Not long ago, it seemed a dead certainty that the only thing threatening Charlie Crist's march to a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2010 was a giant hurricane that left Florida taxpayers on the hook for a huge property-damage payout, thanks to the takeover of the insurance industry by the governor and his allies in the Legislature. As it turns out, other political ill winds are stirring. ...more

December 19, 2009

The city council voted unanimously Tuesday to retain the services of Thomas Morrison, the city attorney for the last 15 years. ...more

December 19, 2009

Letters to the editor from the Dec. 19 West Pasco edition. ...more

December 19, 2009

Finished eight months early, the Mike Fasano Regional Hurricane Shelter was called an early Christmas gift for Pasco residents by officials at the dedication ceremony this week. ...more

December 19, 2009

Tampa Aviation Authority member Steven Burton concedes his surprise push to create a marketing committee was "a little clunky." ...more

December 18, 2009

It was the timing that made it so unlikely. On a cloudy, breezy weekday in the middle of December, the idea of a political rally of any kind seemed out of place, especially at a park on the north edge of Plant City. ...more

December 18, 2009

State Farm Florida dropped its plan to withdraw from the property insurance market in hurricane-prone Florida on Wednesday as part of a settlement with state regulators that includes an average 14.8 percent rate increase for homeowners and condominium owners. ...more

December 17, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's passenger rail bill into law Wednesday in ceremonies in Tampa and three other cities while delivering the message that new rail equals thousands of new jobs. More than 150 Tampa Bay area elected officials, business people and transportation advocates turned out at a vacant lot just south of the intersection of Interstate 275 and Interstate 4, where a high-speed rail station is planned for a proposed Tampa-to-Orlando route. The bill will improve the state's chances at winning federal stimulus money for the high-speed rail line that could be built by 2014. It also will jump-start the $1.2 billion SunRail project planned for Central Florida, create a new statewide rail authority and dedicate additional state money to Tri-Rail, South Florida's faltering commuter line. The high-speed project could provide as many as 15,000 construction jobs beginning in 2011 if the Obama administration approves the state's $2.5 billion high-speed rail bid, state officials said in its federal stimulus application. "Jobs, jobs, jobs is what it's really all about," Crist said. ...more

December 17, 2009

State Farm Florida has dropped plans to withdraw from Florida's property insurance market. ...more

December 16, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's passenger rail bill into law this morning in ceremonies in Tampa and three other cities while delivering the message that new rail equals thousands of new jobs. ...more

December 16, 2009