The Latest Local News

The late Highlands County Supervisor of Elections Penny Ogg will be laid to rest today. Ogg passed away suddenly this past weekend following a brief hospital stay. She was 49. Services are set for 11:00 this morning at the Stephenson Nelson Funeral Home. Anticipating an overflow crowd, the services also will be available online through Continue reading

Highlands County residents will have an opportunity to pay their last respects to Highlands County Supervisor of Elections Penny Ogg today. Visitation will be held this evening from 4-7 at the Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home in Sebring. Ogg died suddenly this past weekend following a brief hospital stay. Services are set for Thursday morning at 11am. Continue reading

Now that the fire assessment will be going up, Highlands County commissioners will be dealing with issues related to the countywide fire service. This Thursday, the county’s negotiating team will be headed into contract talks with the professional EMS & Firefighters union. At today’s meeting, commissioners approved pumping another $94,000 into the construction of the Continue reading

Popular Highlands County Supervisor of Elections Penny Ogg passed away suddenly this past weekend. It occurred during a brief hospital stay. Family members indicate Ogg, a cancer survivor, had gone in after experiencing anxiety. While hospitalized she “coded” and could not be revived. Ogg had worked in the supervisor’s office since 2004 and was elected Continue reading

A new report by the survey company Support Network shows that the Sebring metro area has grown by 6.4-percent over the past half dozen years. The survey shows that some 6,435 residents have re-located here since 2015. The local 6.4-percent beats the national averge of 2.7-percent growth. They say a lot of folks have migrated Continue reading

Labor Day weekend is upon us – the County’s trash hauler says regular pickups will happen on regular days next week for homes served by the County’s trash service. The landfill will also be open on Labor Day, although most other government services will be closed for the holiday. The Sebring Downtown CRA is pressing Continue reading

One Highlands County Labor Day Weekend even has bit the dust, courtesy of Covid concerns. The Friends of The Hammock yesterday announced that the group’s planned “Summer Splash” event for the weekend has been cancelled due to the uptick in Covid cases in the County. Next time you see the power company whacking some branches Continue reading

The 60 days to advertise the BrickelL Building in Avon Park has come and gone. Officials in the City of Charm say they had a few tire-kickers but received no firm offers on the place. Council had re-zoned the two-story Main Street structure to allow for both residential and retail space. At one time, it Continue reading

Like much of Florida, it looks like the Sebring/Avon Park metro area has a fairly transient population. According to a new report by the internet site Filterbuy, some 7.4-percent of local residents moved into their homes more than 30 years ago. That compares to just over 17-percent of homeowners nationally and puts the Sebring/Avon Park Continue reading

A new report out by the survey company Rootstock has found that the Sebring-Avon Park metro area has a below average cost of living but an above average population growth. The analysis determined that the cost of living here was 13-percent below the national average. Between 2017 and 2020 the local population increased by 2.7 Continue reading