Dave Onsted

One of the two unidentified victims in that fiery crash north of Brighton last Sunday has been identified, and the final name is being held pending notification of kin. The head-on wreck killed four people, and one of the two vehicles was so badly wrecked and burned that the only thing Troopers could tell at Continue reading

Another fatal traffic accident in the County. This one happened yesterday just after 11am on Lake June Road at Piney Point Drive west of Highway 27. A 2003 Ford driven by 76 year old Joanne Hill of Lake Placid was negotiating one of the turns on Lake June Road and drove onto the shoulder. At Continue reading

Another shooting last night in Avon Park. Deputies were called to the area of Hal MacRoae Boulevard and Delaney before midnight last night, where they located a male gunshot wound victim who required flight-for-life transportation out of town, in stable condition. Detectives are investigating; as always, if you know something, detectives would appreciate a call. Continue reading

It’s been a crummy Holiday traffic weekend on our roads in the area. A two-vehicle accident claimed four lives at the intersection of Highway 70 and County Road 721 near Brighton in Eastern Highlands County about 12:30 yesteday. Positive ID of the driver and passenger in an unknown vintage Buick are still pending after the Continue reading

Avon Park has its next City Manager. After listening to the six finalists last night, council members chose David Flowers for the job. Flowers knows his way around a government building; he was on the city council in the early 1990s, and has served as a Highlands County commissioner and Sheriff’s deputy. Flowers will be Continue reading

It’s a day of unsettled weather in our neck of the woods. There’s a squall line pushing across Florida’s peninsula, followed by a front carrying even more rain with it – that combination could get us some strong winds and maybe a severe thunderstorm or two between now and late tonight. There’s a Tornado WATCH Continue reading

Keep a weather eye out today – the National Weather Service has posted advisories for a risk of severe weather that’ll most likely be in our neck of the woods between five and ten p.m. … we’re on the southern end of a region where a frontal boundary will push gulf air through with conditions Continue reading

Lake Placid, you’re under a precautionary boil water alert to start the weekend iof you live in the Lake Blue area on the town’s north side,. There was a water main break in the area yesterday, and pretty much everyone in that neck of the woods except the Raceway, Holiday Inn and Lakeside Cottages is Continue reading

There’s still help available if you’re among those not fully put back together after Hurricane Irma’s 2017 appearance. Highlands County was one of twelve counties in the state that hadn’t yet fully recovered from the storm as of earlier this year, and a mobile Rebuild Florida office is set up this week in Avon Park Continue reading

Black Friday is here – and that’s a red-letter day for retailers, signalling the beginning of the seasonal retail rush and the transition to black INK on store ledgers for the year. The big box stores started early again this year, with Wally World door busters laid out for sale as early as 6pm, and Continue reading