The Latest Local News

It appears that Highlands County registered the first traffic fatality of the new year yesterday. The accident happened on Northbound Highway 27 at Vision Street in front of the Highway Park community south of Lake Placid. Florida Highway Patrol reports now indicate a car driven by a 29-year-old Lake Placid man made a left turn Continue reading

So far, Highlands County’s population has not grown in 2024. Officials at AdventHospital Sebring report no New Year’s babies as of Midnight. There was one tax deduction for last year with a baby girl born Saturday morning. Baby, mother – and dad – all are doing fine. Despite the plethora of fireworks, officials say there Continue reading

The long New Years’ weekend begins tonight and your local cops want you to remember that you may be off work, but they aren’t. Drive sober this weekend, have a designated driver and enjoy yourself – responsibly. If you’re driving, be forewarned – gas is up. The Florida AA says that gas prices in the Continue reading

The Highlands County Sports complex on Sebring’s south side won’t be the only fresh-dressed sports facility in the County soon. The City of Avion Park has been awarded grants for some serious renovations at the City’s MLK Junior Sports Complex on East State Street. New pavilions, fencing, visitors bleachers and football and basketball playing surfaces Continue reading

If you take advantage of the extended three-hour VPK “enrichment” program at the Highlands County Schools’ Pre-K Center next year, be prepared to pay a bit for it. The School Board last week agreed to institute a $50 weekly fee for the extended hours at the center for the 2024-2025 school year. The three-hour morning Continue reading

If you’re on the County’s trash pickup service, just a reminder – today’s Monday’s trash day, and pickups will run a day later than normal this week. It’s bulk trash week, by the way, so those extra boxes the kids tore through yesterday morning can disappear from your curb when they do the weekly pickups. Continue reading

There’s one more chapter to tell in that incident earlier this week where two adults burned a child’s belongings, threatened him as well, and ended in an officer-involved shooting. This chapter’s a good one. The nine-year old boy at the center of the incident is heading home to his family, with a load of Christmas Continue reading

Residents in the city of Avon Park are under a "Boil Water" notice for the forseeable future. There was a break this morning in a 12-inch line out by the Bell Street water plant, that dropped water pressure to near zero in some parts of the City of Charm. Any and all water to be Continue reading

Although there are no local statistics, this weekend’s storm is responsible for record rainfall totals across central Florida. Breaking records were Orlando Interational Airport, plus the cities of Sanford and Leesburg. Brevard County registered the highest total with 11 inches of rain. The weather caused some cancellations locally, but there was no damage reported. Meanwhile, Continue reading

Bad news for fans of the old Santa Rosa Hotel in Downtown Sebring. Not only has the building permit for the old building for work on the old building expired, matters have been complicated further. Before the permit can be renewed, an inspection will be needed, and with a collapse of a portion of the Continue reading