubt that the flat housing market in Highlands County is having a massive negative effect on those of us living here. With no major manufacturing plant that employs a huge number of people here, construction and all of its offshoots drives this area's economy, along with citrus. ...more

September 9, 2007

Time is creeping up on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway. The toll road, built in the 1970s, showed its age in March when a concrete chunk the size of a toaster fell onto a downtown parking lot near Jefferson Street. ...more

September 3, 2007