Polk County's unemployment rate climbed to 8.1 percent in October, the area's highest figure in 11 years.

BARTOW | For now, M.M. Parrish Construction Company, the Gainesville contractor for the Polk County School District that is under investigation by the FBI, will continue doing work for the county.

The following is a portion of the felony criminal case dispositions filed in Bartow for the month of June, 2008. For a complete explanation refer to the court files because the circumstances of each case vary. If the Judge withheld adjudication the person has not been judged guilty by the Court.

WINTER HAVEN | Fire afflicted an empty Winter Haven home for the second time in several weeks Thursday night, and now fire officials are investigating the incident as "suspicious."<br>Thick black smoke poured into the air as firefighters arrived at the house on Lake Howard Drive about 10 p.m., Deputy Chief Jim Davis said.

WINTER HAVEN | Fire afflicted an empty Winter Haven home for the second time in several weeks Thursday night, and now fire officials are investigating the incident as "suspicious."<br>Thick black smoke poured into the air as firefighters arrived at the house on Lake Howard Drive about 10 p.m., Deputy Chief Jim Davis said.

The following is a portion of the felony criminal case dispositions filed in Bartow for the month of June, 2008. For a complete explanation refer to the court files because the circumstances of each case vary. If the Judge withheld adjudication the person has not been judged guilty by the Court.

The federal government is trying to protect critical habitat for the endangered smalltooth sawfish along Florida's southwest coast.<br>The rule, proposed Thursday, seeks to protect areas essential for the conservation and recovery of the sawfish ó their population has declined by 95 percent.

The State Department has renewed an appeal to Iran for information about a former FBI agent, Floridian Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iranian territory 20 months ago.

TALLAHASSEE | Florida's budget gap grew to $2.1 billion on Friday as economists said the state's economy has some rough times ahead as it is buffeted by a global recession, but that it should begin a recovery in early 2010.

LAKELAND | Polk County's jobless rate swelled to 8.1 percent in October, the highest level in 11 years, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.<br>The county had 5,700 fewer jobs than it did in October 2007 as steep job losses continued to plague nearly every segment of the local economy.