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Federal prosecutors Wednesday unveiled the most serious criminal charges yet in the West Virginia explosion that killed 29 workers. The new charges involve officials at former mine owner Massey Energy who were directly responsible for managing Upper Big Branch.
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A day after NATO officials apologized for the burning of Korans, American Embassy officials were on lockdown and hundreds of Afghans were marching on a NATO camp near Kabul.
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Meanwhile, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is also said to be about to unveil a new tax-cut plan.
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President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said that doctors had found a new lesion that could indicate a return of his cancer, and that he would undergo an operation.
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A living plant has been generated from the fruit of a little arctic flower, making it the oldest plant by far that has ever been grown from ancient tissue.
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Many Greeks said they had begun to feel that the new deal was aimed at saving banks more than the country.
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Officials in the state of Nuevo León said the jailbreak and the massacre had been carried out by the Zetas, a gang of drug enforcers who appeared to have prison authorities under control.
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The vote, in a predetermined election that had one candidate on the ballot for president, was an important transitional moment for Yemen as it ends President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule.
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TAMPA — After a nearly five-year legal struggle, 17 tons of shipwreck treasure wrested away from Florida deep-sea explorers will leave the United States via an Air Force base later this week, officials confirmed Tuesday night.
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By Elizabeth Behrman, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 NovaCharge, a national maker of electric vehicle charging stations, had only one charger in the Tampa area a year ago.Now it has more than 200. The electric vehicle industry, though still just a blip compared to its gas-powered competition, is growing quickly across the country. Organizers of the EV International Expo are trying to put Tampa in a position to lead the way.The three-day conference, which will last through Thursday, is focused on informing the public about the benefits of electric vehicles. Besides showing off some sleek electric and converted cars, industry experts at the convention will be answering questions and giving presentations in hopes of convincing potential buyers that electric cars are a viable alternative.About a dozen electric and hybrid cars are on display, including a Chevrolet Volt, a Nissan Leaf and a converted Porsche."We ... |
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Sam Kazran acknowledges violating campaign finance laws to support Buchanan's 2006 and 2008 congressional campaigns |
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Remember all that talk about Florida's universities being an answer to the state's economic troubles? The New York Times points out that Florida lawmakers have a funny way of showing their commitment to that, with both the House and Senate now proposing big budget cuts to universities for the fifth year in a row.
Even so, it seems the state universities are doing a decent job with what they've got. A report from the Florida Board of Governors released this month shows that the system has a total economic impact of nearly $80 billion. The report says 7 percent of Florida's more than $700 billion gross domestic product is directly linked to the state university system. It employs more than 58,000 faculty and staff. And its graduates account for more than 771,000 Florida-based jobs, or 8 percent of Florida's total workforce. See attached ... |
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With about a week to go until the Feb. 29 oral arguments before the Florida Supreme Court over the state's plan for legislative redistricting, justices are already fighting about how far the court can go in reviewing the new maps.
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By Kameel Stanley, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 ST. PETERSBURG — Home improvement magazine This Old House showed the Tampa Bay area some love in its latest issue.Editors at the magazine picked St. Petersburg's Old Northeast as one of this year's "Best Old House Neighborhoods" in the country.The magazine gushed about the charming section of town, calling it "a gardener's paradise," and noting its eclectic mix of architecture styles.Old Northeast was the first established neighborhood in St. Petersburg, according to the Historical Old Northeast Neighborhood Association.It also is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is considered one of the city's most affluent neighborhoods.For more on the magazine's choice, visit www.thisoldhouse.com. |
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Sen. JD Alexander wasn't ready to talk Tuesday about amendments filed by Sen. Jim Norman, which aim to give the University of South Florida back a big chunk of the funding Alexander proposed cutting from the school. Instead, Alexander offered some insight into the timetable he envisions for the state's new 12th university.
If all goes according to Alexander's plan, Florida Polytechnic could be separately accredited by July, he said. That would first require approval of a conforming bill slipped into Alexander's budget that would split USF Polytechnic off from USF immediately. And it would require expedited work from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools — to accredit USF Poly as a separate campus of USF, and then put in a change order to give the campus accreditation as a separate institution. Accrediting the school completely independently could take another six months to a year, he ... |
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St. Johns Water Management District may lose even more authority over local decisions, some fearConflicts involving Central Florida's water supply are heating up even as the Legislature considers ways to impose further controls on the state's regional water regulators.
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In a landmark move for the university system, the University of Florida and Florida State University would be cleared to charge higher tuition than the state's nine other public schools under legislation approved Tuesday by a House panel.
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By Bill Varian, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 A judge has ordered Hillsborough County to pay former Administrator Pat Bean nearly $370,000 for firing her without cause over a 1 percent pay raise she was awarded without commissioners' approval.Circuit Judge James M. Barton II ruled Tuesday that the 1 percent raise may have been a breach of her contract, which specifies that commissioners were responsible for pay adjustments. But he said the raise was not an "illegal act," which commissioners used as justification for denying severance under the terms of Bean's contract after she was fired in June 2010.The ruling means that Bean is owed $224,120 in payment for the full year of pay she was due under her contract if fired without cause. She is due another $92,345 as compensation for a year's worth of benefits. Bean is also entitled ... |
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Mosaic settles lawsuit over Florida mine expansionReutersBy Ernest Scheyder | TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Mosaic Co said it has settled a lawsuit filed by environmental groups including the Sierra Club that will now allow the fertilizer producer to expand a major phosphate mine in South Fort Meade, Florida.Mosaic Reaches Settlement To Allow Mining At Key Florida SiteFox BusinessMosaic, 3 Groups Settle Suit Over Phosphate Mine PermitThe LedgerMosaic settles environmental disputeMinneapolis Star TribuneSan Francisco Chronicleall 131 news articles »
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Felons convicted of drug possession won't be able to get food stamps or emergency cash for poor families, unless they complete state-approved substance abuse treatment programs, under a bill approved by a Florida House committee Tuesday.
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Image courtesy of iStockphoto/vladacanon Scary antibiotic-resistant infections aren’t just lurking in the hospital anymore. They’re in gyms, at the beach , and increasingly, on the farm. More
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The US Geological Survey says the magnitude 4.0 earthquake was centered near the town of East Prairie, Missouri.
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Oil prices jumped to $105 per barrel Monday after Iran halted exports to Britain and France. Oil prices are now at a nine-month high.
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The New York Police Department monitored Muslim college students far more broadly than previously known, at schools far beyond the city limits, including the elite Ivy League colleges of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, the Associated Press has learned.
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The NATO commander in Afghanistan issued a fervent apology on Tuesday for foreign troops having “improperly disposed” of Korans and Islamic materials.
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Former IMF chief held for questioning over allegations he helped procure prostitutes for orgies in France and the USDominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, has been formally placed under arrest by French police investigating an alleged prostitution ring.The 62-year-old socialist politician turned himself in at 8.55am on Tuesday in the northern French city of Lille and is being held for questioning over allegations that he aided the procurement of prostitutes and benefited from fraud.Detectives want to ascertain whether Strauss-Kahn, a former French presidential hopeful, knew that the women he had sex with at orgies in Paris and Washington were prostitutes and if he was aware how they were paid. It is alleged the money came from the corporate funds of a major French construction company.Strauss-Kahn is expected to either be put under formal investigation – the equivalent of being charged – or released after 48 hours.Eight people, including two Lille businessmen with links to Strauss-Kahn and a police commissioner, have already been arrested in the case, known as the Carlton affair after the luxury Lille hotel at the centre of the alleged prostitution ring.Paying for prostitutes is not illegal in France but procuring them for another and using company funds to pay for them could lead to formal charges.Strauss-Kahn insists he never knew the women were prostitutes and has denied any wrongdoing."He could easily not have known, because as you can imagine, at these kinds of parties you're not always dressed, and I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman," his lawyer, Henri Leclerk, told French radio Europe 1 in December.Strauss-Kahn's political hopes disintegrated in May 2011 when he was arrested in New York and accused of sexually assaulting a hotel chambermaid. Strauss-Kahn claimed the sex was consensual and involved no "aggression or constraint". The case against him crumbled over concerns about the maid's credibility as a witness.Last October, prosecutors in France dismissed a 23-year-old French writer's claim that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in 2003 during an interview for a book, saying the case had passed the time limit.Dominique Strauss-KahnFranceEuropeKim Willsherguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Closing the Columbus Drive Bridge over the Hillsborough River means headaches for the 20,000 daily drivers and local businesses.
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Danny Valentine, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 TAMPA — A 43-year-old Tampa man died Monday night after being struck by a hit-and-run driver near Progress Village. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said it received a call at 8:56 p.m. about a body in the road outside 7937 Fir Drive. When deputies arrived, they found Eric A. Lewis lying in the roadway. Lewis had been walking in the roadway on 79th Street about 20 feet north of Fir Drive. He was hit at a low speed, making it unlikely that the vehicle suffered major damage, according to the Sheriff's Office. Tire evidence at the scene shows the vehicle may have dual rear wheels. There was no description of the vehicle. Deputies ask anyone with information to call the Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200. Anyone with information who wants to be eligible for a cash reward ... |
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By Danny Valentine, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 Unidentified suspects parked a van over in-ground fuel tanks at a gas station near Westfield Citrus Park Mall early Tuesday morning and began pumping gas into the van. For some reason, they fled — leaving the van with several hundred gallons of stolen gas still inside. TAMPA — Just after 1 a.m. Tuesday, Hillsborough County deputy Alexander Hockersmith saw a suspicious blue minivan parked at a weird angle in the gas station parking lot.The business was closed.The midnight shift deputy pulled a U-turn and pulled in to the 8606 Citrus Park Drive station. As he did this, another nearby vehicle quickly pulled away, leaving the van.It didn't take long to sleuth out what was going on: Criminals had cut a hole through the Chevrolet Venture's floor board and were pumping gas from below-ground tanks into a ... |
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HART will consider using eminent domain proceedings to acquire up to 26 parcels to be used as station sites for the county's first Bus Rapid Transit system, scheduled to launch in March 2013 between downtown Tampa and its northeast suburbs.
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The legislation would let top-tier research universities set higher ‘market rate’ tuition, but the way the bill is written, only UF would qualify.
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By Ivan Penn, Times Staff Writer
Monday, February 20, 2012 TALLAHASSEE — Here's what Progress Energy customers should expect from a $288 million refund they'll get over the next few years: higher electric bills. But if a settlement between the utility and the Public Counsel's Office is approved, their bills will not go up as much as they otherwise would.The average customer's bill on Jan. 1 is expected to increase $4.93 a month per 1,000 kilowatt hours of usage, from $123.19 to $128.12, subject to adjustments for fuel costs.J.R. Kelly, the state public counsel who represents customers before the Public Service Commission, called that a win."Yes, there is some increase, but I think a big portion of this settlement is balancing that with what we could potentially have seen," he said. "We could have been looking at doubling that ... |
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Who says you can’t turn the clock back? Decades ago, near the end of the Age of Aquarius, a Republican congressman from Texas argued passionately that the federal government should pay for birth control for poor women. Read full article >> |
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By Nancy Waclawek, Times Staff Writer
Monday, February 20, 2012 The 2012 Barnes Scholarship winners are, in the words of one counselor, young people who "will simply not take 'no' for an answer in regards to future successes in life."All of them stepped up when their families needed them, overcoming illness, poverty and tragedy. All of them have maintained the highest level of academic excellence.The 2012 Barnes Scholarship winners, announced today by the Tampa Bay Times Fund, are Nourhan Elsayed of St. Petersburg High School in Pinellas County, Ayushe Misra of Alonso High School in Hillsborough County, Ruben Godinez of Strawberry Crest High School in Hillsborough County and Basil Jackson of Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa.The four students are eligible to receive up to $15,000 per year for four years of study at an accredited U.S. college or university. The scholarships are sponsored by the ... |
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