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 »

Charlottesville has undergone some major transformations in the past eight decades. Schools have been desegregated. Neighborhoods have changed. The population has increased, as has traffic.

Josephine Lightfoot Whitsett, 84, has seen it all. Whitsett, who lives in the same house on Page Street in which she was born, worked as an educator in the city school system for nearly four decades and remains active in the community both through her public service sorority - Delta Sigma Theta - and her church - Ebenezer Baptist on Sixth Street.“I can’t even fathom the number of lives she has touched,” said Jacqueline Estes, who attended city schools and has taught at Charlottesville High School for 29 years. “She’s made a big impact across   more »

A group of sorority sisters hope their annual event will become a local tradition that builds on the 41-year history of Kwanzaa -- a seven-day holiday created to help reunite Africans and their descendents scattered around the world.

The local chapter of Zeta Phi Beta invites the public to come Saturday afternoon to learn, celebrate and socialize during its third annual community Kwanzaa celebration.

“It started back in the civil rights era -- it really was created to help African-Americans get reacquainted with the African culture,” said Monica Taylor, president of the local Beta Iota Zeta chapter of the sorority. She and about 15 other area women make up the local chapter.

Whoever attends Saturday’s event at the Normal Public Library can expect an overview of Kwanzaa’s history, a lesson in who generally celebrates it and the meaning behind Kwanzaa’s seven principles. Refreshments also will be provided.

The original scribes of the Bible may have been inspired by God. Their modern-day successors? They find inspiration in vacuum cleaners, polka-dot bedspreads and a slick, hot-pink Juicy Couture purse.

This all may sound a bit irreverent. But consider it from the Bible publisher's point of view: How do you sell a really old book that 91% of households already have?

You can't update the content, or get the author on Oprah.

They came bearing gifts ... the floral designers and Phipps Garden Center elves to bedeck and beribbon to a fabulous Christmas fare-thee-well the century-old, Federal Revival-style manse of Chatham University's president, Dr. Esther Barazzone. An object of great real estate desire, the campus abode was once the family homestead of Pittsburgh retailing magnate John Gregg, who gifted it to the school lock, stock and sofas. And, since 1945, five CU presidents have called Gregg House a home.
Because tomorrow is Christmas (and because fantasizing is fun), my little tree topper, behold these breathtaking season's greenings that were created for Phipps' recent holiday house   more »

"My experience at DePauw and Indiana changed me dramatically," 2007 graduate Kareem J. Edwards said today on WNYC/New York Public Radio's Leonard Lopate Show. Edwards, who came to DePauw as a Posse Scholar from New York, appeared on the program to discuss the work of the Posse Foundation.

"Posse saved my life," Edwards asserted.  "Coming from the inner city of Queens, going to college wasn't a reality, it was more of a dream.  And Posse takes dreams turns (them) to reality.  So by giving me the option to go to college and supporting me throughout my four years and even after college" the foundation opened doors that

Posse Foundation identifies, recruits, and trains student leaders from urban public high schools to form multicultural teams called "posses." Following an intensive eight-month recruitment and pre-college training program the teams enroll at top-tier colleges and universities nationwide to pursue their academics and help promote cross-cultural communication.

"I'm more reserved now, calm, have a different   more »

Incumbent Henry P. Jackson announced his bid for Smith County Precinct 1 constable.

Before becoming constable in 1999, Jackson, a Democrat, worked eight years as a reserve officer for the city of Tyler and two years as deputy constable for Precinct 3.

Jackson, 55, has owned a private security business, H&J Controls, for more than 22 years.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and holds a peace officer certification.

Precinct 1 encompasses primarily the Tyler city limits.

While constable, Jackson started the Community Policing Program, which has increased the number of patrols in the precinct's neighborhoods.   more »

The Martin Luther King Club Inc. (MLK Club), in partnership with the American Legion Riders of Post 148 Chapter and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, hosted Santa on Tour and Trolley ride at the Old Fort YMCA, 2221 Reed St., on Dec. 8. The three organizations came together and decorated the party room at the Old Fort Y, resulting in a Christmas theme for all the kids to enjoy. The groups provided snacks, and purchased and wrapped toys so that all the kids in attendance could enjoy the Christmas spirit.   more »

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority celebrated the 70th anniversary of its Knoxville alumnae chapter Dec. 1 at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. The large crowd in attendance was royally treated to a dynamic speech and delicious food at the reception following the program.

The featured honoree was Beulah Warren Sinclair, who is the last surviving member who helped to organize the sorority here in 1937. She and seven other outstanding young women of the city saw the need for a local chapter and sought a charter from the national organization, which was then 24 years old. It had been established at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Jan. 13, 1913.   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 »