The Latest Local News

Today is Labor Day. Banks and government offices are closed. There’s no mail delivery and no school. Motorists in the area are cautioned to look out for youngsters playing and riding their bicycles during normal school hours. Many don’t perceive Highlands County as being a college town, but a new report from Porch, shows that Continue reading

It’s happened again. Officials from the city of Sebring have announced that Harder Hall has been sold. Sebring City Administrator Scott Noethlic reported the Blackmon Family of St. Petersburg has acquired the big pink hotel on the shores of Little Lake Jackson. No purchase price was revealed. Family officials say they have deep ties with Continue reading

There may be some big changes coming to Highlands County. Last weekend there was a sale of nearly 1500 acres as many of the historic Crutchfield citrus groves went on the auction block. Officials say that much of the property apparently went to investment companies from China and Inda, with other acerage going to online Continue reading

Highlands County Courts have had a busy week, cleaning up cases that stick in a lot of minds. Monday, the guy who pled guilty to 35 counts of credit card fraud in a string of thefts in the spring of 2020 that bit at least eleven Highlands County residents got sent up the river for Continue reading

Sebring Police could use a hand in solving a suspicious weekend death. Cops were dispatched to a Walnut Street location just before 3:30 Sunday morning where a man was found lying on the side of the road … two subects took the man to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead. No names Continue reading

Despite the nationwide housing boom, a new report by Stressa shows the Avon Park-Sebring metro area experienced only a two-percent increase in housing. Over the past decade we added just short of 1100 new homes. The local numbers are dwarfed by the 6.5-percent increase in new home construction nationwide. Locally, Highlands showed just a 5.8-percent Continue reading

The Highlands County Canvassing Board got together this morning to start the process of wrapping up this year’s primary election. They checked both provisional ballots and referred ballots and cured all of the outstanding tallies. Those were processed and now will be sent to the State of Florida who then will certify the final results. Continue reading

A new report by MoveBudda puts Avon Park in the top tier for those looking for a place to live in Florida. The City of Charm joins Sarasota and Ocala for those migrating here from other places. The survey says 229 people are moving in, for every 100 residents who are moving out. MoveBudda is Continue reading

It was a wide span of election victories for local candidates in yesterday’s primary elections. The biggest margin was in the District 5 School Board race. Nicole Radonski cruised to a win over incumbent Jill Compton-Twist with 60-percent of the vote total. Challenger Reece Martin also won his District four School Board race with a Continue reading

It’s Primary Election Day. it’s a time Republicans and Democrats will pick their standard bearers for the November General Election. However, there also are races that will be decided on today’s ballots. Republican incumbent Highlands County Commissioner Kathy Rapp is facing a challenge from former commissioner Don Elwell for a seat on the commission. Highlands Continue reading