Tuesday's announcement that Smithfield Foods will cease local operations means not only the departure of this city's largest private employer, but loss of a meat-packing plant that has provided jobs for generations. ...more

February 18, 2009

Virginia-based Smithfield Foods' closing of its Plant City meat-packing plant – the city's largest private employer – may be the largest layoff in the city's history. ...more

February 17, 2009

The post office and a couple of abandoned storefronts are all that remain of the thriving downtown that anchored this community in northeast Pasco County. ...more

December 15, 2008

The $25 billion rescue plan for the auto industry, desperately sought by Detroit's beleaguered Big Three, collapsed Thursday as Congress drew the line at one more bailout and Democrats said they wouldn't even consider it until the companies produced a convincing plan for rebuilding their once-mighty industry. ...more

November 21, 2008

An Iraqi woman and her child watch U.S. soldiers search their home in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, where U.S. troops have helped quell sectarian violence. Barely a year ago, Iskandariyah was a stronghold of Shiite and Sunni militants, and residents say fighting was so ferocious hardly anyone showed up for work at the city's industrial complex and streets emptied by early afternoon. These days, shoppers throng food markets, stores are open after dark and children go to school regularly. ...more

November 10, 2008

TAMPA Economists say there's a bright spot to be found in one of the Tampa Bay area's rougher edges: the Port of Tampa. ...more

September 11, 2008

Former Mayor Joe Johnston III wants to get back on the city council. ...more

August 30, 2008

The Sunshine Brass Band will be featured in the "Awesome In August: A Pops Concert" at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Carrollwood Cultural Center. ...more

August 20, 2008

Nature Coast camp teaches technology and science. ...more

August 1, 2008

It started with foot-stomping. Then clapping. Then the chorus of Queen's "We Will Rock You" filled the air, and one lone young teenager began belting out the words. ...more

August 1, 2008