Before she became the Republican nominee for Florida attorney general, Pam Bondi was a familiar face as a legal analyst on CNN and the Fox News Channel. (Read More...)

It's the one county bus in and out of Weston, and a ride that brothers Santiago and Gabriel Garcia rely on.<p/> ``Imagine if we didn't have the bus,'' Gabriel, 17, asked Santiago as they waited for the No. 23 after football practice at Pembroke Pines Charter High School. (Read More...)

West Kendall, where baseball fields, horse trails and shopping centers are the norm, has witnessed eight drive-by shootings over the past eight months, a result of heightened gang activity, police say. (Read More...)

It's round two in the race between Republican Allen West and Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Ron Klein.<p/> But unlike 2008 when Klein dispatched his challenger with little fanfare, this time the battle is one of the nation's most expensive and closely watched contests. (Read More...)

Perhaps no moment in Miami sports boasts odder rivalries than the contests that unfolded Sunday on Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove.<p/> At the revived Grove bed race, pairs of teams raced homemade beds with four wheels and four people pushing for two city blocks. (Read More...)

Before she left her Miami home to return to the University of Florida this fall, Wajiha Akhtar's parents gave her some unusual advice: stay indoors as much as possible and, whatever happens, don't go near the Koran burners. (Read More...)

A brown bear death zone near the confluence of the Kenai and Russian rivers in Alaska has suddenly become something of a sanctuary. (Read More...)

The 30-pound silver carp that leapt from the water last week and knocked a kayaker out of a 340-mile race down the Missouri River is a reminder of what's at stake Tuesday when the Asian carp debate returns to court in Chicago. (Read More...)

About 20 power company dump sites, some of which have leaked poisonous coal residue into groundwater, face closure in South Carolina under a federal plan to protect the environment from electric utility waste. (Read More...)

Kansai Electric Power Co. in Japan has developed a new method for rejuvenating trees using mycorrhizal fungi, which form mutually beneficial relationships with plants. (Read More...)

You've probably come across the"Fair Trade Certified" logo while browsing the grocery store aisles - and if you're like most shoppers, you probably aren't quite sure what it means. (Read More...)

The fire at an oil platform off the Louisiana coast this week may not, in the end, do much harm to the Gulf of Mexico. But it could still mean trouble for both the Obama administration and the oil industry -- by raising new questions about the Gulf's oil fields. (Read More...)

Federal environmental regulators on Friday laid out a detailed blueprint for how Florida can finally live up to its repeatedly postponed pledge to clean up pollution flowing into the Everglades. (Read More...)

When you stop and really think about all the meat you consume in just one day, it starts to really add up. From bacon at breakfast, that chicken Caesar salad at lunch, to ground beef tacos for dinner, many of us chow down on several meat products each day. Do Your Part for the planet and your family's health and go meatless for at least one day a week. (Read More...)

The Subway sandwich shop on Chicago's State Street may look like any other new restaurant, but its tile, crown molding and most wall coverings are made from recycled materials. In the bathroom, sensors control water flow, timers manage lights, and the toilet has a low-flow option. A smart air-conditioning system normalizes temperature between the bread ovens and the eating area. (Read More...)

Another offshore rig exploded Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico, an unsettling echo of BP's deep-sea blowout less than six months ago, but this time it appears there won't be another environmental catastrophe. (Read More...)

The advertisements are everywhere -- on local television stations it's Everest Institute, or Brown Mackie College. On South Florida highway billboards, it's the University of Phoenix. All are selling a quick, convenient college education, and the dream of a better life. (Read More...)

Florida is part of a consortium of 26 states that will receive a total of $170 million in federal funding to help develop new tests to assess students' mathematics and language arts skills, the U.S. secretary of education announced Thursday. (Read More...)

SCHOOL SCENE<p/>PEMBROKE PINES<p/> The Pembroke Pines Charter School Foundation is kicking off the 2010-11 school year by hosting a College Tuition Raffle. (Read More...)

The FCAT you've come to know&#x97; and often complain about&#x97; is changing this school year as the state pushes higher academic standards and new testing. (Read More...)

They study El Mio Cid, Spain's oldest epic poem, in Spanish. They analyze mystery literature written by Frenchman Georges Simenon in Italian. They learn Algebra II, geometry and statistics in French. (Read More...)

Imagine having award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein as your lunch lady. Bernstein isn't leaving her two Miami restaurants, Michy's and Sra. Martinez, anytime soon. But she is helping Miami-Dade school cafeteria workers develop new, healthy recipes that will encourage kids to pick up a hot lunch. (Read More...)

Well, we survived the first week of school, so for this week, let's review as we do every year how parents can help keep kids safe. (Read More...)

Melanie Goldsobel had to wear sunglasses to hide her tears from her daughter, Genna, who moved into her dorm at Florida International University last weekend. (Read More...)

Pointing at his sketch of smiling fishes at sea surrounded by two bells, Marcus A. Milam K-8 Center student Victor Coello, 13, admired his latest work of art. (Read More...)

After-school fights broke out in the courtyard almost every day. Kids bullied their peers. Learning took a back seat to fooling around.<p/> That was Pine Villa Elementary two years ago. (Read More...)

The Black Widow of eating contests gobbled up nearly 181 chicken wings in 12 minutes, devouring the national championship record in Buffalo on Sunday. (Read More...)

One Nevada gubernatorial hopeful sees a speedy fix to Nevada's budget crisis. Nonpartisan candidate Eugene"Gino" DiSimone believes people would pay for the privilege to drive up to 90 mph on designated highways - and fill the state's depleted coffers. (Read More...)

Just in case it wasn't clear: Weapons and drugs don't make good charitable donations. (Read More...)

Police said an Erie-area woman somehow managed to zap both herself and her brother with a stun gun during a drunken dispute. Darlene Newara, 45, will have a hearing Oct. 18 on charges including driving under the influence, disorderly conduct for fighting, and public drunkenness in the Aug. 8 incident. (Read More...)