Thanks for visiting Sunshine State News. To get the most out of our Web site we invite you to take a moment to read the following.
The Homepage
The homepage delivers a smart presentation of the day's top breaking political and business news stories -- seven days a week -- along with fresh photographs and graphics. Most of the time these will be stories that develop at the intersection of commerce and politics and government.These are each original articles created by Sunshine State News writers. This is one of the features we think separate us from other news sites.
Across the top, toward the right, you'll find the usual "about us" and contact information. You'll also find links to sign up for news alerts and to sign into your own personal account with us.
The right-hand column presents many of our special feature items, from daily interactive polls to our blog roll. (This is also where we'll be rolling out new features in the coming weeks and months.).
Viewpoint
Viewpoint is at the top. This is where we'll post regular polls that let you weigh in on the interesting political and business issues of the day.
ChatterBox
ChatterBox is divided into two sections. The top section features original blogs by Sunshine State News writers and editors, which we will be loading with fascinating tidbits and updating continuously throughout each day. The lower section of ChatterBox displays news blogs from other political and business news sites around the state.
ChatterBox automatically collects news blogs in real time and updates itself every 5 minutes, so you don't have to refresh your page to know you're seeing the latest blogs.
It also keeps all blogs visible for 24 hours right there inside the box, and it allows you to scroll down to see the earlier postings. After 24 hours all blogs go to the blog archive, which you can see by clicking the Read all Blogs link at the bottom.
Blue Bar Channels
Below the Sunshine State News logo you'll see a blue bar with section headers listed. "Politics," for instance, is one.
Politics
In this channel you'll find all stories related to Florida politics. If it's happening, we'll strive to make sure it's here -- everything from information on polls, elections and campaign fundraising to redistricting, campaign trail speeches, and candidate appearances. (Send us your news to make certain it appears here.)
Government
This channel tracks the news of the moment about Florida government from coast to coast, with a special focus on state and regional issues.
Business
While our stories generally explore the relationship between business and politics, the business channel is where you"ll find the stories that may have a greater emphasis on business already sifted for you. Here you can really drill down to the business stories you want to see.
Regional
This is largely an "aggregated" news portion of our site. This is the place we've created for those readers who wish to catch up on local political and business news from a particular region of the state. The interactive map inside this section allows you to select your part of the state, or you can click on your region by name in the blue bar drop down menu.
Columns
In the columns channel you'll be able to read the latest columns from George Will, Michael Barone, Jonah Goldberg and others.
Go on and explore. We're sure you'll like it. And keep your eyes out for new features and advancements we'll be rolling out in the near future.
If you have a suggestion, or want to send us news, please e-mail us at news@sunshinestatenews.com
