Midnight approached and the lawmakers were still debating. Back and forth it went over the role of government in health care. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor stood out for not standing out. Head down, she focused on the mountain before her — the 1,000-plus pages that make up America's Affordable Health Choices Act. Read more »

U.S. Central Command will orchestrate wars from a four-story, $60 million headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, where officials broke ground on the project Monday. The 250,000-square-foot facility will house about 1,800 military employees who run the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as oversee counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, humanitarian relief and other operations in 20 countries. Read more »

Childs Park is a low-income, crime-ridden area of St. Petersburg. Even during good economic times, conditions and life there are mostly desperate, especially for teenagers and young adults during the summer months when school is out. Each summer, local leaders manage to keep many young people busy and out of trouble through the Summer Youth Internship Program. Read more »

$5.8 billion dollars is how much money the federal government could pump into Florida's schools. But as it stands now our schools chunk could be cut by more than half. "The state legislature is now providing less money per pupil than they have over the past years. That's going to hurt us when it comes to the federal recovery plan,” says Representative Kathy Castor, who voted for the bill. She says for state's to qualify for all the money, they must be funding schools today at the same levels they were in 2005 and 2006. Right now Florida is not. Read more »

Modernizing schools, improving roads, and expanding healthcare; it’s all included in the 819 billion dollar stimulus bill passed by the House, now debated by the Senate. Read more »

With many businesses cutting back or even laying off, the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital has announced a new program that officials hope will provide good paying jobs, alleviate the nursing shortage and take care of wounded veterans. Read more »

In addition to more drilling, the package also will set new standards for renewable energy use, repeal tax breaks given to oil companies, and invest billions of dollars in royalties that oil companies pay for drilling rights into the development of alternative energy. Read more »

Monday morning, Burke stood beside Castor as the representative spoke about her plans to address the backlog. Burke, who said she suffers from diabetic neuropathy and other ailments, first applied for disability benefits in 2000. After her application was denied twice, she hired a lawyer to help her slog through the quagmire. In the meantime, though, she had to move in with her mother, who, though past retirement, continued to work to help the family survive, said Burke, 40. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor says if oil companies are interested in drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, they should consider millions of acres already available to them that's not being tapped. Read more »

Jose Lopez has five mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay. His pregnant wife was recently laid off her job, and they're a month behind their mortgage payments. He brought his family to the Hunt Community Center at Al Lopez Park on Saturday, where financial advisers, bank representatives and nonprofit counselors helped about 600 cash-strapped residents discover ways they may be able to keep their homes. Read more »