ZEPHYRHILLS — For months, city officials debated the idea of hiring their own animal control officer instead of using the county's services. Tim Wilcox, who traps chickens and other nuisance animals for the city, even emerged as a candidate.
But when the deadline passed Nov. 13 for people to offer their services, the city had zero applicants.
DADE CITY — A woman involved in a 2007 crash that left one person dead and six more injured pleaded guilty Tuesday to DUI manslaughter and other DUI-related charges.
Heather Dison, 35, of St. Petersburg, will be sentenced Dec. 22. She faces up to 20 years in prison.
Federally run home-loan guarantor Freddie Mac said the ripple from failures of Ocala-based Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and Colonial Bank exposes it to more than $1 billion in potential losses.
In a regulatory filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Freddie Mac — the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. — said its exposure to Taylor Bean-related losses could keep swelling.
LAND O'LAKES — All Pasco school district employees will get a bonus or supplement check on Dec. 18, now that their contracts are approved.
Leaders of the United School Employees of Pasco announced late Monday that their membership had endorsed the 2009-10 agreement by large margins. The deal provides fully paid health benefits for all district staff, although not their family members, as well as a one-time payment in lieu of a raise or step increase. This is the second straight year without raises.
TAMPA — Three people were arrested Monday after authorities found their dog dead and partially buried in the backyard of their Tampa home.
An arrest affidavit states that the dog, Baby, was declining in health and denied medical care before 44-year-old Lisa Cooper Groover gave the dog an unspecified amount of pain pills without the advice of a veterinarian. Groover told investigators that Baby suffered until she died, the affidavit states.
TAMPA — A pickup truck fell from Interstate 4 near 40th Street and landed in a ditch Tuesday afternoon, according to Tampa Fire Rescue. The driver had injuries that were not life threatening.
Fire officials think the pickup collided with another vehicle on westbound I-4 near the 50th Street on-ramp. The impact caused the truck to hit and go over a retaining wall, fall about 30 feet and land upright in the ditch near 40th Street.
TAMPA — A judge denied bail Tuesday for Christopher Peter Hanney, the 44-year-old man accused of dousing his estranged wife with lighter fluid, clubbing her in the head with a hammer and then setting her on fire last week.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Bernard Silver set bail at $100,000 on the arson charge pending against Hanney, but that was a moot point since he did not set bail on the attempted murder charge.
TAMPA — The Davis Islands teenager at the center of a highly publicized hit-and-run case was sentenced to probation Tuesday, and ordered to perform 250 hours of community service.
Jordan Valdez, 17, will stay on probation until she is at least 19, said Hillsborough Circuit Judge Chet Tharpe, who sentenced her as a juvenile. She also will lose her driver's license for five years, and must perform 120 hours of her community service in an accident trauma center.
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