The Latest Local News

Following a dust-up between Highlands County commissioners Kevin Roberts and Scott Kirouac, commissioners this morning approved an agreement with Jones, Edmunds & Associates for consulting services at the county’s landfill. Kirouac questioned Roberts about questions he had been asking about fires, groundwater contamination and other issues – saying the conversation was going beyond the agenda Continue reading

Apparently, not much work comes out of Highlands County. A new report by HireAHelper shows that the Sebring-Avon Park metro area shows the third lowest Gross Domestic Product per worker in the United States. The Annual GDP here falls under $70,000 – that breaks out to just over $25,000 per capita. That compares to a Continue reading

Spring has sprung and reports now are coming from throughout the area as to the beginning of Love Bug Season. There’s no telling on how bad this year’s infestation might be, however, some are hopeful it might be light due to the recent dry conditions here. The good thing is that they don’t bite, the Continue reading

Earlier this month, Highlands County Superintendent of Schools Brenda Longshore called off a workshop about sex education in the schools after she announced she had decided to cancel a contract with the "I Make A Difference Program," which had been handling the curriculum for the past six years. Tonight, the matter will be revisited as Continue reading

Avon Park city officials are looking for citizens willing to serve on some municipal boards and committees – hopefully, with an eye toward growing the City of Charm. In a discussion about appointing new members to the city’s Planning and Zoning Board, Mayor Garrett Anderson called for committees to be more business friendly and discussed Continue reading

There may be a new attraction coming to Avon Park. City council members last night heard a presentation from longtime optometrist and baseball enthusiast Ronald Sevingy, proposing the establishment of the Thomas "Flash" Gordon Baseball Hall of Fame. The facility would not only include Gordon and his sons’ major league accomplishments, but also Hal MacRae Continue reading

Highlands County sheriff’s officials are investigating a weekend shooting incident. Apparently, a 32-year-old Avon Park man was shot and killed at a vacant lot along South Carolina Avenue in Avon Park Saturday night. Authorities say the suspect allegedly stole a car at the scene and fled to a Sebring home. Arrested was 30-year-old Kenneth Jerome Continue reading

Highlands County Sheriff’s officials are looking for more information about the car that was pulled from Lake Oliva this past Monday. Detectives are requesting that anyone who lives in the Avon Park Lakes area, or those in the area east of U.S. 27 to County Road 17, to review their video camera footage. They’re looking Continue reading

If you work in Sebring, apparently chances are pretty good you could be replaced by a machine. A new study by Commodity dot com shows that nearly half the workers in the Sebring metro area are candidates. In fact, just over 47-percent are at high risk of being replaced. nearly 22-percent are at medium risk Continue reading

Florida Highway Patrol officials now say it was a Lake Wales man that was killed in that motorcycle accident early yesterday morning. The 35-year-old rider failed to make a curve on the Panther Parkway just south of the circle and flipped the bike – he was pronounced dead at the scene. Reports say he was Continue reading