Highlands County might be richer than you think. Highlands recently made a list of the Top 10 counties in the Sunshine State for net worth.
The financial technology company SmartAsset has published a list of places in the country where the people have the highest net worth. Highlands ranked sixth in Florida, with a per capita net worth of $36,750 per resident.
The study employed a formula using net worth, income and debt.
After five months and some sometimes contentious negotiations with city staff, groundbreaking ceremonies will be held today for the War Dog Memorial – to be set on the grounds of the Avon Park Community Center.
City council members formally accepted the donation of the structure earlier this week, with only councilwoman Doris Smith voting “no.”
The first ceremonial shovels-full of dirt will be turned at noon today at the community center on Main street.
One lane of State Road 17 was closed early this morning when a car hit a pole just north of Sebring. The incident occurred about 3:30 near the intersection of Eldorado Street.
There’s no indication what may have caused the mishap, but Emergency Medical Service officials say nobody was transported from the scene.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers are working the incident.
A panther has killed a Florida family’s 500-pound pet pony named Maximus.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission says this is the 20th reported panther-related pet or livestock death or injury this year. Courtney Stehling says she found Maximus dead last week.
The roughly 5-year-old pony was blind in one eye. Maximus was kept in a pen on the family’s Naples property with three regular-sized horses. Despite the pen being enclosed by a 5-foot fence and some wire, the panther was still able to get to Maximus.
An FWC spokeswoman, Carol Lyn Parrish, says residents can help prevent attacks by endangered Florida panthers by securing their property, installing motion-activated lights and clearing vegetation the could conceal panthers.
An Orlando-area congresswoman says she wants a county sheriff candidate to stop using her picture in campaign fliers, claiming he’s not even fit to be the county’s dog catcher.
U.S. Rep. Val Demings posted the request on Facebook yesterday. The Democrat says her campaign has twice asked Darryl Sheppard, a Democrat candidate for Orange County sheriff, to stop using a picture of the two in a way that implies she endorses him.
The photo remains on Sheppard’s Facebook, along with photos of Sheppard with other Democrat politicians. The fliers don’t explicitly claim their endorsements. After saying she doesn’t trust Sheppard, Demings pointed to his criminal record, which includes at least 13 arrests.
Demings’ husband, Jerry Demings, is the sheriff, but he’s leaving office after being elected county mayor.