The Latest Local News

The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office held the first of three gun buy-back programs last night in Lake Placid. The event was held in the parking lot of the Happiness Tower off Highway 27. Reportedly, the event was cut short by an hour, due to the weather. Sheriff’s officials said they were very pleased with the Continue reading

Avon park city council members held a special meeting last night to look at setting tentative tax rates. Those still could come down, depending on how budget talks play out in the City of Charm. They voted to set the fire assessment at $112 per residence for the upcoming fiscal year. That would be a Continue reading

The Mobil One 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Advance Auto Parts has been voted the Number One Motorsports Event in North America. The 12 Hours landed at the top of the USA Today’s 10 Best poll – topping such giants as the Indy 500. Hundreds of thousands of fans took part in the month-long Continue reading

One person was airlifted out and another taken to a local emergency room yesterday morning when a two-vehicle wreck on State Road 64 snarled traffic in the area of the Avon Park Airport. Police reports indicate a Chevy Malibu driven by Wendy Medina of Bowling Green collided with a Ford Transit van driven by Nehemius Continue reading

Florida State Patrol reports say that the traffic tyups have been cleared after a one-car rollover acident nea the intersection of Highway 27 and Dasher Roads on Lake Placid’s south side this morning. The call came in to County dispatch just past 5:30 this morning and was handed off to the Florida Highway Patrol for Continue reading

NEWS 7/23/19 BF BoCC MILLAGE After talking with Highlands County Clerk of Courts Bob Germaine, Supervisor of Elections Penny Ogg and Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman about budget cuts, Highlands County commissioners this morning certified the county’s tentative millage at 9.0. That would be about a half mil higher than the current assessment of 8.55. Continue reading

A couple of traffic incidents on State Road 70 kept law enforcement officials busy overnight. Shortly before 9:00, four vehicles reportedly collided on Highway 70 East out toward Okeechobee. Authorities indicate five people were transported. One apparently was airlifted out, the rest were taken to a hospital with what were said to be minor injuries. Continue reading

Highlands County’s first responders have been busy overnight. In addition to a spate of medical calls, there were at least two traffic incidents. One person was taken to the hospital last night when a couple of vehicles came together at the intersection of Main Street and North Lake Avenue in Avon Park. The force of Continue reading

A motorcyclist lost her life during the pre-dawn hours in Avon Park. It reportedly happened about 1:30 when 41-year-old Mayra Teresa Torres Muniz reportedly ran the stop sign at the intersection at Bell Street and Hart Avenue. Florida Highway Patrol reports indicate Muniz’ Suzuki pulled into the path of an oncoming Chrysler 300, being driven Continue reading

Highlands County commissioners held a rare night meeting yesterday in order to hold a workshop on the budget. They worked on trimming back their expenditures by just over $330,000. However, they say, their’s is just 20 percent of the budget. The other 80-percent falls under other constitutional offices such as the Highlands County Sheriff, clerk Continue reading