The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration released their predictions for the upcoming hurricane season Thursday.  They say 2013 will most likely be an above average hurricane season with a possible 20 named storms.

To get ready, Hillsborough County Emergency Management officials held a pre-hurricane media day Friday to explain changes to the county's emergency management plan.

Defense attorneys for George Zimmerman have uncovered evidence that paints a less-than-rosy image of Trayvon Martin, and they intend to use it.

On Thursday, Zimmerman's defense team notified prosecutors that they intend to show the jury Martin's cell phone records, which depict the slain teen as "a wannabe gangster who couldn't stay out of trouble," the Orlando Sentinel reports. The damaging items include:

• Text messages about fighting, smoking marijuana and being kicked out of his mother's house.
• Photos of a handgun and what appear to be marijuana plants.

The top medical researcher in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs works at Tampa’s James A. Haley VA Hospital.

Dr. Robert Farese won the 2012 William Middleton Award, which is given for outstanding biomedical research, for his investigation into the causes and possible cure of Type 2 diabetes.

While USF's Board of Trustees has identified 17 degree programs it suggests the university system should drop, the news may not actually be that bad, as 15 of them are from the now-defunct USF Polytechnic in Lakeland.

At 7 a.m. on a Monday morning, poor people who don’t qualify for government health programs such as Medicaid are lined up outside a health department building on a busy street in St. Petersburg.

Some lean against the wall; others sit on the ground, too sick to stand.

At 7:30, the doors will open and those who are waiting will rush – or limp – inside to take a number. Lucky ones will get to see a doctor. First-come, first-served.

The hospitalized veterans at Tampa's James A. Haley VA, like many Americans on this Memorial Day, will be able to munch on burgers and hotdogs  at a good old-fashioned barbecue thanks to members of the Tampa law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP.

Upon learning that the Haley VA had to cancel the barbecue for about 150 veterans because their sponsor dropped out, the firm agreed to step up and cover the cost.

Memorial Day is a time to remember military members who lost their lives while serving their country.

It’s also a three-day weekend at Tampa’s James A. Haley VA Hospital that staff try to make special for the hospitalized veterans who also sacrificed for their country.

Yet, Memorial Day for Haley veterans had to be scaled back this year.

For want of $500, the 150 veterans at the Haley VA Hospital will not have a Memorial Day barbecue according to Cathy Williams, head of recreational therapy.