The Latest Local News

It will be a lot of housekeeping work for Avon Park city council members when they meet in regular session this evening. They’ll look at final approval for ordinances on docks, boat houses accessory structures and fences. They’ll also hear a handful of requests for code enforcement lein reductions. In other action, new Avon Park Continue reading

Officials from Highlands County’s tourism sector yesterday unrolled their proposal for the addition of another cent to the local tourist tax. Apparently, they are looking to expand the county’s ballfield complex, and want to add yet another tourism asset, described as a "multi-use facility." Although the ballfields generate only about a third of what it Continue reading

Overriding objections of Highlands County Commissioner Don Elwell, the board of commissioners agreed by consensus to pursue another penny on the dollar tax on tourists visiting Highlands County. Elwell had objected to the lack of a plan for the money, noting that if a facility were built, tourists might pay for construction – however, local Continue reading

An Avon Park Middle School teenager was killed yesterday when he was hit by a train. 13-year-old Malik K. Pearson was struck by a northbound Amtrak passenger train. It happened after school near the Bell Street crossing. Apparently, Pearson was walking by the tracks near Feagin Avenue when he was hit. So far there’s no Continue reading

An Avon Park couple reportedly were killed in a weekend traffic crash in Glades County. Florida Highway Patrol reports say the 72-year-old man was on a motorcycle north on State Road 29 with a rider, when a sport utility vehicle driven by a Melbourne woman went left of center and slammed head-on into the bike. Continue reading

It’s been 80 years and tens of thousands of miles, but the remains of a local World War II veteran finally are coming home. 2nd Lieutenant Pharis E Weekly was shot down during a mission he was flying with the 93rd Bombardment Group. Modern technology was able to identify his remains at a mass grave Continue reading

It appears that the scrambling for a president for South Florida State College is over. Officials at the SFSC Board of Trustees yesterday announced Osceola County state lawmaker Fred Hawkins as the only finalist to be their president. The 55-year-old Hawkins represents the 42nd District in St. Cloud in the Florida House. He first was Continue reading

Members of the South Florida State College Board of Trustees will gather this morning to try again to find a replacement for outgoing school president Thomas Leitzel. The process was thrown into chaos earlier this month when all three of the candidates on a short list pulled their resumes for consideration for the post. A Continue reading

Declining attendance and rising costs have spelled the end of the Heartland Triathlon. Organizers have announced they’ve pulled the plug on this year’s event – which was to have run next month. The triathlon involved running, swimming and bicycling competitions throughout the Greater Sebring area – causing swaths of downtown – as well as parts Continue reading

Five people were arrested Friday after a shooting incident in Highlands County. An unidentified victim was shot near a Dollar General store at State Road 66 and South Orange Blossom Blvd. south of Sebring. Within minutes, a red Ford 500, observed at the scene of the shooting, was located in Hardee County. Deputies there gave Continue reading