| Country living cast lasting spell
One night in 1963, young Raymond Sibley was on his first date with a Plant City waitress named Shirley. Toward the end of the evening, he made a pronouncement. "He told her if she had any other boyfriends, she had to get rid of them because he was going to marry her," said Michelle Davenport. "Three months later, they got married." Raymond and Shirley Sibley spent more than 40 years together, until his death from a massive heart attack on Jan. 28, exactly a month short of his 67th birthday. Davenport is one of the couple's two daughters. Mr. Sibley worked most of his life as a boilermaker, which kept him away from home and his family for months at a time. But he found time to help his wife start Sibley's Liner Farm, which eventually shipped ornamental plants to retail outlets all over Florida.
Extreme' team gives home to 9/11 rescuer from Ohio
Jason Thomas, a 9/11 hero living in Columbus, receives a new home built in seven days by Ty Pennington and the gang in an episode of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" airing at 7 tonight on WEWS Channel 5. An ex-Marine, Thomas risked his life to help save two Port Authority police officers trapped in debris at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. The rescue was dramatized by director Oliver Stone for the 2006 film "World Trade Center." Thomas, a native of Hempstead, New York, was living on Long Island at the time of the terrorist attacks. While dropping off his daughter at his mother's Long Island home, he heard about planes hitting the World Trade Center. Although he left active duty a year earlier, Thomas had his Marine uniform in the trunk of his car.
Prescription discount participation plummeting
Butler County is re-evaluating its prescription drug relief program for low-income families because of a dramatic drop in participation. Enrollment has dropped sharply since the program's inception in 2003, largely because retail stores such as Wal-Mart and Meijer are offering deep discounts at their pharmacies. Only 14 people used the program in 2006, according to the county, leading officials to question whether it should continue. .
McCain Taps Cash He Once Sought To Limit
Just about a year-and-a-half ago, Sen. John McCain went to court to try to curtail the influence of a group to which A. Jerrold Perenchio gave $9 million, saying it was trying to "evade and violate" new campaign laws with voter ads ahead of the midterm elections. As McCain launches his own presidential campaign, however, he is counting on Perenchio, the founder of the Univision Spanish-language media empire, to raise millions of dollars as co-chairman of the Arizona Republican's national finance committee. In his early efforts to secure the support of the Republican establishment he has frequently bucked, McCain has embraced some of the same political-money figures, forces and tactics he pilloried during a 15-year crusade to reduce the influence of big donors, fundraisers and lobbyists in elections.
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