Local News from
Lakewood Ranch

Boost funding for spay-neuter service

Roy Halladay pitched seven solid innings to win his fifth straight start, Alex Rios hit two homers, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the visiting Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 on Friday night to extend their season-high winning streak to six.

Mementoes from Bobby Permane's career as a thoroughbred jockey, enclosed inside a glass case, greet visitors to the Drift-In Lounge on Cortez Road.

Today, perhaps, marks the curtain call on a budding in-state rivalry.

The last time we saw the Southeast Seminoles, games like this were slipping away.

In the fourth quarter, when Braden River's offensive linemen pushed Lakewood Ranch defenders downfield and created holes big enough for Jajuan Bell and a clone to negotiate, the Pirates couldn't help thinking how that offseason torture was paying off.

TALLAHASSEE - A chain-reaction crash involving a bus, minivan and cement mixer truck killed an 8-year-old girl and injured seven other children and the van driver Friday, officials said.

MIRAMAR - South Florida authorities used a stun gun on a 15-year-old teen who police say tried to help a friend evade being taken into custody.

BARTOW - A former vice president for a subprime lender has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for mortgage fraud, racketeering and grand theft.

WEST PALM BEACH - Palm Beach County election officials launched a massive search Friday for about 2,500 missing ballots from last week's primary.

Officials with Freedom Bank disclosed Friday they are operating under a regulatory order to restore capital and ensure future solvency.

FORT LAUDERDALE - A former Florida Department of Children and Families supervisor has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1.5 million in state assistance funds.

CAMPBELLTON - Federal investigators say a small plane likely stalled after takeoff, causing a crash in the Florida Panhandle that killed a radio personality from Alabama.

A man fearing for the safety of his kidnapped brother brought Manatee authorities into the worldwide fight against human trafficking.

The Sarasota Jungle Gardens has won a $6.3 million state grant, thanks to the efforts of the Sarasota Conservation Foundation.

In the last 10 years, the same number of colleges of osteopathic medicine have opened, including LECOM Bradenton.

A Manatee and a Sarasota company were among 16 Florida companies to receive a Governor's Business Diversification Award, which recognizes business achievements that advance the state's economy through job creation and distinctive community involvement and capital investment.

Florida continues to lead the nation in mortgage delinquencies, with one in every seven borrowers either in foreclosure or behind on their payments at the end of June, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday.

While banks continue to get whipped around by the credit storm, credit unions for the most part are enjoying a comfortable spot out of the path of the headwinds.