The Latest Local News

Despite all the wet weather, officials from the Florida Forest Service say there still are a half dozen active wildfires in the state and two of them are right here in Highlands County. The Mini Ranch fire out by the Sebring International Raceway continues to smolder. That one has been burning since March and has Continue reading

A crash involving an All-Terrain Vehicle yesterday resulted in the death of one person and serious injury to four others. Florida Highway Patrol reports indicate 16-year-old Parker Wayne Williams was killed when he was thrown from the Polaris he was riding in with four other people. According to reports, 20-year-old Owen Louis Mack was driving Continue reading

Deputy Sherriff William Gentry’s name figued prominently again yesterday, this time among the longer list of the fallen and passed, at the annual Peace Officers’ Memorial Day ceremony at the Highlands County Government Center. The morning program featured reading of the names of the twelve Florida officers lost during 2017, color guard from the VFW Continue reading

The owners of what’s left of the old Heartland Bowling Lanes north of Sun N Lake on Highway 27 might be looking at some fines after a deadline passed May 12 for demolition of the burned-out building. The structure caught fire during Hurricane Irma back in September – the cart racing track on the property Continue reading

Deputy Sherriff William J. Gentry Jr. was sent home to be with his maker yesterday at the Highlands County Fairgrounds. In a packed convention center attended by In a ceremony attended by Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, more than 2,000 officers from other agencies and over 1,500 County Continue reading

Highlands County is protected this morning, but by our neighbors to the north. Beginning at 6pm last night, Polk County Sheriff’s department personnel took over handling calls in Highlands to allow personnel from our local department to attend Deputy William Gentry’s memorial service this morning and related events. A release from the Department here asks Continue reading

A little unwanted excitement at Sebring High School Friday morning caused a little over an hour’s worth of lockdown at the school, and gate closures at other area schools when what was deemed a – quote – credible threat was made by a student from the school. As it turned out, the threat involved a Continue reading

Highlands County Sheriff’s Deputy William Gentry has returned home. A motorcade bearing the body of the slain law enforcement officer arrived at the Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home after a trip from the Medical Examiner’s Office in Winter Haven this morning. Thousands of residents in Highlands and Polk counties, some holding flags and signs, lined Highway 27 Continue reading

Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman this morning held a press conference – outlining details of public and private ceremonies to honor Deputy William Gentry. Gentry was fatally shot Sunday evening while answering a call of a neighborhood dispute in Lake Placid. First, there will be a candle light vigil tomorrow evening at Fireman’s Field – Continue reading