Brent Batten

Just when you thought the whole city-county-fire-EMS-sheriff-consolidation thing couldn’t get any more convoluted come this twist.

In his campaign, former Sen. George LeMieux is quick to point out that Mack recently has been missing almost half of the votes taken in the House.

- There goes any chance Newsweek magazine will label Scott, “Florida’s First Gay Governor.”

Thousands of people ineligible to cast ballots in a presidential election have been given the right to vote by the Collier County Supervisor of Elections. And it’s a good thing.

I, for one, would find The Avengers more palatable if they’d include some superheroes with powers more in line with life here in Southwest Florida.

The person who got the 3.4 percent rate, or any rate for that matter, won’t see an interest-rate increase on the existing loan.

The clerk and the county administration, both citing the same ordinance, are charging different amounts to fulfill public records requests, with the clerk’s rate about five times higher than that of the county manager’s office.

President Obama set the goal of defeating al-Qaida? He decided to deny it a chance to rebuild?

Three no-shows for the last hour of the workshop between county commissioners, fire district commissioners and chiefs and EMS administrators were particularly conspicuous by their absence.

“The Concept,” as the plan to absorb part of EMS into the three coastal fire departments is being called, has been around for a few weeks. The real solution to fragmented emergency response in the county has been around for ...

It’s a given that federal money comes with strings attached.

The conflict between Collier County government’s building plan reviewers and the fire department employees who review the same plans for fire safety is just as real as any of the other controversies likely on display come Thursday.

On a Tuesday right after Easter, well down on page 3A of the afternoon newspaper, a headline over a short story declared, "Naples woman stabbed to death in Miami."

The three departments have outlined a plan under which they merge, not with each other but with the ambulance service already operating in their boundaries.

While some wealthy people do pay a lower rate, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Buffett Rule being debated in the U.S. Senate this week focuses attention on those who benefit from tax shelters.