Texas Jail Was An Animal House, Authorities Say

Published March 17, 2009 at 2:56 p.m.
MONTAGUE, Texas - For months, perhaps longer, the Montague County Jail was "Animal House" meets Mayberry. Inside the small brick building across from the courthouse, inmates had the run of the place, having sex with their jailer girlfriends, bringing in recliners, taking drugs and chatting on cell phones supplied by friends or guards, according to authorities. They also disabled some of the surveillance cameras and made weapons out of nails ...

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Pinellas Sheriff Getting Weapons Detection System

Published March 17, 2009 at 2:25 p.m.
An infrared device originally used to help troops detect suicide bombers is now available for local law enforcement agencies, and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has purchased two of them, according to a spokesman for the company selling them ...

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Teen May Have Abducted Woman, North Port Police Say

Published March 17, 2009 at 2:10 p.m.
A reported abduction in North Port on Monday night touched off a multi-agency search that briefly shut down Interstate 75 as authorities scrambled to find a 44-year-old woman, who was eventually located in a local restaurant with her alleged abductor, a 17-year-old boy ...

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Land O' Lakes' Benedetto Likely Out As Football Coach

Published March 17, 2009 at 2:06 p.m.
After 38 years as a teacher in Pasco County, John Benedetto was informed Tuesday afternoon he will not be eligible for the final year of his extension in the Deferred Retirement Option Program, also known as DROP ...

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Recessionistas and restaurant critics are evil

Published March 17, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
Picked up my beloved local paper this morning, sipped my coffee, got to page 7A. And there it was, a big, fat indictment of restaurant critics. To be precise, in a story lambasting "recession chic," New York writer Kelly Marages ...

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Son helps former Lightning executive find new job

Published March 17, 2009 at 9:57 a.m.
When Ben Gullett saw a businessman carrying a sign in Tampa that said he was looking for work, he got an idea to help his own father’s job prospects. The son of a Tampa Bay Lightning marketing director knew his ...

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My First Car: '65 Chevy Nova Super Sport, Marilyn K. Barnes, 63, Tampa Palms

Published March 17, 2009 at 8:48 a.m.
From the Times: '65 Chevrolet Nova Super Sport sedan I was 19 1/2 and had my first job as a medical assistant in Miami Beach. Needing transportation for work, my father, who was a Chevy man, took me to our ...

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Buccaneers Head Coach Raheem Morris ready to get tough

Published March 17, 2009 at 7:59 a.m.
I do as commanded ... Posted on behalf of JScott ... A lot of us have questioned the moves of new General Manager Mark Dominik and Head Coach Raheem Morris, specifically the decision to cut future Hall of Fame LB Derrick Brooks, the consummate professional in RB Warrick Dunn, and the Brooks-replacement-in-waiting in LB Cato June. It was difficult to come to grips with the loss of these guys (admittedly some of us haven’t yet) as we were told these moves were made in order to fit the system

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WellCare drops into the red in 2008

Published March 17, 2009 at 7:17 a.m.
Legal expenses and a write-off of some of the value of its Medicare business resulted in a net loss for 2008 at WellCare Health Plans Inc ...

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Going green: It's St. Patrick's Day

Published March 17, 2009 at 4:00 a.m.
Mark Bradley of St. Petersburg is already setting up at the Cockney Rebel in St. Pete Beach. (Photo by Cherie Diez) You won’t need the luck of the Irish to find a great St. Patrick’s Day party today: O’Brien’s Irish ...

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