Highlands County, if your family could use a little extra love this Thanksgiving, help is here. Starting today at 12 PM sharp, 225 free Thanksgiving meal kits will be given away at 3135 Kenilworth Blvd. in Sebring. Each kit includes a turkey, vegetables, stuffing, pumpkin pie and more—enough to feed a family of four. This is a drive-thru event only — vehicles only, no walkers or bikes. It’s first come, first served, one meal kit per vehicle, per family. Sponsored by The Salvation Army, with support from Heartland Food Bank, United Way of Central Florida, and Alan Jay Automotive Network.
Sebring’s long-empty Wachovia building is finally getting new life. The Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency has approved up to $600,000 in incentives and a five-year, 85% tax rebate to help developer Robert Blackmon turn the former downtown bank into Class A office space. With about $3 million in renovations planned, it would be the first dedicated office building downtown in decades and could nearly double daytime workers in the CRA district. The deal passed with one “no” vote and several members absent.
If you’re going to flee a crash, maybe don’t do it in front of a deputy. Deputies say 37-year-old Francisco Marin-Matildes hit another vehicle near U.S. 98 South in Bartow, then drove off without stopping — while a Polk County deputy watched it happen. He was pulled over, arrested for no valid driver’s license, leaving the scene of a crash, and being in the country illegally from Mexico. Both charges were enhanced to first-degree misdemeanors, and there’s now an ICE hold on him.
Most people panic when they see blue lights behind them… but not this driver. Deputies say 32-year-old Jessica Marrero of Davenport was pulled over on I-4 for driving on a suspended license and was headed to the Polk County Jail. Instead of getting upset, Sheriff Grady Judd says she lit up and asked if she’d get a booking photo — because she’s always wanted her mugshot on a T-shirt from the jail. Judd says, quote, “We made that happen for her.” Marrero was booked into the Polk County Jail… and that T-shirt design is now just a public record request away.