Today is the birthday of civil rights’ icon Dr. Martin Luther King jr. Government offices, banks, many businesses and schools are closed today in observance. Motorists are cautioned to look out for youngsters who may be out and about during normal school times.
There will be a number of parades in Highlands County today. Lake Placid will be first with a processional in Highway Park. They’ll begin line up at 10am at the gas station, then parade up Cressmore Drive and down to the Martin Luther King jr Complex.
There also will be a processional in Avon Park. That one will start lining up around 11am at RCMA Hopewell on Earnest E. Sims Street.
It’s put on by the Southside Community Resource Center, with refreshments and activities at the MLK Sports Complex following the processional.
In Sebring, there also will be a parade today honoring Dr. King. Staged by "Highlands County Citizens with Voices," the processional will begin on East Center Avenue arond noon, it will run to the Historic Circle, then up North Ridgewood Drive to North Pine – then up to Lemon Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Boulevard. There will be a community picnic at the Bountiful Blessings Church following that one.
A Polk County man appears to be the victim of a deadly hit-and-run. FHP says the body of a 55-year-old Lakeland man was found yesterday afternoon in Hillsborough County. A driver reported seeing the body on the shoulder of I-75 North near mile marker 247. Troopers believe he may have been hit by a large red vehicle that fled the scene.