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Top Stories
Bumper-to-Bumper Highway Gets ­Relief from State
By Penny Fletcher
penny@observernews.net

RIVERVIEW -- People who live along the U.S. 301 corridor between Gibsonton Drive and State Road 672 just south of Riverview say it often takes them longer to get between those two points than it does to drive to Tampa on Interstate-75.

Jul 2, 2009 - 8:17:56 AM

Top Stories
Sailing Home...To Florida (Part 2 -- Out of the Cold North)
By Mitch Traphagen
traphagen@observernews.net

GEORGETOWN, MD -- It seems my soul came back just about the time the engine started on fire.

Jul 2, 2009 - 8:08:56 AM

Top Stories
FDOT Studies Roadway Links Around Port of Manatee
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

SUN CITY – Anticipating future traffic needs near the Port of ­Manatee, five possible east-west roadway improvement sites now are under study by Florida’s Department of Transportation.

Jul 2, 2009 - 8:06:47 AM

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Initial Staff Report Advises Against, Yet Some Experts Say “Yes” to Shipping Center
By Penny Fletcher
penny@observernews.net

TAMPA – The Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission hearing room on the 18th Floor of County Center was packed beyond capacity June 22.

People supporting, and objecting to, a proposed multi-modal container shipping center just south of Ruskin’s Little Manatee River Bridge in Sun City spoke for nearly two hours following the initial presentations by the applicant, Inland Port Systems, and county planning employee Crystal Kelly and their ­respective staffs.
Jul 2, 2009 - 7:59:52 AM

Top Stories
Second Hand Rose Helps the Community in More Ways Than One
By Penny Fletcher
penny@observernews.net



RUSKIN -- Those of us who remember Barbra Streisand’s 1965 rendition of Fanny Brice’s Flapper-Era song, “Second Hand Rose,” could easily get a wrong impression of Ruskin’s new Second Hand Rose shop on E. Shell Point Road.


Jun 25, 2009 - 3:29:08 PM

Obituaries
Obituaries for June 25, 2009 Grubaugh, Parish, Wolf

Jun 25, 2009 - 3:37:00 AM

Top Stories
South Hillsborough ­Historians Seek Place at ­Regional Table
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

A fossil discovery that rocked the world of paleontology…
Verified, functioning villages of the region’s pre-Columbian
       ­human inhabitants…
Massive landing and encampment of conquistadors, horses, swine, dogs, under command of the exploring Hernando de Soto …

Jun 25, 2009 - 3:23:29 AM

Top Stories
Sailing Home...To Florida (Part 1 -- Out of the Cold North)
By Mitch Traphagen
traphagen@observernews.net

BLOCK ISLAND, RI -- I’m cold and exhausted. I’ve worked for the past 12 hours fueled entirely by desire, a stale donut and Diet Coke. The small parts of my hands that aren’t bloody are filthy. It is dark outside the boat and the wind is howling through the rigging -- made worse by the fact that the boat is on stands in a boatyard -- it can’t point to the wind, I have to suffer it from whatever direction it blows. I can hear the gusts coming seconds before they hit. The last thing I want to do is leave the sheltered confines of my cabin, climb down a ladder and make my way to a less-than-well-heated marina shower. But I have to -- I am disgusting even myself and I will need to clean up some before heading out to find dinner -- hopefully something will still be open.


Jun 25, 2009 - 3:06:19 AM

Top Stories
Seniors Find Fulfillment Speaking for ­Minors
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

Sun City Center – Who would be dumb enough to take a job that requires local travel, often exposes the seamier side of life, starts with background scrutiny, involves considerable paperwork , and, oh, by the way, pays not a dime in salary?

Jun 17, 2009 - 8:48:18 PM

Top Stories
Residents Plead to Keep Programs in Place
By Penny Fletcher
penny@observernews.net

TAMPA -- More than 200 residents packed County Center June 9 at a public hearing on next year’s proposed budget. Many South County groups were present, some with signs and petitions, to plead for a continuance of programs that are currently slated to be cut back or eliminated

Jun 17, 2009 - 8:29:17 PM

Top Stories
State Transportation Engineers Unveil Possible Interstate Changes
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

Using continuous loop video, elaborate display boards and full color brochures, Florida Department of Transportation engineers exhibited potential alternative expansions of I-75 through South Hillsborough during a public open house this week.

Jun 17, 2009 - 8:59:43 AM

Top Stories
Two Aston Gardens Acquired by Hoffman and Partner
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

SUN CITY CENTER – ­Betting on renewed opportunity in the foreseeable future, Al Hoffman, Jr., once a major player in the local real estate market, again is putting his money on housing here.
It’s a “coming full circle,” said Hoffman, 68, a West Point graduate and former fighter pilot who fashioned Sun City Center developer WCI from the former Florida Design Communities and then took the company public before retiring as WCI’s CEO in 2005. Subsequently, he was named U.S. Ambassador to Portugal.


Jun 10, 2009 - 8:17:40 PM

Top Stories
Park Being Proposed as Best Path to Preservation
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

RUSKIN -- Two local leaders are taking their campaign for a Ucita Park on the road, beginning this week.
On Thursday morning (June 11), Gus Muench and Fred Jacobsen will be making the case for protecting a large chunk of threatened Tampa Bay shoreline south of Ruskin before the Agency on Bay Management (ABM), an arm of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

Jun 10, 2009 - 8:07:23 PM

Top Stories
Mosaic’s Hidden Gem
By Julie Ball

GIBSONTON -- Situated at the mouth of the ­Alafia River, ­Mosaic’s Coastal ­Education Center is an outdoor classroom created by Mosaic to teach 4th graders from local schools environmental education. It is managed and put on entirely by Mosaic employees on a volunteer basis.

Jun 10, 2009 - 8:05:12 PM

Obituaries
Obituaries 6-11-09 Gummere,Johnson, Kaiser, Wood

Jun 10, 2009 - 8:02:57 PM

Obituaries
Obituaries 6-6-09 McClinton, McRae, Raulerson

Jun 4, 2009 - 11:44:44 PM

Top Stories
Multiple Grant Requests for Downtown Ruskin in the Works
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

RUSKIN – Aiming for multi-pronged re-invigoration of the downtown district here, the community’s non-profit development foundation has reached out for the first in a probable series of federal programs promising local value.

Jun 4, 2009 - 11:42:44 PM

Top Stories
South County Southern Lady Marks Her 90th Birthday
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

Elizabeth “Pooka” Bradley Sweat celebrated her 90th birthday in her favorite manner – with laughing, chattering, reminiscing ­people, most of them years younger, coming together from near and far, by the tens of dozens. 

Jun 4, 2009 - 11:37:52 PM

Top Stories
Fall Colors Promised in the South County
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

Come this autumn, South Hillsborough, like many parts of the country, will show off its colors. But here it won’t have much to do with turning leaves or shedding trees.

Jun 4, 2009 - 11:32:40 PM

Top Stories
Lake Level Lowering Leads Some to Fume
By Penny Fletcher
penny@observernews.net

Residents on the west side of Club Manor Property ­Owners ­Association in Sun City Center say their beautiful view is gone and their home values have plummeted. They also fear the damp dirt left behind when lake water levels were lowered will breed mosquitoes and make their yards uninhabitable.

Jun 4, 2009 - 11:25:47 PM

Top Stories
Congratulations to the Class of 2009

May 28, 2009 - 9:22:50 PM

Top Stories
Obituaries 5-21-09 Walsberg,Anderson,Helpler, Orr

May 22, 2009 - 10:17:05 PM

Top Stories
Whatever Happened About. 5-21-09

May 22, 2009 - 10:13:14 AM

Top Stories
Drivers Warned About Use of Handicapped Access Aisles
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net

SUN CITY CENTER - Spaces next to designated handicapped parking may seem perfect fits for golf carts, but the penalty for such use is high and the tolerance is low.
This is the community message currently being delivered with emphasis by Hillsborough County Deputy Sheriff Rob Thornton. And, it’s being supported by a SCC Community Association director with firsthand experience.

May 22, 2009 - 10:10:29 AM