PAST AND PRESENT •In late 2005, the Department of Children & Families stopped Tampa Bay Academy from admitting new patients after finding inadequate staffing, abuse complaints and an alleged sexual assault. DCF renewed the academy's license after subsequent inspections. ...more

December 30, 2008

Hillsborough County's troubled affordable housing office is getting a new director. ...more

December 20, 2008

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office detectives have charged a woman with stabbing another woman Thursday night. ...more

December 19, 2008

The maker of Airborne dietary supplements has agreed to pay $7 million to settle allegations by 32 states, including Florida, that it made false claims about the benefits of its fruit-flavored products. ...more

December 16, 2008

Police have arrested a deacon they say inappropriately touched a teenage girl who attends his church. ...more

December 10, 2008

A local man arrested Nov. 1 for allegations he battered his 78-year-old mother will have the charges dropped in light of the victim admitting she had "exaggerated" her statement. ...more

December 6, 2008

If buying a home is the biggest purchase a family makes, choosing the right real estate agent must be pretty important, too. ...more

November 29, 2008

If buying a home is the biggest purchase a family makes, choosing the right real estate agent must be pretty important, too. Most homebuyers pick an agent based on referrals from friends or family. But there's a new method emerging: Web sites that rank agents. But can these rankings be trusted? The Web site approaches vary and so do the results. ...more

November 28, 2008

The Polk County School District has placed four people on leave while it investigates activities in the school board's facilities division, the district superintendent announced today. ...more

November 18, 2008

The number of foreign children adopted by Americans fell 12 percent in the past year, reaching the lowest level since 1999 as some countries clamped down on the process and others battled with allegations of adoption fraud. ...more

November 18, 2008