Paula Hawkins, who in 1980 became the first woman elected to a full Senate term without a family political connection, died Friday. She was 82. ...more

December 5, 2009

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday denied Gov. Charlie Crist's request to impanel a statewide grand jury to investigate public corruption. ...more

December 1, 2009

Twenty-one years ago, after learning the notorious Medellin drug cartel had sent a hit squad to kill him, Bob Mazur had to assume a new identity and move his family from their Tampa home. ...more

November 27, 2009

Bob Mazur won't be showing up at bookstores to sign copies of his new book. ...more

November 27, 2009

No one ever lost an election or a vote in the Legislature overestimating Mike Fasano's charm. Whatever other skills the veteran lawmaker and current state senator brings to a political showdown, he packs them in a velvet glove. ...more

November 25, 2009

In the Republican primary for Florida agriculture commissioner, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow seems like a natural.But state Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis intends to put up a fight against Putnam in the primary. Claiming the role of the true conservative in the race, he hopes to turn the race into the kind of ideological battle that's becoming common in the Republican Party. ...more

November 23, 2009

Times are quite a bit different today than they were in February when President Barack Obama was in Fort Myers campaigning for the passage of the $787 billion "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act." ...more

November 22, 2009

In another political blow to Gov. Charlie Crist, dissension in the state Republican Party broke open Thursday as a group of party officials demanded an "emergency" meeting to discuss party problems, apparently including grievances against Chairman Jim Greer. ...more

November 13, 2009

What's with Charlie Crist? The self-styled "people's governor," one of Florida's most popular political figures and certainly one of its most likeable, seems to have lost his touch. ...more

November 13, 2009

For those who spent Saturday night watching the news as the votes for the House of Representative's health care reform bill came in, the announcement could have felt like a great victory or a complete disappointment. ...more

November 10, 2009