Garbage collection problems, recycling and bearproof trash cans were discussed last night as Highlands County commissioners met for a two-and-a-half hour workshop.
While most commissioners said nobody ever calls them about complaints with pickup, Commissioner Don Elwell said he continues to hear about it – receiving 10 complaints this past week alone.
Elwell told representatives of Waste Connections – the county’s vendor for trash pickup – they needed to work on communication and customer service skills.
Commissioner Greg Harris said anyone with trash collection problems should call their commissioner to facilitate a resolution.
It was a good start to the Highlands Radio Group’s Thanksgiving in the Heartland Event in Sebring yesterday. Residents turned out to donate $850 in cash and a van-full of boxed & canned, non-perishable food items.
The proceeds will go to the New Testament Church & Mission. Reportedly, they are helping the less fortunate and even some of the victims of Hurricane Irma – which swept through Highlands County last year.
Another installment of Thanksgiving in the Heartland will be held next week in Avon Park.
A new farmer’s market of sorts is set to debut today in Avon Park. Dubbed “The Sunshine Market,” organizers say thee will be booths with produce, dry goods, arts & crafts and other items.
Plans are to set up across from the Avon Park Community Center on the first and second Friday and Saturday of each month. Organizers say they hope to add informational and other booths as time goes on.
Music will be part of today’s event as well. It all kicks off this morning at 10:00.
PLANTATION, Fla. (AP) – Authorities say a fire broke out in a South Florida nursing home, injuring two residents and a staff member. The SunSentinel reports more than 100 people were evacuated when the fire broke out in a resident’s room after 11 p.m. Thursday in Plantation, which is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. Plantation Fire officials say one nursing home resident was being treated for burns and another for smoke inhalation. Most residents were back in their rooms by early Friday morning.
Police say a hurricane relief worker from Texas shot and killed a co-worker at a bus station in Florida. 24-year-old Ledesma Vonzell Wooden was arrested on charges including homicide. A Fort Walton Beach police report says Wooden was fired and angry over having to buy his own bus ticket back to Houston. It says Wooden grabbed a handgun from his luggage and shot at his former co-workers.
Powerful storms are expected to continue today through a region still trying to recover from Hurricane Michael. Storms covered a wide area of the country reaching from beaches to the Great Lakes, but howling wind and driving rain threw a particular scare into the Florida Panhandle, which was ripped apart by Hurricane Michael less than a month ago. At least two people’s deaths have been attributed to the storms and at least 12 tornadoes had been confirmed in the Southeast by Thursday night.