Highlands County sheriff’s officials and first responders were kept busy overnight with traffic accidents. One man was injured when he flipped his car on County Road 627, north of Avon Park. He was transported to a local hospital.
Another motorists had to be rescued when he lost control of his vehicle and ran off Kenilworth Blvd near Haywood Taylor.
Reportedly he ran back up into the woods there and it took law enforcement a while to fine him.
A 69-year-old Avon Park man has been charged in connection with the Tuesday accident between a pickup and a Highlands County School bus. Five people – including three school children – went to the to the hospital as a result.
Highlands County Sheriff’s officials say Dayton E. Fraim was at the wheel of a pickup truck that went left of center on East Cornell Street in Avon Park, then slammed into the bus.
Fraim, his passenger and the youngsters were transported from the mishap. None of the injuries were said to have been life threatening.
It appears workers in the city of Avon Park won’t be getting a cost of living allowance in their paychecks next year. City council members noted that employees in the City of Charm already are getting step raises in the next fiscal year.
The city’s labor attorney, Brian Koji will be looking into the ramifications, should council members vote to put themselves on the city’s insurance plan. Koji noted that there might be Medicare issues involved there as well.
Yesterday’s roll-out of the Highlands County Commission web site may pave the way for other local boards to begin broadcasting their meetings on the internet. Some have said they would take their lead from county commissioners, who considered taking the meetings down, inasmuch as they did not have someone to interpret for the deaf with sign language.
However, County Attorney Joy Carmichael said federal mandates are not clear on that point.
Highlands County commissioner Don Elwell estimated it would cost the commission between $15 – $20,000 to get closed captioning online.
Highlands County School Board officials have pulled the plug on their broadcasts and Avon Park officials have said they were waiting to see how the county would handle things.