The Latest Local News

One Central Florida mother is pushing for a change she believes will make schools safer. This hits home after the scare in some Highlands County schools on Friday, when a social media post made the rounds threatening school violence. Highlands County law enforcement and school officials placed some schools under a controlled campus as they Continue reading

Chris Doty, who ran against incumbent Brenda Longshore in the recent election for Superintendent of Highlands County Schools, has filed a law suit citing misconduct. The lawsuit is being brought against Supervisor of Elections Karen Healy, The Canvassing Board, and School Superintendent Brenda Longshore. The suit alleges that proper protocols were not followed when qualified Continue reading

A 17-year-old boy accused of killing his father in Oklahoma last year is now accused of killing his mother in Florida. The boy claimed he killed Charles Griffith in self-defense during a fight at their home on Valentine’s Day 2023. The boy is now accused of killing 39-year-old Catherine Griffith of Port Charlotte, Florida, during Continue reading

The Highlands County Commission is close to approving a finalized 2024-2025 budget. Commissioners had a first vote approving the county’s proposed $221.2 budget Thursday night and are expected to hold a second vote at a public hearing soon. Largest increases to the budget over last year’s county budget include $8 million for the construction of Continue reading

An alleged murder plot has been thwarted by Highlands County Sheriff’s Office investigators. The plot cooked up by Highlands County Jail inmate Dori Anne Burke and Robert Clyde Diamond of Avon Park reportedly involved a male victim that they were trying to extort in an effort to force the victim to move out of a Continue reading

A change is coming to the operation of the traffic signal at College Drive/Bill Sachsenmaier Memorial Drive and US 27. The change is scheduled to take place Tuesday, September 10th at 10:00AM. On the day of the switch the traffic signal will be turned off as crews work to put the new operation into effect. Continue reading

A civil lawsuit has been filed in Polk County that accuses an owner of a law firm that recently closed its three offices, of embezzling nearly $1.8 million dollars from a client’s trust fund to support his self-proclaimed "raging" addiction. The suit alleges that Jason Penrod funneled the funds into his personal account to gamble Continue reading

The Florida Highway Patrol is currently investigating a fatal crash in Highlands County that occurred early Sunday morning. According to officials an ATV driven by a 26-Year-Old Lake Placid man was traveling south on the southbound lane of Highlands Boulevard, approaching the intersection of Cumberland Street. At that same time, a pickup truck was traveling Continue reading

A reminder that there are planned water outages in Lake Placid starting overnight, tonight. The town will be replacing the old water main along Interlake Blvd. The major outage is scheduled to be from 9:00pm tonight to 5:00am tomorrow morning. This outage will shut off water for everyone on the west side of US Hwy Continue reading

A Pretrial conference was held Thursday in the first-degree murder trial of Joseph Ables, who is being tried for the first-degree murder of Highlands County Deputy Sheriff William Gentry in May of 2018. Assistant State Attorney Bonde Johnson presented a motion on the Williams rule, which allows evidence of a defendant’s prior bad acts to Continue reading