Today's the last day of 2007, and many Tallahasseeans are setting new goals for 2008.

"My New Year's resolution is to get back in the gym," said Don Drew, as he trimmed up a Yorkie at Pet Smart. "I've been slacking off for two years. I would say quit smoking, but I like it."

Jim Burgin, fitness director of Gold's Gym downtown, said the No. 1 New Year's resolution is to lose weight. The gym has already started to get an influx of people who are signing up early to reach their new goals.

"Anyone who is trying to get fit without a plan is like shooting at a target with a blindfold," he said.

Stephanie Cimmino, a sophomore at Tallahassee Community College, has set her fitness goals for next year low.

"I want to exercise more," she said. "Any (exercise) is my goal."

Those who want to stop drinking, smoking cigarettes or doing drugs should be ready for a struggle, said Robin Staton, drug-court coordinator for A Life Recovery Center.   more »

In this season of giving, we find ourselves buying extra boxes of pasta to tuck into a shopping bag full of nonperishables headed to the People to People feeding program.

We search our closets for the winter coat our children barely wore as they shot up six inches over the season, nurtured by good nutrition and a solid home environment. We clean it and give it to such groups as Nyack Homeless Project, hoping to warm a child from winter's cold.

We search for safe toys to give as agencies worry about lead content and safety recalls.   more »

The Rev. Thurman O. Echols Jr., longtime pastor and community activist, received the 2007 Jack Dalton Community Service Award on Tuesday.

“I’m grateful, I’m honored,” said Echols as he was presented the award.

Echols said Dalton, a former chairman of the Henry County Board of Supervisors who died in 2000, was good friend who gave “so much” to the community. He recalled how Dalton used to bring Echols vegetables from his garden.

“This will mean so much to me,” Echols told Dalton’s wife, Lois, who helped present the award.

Echols was nominated for the award by the Axton Life Saving Crew board of directors.   more »

The Omicron Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. honored Dr. Rosemary DePaolo, chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, with its Citizen of the Year award during the fraternity’s National Achievement Week observance on Veterans Day.

The award, made to the citizen that has made the greatest contribution to and impact on the community, is the fraternity’s highest honor. The award acknowledged DePaolo’s commitment to inclusion as well as her continued outreach to the less fortunate and those that are often overlooked   more »

Saying it's time to act or risk losing the next generation of African-America boys to drugs, crime and violence, a group of Jacksonville leaders announced a new Web site Thursday where people in Florida can sign up to become mentors.

People who sign up via www.floridacares.info will receive e-mail responses telling them how to find local organizations that will train and match them with mentees, Eddie Staton, the Jacksonville-based national president of MAD DADS, said during a news conference at Eugene Butler Middle School.

MAD DADS stands for Men Against Destruction Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder.   more »

A single file line of nearly one hundred wrapped around the outside of Webb Hall Auditorium Nov. 14 as students waited to get into Omega Psi Phi's Money Management seminar.

The keynote speaker of the program was Stafford Thompson, an actuary at North Carolina Mutual and member of the fraternity's Epsilon Psi chapter (Florida A&M).

Thompson's speech centered around   more »