The mean season is upon us, and no amount of schmaltzy TV Christmas cards from the presidential candidates will stem the tide. ...more

December 21, 2007

SEBRING — Have a gift you want to send out before Christmas? For standard mail, Monday was the deadline, and deadlines are fast approaching for express mail. ...more

December 18, 2007

It's beginning to look a lot like winter. When the thermometer dips below 40 degrees, I'm a happy camper. Don't get me wrong, I can get into the cooler evenings at 65. Those are nice. But it's the cold weather I miss, being in Florida. Very rarely do I get to pull out sweaters and my leather jacket...heck, it's a rarity for me to wear long sleeves. ...more

December 17, 2007

No, Virginia, Santa Claus was not invented by the Coca-Cola Co. The contention that Coke created the modern image of Santa and decked him out in corporate red has become something of an urban myth in recent years. Just the other day, the BBC phoned Coca-Cola archivist Phil Mooney and put him on the radio to address the issue. ...more

December 11, 2007

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - For Adam Carr, it's hard to describe what he feels when his body is reacting to his acid reflux disease. ...more

December 10, 2007

There's a forest of Christmas trees inside Cookie Robinson's house. But the Victorian-theme, tabletop trees won't be there much longer. ...more

November 22, 2007

SEBRING — What started as a small, goodwill project at one Highlands County school has grown to a big countywide thank you Christmas gesture for U.S. soldiers stationed overseas. ...more

November 21, 2007

Talk Is Cheap The Zephyrhills Jaycees had a booth on Veterans Day with an assortment of Christmas cards for citizens to sign for the troops. The booth was on the main thoroughfare, with the cards displayed on the tables alongside numerous pens and chairs in the shade so people could be comfortable while signing the cards. ...more

November 19, 2007

The lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy in Mississippi in August 1955, riled black America as nothing had done before. But what happened to him in Mississippi had already happened to a black child in Florida a decade earlier, and there was no national outcry for justice. ...more

November 18, 2007

SEBRING — It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and it's barely November. Decorations hang in the stores, commercials advertise the latest toys and Santa Claus even made his first appearance of the season at Wal-Mart on Saturday. Frances Williams and her brother Ron Sykes spent Monday morning shopping for trimmings for their Christmas tree. "We wanted to buy everything while it's still in stock," Williams said, as she loaded blue ornaments into her shopping cart. "They have it out, so why not get it and avoid the rush … But we won't put up the tree until after Thanksgiving." ...more

November 6, 2007