It may not be news to some of us, but a new report by the company Filterbuy shows that the Avon Park-Sebring metro area experienced a 15.3-percent increase in the cost of living in the last half of 2021.
The good news is, it’s almost a full percentage point below the national increase of 16.2-percent.
Throughout the second half of 2021, economic observers have expressed concerns that the U.S. economy is in the midst of an inflationary period. Ongoing supply challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic have driven up costs in many key consumer spending categories.
Aggressive federal stimulus measures reportedly also have pumped more money into the economy throughout the pandemic, creating inflationary conditions.
The result has been successive months of higher-than-usual increases in consumer prices, as measured year-over-year from 2020 to 2021.
It looks like Colton Lee Driggers will be spending the rest of his life behind bars. Driggers yesterday was sentenced to life in prison after he entered a guilty plea on charges of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.
Driggers was charged with a brutal attack on an 11-year-old boy on Halloween 2017. The youth since has recovered from his injuries.
Tired of having somebody else administer your COVID test? The Department of Health and Highlands County today will partner to host a distribution event of individual at-home tests for the coronavirus. The event will be held beginning at 9:00 at Memorial Elementary School north of Sebring.
It’s slated to run until noon, or 500 cars have gone through the line – whichever comes first. This is not a testing site, but a distribution event for home kits.
Memorial Elementary is on Memorial Drive, south of Avon Park.
The Avon Park Mowerplex is slated to get a bit of local attention tomorrow night, as Fox 13 Television reporter Cory Beckman is slated to pay a visit to the facility to do a news story about lawn mower racing.
NASGRASS – The North American Society of Grass Racers and Sod Slingers – will be hosting their first competition of the new calendar year at their facility on the north end of the Avon Park Airport. It’s the first such track developed in the United States.
There will be big doings at American Legion Post 69 tomorrow in Avon Park as they host the Eighth Annual Veterans Expo. There will be more than 40 vendors set up at the location to give veterans information on their benefits and other programs.
In addition, the Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall will be on display. There will be a car, truck & motorcycle cruise, food trucks and music by local band and recording artists Blackbird Anthem.
The event runs tomorrow from 10-5 and is free and open to the public.