Christmas officially arrives in Highlands County this evening with the Avon Park Christmas Parade. This year, the annual processional will be preceded with the lighting of the Avon Park Gazebo in the middle of the Mile Long Mall.
That is set for 6:30, with the parade to kick off at 7pm.
Avon Park Chamber of Commerce officials say more than 50 entries slated for the first such parade in two years. This year, they say there will be more bands than there have been for quite some long time. There also will be floats, specialty units, dancers and marching units.
Sebring’s Christmas parade will be this coming Friday. The Carousel of Lights was illuminated on the Circle in Sebring this past Saturday night.
A 59-year-old Riverview man was seriously injured in a Highlands County traffic accident. Florida Highway Patrol reports indicate the man was riding his motorcycle and hit the side of a car that was making a left turn off Higway 27 onto Skipper Road south of Sebring.
The biker was airlifted out to Lakeland Regional Medical Center. No charges in the incident were listed.
Police officers in Lakeland reportedly shot and killed a man who pointed a gun at them. The officers were investigating reports of a suspicious car parked in a construction zone along Interstate 4 at the time.
Lakeland police say Officers Tammy Hathcock and Garret Zeigler arrived at the scene early Sunday morning and spotted a man sitting in the vehicle.
The officers tapped on the car window to speak to him. That’s when they say he pulled a handgun and pointed it at one of them.
Officers fired – in fear of their safety, killing him. The 61-year-old man’s name hasn’t been released. An investigation continues.
A 14-year-old Polk County youth is accused of fatally stabbing his 18-year-old friend; Auburndale police officers called to the scene found the older teen in the road, bleeding from two stab wounds.
An arrest affidavit says the younger boy ran to his house to call for help. He told the officers that he had stabbed the teen. The boys had been involved in an altercation at the time.